Eugene Rousseau

Eugene Rousseau's history regarding the classical saxophone is long and accomplished. To read more on this "giant of the genre," please visit: http://www.erousseau.com/. Rousseau authored a fantastic book on the life of Marcel Mule, the godfather of the classical saxophone, entitled, Marcel Mule, His Life And The Saxophone. Mule and his wife were close family friends of Paule Maurice and Pierre Lantier. Tableaux de Provence was dedicated to Marcel Mule, but the fifth and final movement of Tableaux de Provence, Le Cabridan, was written in 1948 for Mule. The other movements were written between 1952 and 1955, contrary to 1954-1959 dates seen in many internet entries. Source material can be found in letters to Jean-Marie Londeix and viewed at http://saxame.org/letters/maurice/maurice4.html.  Maurice added a cadenza in the middle of the fifth movement because Mule "complained that it was too easy." Along with his extraodinary abilities as a performer and beloved teacher, Eugene Rousseau's enlightening book brings us one of the most important histories of classical saxophone  

In 1968 Eugene Rousseau recorded two movements of Tableaux De Provence for Coronet Records of Columbus, Ohio with pianist Marion Hall on the LP entitled "Eugene Rousseau Plays Saxophone; with Marion Hall." Rousseau is quoted on the back cover saying:

"The wife of well-known French composer, Pierre Lantier (best remembered by saxophonists for his Sicilienne), Paule Maurice has vividly portrayed five "Scenes from Provence," a region bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Recorded are movements II and III, which make an excellent solo for saxophone and piano without placing extensive demands upon technical facility."

A short biography appears on the back cover that reads:

"Eugene Rousseau is a member of the faculty of the School of Music of Indiana University where he teaches saxophone exclusively. He holds the BME degree from the Chicago Musical College, the MM from Northwestern University, and the Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, where he was a pupil of Himie Voxman. His study also includes a year with Marcel Mule at the Conservatoire National de Paris on a Fulbright Grant. Dr. Rousseau has taught a Luther College, (Iowa), Central Missouri State College, and the University of Iowa. A conductor, arranger, woodwind clinician, and saxophone soloist, he was appointed musical representative for the U.S. Trade Fair in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa (1963). He has published numerous articles on various phases of music, as well as a Method for Saxophone. His clinic and solo appearances are made at all educational levels."

What Rousseau has accomplished since this 1968 recording is enormous and well documented and continues to this day. Eugene Rousseau will be remembered as a "giant" of classical saxophone and so much more...