The last of a group of songs published in 1912, the Vocalise is, as its title suggests, a wordless piece for voice and piano. Dedicated to the Russian soprano Antonina Nezhdanova, Rachmaninov quickly set about arranging it himself for soprano and orchestra, then produced a version for orchestra alone. Subsequently it has been transcribed for many different instruments, but the saxophone is an apt choice, not only because of its closeness to the sound of a human voice, but also because Rachmaninov himself used the alto saxophone as a solo instrument on one memorable occasion, in the first of his Symphonic Dances.

Nigel Simeone 2013