Review: Sonorité Saxophone Quartet's Christmas Album NOËL

Each December, the Sonorité Saxophone Quartet can be found performing Christmas concerts across Hertfordshire and North London – family events filled with music, laughter, and a sense of community. This delightful album brings together familiar favourites, new arrangements, and original works that capture both the joy and quiet reflection of the festive season.

There are traditional carols and much-loved Christmas songs, together with arrangements of music by Prokofiev, Puccini and Liszt.

Jill Morton

Sonorité Saxophone Quartet are joined by pianist Jill Morton, who, in addition to playing with the quartet on various tracks on the album, performs a new piece, John Maul’s All Aboard the Reindeer Express – a lively and characterful new solo piano piece that Jill has championed.

The colourful, expressive sound of Sonorité is evident from the opening piece – Troika from Prokofiev’s sparkling musical depiction of a traditional Russian sleigh ride from his Lieutenant Kije suite. The sound of four saxophones and piano shines a new light on this familiar and much-loved piece, yet all the hallmarks of the original are there, from the lively rhythm of the piano, which drives the music forward, to the “slap tongue” of the saxophones to mimic pizzicato strings. This delightful arrangement will have your feet tapping within the first few bars!

Sonorité Saxophone Quartet

White Christmas, originally written by Irving Berlin in 1942 and made famous by Bing Crosby, is here in an arrangement of an arrangement, as it were: Sonorité play their adaptation of a version for SATB voices. Here, they successfully capture the warmth and phrasing of the original song, while also allowing each of the four voices to shine.

Before the Wild Hurricane by Olivia Murphy takes its inspiration from that Christmas favourite A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. The piece takes its pacing from the text and explores the mystery and curiosity about St Nicholas, as he approaches on his sleigh.

O Holy Night, the popular carol by Adolphe Adam, provides a calm interlude, in a lovely, soaring arrangement by Daniel Ephgrave, baritone saxophone of Sonorité.

All Aboard the Reindeer Express by John Maul has a wonderfully vintage character, reminiscent of 1940s/50s film music, with more than a nod to Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride. The piece is infused with festive joy, delightfully portrayed by Jill Morton, with a jaunty ‘trotting’ bass line and the tinkle of sleigh bells in the treble.

The final four pieces on this album are all well-known pieces about or linked to Christmas. The Christmas Scene / Quando M’en Vo from Puccini’s La Boheme features Kathryn McGuinness on alto saxophone, who brings a graceful lyricism to the vocal line. The traditional carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is played by solo saxophone with vocals by Martin Callaghan, with the entire quartet providing a reflective interlude in the middle of the piece. Evening Bells from Liszt’s Weihnachsbaum illustrates a quiet winter evening, perhaps just before Christmas, with church bells sounding gently in the distance. It’s wistful and intimate.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is another festive classic from the film Meet Me in St. Louis. In this arrangement, commissioned from Rowan Baker for the quartet’s first series of concerts in 2022, the familiar melody is woven with richer harmonies and gentle counter-voices.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: Sonorité Saxophone Quartet

This album is a delightful and uplifting selection of music for the Christmas season to be enjoyed by children, parents and grandparents alike. It showcases the versatility of Sonorité wonderfully, clearly equally at home with well-known classics, new works and classic jazz and songs, with a kaleidoscopic range of colours and sonorities to bring these pieces to life with character, warmth and wit.