Product Description
One of the most enigmatic figures in the history of the Saxophone, Ali
Ben Sou Alle (Charles-Valentin Soualle) was born in 1820 in Arras,
France. After receiving his first prize in Clarinet at the Paris
Conservatory in 1844. he served as the director of
music of The
French Marine Band in Senegal, and then was named first clarinet solo at
the Opéra-Comique in Paris. However, after the Revolution of 1848,
Soualle was forced to flee France to England where he settled in London,
playing in the Orchestra of the Queen's Theatre. His songs and piano
pieces were published in London. While in London, Soualle met another
exiled French musician, Louis Antoine Jullien, who conducted a light
music series in London. Jullien encouraged Soualle to take up the
saxophone, and after modifying the instrument by adding a single octave
mechanism (the modern system used today) and keys for the lower
register, Soualle became known as a virtuoso and began touring
performing solo recitals (or mono-concerts, as they were called at the
time) calling his modified saxophone the «turcophone ». He performed in
all the European capitals and then traveled to Australia, New Zealand,
Manilla, Java, through China and then to India where he finally settled
in Mysore, becoming the director of the Royal Music for the Maharadjah.
It was during this period that he converted to Islam and changed his
nmae to Ali ben Sou Alle (or "Ali, son of Soualle"). He subsequently
travaled to Ile Maurice, to French Polynesia, the Cap of Natal and the
Cap of Good Hope. All of these voyages were subjects of musical works
which Soualle entitled "Souvenirs de..." and may perhaps have been part
of a collection known as "The Royal Album" which was presented to the
Prince of Wales after a royal concert. Soualle returned to Mysore in
1858 and was almost killed in the Indian Revolution. Around 1860,
Soualle returned to France for health reasons and began publishing his
own music. On March 27 1865, he performed a command performance for the
Emperor Napoleon III at the Tuileries Palace in the presence of the
entire Imperial Family. After 1865, nothing more is known about him.
Souvenirs dEcosse begins with a classical aria which leads to theme and three variations on the Scottish song « Charley is my Darling », a ballade by Charles Gray (1782-1851). The work ends with a brillant and decidedly non-Scottish bolero, which was probably a piece that Soualle wrote while he was in Scotland.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.