How to Use this Guide
This research guide helps you search and browse for books and scores for your main instrument (listed on list on the left)
Each page for your individual instrument starts with the Library of Congress classification system for books and scores relevant to each instrument, allowing you to browse the shelves of the library.
- The classification system uses call numbers to place items on a physical shelf, and items are also given multiple subject headings, a controlled language that describes the contents of items.
- For printed music, each call number describes a musical genre or performing ensemble, which is then organized alphabetically by the composer's last name.
- Subject headings are used for searching in catalogs and databases, while call numbers are useful for finding materials and browsing physical shelves.
The Performing Arts Collection can be found on the Second Floor of Campbell Library.
- Here, you will find all of the scores, CDs, and most of the reference books (encyclopedias, special music dictionaries, catalogs, and introductory research books), and some of the books on music education and performance.
- The Performing Arts Collections houses all of the items with call numbers starting with just the letter M, all of the scores and most of the books starting with MT, and some books starting with ML.
Please note: As of January 2025 Campbell Library is currently closed for renovations. Please see the renovation website for information on library services.
(Sub-pages under each tab also offer selected primary and secondary source bibliographies.)
Call Numbers for Saxophone Music
Use these call numbers to browse for music for your instrument!
| M105–M109 | Saxophone alone: |
| M105 | Collections (more than one composer) |
| M106 | Original works: Collections (one composer) |
| M107 | Original works: Separate works |
| M108 | Arrangements: Collections (one composer) |
| M109 | Arrangements: Separate works |
| M268–M269 | Saxophone with piano accompaniment: |
| M268 | Collections |
| M269 | Separate works |
| M288–M289 | Duets for two wind instruments (of all kinds): |
| M288 | Collections |
| M289 | Separate works |
| M290–M291 | Duets—one stringed and one wind instrument |
| M296–M297 | Duets—one wind and one plucked instrument |
| M315–M319 | Piano and two wind instruments |
| M320–M324 | Piano, one stringed, and one wind instrument |
| M335–M339 | Piano, one wind, and one plucked instrument |
| M355–M359 | Three wind instruments |
| M360–M364 | Three stringed and wind instruments |
| M375–M379 | Three wind and plucked instruments |
| M457-M458 | Saxophone quartets |
Quartets, quintets, sextets, septets, octets, and nonets follow similar patterns (in the M400s, 500s, 600s, 700s, 800s, and 900s, respectively).For more details, see the full classification schedule.
Concertos and similar pieces:
| M1034.S4 | Saxophone with orchestra, full scores |
| M1034.5 .S4 | Cadenzas for such works |
| M1035.S4 | Saxophone with orchestra, piano reductions |
| M1134.S4 | Saxophone with string orchestra, full scores |
| M1134.5 .S4 | Cadenzas for such works |
| M1135.S4 | Saxophone with string orchestra, piano reductions |
Saxophone studies and methods:
| MT500 | General works |
| MT502 | Systems and methods |
| MT503 | Teaching pieces |
| MT504 | Instructive editions |
| MT505 | Studies and exercises |
| MT506 | Orchestral studies |
| MT507 | Two saxophones |
| MT508 | Self-instructors |
| MT510 | Other instruments of the saxophone family |
Subject Headings for Saxophone Music
(for subject searches in Library Search or WorldCat)
These subject headings help you search our collections by precise genres and instrument combinations. Use these in advanced searches using subject headings in Library Search to see our holdings or WorldCat to see what is available through other libraries.
| Solo saxophone music: | sonatas (saxophone); suites (saxophone); variations (saxophone); etc.; saxophone music |
| Music for saxophone and piano: | rondos (saxophone and piano); sonatas (saxophone and piano); suites (saxophone and piano); variations (saxophone and piano); etc.; saxophone and piano music |
| Duets: | saxophone music (saxophone (2))
bassoon and saxophone music; flute and saxophone music; horn and saxophone music; oboe and saxophone music; horn and saxophone music; etc. |
| Trios: | woodwind trios (saxophone, oboe, flute)
(or other combinations) wind trios [mixed brass and woodwind, various combinations]; e.g., wind trios (saxophone, trombone, trumpet) |
| Quartets: | woodwind quartets [various combinations];
also suites [various combinations of instruments]; variations [various combinations of instruments]; etc. woodwind quartets (saxophones (4)) wind quartets [mixed brass and woodwind, various combinations]; also suites, variations, etc. Similar for quintets, sextets, septets, octets, and nonets. |
| Saxophone and Orchestra: | concertos (saxophone)
concertos (saxophone) — solo with piano saxophone with orchestra rondos (saxophone with orchestra) |
Selected Bibliography
The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone by
The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone, first published in 1999, tells the story of the saxophone, its history and technical development from Adolphe Sax (who invented it c. 1840) to the end of the twentieth century. It includes extensive accounts of the instrument's history in jazz, rock and classical music as well as providing practical performance guides. Discussion of the repertoire and soloists from 1850 to the present day includes accessible descriptions of contemporary techniques and trends, and moves into the electronic age with midi wind instruments. There is a discussion of the function of the saxophone in the orchestra, in 'light music' and in rock and pop studios, as well as of the saxophone quartet as an important chamber music medium. The contributors to this volume are some of the finest performers and experts on the saxophone.
Call Number: ML975 .C36 1998ISBN: 0521593484Publication Date: 1999-02-13
A Comprehensive Guide to the Saxophone Repertoire 1844-2003 by
The only comprehensive bibliographical index of music for saxophone. More than 18,000 works for saxophone from 1844-2003, the entire lifespan of the saxophone, are cross-indexed by composer and instrumentation. Each entry includes title, duration, year of composition, publisher, arranger, dedicatee, movement titles, and composer information.
Call Number: PAC Ref. ML 128.S247 L62 2003ISBN: 0939103079Publication Date: 2003-07-01- THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE SAXOPHONE by Call Number: AVAILABLE ONLINEISBN: 9798659807453Publication Date: 1975
The Saxophone by
In the first fully comprehensive study of one of the world’s most iconic musical instruments, Stephen Cottrell examines the saxophone’s various social, historical, and cultural trajectories, and illustrates how and why this instrument, with its idiosyncratic shape and sound, became important for so many different music-makers around the world. After considering what led inventor Adolphe Sax to develop this new musical wind instrument, Cottrell explores changes in saxophone design since the 1840s before examining the instrument's role in a variety of contexts: in the military bands that contributed so much to the saxophone's global dissemination during the nineteenth century; as part of the rapid expansion of American popular music around the turn of the twentieth century; in classical and contemporary art music; in world and popular music; and, of course, in jazz, a musical style with which the saxophone has become closely identified.
Call Number: ML975 .C67 2012ISBN: 0300100418Publication Date: 2013-02-05- THE SAXOPHONE: A STUDY OF ITS USE IN SYMPHONIC AND OPERATIC LITERATURE by Call Number: AVAILABLE ONLINEISBN: 9798661365811Publication Date: 1975
The Saxophone Handbook: A Complete Guide to Tone, Technique, Performance, and Maintenance by
(Berklee Guide). A complete guide to playing and maintenance, this handbook offers essential information on all dimensions of the saxophone. It provides an overview of technique, such as breathing, fingerings, articulations, and more. Exercises will help you develop your sense of timing, facility, and sound. Extensive directions on repairs will help you maintain your instrument and customize it to support your own playing style and preferences. You'll learn to fine-tune your reed, recork the keys, fix binding keys, replace pads, and many other repairs and adjustments. You'll also learn to improve your tone, intonation, and flexibility while playing with proper technique.
Call Number: PAC MT 500 S628S3ISBN: 0876391382Publication Date: 2013-03-01
Call Numbers for Books about the Saxophone
| Ref. ML128 .S247 | Saxophone bibliographies |
| ML975 | General works |
| ML976 | Construction |
| ML978 | Music and playing |