Paul Bonneau

Suite

Paul Bonneau (1918–1995) was considered by all his contemporaries to be the leading composer of French light symphonic music: he collaborated on fifty full-length films in addition to numerous shorts as either composer or orchestrator and composed scores for ballets and operettas. He wrote a number of pieces for saxophone which are still regarded around the world as standard reference works. His Suite for alto saxophone and piano is structured in four movements which can be played independently, like miniatures that live in their own, separate universes. Written in the Neoclassical spirit typical of the mid 20th century, this work bears witness to a flourishing French saxophone school, with its typically classical sound at a time when jazz was sweeping its way across Europe.