Saxophone Sonata (Creston)

Sonata for E♭ Alto Saxophone and Piano
by Paul Creston
The composer, c. 1944–1956
Opus	19
Commissioned by	Cecil Leeson
Composed	1939
Duration	around thirteen minutes
Movements	three
Premiere
Date	15 February 1940 (official)
Location	Weill Recital Hall, New York City
Performers	Cecil Leeson (saxophone) and Paul Creston (piano)

The Sonata for E♭ Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19, was composed by Paul Creston in 1939. The sonata was commissioned in the spring by Creston's frequent collaborator, the American saxophonist Cecil Leeson, following the success of their previous work on Creston's Suite for Saxophone (1935). By June, Creston had begun composition and presented sketches to Leeson. It was completed by the end of August and slated for publication in 1940, although this date was missed due to logistical challenges brought on by World War II.

The sonata is in three movements and takes around thirteen minutes to perform. Its form follows a traditional, classical-era structure. The first movement is in a modified sonata form with no recapitulation: two themes are introduced in an exposition and extensively developed, before the movement ends with a coda. Harmonically, it is based on seventh chords, with its tonality moving between several tonal centers. A slower middle movement with song-like melodies follows, before the sonata ends with a rhythmically complex rondo featuring polymeters. Altogether, it presents a considerable difficulty for both players.

Creston and Leeson premiered the sonata at the Weill Recital Hall on 15 February 1940, although Leeson had performed it on tour prior to that date. No critics were present at the premiere, but the sonata's debut recording obtained a mixed response. Most found the sonata enjoyable, but criticism was made of a perceived simplistic and salon-like styling. Today, it is broadly seen as a key piece of the classical saxophone's repertoire and is frequently performed. It was the first of Creston's chamber works to be recorded, and had appeared on fourteen records by 1980.

History

Background

Creston's (right) partnership with Leeson made him reconsider his disparaging views on the saxophone.

Paul Creston believed that composition was a spiritual act, "just as vital ... as prayer and good deeds", and thought it should not be restricted to career composers.[1] He was a recipient of a 1938 Guggenheim Fellowship for composition, and part of his wide-ranging output was dedicated to advancing the classical repertoire of instruments little-used within the tradition, like the saxophone.[2] In 1934, Creston met the American saxophonist Cecil Leeson through the National Music League, an organization where Creston was an accompanist.[2] Leeson was sponsored by the group and benefited from their provision of accompanists for his tours. He had recently lost his habitual accompanist, Lois Russell, and was dissatisfied enough with their replacements to beg the league to send "someone who can read". Leeson was presented with Creston: pleased with his playing, the two began a partnership.[3] Leeson was a crucial figure to the development of the classical saxophone. At that time, the instrument was perceived as unsuited to art music and restricted as such to more mainstream musical genres. Along with Creston, Leeson worked with Lawson Lunde, Burnet Tuthill and other composers to create a large body of work for the classical saxophone, which includes Creston's Suite, Sonata and Concerto.[4] He was the first saxophonist to perform at New York City's Town Hall on 5 February 1937, accompanied by Creston.[5]

Creston ceased performing regularly with Leeson in March 1937 to focus on composition,[6] but they continued to play occasionally together until 1940.[2] On his relationship with Leeson, Creston retrospectively stated: "Cecil Leeson has been the greatest stimulus for the enrichment of the saxophone repertory, and I am most grateful for having been chosen a contributor to the repertory."[7] He credited Leeson for inspiring his love of the saxophone—which he previously thought of as "ugly ... with an irritatingly buzzy tone"[8][9]—as well as the success of his compositions for the instrument.[10]

Composition and publishing

At the time Creston composed his sonata, French composers were leading the development of the classical saxophone.[11] The saxophone suffered from a dearth of original concert repertoire: aside from Glazunov's Concerto, Debussy's Rhapsodie and Creston's own Suite, Leesons's recitals of the time were dominated by vocal and string transcriptions.[12]

In early 1939, Leeson asked Creston to write a sonata for the saxophone after the success of his Suite.[13] He was in the second year of his Guggenheim fellowship, which usually involved a year abroad in Europe, but this was excused due to the political instability caused by the onset of World War II.[14] Although they had ceased regular performances as a duo, Creston accepted the commission[a] following on from the success of his Suite:[16] he was told by Henry Moe, an associate of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, that a recording of the Suite was key to the granting of his fellowship.[14] Creston had only sketched a few bars when he received a visit from Leeson in June. The sonata was completed a couple of months later while Leeson was teaching at the Interlochen Center for the Arts' National Music Camp, and finalized at a meeting when Leeson came back.[17] He received the score on 28 August, along with an apology from Creston for being unable to practice the accompaniment:[13]

Enclosed is the score and part to my Sonata. I regret that I am unable to prepare the piano part myself right now as I am preparing for a Town Hall recital in October with violinist Rachmael Weinstock in a performance of my Suite for Violin and Piano. I will learn the part after the recital. Enjoy.

"Opus 19, which you have so greatly crusaded for, seems to be buried midst the archives of one Maxwell Weaner and will not see the light of publication until this planetary conflict instigated by one rat with a toothbrush mustache shall have expended itself."

Paul Creston, letter to Leeson (dated 8 September 1941)[18]

The New Music Group was chosen to publish the sonata and intended to do so in late 1940. Due to staffing shortages from World War II conscription, this deadline was missed.[19] After the war, although engraving was already completed, the sonata was instead published by Axelrod Publications and the copyright was assigned to the Templeton Publishing Company. The sonata's publishing rights were acquired by Shawnee Press in 1948. Later, realizing its popularity after attending the 1978 Marcel Mule International Saxophone Competition, Creston wrote to Shawnee's president to suggest that the publishers should consider opening a French branch.[20][21]

Creston's manuscript is held by the LaBudde Special Collections at the University of Missouri–Kansas City as part of a collection donated by his wife, Louise. The ink-written score has annotations in pencil, and a transcription of the second movement for viola is included.[22]

Performances

Unknown to Creston, Leeson decided to test the sonata's reception on a multi-state tour with his accompanist Josef Wagner a month before its official premiere:[17] among their seven performances,[15] they played at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio (9 January), Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana (11 January) and Wiley High School in Terre Haute, Indiana (15 January). It was several decades later that Creston discovered the truth; despite Leeson's tour, Creston still considered the New York City performance to be its true premiere.[23]

Leeson and Creston premiered the sonata at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 1940.

The sonata was given its official premiere by Creston and Leeson at a New Music Group concert in the Weill Recital Hall[b] on 15 February 1940. Leeson performed the sonata throughout the year, with recitals at St. Vincent's Hall, Elkhart, Indiana (21 April, on his tour with Josef Wagner), and the American Music Festival, New York City, New York (8 May, the last time he would perform with Creston).[24][25] Creston continued to accompany performances of the sonata into the late 1960s, playing recitals at the State University of New York (22 October 1966, with Frederick Wyman), the New York College of Music (13 November 1966, with Vincent Abato) and the WNYC American Music Festival (13 February 1968, with Abato).[26]

Reception

No reviews exist of the sonata's premiere performance as Weill Recital Hall concerts were not frequented by New York critics. Regardless, Creston, Leeson and their audience were all satisfied with the performance.[23] The sonata's debut recording by Vincent Abato garnered mixed reviews. Several reviewers saw the sonata as being traditional and lacking some depth. Reviewing the Abato record, the musicologist Nathan Broder wrote in The Musical Quarterly that the sonata was a "pleasant little addition to the meager repertory of the instrument", but that it was conservatively composed and "will not advance the cause of music one inch".[27] In a larger discography published by High Fidelity, Ray Ellsworth described the sonata as "well-wrought if lightweight".[28] Mark Melson agreed with Ellsworth on the sonata's structure, finding it traditional and ably written in a review for the Library Journal.[29] The composer and musicologist Dika Newlin reviewed the sonata in Sigma Alpha Iota's Pan Pipes, finding it enjoyable with "disarmingly catchy rhythms", but also found it to lack depth.[30] Some reviewers detected a French-inspired styling: reviewing Abato's recording in the Saturday Review, the composer Arthur Berger suggested similarities to "salon music of French genre", but with an American influence.[31] American Record Guide's editor James Lyons wrote negatively of the sonata's styling, criticizing it as incompatible with the "awfully note-heavy" writing (particularly the accompaniment).[32] In The New York Times, its later chief music critic Harold Schonberg wrote that he found the melodic content enjoyable, but saw it as using a "near-salon approach".[33]

Later reviews of the sonata were more favorable: in a 1979 review for Fanfare, the music critic Walter Simmons lauded the sonata as a "true classic of the saxophone repertoire", with "Mozartian precision" and enjoyable melodic content. He also commented on the sonata's suitability for virtuoso players, being a "flattering medium for representing a performer's artistry".[34] Tim Page of The New York Times wrote that he considered the sonata underrated in a 1983 article, complimenting its authentic and "distinctly American sound".[35]

According to Simmons, the sonata is "probably Creston's single most widely performed and best-known work".[36] It is widely considered an influential piece in the classical saxophone repertoire. In a conversation with Eugene Rousseau, Marcel Mule stated he considered the sonata "one of the definitive works for saxophone and piano" along with Claude Pascal's Sonatine.[37][38] By 1978, Harry Gee of Indiana State University suggested that it could be "one of the most often performed twentieth-century solos for any wind instrument".[2] Stephen Cottrell—professor of music at City, University of London—expressed a similar sentiment, saying it is "probably now the single most frequently performed recital work in the saxophone repertoire".[5] Along with his other works, the success of Creston's sonata contributed to the development of the saxophone's repertory by inspiring other American composers—including Edvard Moritz, Bernhard Heiden and Burnet Tuthill—to compose for the instrument.[10]

Music

Movements

External videos
Nathan Nabb performs Creston's sonata at Stephen F. Austin State University, accompanied by Hyun Ji Oh
Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Paul Creston via YouTube

The sonata is in three movements, following a traditional fast–slow–fast structure:[39][c]

1. "With vigor" ( = 126)
2. "With tranquility" ( = 66)
3. "With gaiety" ( = 160)

A typical performance lasts approximately thirteen minutes.[24]

I. "With vigor"

The opening movement is in ^4
₄ time and is written in a modified sonata form without a full recapitulation, comprising an exposition where two themes are stated, a development section and a coda.[40][41] The movement's harmony mainly uses seventh chords containing tritones[42] and features pantonality: temporary tonal centers occasionally emerge,[43] the principal of which is E major.[41][44] It starts with a vigorous theme in the saxophone,[43] which suggests a Lydian modality through its use of a sharpened fourth scale degree.[45][46]

This theme is underwritten by non-functional harmony[45] and can be divided into four motifs: although all motifs are used, the third appears most extensively in the development section.[47][48]

The music calms after an initial climax[49] and settles into a more stable tonality of E major.[45] A quieter, song-like second theme is introduced in the saxophone, which contrasts the energetic first theme.[50][43][48]

A transition occurs following the exposition, introducing the development section. Creston develops the first theme using sequences and repetition, manipulating the third motif. Each repetition has an extra crotchet (quarter-note) beat in length, shifting the motif's accentuation and undermining the ^4
₄ time.[51] Development of the second theme occurs in piano, later joined by saxophone. The change to a tonal center of D♭ major develops the theme through a darker timbre.[51][52] After another transition based on the second theme, the first theme is developed until the movement's close. Creston uses scalic runs and the heights of the saxophones range (up to altissimo G₆) to create a climax,[40] before using a coda based on the first theme to end the movement.[53][d]

II. "With tranquility"

"With tranquility" is a slow movement based on lyrical melodies.[55] Its form is the subject of scholarly disagreement, and is variously described as through-composed[40] and ternary.[53][41] Despite the time signature of ^5
₄, Creston implies groupings of ^3
₄ with two upbeats. This grouping emphasizes accented notes, as well as harmonic changes. Later in the movement, ^2
₄ and ^4
₄ groupings are used.[56] The movement suggests a key of A major, although this is unstable: this tonal center only appears at the movement's start and end. Harmonically, the movement mainly uses consecutive seventh chords.[43] It opens with the piano playing a single melodic line with chordal accompaniment, moving by step.[57][58] Simmons suggests that this melody is a development of the first movement's second theme.[43][59]

After an exposition of this theme in the saxophone, it is developed by altering timbre and harmony,[40] briefly in the tonal center of F♯ major before moving to D major.[44][60] The piano accompaniment, which was mainly based on crotchet rhythms, now uses faster semiquavers (sixteenth notes) to form hemiolas with triplet rhythms in the saxophone.[61][60] This development builds to the movement's climax, where the parts use imitation of rhythm and melody.[40] The theme returns with C major as a tonal center,[60] now lower in range and volume. It is further developed with rhythmic changes introduced in the development.[62] A final cadence in A major is produced after a triadic chromatic descent.[43][63] The ending uses true ^5
₄ groupings for the first time, although the saxophone and piano are out of sync as they use opposing patterns of beats (3+2 against 2+3).[56] The saxophone ends on the mediant, recalling the ending to the first movement.[60]

III. "With gaiety"

"With gaiety" is a seven-part rondo in ^2
₄ with an ABACADA structure.[64] It is in D major, although departures to other tonal centers occur in the rondo's episodes.[65] Unlike previous movements, quartal, diminished and augmented chords are used sparingly. Creston instead uses mainly seventh chords, major triads and minor triads, contributing to a more upbeat mood.[66] The movement has a complex rhythmic foundation, drawing on musical traditions from Spain and Latin America.[55] It features polymeters throughout the movement, along with hemiolas.[67] A set of polymeters is presented at the outset: the saxophone (marked "crisp")[68] and left hand of the piano are in ^5
₈ with the saxophone accenting each grouping with a mordent,[e][70] while the right hand of the piano is playing semiquavers in groups of ^3
₈.[71][72]

After the principal theme is introduced, a short transition occurs in the piano before the first episode. A new polymeter is introduced: ^2
₄ in the saxophone against ^3
₈ groupings in the piano. Accents continue to be used to distinguish groupings.[68] The principal theme returns after a transition (the saxophone melody and piano countermelody are now switched)[73] but is abruptly diverted into another episode after seven bars. A short saxophone transition based on diminished arpeggios leads into a calmer episode:[73] smooth melodic lines inspired by movement II appear in the saxophone and accents are absent from both parts.[74][75]

Another piano transition brings about the principal theme in F♯ major, now much quieter and more developed. A transition from both players leads into the last episode in the key of A major, which is dance-like in nature. The principal theme returns for the last time, now in the home key, and is developed further before a coda.[74] The sonata ends with a scalic climax passed between both instruments.[76]

Style

Creston's designation of the piece as a sonata—a rarity among his works—distinguished it from its predecessor, suggesting a classical styling as opposed to his baroque-inspired Suite for the saxophone. According to Simmons, this difference is shown by the first movement's use of sonata form, and generally in the greater strength of the sonata's climaxes.[43] The sonata's form is traditional, with each movement's form and tempi following classical era expectations established by composers like Mozart.[49] The movements are connected by their main tonal centers, which progress in perfect fifths (E major → A major → D major).[41] Writing is often contrapuntal, but not imitatively: there are no fugal or canonic devices in the sonata.[77] Contrary to traditional practice, Creston eschews Italian tempi and expression markings, using English throughout the sonata (e.g. increase instead of crescendo).[69] Key signatures are absent, with Creston preferring accidentals due to the sonata's chromaticism.[78]

The sonata is of substantial difficulty to the saxophonist, using a generally high tessitura along with irregular patterns and scales.[79] It uses all of the saxophone's regular range, venturing into altissimo F♯s and Gs several times.[80] The piano accompaniment to Creston's sonata is also difficult[79] and requires a large hand span. It is often described as being just as–if not more–difficult than the saxophone part.[78][50][81]

Tempi

Creston expressed uncertainty over the original tempi on multiple occasions. During a visit to Ithaca College in 1976, the college's saxophone professor Steven Mauk asked Creston about the accuracy of the sonata's tempi. According to Mauk, Creston exclaimed that "the person who put the tempo markings on this piece was a fool", suggesting slower tempi of = 52–56 and = 144 for movements II and III instead.[82]

Creston requested that performers of the sonata change the tempi at the 1978 Marcel Mule International Saxophone Competition in Gap, France. Jean-Marie Londeix, a jury member at the competition, recounted that Creston's new tempi were = 120, = 60 and = 144 for each movement respectively. Creston had previously that expressed the original tempi were too fast in a 1975 letter to Londeix. Londeix considered these alterations beneficial, giving a better balance of tempi and "[allowing] a more clearly defined chamber music character to emerge".[83]

Recordings

Leeson and Creston made the first recording of the sonata (movements I and II) in late 1939 using a Federal Recorder owned by Leeson. The discs still exist, but cannot be played.[19][21] Vincent Abato, professor of saxophone at the Juilliard School, made the first commercial recording of the sonata in 1955, accompanied by Creston.[84][85] This was the first time one of Creston's chamber pieces had appeared on record.[86] The first stereo recording was made by Donald Sinta and Nelita True, c. 1968.[87] By 1978, the sonata had appeared on eight records, including those made by Marcel Mule, Sigurd Raschèr, François Daneels and Jean-Marie Londeix;[2] two years later that number increased to fourteen.[18] Later recordings include those issued by Arno Bornkamp, Alex Mitchell and Alina Mleczko (see below).

Selected recordings

Performers	Label – Catalogue Number	Year	Ref(s)
Vincent Abato (saxophone) and Paul Creston (piano)	Columbia – ML 4989	1955	[84]
Marcel Mule (saxophone) and Solange Robin (piano)	London – LL 1479	c. 1956	[88][89]
Sigurd Rascher (saxophone) and Russell Sherman (piano)	Grand Award– AAS 708	1960	[88]
Donald Sinta (saxophone) and Nelita True (piano)	Mark – 22868	c. 1968	[88][87]
Jean-Marie Londeix (saxophone) and Pierre Pontier (piano)	EMI – C065 12805	1974	[88]
Harvey Pittel (saxophone) and Levering Rothfuss (piano)	Crystal – S 157	1978	[34]
Paul Brodie (saxophone) and Myriam Shechter (piano)	Golden Crest – RE 7037	c. 1979	[88]
Pekka Savijoki (saxophone) and Jussi Siirala (piano)	BIS – LP 159	1980	[84]
Cecil Leeson (saxophone) and Charles Kuhn (piano)	Enchanté – ENS 2006	Before 1986	[90]
Arno Bornkamp (saxophone) and Ivo Janssen (piano)	Globe – GLO5032	1990	[91]
Alex Mitchell (saxophone) and Jeremy Limb (piano)	Naxos – 8.559241	2006	[92]
Alina Mleczko (saxophone) and Agnieszka Kopacka (piano)	Dux – DUX0692	2010	[93]

Notes and references

Notes

1. The piece is generally considered a commission although there was no exchange of money.[14][15]
2. At the time called the "Carnegie Chamber Hall"[24]
3. Creston later advised performers to use different tempi from the original markings, see § Tempi
4. The musicologist Thomas Liley alternatively describes this as a partial recapitulation of only the first theme.[54]
5. In conversation with Mauk, Creston said he intended mordents to be played on the beat throughout the sonata.[69]

References

1. Cowell 1948, pp. 533–535.
2. Gee 1978, p. 17.
3. Frigo 2005, pp. 10–11.
4. Dryer-Beers 1998, p. 39.
5. Cottrell 2012, p. 255.
6. Morris 1996, p. 103.
7. Gee 1986, p. 121.
8. Hulsebos 1989, p. 162.
9. Frigo 2005, p. 11.
10. Morris 1996, p. 104.
11. Rousseau 1982, p. 94.
12. Frigo 2005, pp. 12–13.
13. Morris 1996, pp. 113–115.
14. Hulsebos 1989, p. 159.
15. Liley 1988, p. 7.
16. Frigo 2005, p. 18.
17. Hulsebos 1989, p. 160.
18. Morris 1996, p. 118.
19. Morris 1996, p. 117.
20. Morris 1996, pp. 117–120.
21. Hulsebos 1989, p. 161.
22. University of Missouri–Kansas City Libraries.
23. Morris 1996, p. 116.
24. Slomski 1994, p. 58.
25. Morris 1996, pp. 116–117.
26. Slomski 1994, p. 59.
27. Broder 1955, p. 551.
28. Ellsworth 1956, p. 61.
29. Melson 1955, p. 1894.
30. Newlin 1956, p. 30.
31. Berger 1955, p. 38.
32. Lyons 1955, p. 385.
33. Schonberg 1955, p. 23.
34. Simmons 1979, p. 45.
35. Page 1983, p. 62.
36. Simmons 2004, p. 228.
37. Liley 1998, p. 55.
38. Rousseau 1982, p. 108.
39. Morris 1996, p. 77.
40. Maloney 1985, p. 4.
41. Liley 1988, p. 9.
42. Sibbing 1969, p. 65.
43. Simmons 2004, p. 229.
44. Sibbing 1969, p. 57.
45. Liley 1988, p. 10.
46. Creston 1973, p. 2.
47. Sibbing 1969, p. 59.
48. Creston 1973, p. 3.
49. Maloney 1985, p. 3.
50. Hinson & Roberts 2021, p. 376.
51. Maloney 1985, pp. 3–4.
52. Liley 1988, p. 12.
53. Sibbing 1969, p. 56.
54. Liley 1988, pp. 12–13.
55. Morris 1996, p. 15.
56. Leone 1991, pp. 52–55.
57. Sibbing 1969, p. 60.
58. Liley 1988, p. 13.
59. Creston 1973, p. 15.
60. Liley 1988, p. 14.
61. Sibbing 1969, p. 69.
62. Sibbing 1969, pp. 56–57, 62.
63. Creston 1973, p. 20.
64. Morris 1996, p. 73.
65. Maloney 1985, p. 6.
66. Sibbing 1969, p. 66.
67. Leone 1991, p. 48.
68. Maloney 1985, p. 5.
69. Mauk, p. 3.
70. Leone 1991, p. 19.
71. Leone 1991, p. 28.
72. Creston 1973, p. 21.
73. Liley 1988, p. 17.
74. Maloney 1985, pp. 5–6.
75. Creston 1973, p. 27.
76. Sibbing 1969, p. 63.
77. Sibbing 1969, p. 71.
78. Williams 2011, p. 66.
79. Sibbing 1969, p. 79.
80. Sibbing 1969, p. 72.
81. Tallmadge 1946, p. 46.
82. Mauk, p. 2.
83. Umble 2000, p. 212.
84. Slomski 1994, p. 77.
85. Cottrell 2012, p. 256.
86. Sibbing 1969, p. 55.
87. Kirby 1968, p. 40.
88. Simmons 1979, p. 46.
89. Billboard 1956, p. 28.
90. Gee 1986, p. 124.
91. MacDonald 1992, p. 66.
92. Simmons 2008.
93. Pwyll ap Siôn 2010, p. 75.

Sources

Books

• Cottrell, Stephen (2012). The Saxophone. Yale Musical Instruments. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300100419.
• Gee, Harry (1986). Saxophone Soloists and Their Music: an Annotated Bibliography. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253350916.
• Hinson, Maurice; Roberts, Wesley (2021). The Piano in Chamber Ensemble (3rd ed.). Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253056740.
• Ingham, Richard, ed. (1998). The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone. Cambridge Companions. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521596664.
  • Dryer-Beers, Thomas. "Influential Soloists". In Ingham (1998).
  • Liley, Thomas. "The Repertoire Heritage". In Ingham (1998).
• Rousseau, Eugene (1982). Marcel Mule: his Life and the Saxophone. Étoile. OCLC 9683702.
• Simmons, Walter (2004). Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810848849.
• Slomski, Monica (1994). Paul Creston: a Bio-Bibliography. Bio-Bibliographies in Music. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780313036439.
• Umble, James (2000). Jean-Marie Londeix: Master of the Modern Saxophone. Roncorp Publications. ISBN 9780939103065.

Dissertations

• Frigo, Connie (2005). Commissioning Works for Saxophone: a History and Guide for Performers (DMA thesis). University of South Carolina. OCLC 61772632.
• Hulsebos, Mark (1989). Cecil Leeson: the Pioneering of the Concert Saxophone in American from 1921 to 1941 (DA thesis). Ball State University. OCLC 24050019.
• Leone, Carol (1991). Interpreting the Rhythmic Structures of Paul Creston as Applied in the Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 38 and the Sonata for Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19 (DMA thesis). University of North Texas. OCLC 263180769.
• Liley, Thomas (1988). A Teacher’s Guide to the Interpretation of Selected Music for Saxophone (DMus thesis). Indiana University. OCLC 39110066.
• Morris, Willie (1996). The Development of the Saxophone Compositions of Paul Creston (DMA thesis). University of Missouri–Kansas City. OCLC 35239809.
• Sibbing, Robert (1969). An Analytical Study of the Published Sonatas for Saxophone by American Composers (DEd thesis). University of Illinois. OCLC 925719336.
• Williams, Jane (2011). State Classical Solo Contest Repertoire Lists: an Exploratory Study and Comprehensive List of Recommended Intermediate Alto Saxophone Compositions (DMA thesis). University of Iowa. doi:10.17077/etd.v7gzlwra.

Journals

• Broder, Nathan (October 1955). "Review of Records". The Musical Quarterly. 41 (4). ISSN 0027-4631.
• Cowell, Henry (October 1948). "Paul Creston". The Musical Quarterly. 34 (4): 533–543. doi:10.1093/mq/XXXIV.4.533. ISSN 0027-4631.
• Gee, Harry (Winter 1978). "A Visit with Paul Creston". The Saxophone Symposium. 3 (1). ISSN 0271-3705.
• Maloney, Kevin (January 1985). "An Analytical Approach to the Creston Sonata (Part I)". The Saxophone Symposium. 10 (1). ISSN 0271-3705.
• Melson, Mark (15 September 1955). "Recorded Music". Library Journal. 80 (16). ISSN 0363-0277.
• Newlin, Dika (January 1956). "Discs". Pan Pipes. 48 (3). ISSN 0889-7581.
• Tallmadge, J. Irving (April 1946). "Recent Publications". Music Educators Journal. 32 (5). doi:10.2307/3400412. ISSN 0027-4321. JSTOR 3400412.

Magazines

• Berger, Arthur (27 August 1955). "Spotlight on the Moderns". Saturday Review. Vol. 38. ISSN 0036-4983.
• Ellsworth, Ray (October 1956). "Americans on Microgroove". High Fidelity. Vol. 6, no. 8. ISSN 0018-1455.
• Kirby, Fred (8 June 1968). "Instruments Shine on Mark LP's". Billboard. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Lyons, James (August 1955). "Americana from Columbia". American Record Guide. Vol. 21, no. 12. ISSN 0003-0716.
• MacDonald, Malcolm (May 1992). "Chamber reviews". Gramophone. Vol. 69, no. 828. ISSN 0017-310X.
• Pwyll ap Siôn (July 2010). "Chamber reviews". Gramophone. Vol. 88, no. 1059. ISSN 0017-310X.
• "Reviews and Ratings of New Classical Albums". Billboard. 24 November 1956. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Simmons, Walter (July–August 1979). "Classical Recordings". Fanfare. Vol. 2, no. 6. ISSN 0148-9364.

Other

• Creston, Paul (1973) [Composed 1939]. Sonata for E♭ Alto Saxophone and Piano. Shawnee Press. OCLC 1113096525.
• Mauk, Steven (n.d.). "Master Lesson on Paul Creston's Sonata" (PDF). Ithaca College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
• Page, Tim (13 March 1983). "Music: Debuts in Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
• "Paul Creston Collection". University of Missouri–Kansas City Libraries. n.d. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
• Schonberg, Harold (10 July 1955). "Records: Contemporary Americans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
• Simmons, Walter (2008). "Muczynski, Creston, Heiden, Levin, Hartley: Saxophone Sonatas. Takács Two Fantastics. Paccione Seeing Those Hours. Rorem Picnic on the Marne. Hovhaness Suite for Alto Saxophone and Guitar. Quate Light of Sothis. Wiedoeft Valse Vanité". Walter Simmons. Originally published in Fanfare. Retrieved 1 January 2025.

Further reading

• Eckers, Roger (1966). An Analysis of Paul Creston's Sonata for E-flat Alto Saxophone and Piano (MA thesis). Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. OCLC 1405819075.
• Sweitzer, Christopher (2010). A Metrical Analysis and Rebarring of Paul Creston's Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 19 (MMus thesis). University of Nebraska-Lincoln. OCLC 702622206.