The saxophone music of Hillar Kareva

The saxophone, which was invented in the late 19th century, has enjoyed a brief but prolific history compared to that of many of the much older instruments. Since the instrument’s invention, one of the concerns of saxophonists around the world has been developing an ever-growing repertoire for the instrument. Due to geographical and political factors, much of the traditional repertoire which are now considered standard works originated from Western European composers—chiefly those from France, Belgium, and Germany.

Estonian composer, Hillar Kareva, born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1931, is a prime example of a composer who has contributed a large volume of pieces for saxophone while living and working outside of the traditional Western European sphere. Although his compositional output includes eleven works that feature the saxophone, Kareva’s music enjoys few performances and little recognition outside of Estonia.

This recording and accompanying paper are intended to serve as a resource for saxophonists world-wide to become familiar with Kareva and his works for saxophone. The recording is, to the author’s knowledge, the first to feature exclusively works written by Kareva for alto saxophone and piano. The accompanying paper aims to contextualize the recorded works within Kareva’s life and within the development of the concert saxophone repertoire.