IMSLP Forums

Hi everyone, I have a modern copy of Jean-Baptiste Singelée's Septième Solo de Concert for baritone saxophone, Opus 93 (one of the works commissioned by Adolf Sax to help promote his new saxophones back in the 19th century). I would really like to make my own arrangement of this but that requires an original copy. I see several other Singelee scores on IMSLP so I'm hopeful there are originals out there somewhere. Does anyone have a good idea how to find them?

Thanks

Ben

Hi Ben,

Leaving aside whether you actually need a public domain source as a base or not, there is a copy of the original print in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in Paris: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb43273896g

You could click on "Acheter une reproduction" at one of the sources in the bottom right to order the library to scan the sheet music and send you images over email. You can ask for a quote or agree to just pay €54; the quote will often also be €54 in my experience (BNF isn't the cheapest). They'll also make you specify that you'll use the images for personal use only, which is in itself highly contentious.

After they've scanned the score for you, they'll often also put it available online on the Gallica platform after a considerable amount of time. A very large amount of scores on IMSLP come from Gallica.

That's brilliant - thanks! I know this was used as an exam piece by the Paris Conservatoire back in the early days of the saxophone but I hadn't managed to find any information on their website. I'll go get my copy now.

"Leaving aside..." - I'd say it's safer to go with a public domain source than not. More recent sources can have unknown editorial accretions of all kinds (including sometimes renaming works entirely...)