Frederick Hemke


Frederick L. Hemke was an American virtuoso classical saxophonist and influential professor of saxophone at Northwestern University. Hemke helped increase the popularity of classical saxophone, particularly among leading American composers, and raised recognition of the classical saxophone in solo, chamber, and major orchestral repertoire throughout the world. Throughout his career, Hemke built American saxophone repertoire through many composers including Muczynski, Creston, Stein, Heiden, and Karlins.
For half a century, Hemke was a full-time faculty member at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music. In 2002, he was named Associate Dean Emeritus of the school. He retired in 2012.
Journalist and author Michael Segell, in his 2005 book, The Devil's Horn,'' called Hemke "The Dean of Saxophone Education in America."
Hemke died April 17, 2019.

Formal education

From 1955 to 1956, Hemke studied saxophone with Marcel Mule at the Paris Conservatoire National de Musique et de Declamation, earning in 1956 the Premier Prix diploma. Hemke holds the distinction of being the first American saxophonist to earn a Premier Prix diploma from the Paris Conservatory. In 1958, Hemke earned a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. In 1962, he earned a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. In 1975, Hemke earned a D.M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
In primary and secondary school, until the start of college, Hemke studied saxophone with Eddie Schmidt, a band director in Milwaukee, and a close friend of Ralph Joseph Hermann — musician, composer, songwriter, and music publisher. Hemke was highly influenced by Schmidt's recording of Marcel Mule — and also of his recordings of Al Gallodoro, and Freddy Gardner. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hemke studied with Jay Morton, teacher of woodwinds. Hemke did not have a formal saxophone teacher at Eastman, but while there, studied reeds with clarinetist Stanley Hasty, flute repertoire with Joseph Mariano, and oboe repertoire with Robert Sprenkle.

Teaching career

Hemke taught saxophone at Northwestern's School of Music for fifty years. He began in 1962 as a teaching associate. In 1964 he became an assistant professor and was appointed chairman of the newly formed Winds and Percussion Instruments Department. In 1967 Hemke was elevated to associate professor; on September 1, 1975, Full Professor; and on September 1, 1991, chairman of the Department of Music Performance Studies at the School of Music. Hemke served as senior associate dean for administration in the School of Music from 1995 to 2001. In 2002, Hemke was named the Louis and Elsie Snydacker Eckstein Professor of Music and also named Associate Dean Emeritus of the School of Music. He retired from full-time teaching in 2012.
As a music educator in higher education, Hemke taught hundreds of saxophonists, many of whom have flourished as performing artists and music educators of international rank. From 2013 until his death, Hemke served as artistic director and taught during summers at the Frederick L. Hemke Saxophone Institute, located at Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, ME.

Other positions

Hemke was well known as the designer of a line of reeds which bear the trademark "Frederick L. Hemke Reeds." D'Addario began making the brand in 1982. Hemke was an artist-clinician for The Selmer Company, the North American distributor of saxophones made in France by the Paris firm, Henri Selmer Paris. In 1979 Hemke was host for the Sixth World Saxophone Congress held at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Performing career

Hemke was known worldwide as one of the great classical saxophonists. He performed extensively as a solo artist, conducted master classes and delivered lectures in the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, and the Far East. He also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and many other orchestras.
Hemke premiered several works for saxophone including Allan Pettersson's Symphony No. 16 and James Di Pasquale's Sonata for tenor saxophone. Di Pasquale, a prolific composer, had studied saxophone with Hemke and Sigurd Rascher.
;;Selected performances
  • Hemke made his New York debut on April 16, 1962 at the Town Hall, a storied concert venue that had its first-ever classical saxophone performance on February 5, 1937 — by Cecil Leeson. Hemke performed compositions by Pascal, Lantier, Rueff, Hartley, and Stein and arrangements by Mule of Bach and Leclair.
  • Premier, February 27, 2014, Augusta Read Thomas, Hemke Concerto, Prisms of Light, for solo alto saxophone and orchestra
  1. "Illuminations"
  2. "Sunrise Ballad"
  3. "Chasing Radiance"
  4. "Solar Rings"

    Advocacy for B tenor saxophone

Among the instruments in a traditional modern saxophone quartet — B soprano, E alto, B tenor, and E baritone saxophone — classical solos were, and still are, mostly written for the soprano and the alto. Hemke decided to focus on the tenor as a classical solo instrument, as evidenced by the release of his 1971 solo album Music for Tenor Saxophone.
In orchestral music, the tenor saxophone is one of three saxophones heard in Ravel's Boléro — they were originally scored for two players, one on E sopranino and the other alternating between the tenor and the soprano as required. Recordings by tenor saxophone virtuoso James Houlik and others notwithstanding, classical tenor saxophone music is still a very small portion of classical saxophone repertoire and discography.

Selected discography

;;Solo recordings
  • Contest Music for Saxophone, Lapider Records M 249-04, distributed by H. & A. Selmer, Elkhart
  • Music for Tenor Saxophone, Brewster Records BR 1204 ;
  1. Sonata, for tenor saxophone and piano, by James Di Pasquale
  2. A Ballad in Time and Space, by William Duckworth
  3. Poem, for tenor saxophone and piano, by Walter Hartley
  4. Music for Tenor Saxophone and Piano, by Martin William Karlins
  • The American Saxophone, Brewster Records BR 1203 ;
  1. Concerto, for alto saxophone, by Ingolf Dahl
  2. Farewell, by Warren Benson
  3. Concerto, for alto saxophone, Karel Husa
  4. Aeolian Song, by Warren Benson
  • Music for Tenor Saxophone and The American Saxophone was
  • Simple Gifts, EnF Records ;
  • Fascinating Rhythm, Sins Of My Old Age, EnF Records ;
  • Premier, February 27, 2014, Augusta Read Thomas, Hemke Concerto, Prisms of Light, for solo alto saxophone and orchestra
  1. "Illuminations"
  2. "Sunrise Ballad"
  3. "Chasing Radiance"
  4. "Solar Rings"
;;Ensemble recordings
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Educational publications
  • The Early History of the Saxophone, by Hemke, University of Wisconsin ;,
  • On Reading Music: An Information Processing Analysis, by Gilbert Koreb Krulee & Hemke ;
;;The Selmer Series, Elkhart, Indiana:
Commissions and dedications
  • "Music for Tenor Saxophone and Piano," by M. William Karlins ;
  • Symphony No. 16, for orchestra with bravura alto saxophone, by Allan Pettersson, commissioned by Hemke ;
  • The Dream Net, 1974, revised 1978, by Warren Benson, commissioned by Hemke, dedicated to Alec Wilder, premiered by Hemke May 23, 1975, with the Eckstein Quartet, Lutken Hall, Northwestern University;
  • "Wind Rose", by Warren Benson, commissioned by Hemke and the Northwestern University Saxophone, dedicated to Hemke and the Northwestern University Saxophone Quartet on their tour of Asia, Spring, 1966;
  • Little Suite, by Walter Hartley, for Hemke, for baritone saxophone and piano ;
  • 5 Etudes for Alto Saxophone, by Robert Lemay, Courlay: Éditions Fuzeau
  • Episode, for saxophone quartet, by Jared Tozier Spears, commissioned by Hemke ;
  • Symphony for Saxophone and Wind Band, by Gerald Eugene Kemner
Music editions
  • Hemke has edited works for saxophone solos and saxophone ensembles, twenty-five of which are part of the Frederick Hemke Saxophone Series published by the Southern Music Company.

    Awards and honors

Influence on saxophone design

Hemke was a primary design consultant for the S-80 mouthpiece manufactured by Henri Selmer Paris, and he used a custom version of it on alto saxophone. The mouthpiece is metal with a square chamber.
He was also a design consultant for the Selmer Mark VII E alto and B tenor saxophones, introduced in 1974.

Audio samples and videography

  • , by Allan Pettersson
  • , by
  • , by
Hemke Legacy Tribute: May 29 – June 3, 2012, Northwestern University
  • , Eric Howell Music ;