Sigurd Rascher

Sigurd Raschèr
Classical Saxophonist Sigurd Rascher
Background information
Born	15 May 1907 Elberfeld, Germany
Died	25 February 2001(2001-02-25) (aged 93) Shushan, New York
Genres	Classical
Instruments	Saxophone
Years active	1930-1977
Notable instruments
Saxophone

Sigurd Manfred Raschèr (pronounced 'Rah-sher') (15 May 1907 – 25 February 2001) was an American saxophonist of German birth. He became an important figure in the development of the 20th century repertoire for the classical saxophone.

Sigurd Rascher was born in Elberfeld, Germany (now part of Wuppertal) where his father, Hans August Rascher (1880–1952), was temporarily stationed as a military physician. His schooling began in Arlesheim, Switzerland and continued in Stuttgart where he graduated from the first Waldorfschule. After having played piano for some time, he decided to study clarinet with Philipp Dreisbach at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart (1928/1929) In an interview, Rascher said, "Obeying necessity, not following my inclination, I started to play saxophone in order to be in a dance band. As I did this for a couple of years, I became more and more unsatisfied. I started to practice furiously and slowly found out that it had more possibilities than was usually thought of."

In 1930 Rascher moved to Berlin where he was called upon when a saxophonist was needed to perform in the Philharmonic. This is where he met the composer and conductor Edmund von Borck, who composed a concerto for him in 1931. Borck's Concerto, Op. 6 for Saxophone and Orchestra was chosen to be performed at the General German Composers Festival in Hanover, Germany on 3 October 1932. It was such a success that the Berlin Radio Orchestra, under the baton of Eugen Jochum, gave a performance with Rascher in Berlin on 6 January 1933. In the summer of the same year, Rascher performed the Borck concerto again in Strasbourg at Hermann Scherchen's International Musician's Working Conference, and in 1935 he performed it with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw under the baton on Eduard van Beinem.

As Hitler rose to power in 1933, Rascher's friend, Johan Bentzon, whom he had met in Strasbourg, invited him to Copenhagen, Denmark, where Rascher then taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory, 1934 also in Malmö, Sweden. Concert tours throughout Europe (e.g. Norway, Italy, Spain, Poland, England and Hungary etc.) with the exception of Germany, followed. In 1938 he visited Australia and in 1939 moved to the United States.