In my final exam I will perform a diverse program of 20th century works. The solo piece is Luciano Berio's 'Sequenza VIIb', written originally for oboe in 1969 and revised for saxophone by Claude Delangle in 1993. In all 14 sequenze, the composer creates tension between the musical idea and the instrument and deploys polyphonic possibilities with monophonic instruments. The quartet piece is Iannis Xenakis 'Xas', a seminal work of the repertoire written in 1987 for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet. By reversing Adolphe Sax's name and alluding to his own (XenAkiS), the composer reinvents the instrument by significantly expanding its tessitura to construct sieves. William Albright's 'Sonata' for alto saxophone and piano was premiered in 1984 by Donald Sinta and Ellen Weckler. The first 2 movements are written in the Baroque forms of invention and chaconne respectively. A short scherzo leads to a solo recitative which concludes with a 'Mad Dance' between American popular styles. Similarly to many important concertante saxophone pieces from the 30's, Martin's 'Ballade' (1938) was dedicated to Sigurd Rascher. The composer chooses an orchestration of strings, percussion and piano to surround the soloist and support the instrument's lyrical potential.