This Russian composer left his homeland in 1928 and never returned. He died in the spring of 1936 at the age of fifty four outside of his appartment in Paris. In March of 1932 in a letter to Maximilian Oseevich Shteinberg (Rimsky-Korsakov's son-in-law) he wrote:

I have an idea to write a quartet for saxophones. These instruments are distintively audible......Movement I is coming to an end, I have an idea for II Canzona.

3 months later he wrote again:

I completed my composition of four saxophones (2 movements already scored and the third is in sketches). Movement I in 3/4 with rhythm: a bit of America! Movement II, the theme is built only on harmony (the first two variations are strict classical medival style). Next follows a variation with trills a la Schumann, variation a la Chopin and Scherzo. The Finale is in a fairly playful style. I'm afraid that this composition will fatigue the performers due to its length. I talked to one of them, and he assured me.

The whole composition with stops has a performance time of approximately 35 minutes. Shortly after hearing his composition for the first time he writes to A.N. Rimsky-Korsakov:

If more gentle instruments like the clarinet family with its bassets and and bass clarinets were substituted for saxophones it "just would not sound right", as Stasov used to say.

In March of 1934 he began work on a solo piece for saxophone upon requests from the Danish saxophoist Sigurd Rascher. He finished the Concerto for Saxophone only three months later and heard performances within days of completion from two of the most accomplished classical saxophonists of the day.

Who is the composer and who were the first two saxophonists to play his Concerto for Saxophone?