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          Marcel Mule is known to many as the father of the French School of saxophone playing. When listening to this piece one might notice that his vibrato is vastly different from other classical saxophonists. It is very quick when compared to most American performers, especially those currently performing.

          To give some background on Mule, he grew up in France during the early 20th century, a time when there was very little literature for saxophone, solo or otherwise. There also had not been established standard pedagogical or performance methods for the instrument. He first learned from his father who performed in a French military band, where the practice of the day was to play with a straight tone (i.e. no vibrato). As one can imagine, this could limit the expression of a performance. Mule had some experience performing in jazz-style dance bands, where vibrato was the expectation for saxophonists. With this influence, Mule decided to venture toward the other side of the spectrum, producing an unmistakable sound that easily identifies him as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) saxophonists of all time. As more and more pieces were written for the instrument, and more musicians pushed the limits of what could be done on the saxophone, this particular sound began to lose favor to a more moderate vibrato, especially outside of France.

          I believe that for saxophone, vibrato is an important aspect of one's playing, and, within reason, should be an individual decision for each musician to make. I personally would almost never play with a Mule-style vibrato because it is not the way I choose to express myself on the instrument, but there are some pieces (especially those written specifically for him) to which I would listen to his recordings for inspiration. Listening to his 1958 performance of Jacques Ibert's Concertino da Camera at University of Utah, I did not particularly enjoy Mule's vibrato. At the same concert Mule also performed Paul Bonneau's Caprice en Forme de Valse (dedicated to Mule), a piece that I find amazing every time I listen to it. His vibrato lightens the difficult piece and lends it a lively and at times playful tone.