Beckmann chose a large, strongly horizontal format for his still-life depiction of saxophones, the instrument representing jazz, whose improvisational character is reflected in the compact and wholly unrealistic arrangement. Whereas the sheet music and instruments found in the classical still lifes of the Baroque allude to the fugacity and transience of the tones – and thus of life –, here Beckmann pays homage to the new musical style that was taking the dance halls and bars of Germany by storm in the early 1920s. The artist – who also expressed his love for jazz in words – has scattered the composition with little pictorial elements alluding to nightlife in a big city.