Roger Boutry (1932-2019) was an accomplished composer, an unparalleled pianist and a conductor with a vast and eclectic repertoire who united numerous and diverse modern aesthetic trends in his works. He taught harmony in the Paris Conservatoire from 1962 to 1997, and was the musical director of the Garde Républicaine from 1973 to 1997. He composed the Divertimento in 1963 as a competition piece for the Paris Conservatoire. Since its première, the work had been appreciated by the classical saxophone community around the world, and has been recorded extensively in its piano version.