Even more good info on the history of the saxophone - I just received the newest edition of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (Vol. XXXV -2009) Your public library probably has a copy.
Albert R Rice, curator of the now defunct Fisk Museum, has written a brilliant article about the saxophone befor 1900. There is tons of information about European saxes made just after Sax's patent expired in 1866. Leo Van Oostrom's new book, 100+1 Saxen, is an excellent companion piece to this article because it provides photos of so many saxophones described in Rice's article. Unfortunately, your public library probably does not have a copy of 100=1 Saxen.
There is the best explanation yet of the ophicleide shaped baritone by Pelisson. A photo of this horn shows up often on the internet, always incorrectly identified. Sometimes it is listed as a photo of the earliest bass saxophone in C. Sometimes it's called a Baritone in F from 1900. Turns out it's a high pitch baritone in Eb from 1875. The instrument now resides in a private collection in Switzerland.
Also, there is a drawing of a beautiful Bass saxophone shown in Adolphe Sax's 1850 brochure. I always thought that it was in Bb because it looked so much like modern basses, and the recent article by Robert Howe stated the same opinion. But as Rice points out, if you look carefully at the tiny illustration, it says "Bass saxophone in Ut (C) - 250 Francs. Photo attached, from Karl Ventzke's "Die Saxophone"
Albert R Rice, curator of the now defunct Fisk Museum, has written a brilliant article about the saxophone befor 1900. There is tons of information about European saxes made just after Sax's patent expired in 1866. Leo Van Oostrom's new book, 100+1 Saxen, is an excellent companion piece to this article because it provides photos of so many saxophones described in Rice's article. Unfortunately, your public library probably does not have a copy of 100=1 Saxen.
There is the best explanation yet of the ophicleide shaped baritone by Pelisson. A photo of this horn shows up often on the internet, always incorrectly identified. Sometimes it is listed as a photo of the earliest bass saxophone in C. Sometimes it's called a Baritone in F from 1900. Turns out it's a high pitch baritone in Eb from 1875. The instrument now resides in a private collection in Switzerland.
Also, there is a drawing of a beautiful Bass saxophone shown in Adolphe Sax's 1850 brochure. I always thought that it was in Bb because it looked so much like modern basses, and the recent article by Robert Howe stated the same opinion. But as Rice points out, if you look carefully at the tiny illustration, it says "Bass saxophone in Ut (C) - 250 Francs. Photo attached, from Karl Ventzke's "Die Saxophone"
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