Albert R. Rice - Making and Improving the Nineteenth-Century Saxophone

Groovekiller

Groovekiller

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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"
 
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Stupid question - written on the often held assumption (hope) that there is no such thing as a stupid question.

The saxophone was invented. Why?

There was no repertoire for a yet to be invented instrument, so was the assumption that it would be an instrument that could give a different voice within existing repertoire, or an expectation that repertoire, voice, and instrument development would develop iteratively?

Who were the early adopters? Did it become a classical instrument (or contemporary classical) quickly, or was it a parlour curiosity first, that then became "respectable".

It would be interesting to hear if your sources offered any commentary on the very early years of it's use, its acceptance, and how it transformed from experimental to mainstream.

Chris
 
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There is quite a bit written, especially by Sax, abouit why the saxophone was developed. It was intended as a "bridge" between the brass and woodwind families because of its large dynamic range. Also it was intended to replace oboes and bassoons (sorry, double reeds!) in outdoor performance and in military bands.

Most books and articles on the early history of the saxophone address this question. Check the bibliography of any of them to get you started.
 
Chris J said:
Stupid question - written on the often held assumption (hope) that there is no such thing as a stupid question.
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If you were a computer tech, you'd realize there are stupid questions: I spend 5 seconds fixing a computer by turning on the power switch while you're watching me and then you ask me, "What did you do?" That's a stupid question :). (My answer is generally, "I realigned your flux capacitor.")

Who were the early adopters? Did it become a classical instrument (or contemporary classical) quickly, or was it a parlour curiosity first, that then became "respectable".
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One of Sax's ideas was to have a collection of horns in Bb and Eb for marching bands and another in C and F for classical. At least, as far as an F instrument goes, Sax only produced a tiny amount of these and I've only seen one. Evar. C instruments? I've heard that a lot of the A. Sax basses are in C, but I've never seen an A. Sax C tenor or soprano.

Another thing is that Sax was known for improving instruments: the bass clarinet and the Saxhorn are two that I can easily think of. That means that there was some buzz about an improvement to double-reeds.

Speaking of double-reeds, you also need to look at the Sarrusophone and the Rothophone, which were other horns that tried to address the problem of double-reeds that were too quiet.

Berlioz was one of the big proponents of the sax and either his "Chant Sacre" or Kastner's "Last King of Juda" was the first piece written "specifically" for sax, back in the 1840's. As a matter of fact, if you search here on Berlioz, I linked to at least one article written by him that describes his passion for the sax.

It would be interesting to hear if your sources offered any commentary on the very early years of it's use, its acceptance, and how it transformed from experimental to mainstream.
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One of the nicest resources on early Sax history has been some of the Saxophone Symposium magazine articles. I also Heartily recommend Adolphe Sax, 1814-1894 by Randy Horwood. Both of these sources may be in a local university's music library.
 
Adolphe Sax did make tenors in C and sopranos in C. Original Sax C sopranos, F altos, and C tenors still exist in collections.

The common belief that Bb/Eb horns were developed for marching band and C/F horns were for orchestral use is starting to fall apart as more information is uncovered. The best argument for discarding this belief comes from Robert S. Howe in the 2003 (Volume XXIX) Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, "The Invention and Early Development of the Saxophone, 1840-55" A great article, interesting and easy reading. Check it out at your library.

I think I am correct in saying that all music published by Adolphe Sax for the Paris Conservatory contests was for Bb/Eb saxes. One would expect at least some of these classical contest pieces would be for C/F instruments if the C/F family were intended to play classical music.

Also, it is often stated that a Sax contrabass was never produced. Although they were never produced in any quantity, it is certain that Adolphe Sax made at least one and exhibited it. The new article by Rice provides documentation. Adolphe Sax could and would make any saxophone in any key. I think the horns in C and F were made only to satisfy a small demand.
 
Thanks, Groove.

(Groove wrote at least one article on the early saxophone, awhile back. He's da man. I'm just a dilettante. In other words, if he contradicts me, DEFINITELY listen to him.)

I always found it interesting that I haven't seen the A. Sax C tenor or soprano. Additionally, I haven't seen the low A horns or altissimo G horns that he patented in 1881. Those would be supremely kewl to see.

I'm going to have to try to head out to Arizona State University to take a look at those articles. I think my library card is still valid ....
 
New Musical Instrument Museum

Pete, if you can, check out the new Musical Instrument Museum that just opened in Phoenix. They acquired the instruments from the Fiske Museum, including the oldest existing saxophone on the world (1846 - a baritone), and a one-of-a-kind alto Saxello made by King in the 1920s.

It might be a good idea to call ahead.
 
P.S. Upon further examination of the books I have handy, I see that the number of original Adolphe sax C sopranos is actually decreasing. There was one in a museum in berlin, well documented by historian Curt Sachs in 1922, but it's gone, probably destroyed during World War II.

There are at least 4 C tenors by Sax, 2 in Michigan, one in Russia, and one in Germany

Paul Cohen has a Sax F alto, probably the one formerly owned by Paul Brodie

There are no F baritones that I know of. The 2 existing Adolphe Sax basses are both "compact" models in Bb from about 1868
 
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