Pelisson Curved "F Baritone": The Revenge

pete

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
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Several years back, I came across the Pelisson curved baritone, supposedly pitched in F. I just was browsing around today and found out that someone else did some more research on it -- and found an original catalog -- so we've got some new info:

1. It's in Eb. High pitch, baby!
2. A Bb bass version was also available, but I can't find pics.
3. They had their own name: Georgeophones. That amuses me on several levels, but if you do a websearch on "Georgeophone" you'll get a few hits.
4. They had George System keywork. This again amuses me.
5. The original guesstimate of 1900 is a tad late. 1878ish.

So, original blog entry, in French.
My blog entry, in transliterated English.

The original French entry also has some supporting documents that I've linked to, but didn't try to translate.

(Hey, I'm illiterate in several languages!)

Enjoy!
 
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I have not actually seen the Pellisson baritone saxophone shaped like an ophicleide, only the photo. I did however, buy an Adolphe Sax tenor from a friend in Germany who had been offered that specific instrument for sale and he turned it down. That might have been a wise decision, but it's still an interesting horn
 
I did some quick checking. If any of y'all out there are fluent enough in German (Helen, TTT) could you please try to get hold of the player in the video, Willy Kenz, and see if he's got more pics or something? It looks like he's got some contact info here.
 
The main reason for odd shaped instruments

Up in Vermont at a town called Northfield, there is a school called Norwich University. Originally Vermont Military Academy, it was one of three Federally supported military colleges in the nation (the other two being VMI and The Citadel). Each school originally had a military specialty, with VMI's being artillery, The Citadel's being infantry, and (strange as it may seem in a state where the two prominent directions are "Up" and "Down", rather than "North", "South", "East" and "West") the choice was cavalry.

(The school still has a cavalry (armored cavalry) ROTC unit on site; no horses any longer however.)

In their fascinating museum, among a raft of relics from the Spanish American War (Dewey once attended there), there is a photograph of the school's mounted military band. The group had instruments specially adapted for horseback use (they are all mounted in the photo), including a bassoon-style bass clarinet (which can still be seen in the school's museum).

While the photo is somewhat grainy and indistinct, there are clearly some saxophones in the photo, and dimly perceived are both tenors and a baritone with just this sort of adaptation. No further details were known, per the school's historian, who said I was the first person to ever worry about such things in his twenty years of experience.

As the saxophone was originally posited as a horn for military bands, this sort of adaptation for horseback use doesn't surprise me in the least. The high pitch aspect of it all makes it all a moot point, but many is the time that I've wished for a more compact baritone sax, usually in pit situations.

And, then there's the briefly glimpsed tenor with a curled crook (like a baritone), seen for perhaps three seconds in a History Channel produced spot on the anniversary of the saxophone back a few years. There was little perspective offered by the shot, taken of horns on stands in a museum setting, but it was clear (to me at least) that there were either a) a bass and a baritone (with two out of scale alto and soprano horns), or b) a baritone and a tenor with curled necks with regular sized alto and soprano instruments.

(An attempt to track down the source of the display met with a stone wall when the History Channel was contacted.)

While I enjoy playing alto and baritone, I have never liked playing tenor sax, this being due to the uncomfortable posture forced on me by the extended neck of the instrument. Wrapping that swan neck up in a curl like the baritone would overcome that prejudice. For that matter, there are certain brand of baritone that I prefer to play when standing, this due to the shorter neck pipe attached to the crook.
 
Well, I'd definitely think that the reason for having a curved C bass sax as the first saxophone is that ophicliede+single reed mouthpiece = saxophone. Well, Wally Horwood has some good arguments for that, at least. I think you could argue that one of the reasons that the ophicliede was in that form is to facilitate marching -- it's a lot easier to use than the serpent. The Georgeophone ad copy specifically says that the Georgeophones are shaped like that for marching, so there ya go.

Warming up to the bass clarinet side, the compact bass has been around in a variety of shapes for quite awhile. We've looked at at least one here. I have no problems believing that someone had customized one even more for marching/riding. However, you're really getting up there in weight. I wouldn't want to march with one, much less ride with one.

The tenor with a curled crook? Sure it's not one of these beasts?
 
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