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"The saxophone is well known in jazz and popular music, but surely it could not be called a legitimate instrument." This is the type of comment thought or even voiced by many individuals. What most people do not know is that the saxophone began its life with a very legitimate purpose. By looking at the early history of this unique instrument and following its development to the present day, the reader can decide.
Early History
The saxophone was the invention of Antoine Joseph (Adolphe) Sax, who was born in Dinant, Belgium on November 6, 1814. The son of an instrument maker, he began working in his father's workshop at an early age. Sax studied clarinet and flute at the Brussels Conservatory and displayed flutes and an ivory clarinet of his own making at the Brussels Industrial Exhibition of 1830.' In 1838 he finalized his redesign of the bass clarinet, which led to the instrument used today.2 Around 1838-40 he began work on a new invention, the saxophone,3 whose name can translate as "sound of Sax." This instrument was patented in 1846, despite obstacles from other instrument makers claiming this was not a new instrument. He eventually designed an entire family of saxophones, ranging from the diminutive sopranino to the huge contrabass.-1 The most popular saxophones in use today are the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone.
Is the saxophone a legitimate instrument? You can be sure that Adolphe Sax thought so and so did many of his contemporaries. Sax envisioned his first saxophone (either a baritone or a bass) as an addition to the symphonic orchestra, which had few well-developed bass wind instruments at that time.5 "It was said that the saxophone's wealth of sound (full, soft, sonorous, powerful) placed it beyond comparison with other musical instruments then in use."6 The first public performance of the saxophone took place on February 3, 1844, in Paris in an arrangement of Hector Berlioz's choral work, Chant Sacre, transcribed for an ensemble of instruments created by Adolphe Sax.7
The firet significant composition to use the saxophone was George Kastner's opera, Le dernier roi de Juda ( The Last King of Judah, 1844), which utilized a bass saxophone.8 Other composers began to write for and champion the saxophone, including Georges...