Saxophone School
The saxophone is a wind instrument and despite its metal structure, it belongs to the family of woodwinds because its sound is produced by a reed. It has a mouthpiece with a tongue, a conical tube and a key mechanism. The first saxophone was made of wood by the watchmaker Defantenel in Lizier. The real creator, who also gave his name to the instrument, is the Belgian Adolphe Sax (Adolphe Sax 1814-1894) who invented it in the 19th century. The first saxophone was made by him in 1840, and he inaugurated it to the public, at a concert in Paris. There are seven types of saxophone: sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and counter bass. The saxophone is the “newest” instrument among those that make up the orchestras today and one of the few instruments that is really an invention, that is, it does not come from any other instrument. It is an instrument suitable for orchestras and bands, as it is inextricably linked to jazz music.
The first “steps” of the Saxophone
The saxophone was developed in the mid-1840s by the Belgian clarinetist Antoine Joseph Sax. The origin of his inspiration for the creation of the saxophone is unknown, but there is a clear certainty that some parts of it correspond to parts of the clarinet and the oboe. The mouthpiece is like that of a clarinet and the keys are like those of an oboe. Sax worked for many years in his father’s workshop and made 2 clarinets. Sax extended almost all families of wind, wood or metal, with other instruments he invented such as the saxhorn, the saxotuba, or the saxotromba. But the saxophone remained his foremost invention. Four years later he inaugurated the instrument in public at a concert in Paris, the city to which its maker had moved since 1842. Its first version was very different from today’s baritone saxophone. Nevertheless, Sax continued to work, introducing a new series of variations that resulted in a wide family of saxophones. In 1846 he made the first patent and divided the saxophones into two groups: one for symphony orchestras and the other for music and military bands that paraded almost daily in European cities.
A multifaceted instrument
Some of Sax’s colleagues mocked the saxophone, calling it “monstrous” or “hybrid” because of its features and acoustic capabilities, which were found between wooden and metal instruments. Time has shown that it is precisely these “hybrid” features that made it an original instrument. This peculiarity was only recognized since 1857, after many controversies with some of its critics, who denied the validity of the Sax patent. The devotion of its creator had no limits and so he kept up. His small workshop was transformed into a factory in 1848 employing two hundred workers. Despite the criticism, Adolphe Sax had the significant support of much of the elite music of the time. Composers like Rossini and Berlioz have shown confidence in this instrument. Rossini himself, after listening to the saxophone, said: “The saxophone has the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.” Berlioz, for his part, said that the main advantage of the instrument was the “variety and beauty of its color, sometimes heavy and calm and other times dreamy or melancholic or faint as a weak echo. In my opinion, there is no instrument that has such a peculiar acoustics on the verge of silence. “
Apart from the fact that it held a prominent position in some individual classical compositions, the saxophone was integrated into the bands of the infantry regiments. It was right at the Military High School in Paris, an institute of higher education, where in 1847 saxophone lessons began to be taught. But although the continuity of this Institute seemed certain, it was decided to close in 1858. Fortunately, some of the courses were transferred to the Conservatory of the French capital, where Sax himself taught until 1870. But this did not mean the end of the organ’s adventures. The deaths of some Saxon-like figures from the beginning, such as Gioachino Rossini (1868) and Hector Berlioz (1869), helped to limit the saxophone to some of the bands that performed mainly for civil or military parades. Because of the recent creation of the instrument there was not at that time, a specific classical repertoire and the orchestras did not easily decide to include it in their formation.
