Adolphe Sax Research Paper

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The saxophone family was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1840. Adolphe Sax wanted to create a group or series of instruments that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass instruments, that would fill the vacant middle ground between the two sections. He patented the saxophone on June 28, 1846, in two groups of seven instruments each. The series pitched in Bb and Eb, designed for military bands, have proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series (Bloomingdale School of Music). Over the course from birth through the 19th century to the 20th century, the saxophone will have generated much uproar as an instrument for orchestral substitution …show more content…

Sax had a good relationship with Berlioz, and was one of the first people to know of the horn’s existence. 1846 is often given as the year of the invention of the saxophone, but Berlioz knew of it in 1842, and wrote praises about it in the Paris Magazine Journal des Debats. The Berlioz article made Sax's reputation soar overnight, and landed him a teaching position at the Paris Conservatory. One of the first most notable pieces of repertoire for saxophone was composed by Berlioz as well. Berlioz thought enough of the Chant sacré to arrange it for chorus and orchestra in 1843, and to prepare a version, now lost, for orchestra and six wind instruments made or invented by Adolphe Sax, including saxophone. The latter was performed on February 3, 1844, with Sax himself as one of the soloists. Saxophone as a part of the orchestra continued with Charles Ives saxophone part in Symphony No.4, Bartok’s The Wooden Prince, Grainger’s Children’s March, and Puccini’s Turandot to continue the mainstream evolution of saxophone as a versatile doubling instrument in orchestras …show more content…

One of the most pivotal moments in professional saxophone education was when Jean-Baptiste Singelee, a close friend of Sax’s who closely followed the development of the saxophone -- wrote the first two Paris Conservatory contest solos; Concerto (sop./ten.) and Fantaisie (bari.) (2011). Composers began to realize the potential of the saxophone in solo repertoire aside from its place in orchestras and substituting instruments. Some of the earliest composers for saxophone include Jules Demersseman -- Fantasie sur un thème original (1860) and Claude Debussy -- Rapsodie pour orchestre et saxophone (1901) who were barely understanding the intricacies of the horn and testing the waters of solo/accompaniment, and then later composers such as Hector Villa-Lobos’ Fantasia for soprano saxophone, three horns, and strings (1948) and Paule Maurice’s Tableaux de Provence (1955) who understood the range and full capability of the saxophone after its numerous developments and wrote virtuosic pieces with full orchestra as an

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