Adolphe Sax and his saxophone

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I wrote recently about Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), the accident-prone instrument maker who created the saxophone. He was born in Belgium to parents who were also instrument makers. He studied performance in flute, clarinet and voice at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. After leaving the Conservatory, Sax first made improvements to the design of the bass clarinet. He made a permanent move to Paris in 1842, and began producing valved bugles of various sizes. The composer, Hector Berlioz, was so impressed by these that he arranged one of his pieces to be played entirely on saxhorns, as they were now known. The British brass band movement adopted the saxhorn family of instruments and these valved instruments remain largely unchanged today. In 1846, Sax patented the saxophone, intended for use in orchestras and military bands. Despite the ability of the saxophone to produce technical passages easily, and loudly, if necessary, it did not become a standard orchestral instrument. However, they found favour in military bands. Poor Adolphe Sax suffered lip cancer but made a full recovery. He fought patency battles over several decades and was driving into bankruptcy three times. He died in poverty in 1894 – a sad end for a man who gave us a most wonderful instrument. The photo shows our son tackling a valved double bass, one of Sax’s successful adaptations.