This Day in Music

Adolphe Sax

(1814-1894)

Adolphe Sax was born on November 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgian to a 19th century manufacturer of brass at Woodwind Musical Instruments, by the name of Charles Joseph Sax. As the first of twelve children Adolphe followed in the footsteps of his father. At a young age he was familiar with the hand-crafting of many woodwind instruments such as the clarinet and the flute. He went on to study at the Brussels Conservatory where he excelled at playing the flute.  

Mr. Sax set out to reconstruct the Bass Clarinet, but the result was quite different.

                     "The new bass-clarinet built by Mr. Sax has nothing but the name in 

                     common with the old one. In this new instrument, the holes have 

                     been abolished and replaced with keys adapted to the points 

                     corresponding to the core of the vibrations. The new bass-clarinet 

                     has twenty-two keys and is remarkable for its perfect tome 

                     accuracy and uniform temperaments in all the degrees of the 

                     chromatic scale. Its greater diameter increases the volume of 

                     the sound, without preventing or hindering the performance of 

                     octaves and fifths. This advantage is due to a key drilled 

                     near the instrument's, mouthpiece. Its compass is three octaves and 

                     a sixth. But there is something more important than this huge extension, 

                     for it is obvious that the bass-clarinet is not supposed to range among 

                     the upper register of the orchestra. It is for the beauty of its lower notes 

                     that we appreciate it so much. As the tube is a very long one, when the 

                     performer stands, the bell of the instrument is very close to the ground. 

                     Hence a very unpleasant dulling of the sound would have existed, 

                     had not the skilled craftsman prevented it by adding a concave metallic 

                     reflector fixed under the bell, that not only prevents the sound from being 

                     lost, but directs it in the proper direction, increasing its volume at the same
                     time." 

                     Historical Excerpts from ADOLPHE SAX AND HIS SAXOPHONE
                     by Léon Kochnitzky
                     Belgian Government Information Center ( New York, NY 1964)