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Adolphe Sax and the Creation of the Saxophone
As the story too often told of great people through out history, this tale is no different. A musical and inventing genius, Adolphe Sax was a man unappreciated in his time. ... Bankruptcy, lawsuits, and mysterious fires could not stop Adolphe from pursuing his inventing passions and thus from his hands the saxophone was born.
Adolphe Sax was actually born Antoine-Joseph Sax on November 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgium. He was the eldest son of eleven children of instrument maker Charles-Joseph Sax. ... In the year after Adolphes birth, Charles Sax was appointed by King William I to be his instrument manufacturer, and was asked to make band instruments for his royal army. ... So it is no surprise Adolphe learned the art of instrument making at a very young age. ... "While still an apprentice in his fathers workshop, young Adolphe Sax was a pupil of the Brussels Conservatory and soon became an excellent
flutist and clarinetist. ... " (6)
Along with his musical studies, Adolphe developed an overwhelming passion for making instruments and by 1830 at the tender age of fifteen, he sent two handmade flutes and a clarinet made of ivory to the Brussels Industrial Exhibition. ...
At the age of twenty, Adolphe re-invented the bass clarinet, an instrument whose sound was so defective it was rarely used and regarded as completely undependable. "With Sax, the bass-clarinet became a standard part of the woodwind group. ... Here began the jealously, and competition Sax would come to know well in the progressing years. "The incident took place at the Brussels Grande Harmonie, as a jealous artist, who played on the ancient bass-clarinet, threatened to quit the orchestra if it adopted the instrument built by Sax. The young inventor, who was also an excellent performer… challenged his antagonist to a musical duel; both played in turn and the result was a triumph for Sax and his bass-clarinet." (6)
This improvement on the bass clarinet proved to be an important step for Sax, as he became well known in the principle musical centers throughout Europe. In 1842, at the age of twenty-eight, Adolphe Sax decided to leave Brussels and set his sights on Paris. ... He was very impressed by the work of Adolphe Sax and wrote an article detailing his new instrumental improvements and hinting at the new invention of what is now called the saxophone.
Approximate Word count = 1887
Approximate Pages = 7.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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