A modern bass saxhorn in B-flat

The saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a tapered bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. On Brass instruments the mouthpiece is the part of the instrument which is placed upon the player's Lips The purpose of the mouthpiece is a Resonator, which The sound has a characteristic mellow quality, and blends well with other brass.

The saxhorn family

The saxhorns form a family of seven instruments (although at one point ten different sizes seem to have existed). Designed for band use, they are pitched alternately in E-flat and B-flat, like the saxophone group. The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind There was a parallel family built in F and C for orchestral use, but this seems to have died out.

There is much confusion as to nomenclature of the various instruments in different languages. This has been exacerbated by the debate as to whether the saxhorn family was truly new, or rather a development of members of the previously existing cornet and tuba families. The cornet is a Brass instrument very similar to the Trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape and mellower tone quality Mediatubaogg -->The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched Brass instrument. The saxhorn is also commonly confused with the flügelhorn, a German instrument which has a different configuration and predates the saxhorn. The flugelhorn (also spelled fluegelhorn or flügelhorn) is a Brass instrument resembling a Trumpet but with a wider conical bore Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This confusion probably arises from the common substitution of the flügelhorn for the saxhorn when no saxhorn is available (and vice versa).

History

Band of 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D. C. , April, 1865

Developed during the mid to late 1830s, the saxhorn family was patented in Paris in 1845 by Adolphe Sax. Antoine-Joseph 'Adolphe' Sax (November 6 1814 &ndash February 4 1894 was a Belgian Musical instrument designer and Musician ( Clarinetist Sax's claim to have invented the instrument was hotly contested by other brass instrument makers during his lifetime, leading to various lawsuits. Throughout the mid-1850s, he continued to experiment with the instrument's valve pattern.

Saxhorns were popularized by the distinguished Distin Quintet, who toured Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. The Distin family constituted a musical group that toured Europe in the mid to late 19th century This family of musicians, publishers and instrument manufacturers had a significant impact on the growth of the brass band movement in Britain during the mid-to late-1800s. A brass band is a Musical group generally consisting entirely of Brass instruments, most often with a percussion section

The saxhorn was the most common brass instrument in American Civil War bands. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The over-the-shoulder variety of the instrument was used, as the backward-pointing bell of the instrument allowed troops marching behind the band to hear the music.

A contemporary work featuring this instrument is Désiré Dondeyne's "Tubissimo", for bass tuba or saxhorn and piano (1983). Désiré Louis Corneille Dondeyne is a French conductor composer and teacher born in Laon in the Aisne Département July 21 1921

References

• Berlioz, Hector (1948). Treatise on Instrumentation. Edwin F. Kalmus.  
• Forsyth, Cecil (1982). Orchestration. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24383-4.  
• Jachino, Carlo (1978). Gli strumenti d'orchestra. Milano: Edizioni Curci.  

See also

• Alto Horn
• Baritone

External links

• Saxhorn, Euphonium and Tuba site (in French)
• Dodworth Saxhorn Band