One of the famous copper tools counts saxophone. The history of the saxophone is about 150 years old. The instrument was invented by Belgian-born Antoine-Joseph Sax, who became known as Adolphe Sax, in 1842. Initially, the saxophone was used only in military bands. After some time, such composers as J. Bizet, M. Ravel, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. K. Glazunov and A. I. Khachaturian became interested in the instrument. Tool not included symphony orchestra. But despite this, when sounding, he added rich colors to the melody. In the 18th century, the saxophone began to be used in the jazz style.
In the manufacture of the saxophone, metals such as brass, silver, platinum or gold are used. By overall structure The saxophone is similar to the clarinet. The instrument has 24 sound holes and 2 valves that produce an octave. On this moment 7 types of this instrument are used in the music industry. Among them, the most popular are alto, soprano, baritone and tenor. Each of the types sounds in a different range from C - flat to Fa of the third octave. The saxophone has a different timbre, which resembles the sound of musical instruments from the oboe to the clarinet.
In the winter of 1842, Sachs, sitting at home, put the mouthpiece of the clarinet to the ophicleide and tried to play. Hearing the first notes, he named the instrument after himself. According to some reports, Sachs invented the instrument long before this date. But the inventor himself did not leave any records. 
Soon after the invention, he met the great composer Hector Berlioz. To meet Sachs, he specially came to Paris. In addition to meeting the composer, he wanted to introduce the musical community to the new instrument. Hearing the sound, Berlioz was delighted with the saxophone. The instrument produced unusual sounds and timbre. The composer did not hear such a timbre in any of the available instruments. Sachs was invited by Berlioz to the conservatory for an audition. After he played his new instrument in front of the musicians present, he was immediately offered to play bass clarinet in the orchestra, but he did not perform.
The inventor created the first saxophone by connecting a conical trumpet to a clarinet reed. 
An oboe valve mechanism was also added to them. The ends of the instrument had bends and looked like the letter S. The saxophone combined the sound of brass and woodwind instruments.
During his development, he faced numerous obstacles. In the 1940s, when Nazism dominated Germany, legislation forbade the use of the saxophone in an orchestra. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the saxophone has taken important place among the most famous musical instruments. A little later, the instrument became the "king jazz music».
We rarely think about musical instruments - where did they come from, who invented them. Indeed, many of them arose so long ago that hardly anyone can know it. But among them there is one relatively young, but today already one of the most famous and beloved, whose sensual and soulful sound pierces the soul - this is a saxophone. And he has a very specific creator, whose name is immortalized in the very name of this instrument - Adolf Sax.
The world heard the voice of the first saxophone less than 180 years ago. There are a huge number of fans of this great instrument and its enchanting sounds all over the world. And today the saxophone is a bright symbol of jazz music and blues.
Monuments to the saxophone in the world
The history of the birth of this miracle
The opportunity to enjoy the incredible beauty of the sound was given to us by Adolf Sachs, the son of a musical instrument maker, originally from small town Dinan in Belgium, who inherited an interest in wind instruments from his father.The Sax family moved first to Brussels and then to Paris, where Adolphe opened his workshop for the manufacture of wind instruments. It was here, on the basis of the bass clarinet, that he created his miracle, which at first he called the mouthpiece ophicleid.
The public was rather skeptical about the new instrument of a strange appearance and with a no less strange nasal voice, very far from its today's sound, and Adolf had to spend a lot of time and effort to bring his newly-made ophicleid to perfection.
Introducing his instrument in 1842 famous composer Berlioz, Adolf found in him an enthusiastic connoisseur and friend. The composer was fascinated by the saxophone, published an enthusiastic article in one of the magazines, in which he first called the instrument a saxophone.
« This is an instrument with a full, pleasantly vibrating, huge in strength and well softened sound. His main merit, in my opinion, is the diversity of the beauty of sound, sometimes with an accent, sometimes without, full of passion, sometimes dreaminess and melancholy; an echo echo, a faint shriek of the wind in the forest, or, rather, the mysterious flickering echoes of a bell after it has struck. No other instrument I have ever known has such a strange sound at the limit of silence.", - wrote Berlioz.
And about Sax himself, the composer spoke like this: “ This is a man of penetrating, tenacious, bright mind, persistent and firm in any test. He is simultaneously a mathematician, an acoustician, a chaser, a foundry worker and a turner. He knows how to think and do - he invents and himself performs».
For the saxophone, Berlioz also wrote the first works. Acknowledgment came to Saks, but the saxophone was used mainly as an additional wind instrument in the orchestra. And gradually in Europe, interest in the saxophone almost died out, which was also facilitated by the war that began in 1870.
In addition, many competitors questioned the authorship of Sachs and flooded the courts with numerous lawsuits. Litigation, which lasted for years, although they ended mainly in his favor, but took a lot of nerves and time, in addition, they were accompanied by considerable financial expenses, which practically ruined him.
In 1894, in Paris, a great and talented musical master passed away in poverty.
The rebirth of the saxophone
At the end of the 19th century, a new direction in music, jazz, was born and spread very quickly in America, and the saxophone became the main soloist of jazz compositions along with the trumpet.
Finally, the saxophone has the opportunity to reveal its full potential. The country is getting sick saxophonomania”, which soon spilled over to Europe.
In our country, with its rejection of jazz, until the 70s, playing the saxophone was not even taught anywhere, only the clarinet was held in high esteem.
A special, reverent attitude to the saxophone is observed among the inhabitants of Japan. The Japanese saxophone is gentle, sensual, romantic, sentimental… The same is the music…
The saxophone is a conical tube made, as a rule, from special alloys: tompak (an alloy of copper and zinc), pacfong (the same composition, with the addition of nickel) or brass. For compactness, the saxophone tube is bent in the shape of a chubuk. High varieties saxophones (soprano and sopranino) are short in length and therefore do not usually flex. Modern musical instrument manufacturers sometimes produce straight bass saxophones and, conversely, curved sopranos, but this is practiced only as an experiment.
The saxophone consists of three parts: a bell, the body itself, and an “esa” (a thin tube that continues the body). A mouthpiece is mounted on the es, the structure of which is very similar to the structure of the clarinet mouthpiece: it also has a beak-shaped shape, is made of black ebonite or plastic, and in tenor and lower varieties, sometimes of metal. The variety of genres and directions in which the saxophone is used has determined a large number of options for the structure of the mouthpiece itself, depending on the desired sound.
Mouthpieces differ from each other in such parameters as openness (the distance from the tip of the reed to the upper tip of the mouthpiece) and recess length (the length of the free part of the reed pressed against the mouthpiece). For classic performance more closed mouthpieces are used, for other genres - more open ones.
The sound-producing element on the saxophone is the reed (reed), which is also similar in structure to the clarinet reed. Usually, reeds are used for its manufacture, but some models are made from synthetic materials. Depending on the type of saxophone for which they are intended, reeds have different sizes.
The reed is attached to the mouthpiece with a special device - a ligature, which is a small clamp with two screws. The ligature for the classical saxophone is made of metal; musicians of jazz and other genres use leather ligatures along with metal ligatures, which give the reeds freer vibration.
To protect the reed from accidental damage, a special metal or plastic cap is used, which is put on the mouthpiece if the instrument is not used for a long time.
The saxophone is equipped with a complex system of valves that close and open holes on its body. Their number varies from 19 to 22 depending on the type of instrument.
Saxophone technique
The fingering of the saxophone is close to that of the oboe, and the principle of sound extraction is similar to that of the clarinet. At the same time, the registers of the saxophone are more uniform than those of the clarinet.
The possibilities of the saxophone are very wide: in terms of technical mobility, especially in legato, it competes with the clarinet, a large amplitude of sound vibration is possible, a clear accentuated staccato, glissanded transitions from one sound to another. In addition, the saxophone has a much greater sound power than other woodwinds (approximately like a French horn). His ability to blend organically with both woodwind and brass groups helps him to successfully unite these groups in timbre.
In jazz and performing contemporary music saxophonists use a wide variety of playing techniques - frullato (tremolo on one note with the help of the tongue), resonant sound, performance in an ultra-high register with harmonic sounds, polyphonic sound, etc.
They say that the saxophone is an instrument that can most closely convey warmth and tenderness, similar to human voice. Without a saxophone it is difficult to imagine the orchestra of Glenn Miller, best songs Bruce Springsteen, "Money" Pink Floyd…. and all this thanks to one person - Adolf Sachs, who was born on November 6, 1814. Soyuz.Ru recalls the master, whose life story in itself could become the plot of a novel, and also offers to listen to 10 famous compositions with a saxophone.
“... A certain Sax -
Alchemist, power engineer and master,
Herr, naturlich, although not a minister,
Suddenly he invented his ingenious sax”,
So wrote Mike Naumenko in a playful poem "Letter to a friend about music." Of course, the Belgian Adolf Sachs has never been an alchemist, or a master, or even a herr (that is, a German). He was born in the town of Dinant on the banks of the Meuse and from the very beginning seemed to be trying to go beyond what was permitted - he fell from a height of three floors and swallowed pins, drank water with sulfuric acid, mistaking it for milk, was badly burned, experimenting with gunpowder, and once almost drowned.
However, there were also experiments of another year: since childhood, Sachs worked with his father, a musical master, and constantly looked for ways to improve the instruments he helped create. The clarinets and bassoons of Charles-Joseph Sax quickly gained recognition in Brussels, and in 1820 King William I appointed him a courtier. music master, entrusting the production and supply of wind instruments for military bands. The clarinet also became the first instrument of Sachs Jr.: Adolphe Sachs studied at the Brussels Conservatory under the direction of the conductor of the orchestra of the First Belgian Infantry Regiment, Valentin Bender. And over time, he thought about how to fill the timbre space between the wooden and brass sections of brass bands, replacing with something common then bass ophicleides - bulky and imperfect instruments resembling a bassoon in shape. According to Sachs, the sound of the new instrument should be closer to string instruments, but more powerful and intense than them.
Interestingly, over the course of his lifetime, Sachs filed about 50 more patents and certificates with patent offices, among them an improved sound system for railways, project concert hall in the shape of an egg, as well as a tunnel under a hill in Montmartre and "Saxocannon" - a giant mortar for firing half a kiloton projectiles capable of leveling an entire city. And yet his main invention was inspired not by cannons, but by the muses: having arrived in Paris in 1836, Sachs became interested in the upcoming reform in local military bands and realized that the powerful wind instrument he was developing would be most welcome both in parades and at war. The first such instrument, in which Sachs combined a conical tube with a clarinet reed, an oboe valve mechanism, and the outline of a bass clarinet, was presented at the 1841 industrial exhibition in Brussels. The musician who introduced it played behind a curtain: the instrument was not fully completed, and the theft of ideas was not uncommon in those days.
Soon, the notorious Hector Berlioz became a passionate champion of the saxophone, who in June 1842 published an article in the Parisian Journal des Debats about the instrument, which he first called the saxophone. He also became the author of the first composition with the participation of the saxophone - Chorale for voice and six wind instruments, in which other instruments designed or improved by Saks were also used. In the same year, the saxophone was presented at an industrial exhibition in Paris.
"Branded" saxophone produced by Adolf Sachs
Continuing to fight for participation in the reform of military bands, Sachs proposed a reform project that included, in addition to the active use of his own tools, and some changes in the training of military musicians. His rivals, led by a certain Michel Carafra, insisted on the same composition of instruments and the same teaching methods and, of course, won over to their side. most tool manufacturers. Nevertheless, in April 1845, a kind of competition took place on the Champ de Mars in Paris, as a result of which saxophones, along with other instruments designed by Sax (such as the saxhorn and saxotrum), were introduced into French military bands in place of oboes, bassoons and horns. The competition, which one of the journalists compared with the Napoleonic wars, was attended by 20,000 people.
On March 21, 1846, Sachs received a patent in France for a "system of wind instruments called saxophones", which included eight varieties. And just five months before receiving the patent, Sachs was accused of "fraud and falsification" - the court decision stated that " musical instrument called saxophone does not exist and cannot exist. Nevertheless, little by little, saxophones began to be produced in France, and not only at the Sax factory: competitors repeatedly tried to accuse him of allegedly stealing their idea, but failed when the master challenged them to a competition, offering to design new model tool.
The triumph of Sachs could not but arouse the envy of competitors: having united in the "Association of United Instrument Manufacturers", they began to act in the most shameless methods. Patents for the saxophone and other instruments of Sachs were repeatedly tried to be declared invalid through the courts, they tried to lure the workers, the wind instrument factory was burned to the ground, and two assassination attempts were made on him. In 1854, the court nevertheless recognized the right of Sachs to the instrument he invented, but when he tried to receive compensation moral damage for the illegal production of saxophones, legal costs and new processes followed.
Sachs himself by that time managed to prepare many first-class musicians, teaching saxophone at the military school at the Paris Conservatory, but in 1870 most of the students went to the front of the Franco-Prussian war, and after some time the school was closed. The master himself was declared bankrupt in 1877, his factory was closed, and materials and tools were sold at auction (how can one not recall the bitter joke of the Satyricon that if the author of such and such an invention died in poverty, then he is the real inventor). Sachs really died in poverty on February 7, 1894, and a few days later he was buried in the cemetery of Montmartre.
It seemed that the same sad fate awaited his instrument: in 1903, Pope Pius X issued an official ban on the use of the saxophone in music, the publishers of the American “The Ladies Home Journal” directly accused saxophone listeners of “not being able to distinguish evil,” and the Nazis released a poster in the 1930s showing a black man playing the saxophone wearing a Star of David. Fortunately, time turned out to be wiser: the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ravel's "Bolero" rehabilitated the saxophone, making it an integral part of jazz, and then rock, modern pop music and R'n'B. The brainchild of Adolf Sax has been changing for the second century and is not going to go out of fashion - and for this we must say thank you to the man with early childhood not afraid to put much, if not all, at stake.
Top 10 Saxophone Songs
Henry Mancini - Theme from The Pink Panther
Dave Brubeck - "Take Five"
Musical Instrument: Saxophone
If you ask someone a question, what musical instrument do you consider the most sensual? Undoubtedly, you will hear in response - the saxophone is an instrument for the soul, as many music lovers call it. Him witha passionate and expressive timbre, able to convey tenderness and passion, can take a person into the most hidden memories. It is not for nothing that poets in their lyrical poems often associate the singing and weeping voice of the saxophone with the romantic experiences of the characters. But not only tears and sadness are characteristic of this instrument, which has great expressive possibilities. He is very many-sided and can be a serious philosopher in the works I.S. Bach, gentle and lyrical in romantic composers, bold and free in jazz. In this genre, the saxophone is king, as it is in fact the voice of the performer, with which he speaks to the audience. It is impossible not to note the improvisational capabilities of the instrument, which made it into jazz art unsurpassed leader.
Sound
Silvery, velvet, magical, magical - such beautiful words usually describe the voice of the saxophone. Its melodious and juicy timbre enchants from the first notes. The sound of the instrument is easily recognizable.
His expressive possibilities are very large, the saxophone is distinguished not only by its melodiousness and melody, but also by its technicality, being one of the most virtuoso in the group of wind instruments, because it is capable of various performing tasks. Smooth legato with glissanded sound transitions, distinct staccato, frullato, sound vibration with a large amplitude, as well as the use of a very high register with a harmonic sound - this is just a small list of techniques used by saxophonists.
Range the instrument, which is more than two octaves, is divided into three registers: low, medium, and high sounding. Their choice depends on the nature of the work laid down by the composer.
The sound-producing element on the instrument is the reed, which the performer makes vibrate by blowing air into the saxophone. The principle of sound extraction is close to sound extraction on clarinet, but the fingering of the saxophone is similar to the fingering oboe.
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Interesting Facts
- The citizens of Belgium are very proud that the person who created the saxophone is their compatriot. In recognition of the great inventor, even before the introduction of a single currency for the countries of the Eurozone, national bank The country issued a banknote of 200 francs with the image of Adolphe Sax.
- Sachs' childhood was very dramatic, his mother called him a child doomed to failure. At the age of two, he fell from the second floor, hitting hard on a stone. The parents thought that the son would not survive. At the age of three, Adolf poisoned himself with sulfuric acid and swallowed a pin. Then there was a broken leg, measles and three days in a coma, burns from a powder explosion, a broken arm, severe poisoning from spoiled wine and other unpleasant situations.
- The envy of A. Sax's competitors after the invention of the saxophone had no boundaries. Haters have created a whole community to fight him. It was bankrupted three times in 1852, 1873 and 1877. Workers were poached from him, blueprints were stolen, musicians were forbidden to use his instruments, his workshops were robbed, slanderous articles were published, and even attempted murder was organized.
- monument, as well as the most big museum A. Saksa is located in Dinant, the birthplace of the great inventor. Its residents, who are very proud of their countryman, have chosen the saxophone as a symbol of their city. The logo in the form of a saxophone can be found everywhere here: in bars, restaurants, cafes, shops. A street is named after the inventor, and figurines depicting a saxophone hang on the buildings.
- In 1948, in the USSR, by a decree of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of February 10, the words jazz and saxophone, as elements of a hostile culture, were banned, this period, which lasted eight years, entered the era of Soviet jazz art, as the time when saxophones were unbent.
- In Germany, during the Third Reich, the saxophone was banned as an instrument without Aryan origin, that is, ignoble and unworthy.
- Bill Clinton, President of the United States from 1993 to 2001, loves to play the saxophone. Even in his youth, leading a school jazz band, he wanted to become professional musician. Such dreams of the future head of the White House did not come true, but at his inauguration in 1993 he still played the saxophone.
- Under the auspices of the World Congress of Saxophonists, which have been constantly held since 1969, competitions and festivals are regularly held, and special literature is published. And 1995 was marked by the opening of French city Bordeaux of the European Saxophone Centre, which promotes the instrument and collects data on performers.
- Every year saxophonists from all over the world come to the homeland of the great Belgian A. Sachs in the Belgian city of Dinant to participate in the parade of saxophonists. Lit by torches and to the sound of instruments, the procession passes in the evening along the embankment around the city, creating a mystical effect. The event ends with a concert of saxophonists in the central square.
- Monuments to the saxophone and saxophonists can be found in different parts of the world. The largest: 12-meter is located in the homeland of A. Sachs in Belgium in the city of Denau. Sculpture of a saxophonist made of bronze, which is a symbol of the Norwegian city of Molde, locals affectionately called "Jazz Boy".Monuments to the saxophone are installed in Latin America, in Japan (Hokkaido Island), in Russia (Rostov-on-Don), in Georgia (Tbilisi), in Thailand (Bangkok), and in California (USA), instrument fans built a saxophone house.
- International competitions for saxophone performers are held all over the world, but the most important is the competition for saxophonists in Belgium in Denau, the birthplace of A. Sachs. In its significance, it can be compared with the competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky. A real and long-awaited triumph for the Russian saxophone was the victory of musician Sergei Kolesov, who won first place and three special prizes.
- The most famous firms that make saxophones are located in France (Selmer and Buffet), Japan (Yamaha), Czech Republic (Amati), Germany (BS).
- Saxophonists very often use permanent breathing in their technique to perform long sounds. Initially, the record was set by D. Kenny, who continuously played one note for 45 minutes without stopping. However, his record was broken by D. Escalante, who held the sound twice as long - 1 hour 30 minutes.
Performers
From the very beginning of its appearance, the saxophone has always attracted special attention with its unusually beautiful timbre and great potential for expressive and technical possibilities. Therefore, throughout the history of its development, each period has revealed remarkable virtuoso saxophonists. And since the saxophone was very actively used in various musical genres, then each direction had its own outstanding performers. In the second half of the 19th century, when the instrument was just beginning to appear on the concert stage, music lovers enjoyed the performance of such masters as L. Mayer, J. Soual, J. Murman, A. Vuille and, undoubtedly, the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax, who played superbly on the instrument. A little later, in the last quarter of a century, when the saxophone crossed the Atlantic Ocean, it charmed the Americans with its sound in the person of E. Lefebvre, as well as E. Hall, who did a lot to popularize the instrument on the continent.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the advent of new trends in music, including jazz, the interests of performers began to be divided. jazz saxophone, which dominated the first half of the century was represented by such prominent names as D. Hodges, L. Young, D. Coltrane, C. Hawkins, S. Rollins and C. Parker.
In the second half of the century, jazz gave the world: D. Coltrane, P. Desmond, O. Coleman, D. Mulligan, B. Marsalis, C. Parker, I. Butman, G. Garanyan, A. Kozlov, D. Goloshchekin, D. Adderley, D. Mulligan, B. Shenk, F. Woods.
The classical saxophone is associated with the names of F. Mondelchi, M. Muhl, S. Rascher, J. Londe, M. Shaposhnikova, L. Mikhailov, G. Bumke, S. Lizon, J. Vries, J. Londeiks.
