When was alto saxophone invented

Alto saxophone in E-flat ca. Public Domain. Open Access. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Verlag Karl Hofmann. The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than , artworks in The Met collection. Learn more.

Adolphe Sax made this alto saxophone in , long after he had switched to brass. The sax is still a woodwind instrument, though. Post a Comment. What he came up with was a single-reed instrument constructed from metal that has a conical bore and overblows at the octave.

The great composer was impressed by the uniqueness and versatility of the instrument. On February 3 of that same year, Adolphe's good friend Hector Berlioz conducts a concert featuring his choral work.

Hector's choral work arrangement is called Chant Sacre and it featured the saxophone. It was set up at "Gymnase Musical," a military band school.

He also made changes to the instrument such as lengthening the bell to include Bb and A and extending the instrument's range to F and G using the fourth octave key. His son, Adolphe Edouard, took over the business. In the saxophone entered the world of jazz bands. In the Sax factory was sold to the Henri Selmer Company. To this day many manufacturers of musical instruments create their own line of saxophones and it continues to enjoy a prominent position in jazz music.

Their slightly subdued tone meant that they could be played at home with less chance of disturbing the neighbours, and the fact that they were pitched in C meant that they could share sheet music with the piano without needing to transpose. There were, however, some exceptions to this. Since then, the saxophone has been at the forefront of most movements and innovations within jazz. Meanwhile, players associated with the Cool jazz scene — Stan Getz, Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan amongst them — improvised in a relaxed fashion that was inspired with the swing stylings of Lester Young.

In the late s Miles Davis helped usher in the jazz rock era by introducing electric keyboards, synthesizers and bass guitars to his bands. Michael Brecker, another forward-thinking player with straight ahead credibility, fronted the funky fusion group the Brecker Brothers along with his brother, the trumpeter Randy Brecker.

For example, the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, like many Scandanavian players, is influenced by Nordic folk music.

It is also used in Motown, funk and ska horn sections, and there was a time during the s when every pop song seemed to have a short interlude in the form of a saxophone solo Michael Brecker was particularly renowned for contributing these to hundreds of songs.