Hector Berlioz · section 56 of 67

New Instruments

The author does not consider it his duty to describe the enormous number of experiments made daily by manufacturers of musical instruments and their alleged, more or less abortive inventions; nor need he enumerate the useless objects which they try to introduce into the family of instruments. It is his duty, however, to point out to composers the really important inventions, particularly if their results have already had some general approval or practical application. The number of successful inventors is very small; Messrs. Adolphe Sax and Alexandre are outstanding among them.

M. Sax - whose creations shall occupy us first - has improved a number of older instruments (as has been mentioned frequently in the course of this work). He has also filled several gaps in the family of brass instruments. His principal contribution, however, lies in the creation of a new family of brass instruments with single reeds and clarinet mouthpieces’which he completed only a few years ago.

These are the sazophones. These newly gained orchestral voices have rare and valuable qualities, In the high range they are soft yet penetrating; in the low range they are full and rich, and in the middle range they are very expressive, On the whole it is a timbre quite its own, vaguely similar to that of the violoncello, the clarinet and the English horn with a half-metallic

admixture which gives it an altogether peculiar expression.

The body of the instrument is a parabolic cone of brass with a system of keys. Agile, suited just as well for rapid passages as for soft melodies and for religious and dreamy effects, saxophones can be used in any kind of music; but they are particulary suited to slow and tender compositions.

The high tones of low saxophones have a plaintive and sorrowful character; their low tones, however, have a sublime and, as it were, priestly calm. All saxophones, especially the baritone and bass, can swell and diminish their sound; this permits entirely new and quite peculiar sound effects in the extremely low range, which bear some resemblance to the tones of the “expressive organ”. The sound of the high saxophones is much more penetrating than that of the clarinets in B> and C without having the sharp and often piercing tone of the small clarinet in E6. The same can be said of the soprano saxophone. Ingenious composers are going to achieve wonderful, still unpredictable effects by joining the saxophones with the clarinet family or by means of other combinations.

The instrument can be played very easily, its fingering being similar to that of the finte and oboe. Players familiar with the clarinet embouchure will master its mechanism within a short time,