Where was Adolphe Sax born?
3132#1
Antoine-Joseph Sax was born on 6 November 1814, in Dinant, in what is now Belgium, to Charles-Joseph Sax and his wife. While his given name was Antoine-Joseph, he was referred to as Adolphe from childhood. His father and mother were instrument designers themselves, who made several changes to the design of the French horn. Adolphe began to make his own instruments at an early age, entering two of his flutes and a clarinet into a competition at the age of 15. He subsequently studied performance on those two instruments as well as voice at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Adolphe Sax
143432#15
Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born in Belgium. The country has also a very active jazz scene that is achieving international recognition with bands like Aka Moon, Maak's Spirit and Octurn. Harmonicist Toots Thielemans, guitarist Philip Catherine and Django Reinhardt are probably the best known Belgian jazz musicians.
Culture of Belgium
3132#3
After leaving the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Sax began to experiment with new instrument designs, while his parents continued to make conventional instruments to bring in money. Adolphe's first important invention was an improvement of the bass clarinet design, which he patented at the age of 24. Sax relocated permanently to Paris in 1842 and began working on a new set of instruments. Hector Berlioz was so enamoured of them that he arranged in February 1844 for one of his pieces to be played entirely on Sax's new instruments. These were valved bugles, and although he had not invented the instrument itself, his examples were much more successful than those of his rivals and became known as saxhorns. They came in seven different sizes, and paved the way for the creation of the flugelhorn. Today, saxhorns are sometimes used in concert bands, marching bands and, orchestras. The saxhorn also laid the groundwork for the modern euphonium.
Adolphe Sax
3132#8
Sax suffered from lip cancer between 1853 and 1858 but made a full recovery. In 1894 Sax died in complete poverty in Paris and was interred in section 5 (Avenue de Montebello) at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.
Adolphe Sax
3132#9
In his birthplace Dinant in Belgium the Mr Sax's House is dedicated to his life and saxophones.
Adolphe Sax
1709624#1
Saxe was born in 1816 in Highgate, Vermont, at Saxe's Mills, where his settler grandfather, John Saxe (Johannes Sachse), a German immigrant and Loyalist to the Crown, built the area's first gristmill in 1786. Saxe was the son of Peter Saxe, miller, judge and periodic member of the Vermont General Assembly; and Elizabeth Jewett of Weybridge, Vermont. The poet was named for two of his paternal uncles, John and Godfrey, who had died as young men before his birth. Raised in a strict Methodist home, Saxe was first sent, in 1835, to Wesleyan University which he left after a year, and then to Middlebury College, from which he graduated in 1839.
John Godfrey Saxe
26795#3
The saxophone was developed in 1846 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist, and clarinetist. Born in Dinant and originally based in Brussels, he moved to Paris in 1842 to establish his musical instrument business. Before work on the saxophone, he made several improvements to the bass clarinet by improving its keywork and acoustics and extending its lower range. Sax was also a maker of the ophicleide, a large conical brass instrument in the bass register with keys similar to a woodwind instrument. His experience with these two instruments allowed him to develop the skills and technologies needed to make the first saxophones.
Saxophone
46182104#1
Sax was born in Los Angeles on April 26, 1936 to Mildred and Remy Sax. While attending Fairfax High School in West LA, Sax played the trumpet alongside trumpeter Herb Alpert. Upon graduation, Sax attended UCLA and then was drafted into the Army where he played trumpet in the 7th Army Symphony from 1959-1961.
Doug Sax
38859003#1
Adolph E. Peschke was born in St. Louis, MO, October 27, 1914, to Cecil and Adolph Peschke. When he was twenty years old, he got married and lived with his wife, Grace in Webster Groves, MO where they raised their children, Don and Jayne. Adolph Peschke joined the Boy Scouts as a youth and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He was continuously registered as a Scout for over 85 years. For his life of service, he was presented with the Silver Antelope Award.
Adolph Peschke
3132#6
The period around 1840 saw Sax inventing the "clarinette-bourdon", an early unsuccessful design of contrabass clarinet. Around this time he also developed the instrument for which he is best known: the saxophone which he patented on 28 June 1846. The saxophone was invented for use in both orchestras and military bands. By 1846 Sax had designed (on paper at least) a full range of saxophones (from sopranino to subcontrabass). Composer Hector Berlioz wrote approvingly of the new instrument in 1842, but despite his support, saxophones never became standard orchestral instruments. However, their ability to play technical passages easily like woodwinds and also project loudly like brass instruments led them to be included in military bands in France and elsewhere. The saxophone was Sax's signature accomplishment and created his reputation more than any other. This helped secure him a job teaching at the Paris Conservatory in 1857.
Adolphe Sax