Adolf Saxony

Here Aolphe Sax rests on a bench in front of the house where he was born, his invention in hand.

Antoine-Joseph Sax, better known as Adolphe Sax, is the prolific and brilliant inventor and constructor of musical instruments and was born on November 6th, 1814.

Charles-Joseph's father was a carpenter by trade . But he soon begins to build musical instruments .

Charles-Joseph Sax is self- taught and builds woodwind and brass instruments , even violins and pianos. He applies for a dozen patents and perfects his instruments. He successfully takes part in numerous exhibitions, where he receives flattering awards.

He invents and perfects instruments and also plays them. He was 16 years old when he taught ivory flutes and clarinets at the Exhibition Industry in Brussels.

1842 is the year of the great turning point in the life of Sax, who at that time possessed his new invention: the saxophone . Adolphe Sax is approaching the age of thirty, "the time when man's creative talent is confirmed, when his human personality takes shape".

The place to be in Europe - Paris - owned him , as he puts it.

The saxophone gave its name to four main families of instruments : saxophones, saxtrombos, saxtubes and saxophones. The saxophone family consists of seven instruments, from sopranino and soprano through bass and double bass to alto, tenor and baritone. These instruments give a new and charming timbre , with a new shape, in brass and no longer in wood . This shape that Sax found and entered is a parabolic cone.

The instrument is played with a reed . It imitates the sounds of a bass stringed instrument . And here lies the whole technical secret of the saxophone. Sax knows the principles of proportion perfectly and this knowledge unmistakably distinguishes him from all other creators.

Then follow painful years for the inventor who must face off against his opponents, his competitors and the counterfeiters who band together to fight him. His staff is taken away from him, the musicians can not play their instruments, hate articles with hurt caricatures appear. The saxophone is exported after the brand has been removed and then demonstratively reintroduced in France with some changes and new branding. Sax is taken to court to have his patents revoked.
All these institutions ruined Sax , which was declared bankrupt three times : in 1852, 1873 and 1877. However, between 1843 and 1860 about twenty thousand instruments left Sax's workshops, which employed a hundred workers

The saxophone was not immediately well received by the composers of the time, despite the many positive reviews and the firm friendship between the saxophone and the music world. The instrument had a long and hard rise around the world.
But last but not least, some authors were so enthusiastic that the saxophone became more popular year after year. However, it was not until 1942, a century after its invention, that the first official saxophone class was established at the Paris Conservatory.

Destiny saves the Sax family in no other way. Seven of Adolf's ten brothers die young and Charles-Joseph has financial problems. In 1853 he moved in with his son, who was then living in Paris. The master then became an apprentice and continued building saxophones until his death in 1865.

Dinantee's genius died in Paris on February 7, 1894. His body rests in the so-called "Montmartre Cemetery" , in a burial chapel, alongside six family members. One of his sons , Adolphe-Edouard, continues the sax acquired in 1928 from the Parisian house of Selmer Dinant, the brilliant Dinantees !

Willem Vandenameele