{"id":992,"date":"2017-11-06T16:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=992"},"modified":"2017-12-14T14:09:19","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T14:09:19","slug":"adolphe-sax-building-a-business-in-19th-century-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=992","title":{"rendered":"Adolphe Sax: Building a Business in 19th-Century Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adolphe Sax\u2014the Belgian musician, instrument maker, and inventor\u2014was born on today’s date in 1814.\u00a0 While known primarily for creating the saxophone, he also invented a large number of other instruments bearing his name, and developed a clever strategy for creating his brand.<\/p>\n

\"\"La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris<\/em>, Vol. 39 No. 17 (28 April 1872): 136.<\/h6>\n

An advertisement featuring images\u00a0of Adolphe Sax\u2019s many instruments<\/p>\n

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In recognition of his birth, we highlight the manner in which the press reflected his successful business enterprise in 1840s Paris.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jules Worm, \u201cAdolphe Sax. \u2014D’apr\u00e8s une photographie de MM Mayer et Pierson,\u201d L\u2019Illustration, <\/em>Vol. XLII (5 September 1863): 175, published in H. Robert Cohen, Les Gravures Musicales dans L\u2019Illustration,<\/em> Vol. 1\u00a0 (Quebec: Presses de l’Universit\u00e9 Laval, 1982): 518.<\/h6>\n

Soon after arriving in Paris in the spring of 1841, Sax received much attention in the press and the strong advocacy of critics, composers, and performers.\u00a0 For example, Hector Berlioz championed Sax, hailing him in the 12 June 1842 issue of the Journal des <\/em>d\u00e9bats, <\/em>as a leading figure in the development of woodwind and brass instruments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mr. Adolphe Sax of Brussels, whose work we have just examined, has without doubt made a powerful contribution to the revolution which is about to take place.\u00a0 He is a clever, far-sighted man, of penetrating and clear intelligence, self-willed with a persevering spirit able to withstand all trials, enormously skilled, always ready to replace even specialist workmen incapable of understanding and realizing his plans.\u00a0 At the same time, he is a shrewd man, an acoustician, and when necessary, a smelter, a turner and chiseler.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hector Berlioz, \u201cInstrumens de musique\u2014M. Ad. Sax,\u201d Journal des d\u00e9bats politiques et litt\u00e9raires<\/em> (12 June 1842): 3.<\/h6>\n

In his 1844 Grand trait\u00e9 d\u2019instrumentation et d\u2019orchestration modernes<\/em>, Berlioz featured the saxophone in a section devoted to new instruments.\u00a0 This text was later translated and reprinted in the Musical Review and Musical World. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"The Musical Review and Musical World<\/em>, Vol. 11 No. 24 (24 November 1860): 339.<\/h6>\n

The well-known critic and conductor Fran\u00e7ois-Joseph F\u00e9tis also wrote favorably of Sax\u2019s instruments.\u00a0 In a translated review of Hal\u00e9vy\u2019s opera, Le Juif errant, <\/em>F\u00e9tis remarked on the dramatic effects of the newly-invented saxtuba, as well as the \u201csympathetic sonorousness\u201d of the saxophone.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The Musical World<\/em>, Vol. 30 No. 31 (31 July 1852): 490-91.<\/h6>\n

Internationally acclaimed performers were also advocates for his instruments.\u00a0 While in Paris in 1844, the Distins\u2014a family quintet of British brass musicians\u2014acquired the first saxhorns.\u00a0 Soon after, La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris <\/em>mentions in a brief concert report the relationship between Sax and the traveling performers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The next morning Mr. Distin and his family, also from the United Kingdom of Great Britain, performed on Adolphe Sax\u2019s excellent instruments, in the hall of Mr. Herz, and produced their accustomed effect. The pieces: \u00a0\u201cRobert, you whom I love,” the finale of Lucia<\/em>, and especially God Save the King<\/em>, delighted the almost all English audience, who also had the pleasure of applauding an English pianist, Mr. Julien Adams, who performed a Weber piano concerto quite well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris<\/em>, Vol. 11 No. 13 (31 March 1844): 116.<\/h6>\n

By 1843 Adolphe Sax had established his workshop, building an impressive range of both woodwind and brass instruments.\u00a0 But more than variety, it was the quality of production that underlay Sax\u2019s manufacturing.\u00a0 As Horwood states, \u201che intended to produce each part of every instrument under his personal strict supervision so that any instrument bearing his name as an indication of its quality would have been wholly and completely made in the Sax workshop.\u201d[1]<\/a> By 1844, his workshop on rue Saint-Georges<\/em> was, as these engravings indicate, already efficient, successful and bursting with activity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The ground floor of Sax’s workshop<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\u00c9douard Renard et Henri Valentin, “Fabrique d’instruments de musique de M. Sax,”\u00a0L\u2019Illustration, <\/em>Vol. X (5 February 1848): 357, published in H. Robert Cohen, Les Gravures Musicales dans L\u2019Illustration,<\/em> Vol. 1 (Quebec: Presses de l’Universit\u00e9 Laval, 1982): 148.<\/h6>\n

The workshop’s second floor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the creation of his workshop and backing of the musical elite, Adolphe Sax began marketing his products to the masses.\u00a0 While touring musicians like the Distins promoted his instruments internationally, concerts at the Salle Sax, rue Saint-Georges, <\/em>depicted below, allowed the public to experience the design and sound of Sax\u2019s latest creations.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jules Gaildrau, “Audition des instruments\u00a0r\u00e9cemment invent\u00e9s par M. Adolphe Sax,” L\u2019Illustration<\/em>, Vol. XLIV (16 July 1864): 48,\u00a0 published in H. Robert Cohen, Les Gravures Musicales dans L\u2019Illustration,<\/em> Vol. 2 (Quebec: Presses de l’Universit\u00e9 Laval, 1982): 535.<\/h6>\n

Sax also extensively promoted his creations with advertisements such as the first illustration above, and the following two.<\/p>\n

\"\"La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris<\/em>, Vol. 31 No. 16 (17 April 1864): 128.<\/h6>\n
\"\"La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris<\/em>, Vol. 30 No. 31 (2 August 1863): 248.<\/h6>\n

In celebration of the bicentennial of his birth, saxophone professor and researcher Jos\u00e9-Modesto Diago Ortega produced an interesting video that cleverly permits one to view the engravings of Sax\u2019s workshop (depicted above) from within.\u00a0 It\u2019s well worth viewing.<\/p>\n