Saxorusofoni in a catalogue
About the writer
There is a strange group of instruments of the double reed family, that appear in the current catalogue of the firm "S.R.L. Professor Romeo Orsi - Instrumenti Musicali" of Milano (Italia). The firm claims[1] that the instruments were invented around 1850 by the founder, Romeo Orsi, who at that time was junior partner of the firm "Maino & Orsi",[2] and had been in contact with Adolphe Sax. Further research in their archives will be necessary in order to establish the exact date and the nature of the contact with Sax, who is more known for litigation rather than cooperation with other instrument makers. In fact the sarrusophone was patented by Sarrus and Gautrot in 1856, and the similarities to the saxophone were considered by Sax an infringement of his patent.[3]
The caption in the catalogue reads thus:
The Saxorusophone has the same range and voice of the Sarrusophone but in respect to this it has the merit of a perfect keywork: simple and sturdy; it also has the great advantage of having the same shape and fingering of the Saxophone, so that it is easy to study for any player, even modest, of clarinet, saxophone, oboe or bassoon!
According to a recent article by Gunther Joppig,[4] the instrument is also called the "Rothphone" and was invented at the end of the last century by Ferdinando Roth (1815-1898) and patented after his death by his successors in the firm, the Bottali brothers. The first mention of it is in an advertisement in 1905. Subsequently the prototype came into possession of the Orsi factory that advertised them as "Saxorusofoni" to indicate the instruments were a hybrid between saxophones and sarrusophones.
In fact, in the advertisement the instruments look like saxophones with a double reed. I have never seen one of them used in an Italian band (usually the "contrabbasso ad ancia" is employed here as a low double reed),- and the firm "Orsi" says that it was manufactured up to the 1920's for Spanish, German and Austrian bands. A British collector has recently bought an Eb contrabass. If he is a member of the I.D.R.S. and he reads this communication, he might send us more information on the instrument.
I have been told that the Museo del 'Arma Dei Carabineri in Rome also has a specimen. The museum is not generally open to the public, so I will try to get a permit to see and possibly make photos of it.
About
the writer...
Andrea Toschi plays bassoon,
contrabassoon, baroque bassoon and curtal. He has worked with
many groups and orchestras in Italy, including the Orchestra Sinfonica
di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra Sinfonica della Radiotelevisone
Italiana di Roma, the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and the Orchestra
Barocca Italiana. He also has a degree in mathematics, and has
published some papers on a geometrical model of the tonal system.
ENDNOTES
1. letter to
Andrea Toschi signed by C. Molteni of Ditta prof. Romeo Orsi srl
- via Bruno Buozzi 24 - 20094 Buccinasco (MI) Italia
2. the firm "Maino & Orsi" was, according to Lyndesay G. Langwill, active in Milano around 1880.
3. see "The Sarrusophone" by Michel Jolivet and Robert Richart, The Double Reed, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1985), containing also a bibliography.
4. see "Sarrusophone, Rothphone
(Saxorusophone) and Reed Contrabass" by Gunther Joppig, Journal of the
American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) - Vol. XII, 1986,
p. 68-106.
