The nineteenth century was an era of great invention during which important advances were made in the field of wind instrument construction. Large numbers of bizarre instruments were created, some of which survived (for example, the saxophone), while most enjoyed only brief popularity before being relegated to museums and junk shops. The sarrusophone was a product of this imaginative age and although it was once a popular band instrument, it has now been essentially forgotten.

The sarrusophone was invented in 1856 by Monsieur Sarrus, a band leader for the French 13th Regiment of the line. M. Sarrus (whose full name will probably never be known) had his instrument patented June 9, 1856 and gave manufacturing rights to the firm of P. L. Gautrot in Paris. The instrument was intended primarily for use in the marching band where it would replace the bassoons and oboes which are precarious to march with and are unable to produce tones of sufficient volume to be heard easily outdoors.

The sarrusophone is unique in being a keyed brass wind instrument employing a double reed. Admittedly, its fingering system is suspiciously like that of the saxophone. This similarity did not go unnoticed by M. Adolph Sax, as he eventually unsuccessfully sued Sarrus for patent infringement.

The sarrusophone family originally consisted of nine instruments of varying size (table 1), all of which (except for the contrabass in C) are transposing instruments with tessitura notated as B-flat/G3. The two smallest members are straight conical bore instruments with no bocal while the larger members have their tubes bent back double or triple and have bocals. The sarrusophone has eighteen keys including two or three octave keys. Table 2 is a fingering chart for the E-flat contrabass sarrusophone which the authors have reconstructed.

[Click on figures for enlarged view]

[TEXT for Figure 1:

The Sarrusophone

AT THE request of the United States Government, C. G. Conn, Ltd., built the first Sarrusophone ever constructed in America, just a few years ago, as the government band instrumentation now calls for the Bass Sarrusophone as a regular member of the reed section. The government inspectors were highly pleased with the Conn product, and although the Sarrusophone was practically unknown on this side of the Atlantic, it was introduced as a part of the regular &-im line with very satisfying results. It should be remembered that the first Saxophone built in America was also a product of the Conn factories.

This new instrument, despite its unusual appearance, is not difficult to master, especially for one who has played a Saxophone. The fingering is almost identical, and although the Sarrusophone is properly played with a double reed mouthpiece, the Conn designers have perfected a mouthpiece similar to that of a Soprano Saxophone which gives perfect results on the Sarrusophone. The Contra-Bass in Eb is the only member of the family now being built, but others will be added from time to time. This model is by far the most important of the Sarrusophone group, and takes the place of brass Basses, being much easier to play and weighing appreciably less.

Although comparatively new in this hemisphere, the Sarrusophone as produced by Conn has already established itself in America. and its popularity is assured.]

The only American manufacturer to produce sarrusophones was Conn (figure 1) who made approximately two hundred E- flat contrabasses from ca. 1914 to a short while after 1921 (patent December 8, 1914). The following measurements are from a Conn contrabass sarrusophone:

Length of bore. .400 cm
Bell diameter 18 cm
Height 127 cm
Bocal length 60 cm
Bocal diameter . 1.5 cm tapering to 0.5 cm

Figures 2, 3, and 4 are measurements from a reed used with the E-flat contrabass sarrusophone which apparently was made by Prestini of Italy.

In the past, some French players attempted to circumvent the problems of the double reed by using a small single reed mouthpiece. The Conn Company as well made such a device which was the size of a soprano saxophone mouthpiece.

Immediately after its invention, the sarrusophone enjoyed a brief surge of popularity; it is known that there were even bands such as the Fanfare la Sirene of Paris (1925) formed solely of the variously-sized instruments. Eugene Jancourt, the famous French bassoonist, invited bassoonist Emile Coyon to play E-flat contra with the Garde Nationale Band in 1867. In the early part of this century, The London Civil Band, organized by Sir Thomas Beecham, boasted two sarrusophones (B- flat and C), a bass oboe and a heckelphone.

Its only effective use in the orchestra was as a substitute for the contrabassoon, particularly in France, Spain, and Italy. The first recorded orchestral use was during the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle in Saint Saens' Les Noces de Promethee. Other scores which have called for the contrabass sarrusophone include Massenet's Esclarmonde (1908) and Eventyr (1917), and Ravel's Rhapsodie Espanole (1907); Gounod employed a sextette of sarrusophones in Chorale et Musette. Sir Thomas Beecham in his autobiography recounts an amusing anecdote of the first performance of Holbrooke's Apollo and the Seaman (1908) in which the poor sarrusophonist became irretrievably lost and was unable to play his solos. According to Archie Camden, early recording studios used sarrusophones to replace the double basses which couldn't be picked up by the primitive equipment.

Certainly the most innovative use of the sarrusophone was as a Dixieland jazz solo instrument by the incomparable Sidney Bechet (rereleases of Bechet performing with Louis Armstrong are still available). The last fifty years have seen virtually no interest in the sarrusophone, although the Paul Winter Consort is a notable exception. It should come as no surprise that the sarrusophone has essentially no solo literature, although there is reference to a solo by F. L. Casadesus, as well as a twovolume tutor by M. Coyon published in 1867. The brief popularity and rapid decline of the sarrusophone is perhaps, as Heinz Becker has pointed out, an argument for the hypothesis that the lifespan of an instrument depends more on its tone quality than its technical quality.

About the writers...

Bob Richart is a librarian at Washington State University. He has a degree in music history from the University of Oregon, and has played bassoon and contrabassoon for a number of years.

Michel Jolivet is a practicing veterinarian in Seattle. He is an avid bassoonist and contrabassoonist, with a somewhat morbid enthusiasm for unusual wind instruments.

REFERENCES

Baines, Anthony. Musical Instruments Through the Ages. New York: Walker, 1961.

Becker, Heinz. "Sarrusophone," in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Edited by Friedrich Blume. Kessel: Barenreiter, 1949-1979. (Vol. XI, cols. 1411-1412).

Beecham, Thomas. A Mingled Chime: Leaves From an Autobiography. London: Hutchinson, 1944.

Blaikley, D. J., and Anthony Baines. "Sarrusophone," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Sixth edition, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: MacMillan, 1980. (Vol. XVI, pp. 502-3.)

Boerlin, Richard A. "The Sarrusophone," Woodwind/Brass/Percussion Journal, XX (1981), No. 1, pp. 16-23, and No. 2, pp. 16-17.

Boenstein, Robert G. Range and Transposition Guide to Two Hundred Fifty Musical Instruments. [S.I.]: WIM me., 1964.

Camden, Archie. Blow by Blow. London Thames, 1982.

Langwill, Lyndesay G. The Bassoon and Contrabassoon. London: Ernest Berm, 1965.

"Occasional Notes," Musical Times, L111, (1912), p. 715.

"Sarrusophone," in Encyclopedie de la Musique et dictionaire du Conservatoire. Paris: C. Delagrave, 1913-1931.

Table of Contents