The subcontrabass saxophone is the largest of the family of

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

s that Adolphe Sax described in his 1846 patent. He called it the ''saxophone bourdon'', named after the very low-pitched 32′ bourdon pedal stop on large

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s. Although Sax planned to build one, the first playable instrument was only built in 2010. It is a

transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing ...

pitched in B♭ one

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

below the bass saxophone, two octaves below the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

, and three octaves and a

major second In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more de ...

below its written pitch.

History

Although described in Adolphe Sax's patent in 1846, a practical, playable subcontrabass saxophone did not exist until the 21st century. An oversized saxophone that might have qualified was built as a prop circa 1965; it could produce tones, but its non-functional keywork required assistants to manually open and close the pads, and it was reportedly incapable of playing a simple scale. The tubax was developed in two sizes in 1999 by German instrument manufacturer Benedikt Eppelsheim, the lower of which, pitched in B♭, he describes as a "subcontrabass saxophone". This instrument provides the same pitch range as the ''saxophone bourdon'' would have, while the smaller tubax in E♭ covers the range of the contrabass saxophone. Compared to a regular saxophone, the tubax has a narrower bore and uses a smaller reed. In the 2000s, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones became popular in church orchestras in Brazil, and are made by Brazilian instrument manufacturers J'Élle Stainer and Galassine. J'Élle Stainer produced a working compact subcontrabass saxophone in 2010, which was shown that year at Expomusic. In September 2012, Eppelsheim built the first full-size subcontrabass saxophone in B♭ (distinct from his B♭ tubax). In July 2013, J'Élle Stainer completed a full-size subcontrabass saxophone. It stands high and weighs . In Brazil, at least one , built in E♭ an octave below the contrabass, has been made.

Repertoire

There is no historical

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

or jazz repertoire specifically scored for a subcontrabass saxophone, since playable instruments have only existed since 2010. Two works first performed in 2022, Slovenian composer Igor Krivokapič's Symphony No. 5 and ''Colores'' by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost, both feature the instrument. Low-pitched saxophones in general have become popular in Brazil, particularly in the large church orchestras of the

Christian Congregation in Brazil The Christian Congregation in Brazil () was founded in Brazil by the Italian-American missionary Luigi Francescon (1866–1964), as part of the larger Christian Congregation (Pentecostal), Christian Congregation movement. History Louis Frances ...

that accompany hymns.

References

Bibliography

External links

* Attilio Berni i
''Back Home Again Indiana'' (YouTube)
solos on the subcontabass and soprillo (Saxophone Museum, Maccarese, 2020)
MP3 sound recording
of the first movement of "Duet for Basses" by Walter Hartley, played as a B Tubax duet (one instrument, overdubbed), performed by Jay C. Easton {{Saxophone Saxophones Contrabass instruments B-flat instruments

History

Repertoire

See also

References

Bibliography

External links