Sax-tastic! Part 3

Okay, where was I?  Oh, yes, the life and times of Adolphe Sax and the saxophone.  Well, not only was he constantly engaged in legal battles over his new instrument, in 1853 he developed a tumor on his lower lip.  Five years of treatments did nothing to alleviate his ailment, until he sought out an Indian doctor who treated him with an exotic herbal concoction.  Somehow, the treatment was effective and the tumor disappeared.  The lucky Sax once again cheated death.

Back to the horn.  On April 22, 1844, two military bands assembled on the Champ de Mars.  A large crowd of enthusiastic Parisians had gathered to see the bands play.  One band was led by Michele Carafa, the director of the Gymnase de Musique Militaire (the army band), the other band led by Sax.  A battle of the bands, if you will.  Seven of Sax's men were bribed to not perform, seemingly putting Sax's band at a sonic disadvantage.  Sax himself stepped in to play the bass saxophone and after both bands played their selections, his band was declared the winner.  The saxophone-saturated band, though fewer in number, out-played the larger band.  It was agreed that the new horns were an improvement over the traditional band setup.

Not everyone liked the new arrangement, though.  When Sax's benefactor, King Louis Philippe, was deposed in 1848, one of the first new orders was to have saxophones removed from military bands (don't lawmakers have more pressing matters to deal with?).  The horn would face similar constraints throughout history.  The Vatican forbade its use, declaring it "profane."  Its rise to popularity coincided with jazz and dance band music, so perhaps it isn't entirely the horn's fault, given that jazz and the new dance forms that were coming around at the turn of the century were also condemned for causing corruption in young, impressionable youth.  Even today, the sax is associated with less than prim and proper settings.  You don't often find oboes or violas in rock bands, but you can usually find a saxophone.  In movies and TV, romance and seduction are signaled by a lilting, moaning saxophone.  It's rare to watch two characters get excited to a harpsichord or tuba soundtrack. 

In my biased opinion, the world is better for Sax's great invention.  And though he died in near ruin, his contribution to music history (and world history) will live on for as long as people play his creations...until our Sun expands and blows up, taking with it our Solar System and all remaining saxophone players, who, no doubt, will stubbornly stick around to see the explosion, playing their beloved instruments.