pictured with her father Henry Clay Mecklem.
regularly employed: many of the references to the saxophone in the New York Times during the late 1880s and 0s refer to performances either by her or Lefebre.
Lefebre’s influence as a teacher also extended to pedagogic publications. He composed original works and made transcriptions and arrangements that were published – by the Fischer company – in both Europe and the United States. These comprised typical fare for aspiring wind players of the time: operatic arias and sets of variations, light classics and other popular works. In the early 100s these were augmented by a small number of arrangements for saxophone quartet, a medium that had achieved some popularity in the US by this time in part because of Lefebre’s advocacy of it.
Following Gilmore’s death in 182 many of his musicians, including Lefebre, joined a similar band being run by John Philip Sousa, the US Marine Band. Sousa had taken over the leadership of this band in 1880, and by the time Lefebre joined in February 183 it was the pre-eminent professional band in the country. But a dispute over his salary meant that Lefebre left the band the following year, in February 184; his place was taken by the Belgian-born Jean Moeremans (see p. 160).
From this point until his death in 111 Lefebre pursued a freelance career. He worked as a consultant to the Conn company, the first American saxophone manufac- turer, whose instruments he endorsed. This was particularly true of Conn’s ‘Wonder’ saxophones, advertised by them from as early as 182. Lefebre’s association with the company led to him create The Conn Wonder Quartette from the mid 180s, as well as contributing to saxophone instruction at the Conn Conservatory of Music from at least 186; through this latter role he again demonstrated his influence on a number of saxophonists who would later go on to be recognised performers in their own right.7 After resigning his consultancy position with Conn in 101 Lefebre rebranded the Wonder Quartette into the Lefebre Quartette. Under its new name the group toured the USA and Canada from 101 to 103, reinforcing Lefebre’s personal reputa- tion and national influence; the group was later observed to be ‘the first saxophone quartette of note to make a transcontinental tour’.8
Notwithstanding increasing deafness in his later years, Lefebre continued to give concerts into his seventies, a consequence, no doubt, of economic necessity as much as artistic motivation. On his death in 111 he was widely identified as the most eminent saxophonist across America, and he had played a significant role in laying the groundwork for the rapid popularisation of the instrument that would shortly follow.
European military and wind bands
The nineteenth-century context in which the saxophone flourished most widely, and which also provided the best economic returns for Sax’s business, was in larger mixed wind bands and particularly military bands. Such bands were already undergoing transformation in the early part of the nineteenth century, moving towards instru- mental combinations divided into homogenous families rather like orchestras (hence the later description ‘symphonic wind band’). The implementation of valve technology for brass instruments and the timbral homogeneity arising from this were important aspects of this evolution. Sax’s own predilection for developing instruments
as homogenous families accelerated such changes, and the saxophone family took its place relatively quickly – albeit more often in theory than in practice – as a new but significant addition to many of these bands, particularly those in France or under French influence.
In the second half of the century the proliferation of military bands was matched by increasing popular interest in their activities, and particularly in the competitions and exhibitions in which such bands engaged. This in turn stimulated the formation of civilian wind bands in numerous towns and cities, many of whom took part in specially organised competitions. These bands took a variety of forms, and were inevi- tably rather less standardised in their instrumentation than their military equivalents, but saxophones were included if sufficiently enthusiastic performers could be found. In France, for example, these groups were largely divided into two types: fanfares, which were essentially brass bands with saxophones sometimes added, and harmonie bands, assembled from a more diverse range of wind, brass and percussion instru- ments. These became widespread in the mid- to late nineteenth century, with almost every French municipality proud of its own particular band. Their popularity led Sax to assemble his own group, which offered him an advertisement for his instruments, and one which would remain largely under his control. His Grande société d’harmonie gave a number of public concerts from 1853 onwards, with programmes comprising the now familiar mix of operatic extracts and items of solo virtuosity. In this particular case Sax had organised the ensemble along the lines of his proposed reorganisation of the Garde Impériale, and this further suggests that the group was being used as a shop window not only for his instruments, but also for his views on the correct instrumentation for such ensembles. A quartet of saxophones (SATBs) comprised an important part of this instrumentation, and the increasing number of named saxophone players is testament to the gradually expanding pool of trained performers from which Sax was able to draw. Their performances drew admiring comments from various critics, with the RGMP observing that ‘nothing is more marvellous than the effect produced with these instruments, above all the saxophones [. . .]. M. Lecerf was strongly appreciated in the various solos on the alto saxophone, as was M. Auroux on the soprano.’
Sax’s expertise in the instrumentation of large wind ensembles did not go unnoticed by the then London-based Jullien. In 1856 Jullien developed, with Sax’s assistance, a model military band which he toured under the name of the Zouaves, and which he hoped would impress the English military authorities sufficiently to encourage them to reform their ensembles as the French had done a few years previously (an aspiration doubtless shared by Sax and those English companies licensed to import his instru- ments). Sax’s influence upon the instrumentation of the band was evident, comprising as it did numerous saxhorns and a full complement of five saxophones. Jullien wrote of his delight at the superior qualities of this group, and particularly of one player named Demange, whom he described as ‘a bass, or rather, double bass saxophone player of prodigious talent’.100 Further evidence of the connection with Sax may be inferred from Jullien’s advertising of a similar group in 1858 as the Societé d’harmonie universelle.101
But it was with military music-making that Sax mostly concerned himself. His victory on the Champs du Mars and the French government’s decree that his plans for military bands should be implemented meant that saxophones became slowly more common in French military ensembles from 1845 onwards. Although initially set at only 2 saxophones per infantry band, by 1854 these had been considerably expanded to a double quartet. Although the numbers of musicians in French infantry bands were reduced from 57 to 40 by Government decree in 1860, the saxophones retained their place, and it might reasonably be assumed that by this time they were established constituents of a range of French military ensembles. Distribution was uneven, however, in part because of the initial lack of skilled players, the rescoring of extant repertoire required to incorporate new instruments, and the some- times distant places in which military ensembles would be garrisoned, far from the influence of their Parisian masters. Notwithstanding the formal rhetoric, therefore, the deployment of saxophones in military bands was for many years inconsistent.
Nevertheless, military music provided an extremely important market for Sax and his competitors. In 1860 Pontécoulant estimated that there were 22 regiments requiring supplies of musical instruments, the latter being valued at more than 1.1 million francs; one estimate suggests that this amount would have been spent every five years on replenishing these supplies, given the average working life of a military instrument.102 Because of the economic consequences, therefore, the further substan- tial reductions in the provision of French military music in 1867 provoked a notable backlash, not least from Sax himself, who was sufficiently concerned at the threat to his livelihood that he published an essay that year titled ‘De la nécessité des musiques militaires’.103 But certain flagship French military bands were spared from such economies. The protection afforded to these bands arose in large part because of the Paris Exhibition of 1867, at which an international competition was staged between invited international bands. France was naturally keen that it should be able to display large and competent ensembles at this event, and the bands of both the Guides de la Garde Impériale and the Garde républicaine de Paris took part. The instrumentation of these and other bands participating in this event allows us some insight into the patterns of dissemination of the saxophone at this time.
Table 6: Disposition of saxophones among the various bands competing at the Paris
Exhibition of 1867 (adapted from Neukomm 1889).104
Austria Baden Bavaria Belgium France (Guides)
France (Garde)
Netherlands Prussia Russia Spain
Soprano 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 0
Alto 0 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 2 0
Tenor 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 2 0
Baritone 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 3 0
The lack of a bass in most of these sections demonstrates already how far removed was the role of the saxophone from Sax’s original intentions for the instrument (as well as the impracticality of having in a marching band an instrument of the size originally conceived). Nevertheless, such a table can be misleading, and should not be taken to represent the position relating to all military bands in the countries represented. As with the French groups, these were showcase bands, demonstrating the best that any given country had to offer, and the inclusion of saxophones in other ensembles is likely to have been considerably more inconsistent, as well as varying greatly according to time and place. By 1884, for example, French infantry bands in general were listed as having only a single saxophone quartet,105 although the Garde républicaine apparently continued to be considered a showpiece ensemble, retaining in 188 the services of nine saxophones, albeit in a revised disposition of S/2A/3T/2B.106
In 1863 Hanslick had observed that the saxophone was little known in Germany, and that it was often confused with the saxhorn.107 His assessment is borne out by the notable absence of saxophones in any of the Germanic bands at the 1867 exhibition, most likely because of Wilhelm Wieprecht’s antipathy towards Sax and his instru- ments, and his influence on the organisation of military music in these countries. This state of affairs persisted for much of the nineteenth century and beyond. Although there is evidence of saxophone players in certain garrison towns around the turn of the century, saxophones did not become standard in German and Austrian military bands until a section (S/2A/T/B) was added to the Luftwaffe music corps in 140.108
It is curious that the Spanish band in the competition is listed as having no saxo- phones since there is some evidence the saxophone was quickly assimilated into bands there. In 1852 the RGMP noted that the Spaniards, ‘who search for and enjoy new musical effects, are passionately fond of this beautiful invention’ and that ‘most of their music is already provided with three or four saxophones in different keys’.10 Even allowing for journalistic hyperbole the assertion is striking; saxophones were certainly available from a dealer in Madrid from at least 1857.110 Similarly, Hartmann’s saxophone method of 1846 has instructions in both French and Spanish, suggesting that the publisher thought there would be a Spanish market for the method, as had been the case with the ophicléide method on which it was clearly based. Thus their omission from this particular Spanish band line-up is possibly misleading. August Kalkbrenner, writing in 1884, noted that by then Spanish bands were including a double saxophone quartet (2S/2A/2T/2B), which would have been more in keeping with the RGMP’s earlier view.111
No Italian bands were present at the competition, although an 1850 Italian treatise on instrumentation by Antonio Tosoroni lists a potential family of 14 instruments, replicating information distributed by Kastner and Sax.112 It is unlikely that the saxo- phone appeared in any Italian bands at this early juncture. The instrument is not listed in any of Tosoroni’s models for various ensembles, suggesting that not only was he unsure how to score for it but also that it had yet to feature in any of them. The saxophone had been demonstrated by the clarinettist and maker Giovanni Bimboni at Florence’s Accademia Filarmonica early in 1848.113 But when Rossini included parts for saxophones in his 1868 La Corona d’Italia, written for military band and offered as
a gift to King Victor Emmanuel II, the instruments had to be specially ordered from Paris for the first performance.114
No English bands were permitted to take part in the 1867 contest, but in fact the saxophone had appeared in them at an early stage. Henry Farmer records that:
I can show from a list of the Royal Artillery Band in 1848 [. . .] that Henry Rigby was playing the saxophone in the band in that same year. I possess two programmes of the Band performing at Newcastle in September, 1855, which feature Rigby as a saxophone soloist, whilst the Band Fund Accounts, R.A., for the 1856–57 season prove that the band was in possession of two Alto and two Tenor Saxophones.115 This reference to a saxophonist in the Royal Artillery band in 1848 predates Soualle’s performances in London under Jullien by two years. But more widespread adoption was slow to follow. The level and quality of military music provision in England lagged behind that of both Germany and France, although the creation in 1857 of a military music class at Kneller Hall (later the Royal Military School of Music) was designed to counter this. A further indication of the renewed seriousness with which the British Army viewed military music provision was the increase in size of the Royal Artillery Band (the country’s leading military ensemble) from 43 to 74 players by 1863; saxophones, however, were no longer included.116
The increasing importance of Kneller Hall as an English military-music training establishment meant that its Director wielded considerable influence. Charles Mandel’s appointment to the post in 185 led him to publish that same year an extensive treatise on military band instrumentation that shows remarkable prescience and under- standing of the potential use of the saxophone.117 Whereas Kastner (1844) was only able to speculate on the instrument’s use (since it was still under development), Mandel writes imaginatively of the possibilities the saxophone offered, suggesting that he was quite familiar with scoring for it, while at the same time retaining a some- what dismissive attitude to the instrument:
Except that is has a similar reed and mouthpiece, the saxophone does not bear the slightest resemblance to the clarionet, either in its compass, which is more like that of the oboe, or in its sound, which resembles a seraphim [. . .]. Its principal use should be limited to simple, choral-like melodies, and harmony; and, for this purpose, one saxophone alone cannot well be employed, but three, four, or, if possible, five, in different keys [. . .]. In extreme cases, however, the B flat soprano- saxophone may serve to replace the oboe, and the E flat alt-saxophone, the E flat alt-horn. The tenor-saxophone and the bass-saxophone have so peculiar and distinct a sound, that they cannot be employed as substitutes for any other instru- ments. In pieces for reed bands taken from operas, – as, for instance, Verdi’s Trovatore, etc. – where there is an organ on the stage, the part for that instrument would, if arranged, in reed band, for four or five saxophones (pitched in various keys), produce a characteristic effect, although the same result might be obtained from flugel horns and trombones. Thus, the saxophone is only employed in reed bands of fifty performers and upwards, for the purpose of imparting greater variety
to the character of the general tone. In smaller bands, the use of it, in the place of other more practical instruments, would be attended with more disadvantage than advantage. It might be employed now and then, perhaps; but in that case, some of the performers would be burdened with two instruments.118
Despite Mandel’s qualified advocacy, the saxophone did not become a regular constit- uent of English military bands for many years. Kalkbrenner’s 1884 list shows a standard English band as having no saxophones, reinforcing an observation in the Musical Times of 180 that the instrument had been ‘little used in English bands until recently’.11 Saxophones were eventually standardised in British military bands at a Kneller Hall conference in 121, which decreed that one alto and one tenor instrument should be considered the minimum in any band with over twenty-five members.120
The saxophone’s slow penetration into English bands provides a clear example of the difficulties of dissemination elsewhere in Europe and the USA: not only were there relatively few trained players, but many bandmasters considered there to be little gained by employing saxophones, because of the considerable amount of additional work involved in integrating them into existing repertoire. Band parts in the nine- teenth century were not, on the whole, commercially printed and then distributed; they were largely bespoke, hand-written for a particular band, with instrumentation to match the available players. Integrating a new family of instruments such as the saxophone would have necessitated the rescoring of a considerable amount of mate- rial, together with the production of a new set of parts. The point was eloquently made by Kappey in his 184 history of military music:
As a military band instrument [the saxophone] is of great value when employed in a complete choir of soprano, alt[o], tenor, and bass, as its tone forms an admirable tonal link between reeds and brass. But the difficulty is, that such addition would render all the music hitherto accumulated, and which is arranged according to the prescribed regulation, useless. The loss of the large repertoire of many years’ growth would far outweigh any gain from the adoption of the saxophone. As the compass of the saxophone is not very great – two octaves and two or three notes more – it is impossible to utilise it for the clarinet parts, which all require larger range. The addition of a ‘set’ would necessitate the great labour of writing parts for every piece desired by the conductor.121
George Miller’s 112 treatise The Military Band similarly warned aspiring orchestrators that saxophones could be employed for ‘solo, melodic, or accompanying purposes; but it must be remembered that unhappily their use is not universal in our bands, and therefore they can only be allotted ad libitum parts’.122
As the nineteenth century progressed, however, the saxophone made slow but steady progress in the regular instrumentation of military bands. In particular, the colonial activities of several west European countries necessarily required the posting of military ensembles abroad, and these provided significant mechanisms through which the saxophone became more widely known. Notwithstanding the isolated international concerts given by performers such as Soualle and Lefebre, it was military