SaxRevolutions (& Elise Hall)

SaxRevolutions: Adolphe Sax's life by José-Modesto Diago Ortega. Saxophonist/Researcher.

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Do you want to know about the biggest and most merciless judicial battle in culture and industrial property in 19th century, the echoes of which still ring today? Please, check my 📘 The Battle for Control of the Brass and Instruments Business in the French Industrial Revolution

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Happy 212th birthday, Mr Sax.

Adolphe Sax was born in Dinant on 6 November 1814. More than two centuries later, his instruments—and the controversies surrounding them—continue to resonate.

#AdolpheSax #SaxophoneHistory #MusicHistory #Organology #SaxRevolutions

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𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Paris, 1867. Photograph by Léon & Lévy · Archives Nationales, Paris.
#MusicHistory #Organology #BrassInstruments #MilitaryBands
#ExpositionUniverselle

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The instruments were not the only thing on display.

Two years after the Dublin International Exhibition, the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 brought nations, manufacturers and visitors together on an even greater stage.

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International exhibitions displayed more than manufactured objects. They also presented institutions, uniforms, discipline and national identity—and the musical ensembles that transformed new instruments into public sound.

The instruments were on display.

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—and gave new instruments a place where they could be seen, heard and compared.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Dublin, 1865.

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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲?

At the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865, clocks, textiles, ceramics and manufactured goods filled an immense iron-and-glass hall.

But look more closely.

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At the centre of this contemporary view stands a band, surrounded by brass instruments, music stands and visitors.

International exhibitions were not silent displays of objects. Music helped transform industry into public spectacle

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📘 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Oxford University Press, 2024.
#brass #bands #power #brassbands #QueenVictoria

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Twelve years later, Queen Victoria sketched the band again.
In 1843, she had drawn French military musicians during her visit to King Louis-Philippe. By 1855, France had a new regime and a new ruler: Napoleon III.
On 25 August, while visiting the Château de la Muette, Victoria

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁.
That relationship between bands, political power and the brass-instrument industry lies at the heart of

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The links between 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 lie at the heart of 📘 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. OUP, 2024.

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Could a military band help bring two rival nations closer?
On 6 Sept 1843, during Queen Victoria’s first journey abroad as Queen, she sketched musicians of the French 24th Light Infantry from her window at the Château d’Eu, France.
She was visiting King Louis-Philippe, ...

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who returned the visit the following year. Music, ceremony and military display were becoming instruments of diplomacy and national prestige.

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Chapter 6 tells the rest.

📘 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Oxford University Press, 2024.

#AdolpheSax #Organology #PatentHistory

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What does Columbus’s egg have to do with Adolphe Sax’s saxhorns?

In 1854, the famous story of Columbus’s egg appeared in the final stage of a major lawsuit over the originality of Sax’s brass instruments.

Why? And what could an egg possibly contribute to a patent dispute?

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When research meets one of your favourite films… 😅🎷⚡️

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several thousand dollars today.

She did not merely commission new saxophone repertoire from afar.

She crossed an ocean to perform it.

#EliseHall #SaxophoneHistory #WomenInMusic #MusicHistory

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This is not Elise Hall.

But Hall travelled from Boston to Paris at least twice to perform on the saxophone.

Getting there meant crossing the Atlantic by steamship and continuing by rail. Around 1910, a first-class journey could cost approximately $100 each way—the equivalent of