Sopranino saxophone explained

Sopranino saxophone
Image Capt:Orsi curved sopranino saxophone
Range:

Sopranino saxophone in E♭ sounds a minor third higher than written.

The sopranino saxophone is the second-smallest member of the saxophone family. It is tuned in the key of E♭, and sounds an octave higher than the alto saxophone. A sopranino in F was also described in Adolphe Sax's patent, an octave above an F alto (mezzo-soprano), but there are no known built instruments.[1]

The sopranino saxophone has a sweet sound and although it is one of the least common of the saxophones in regular use today, it is still being produced by saxophone manufacturers Orsi and Rampone & Cazzani in Italy, Henri Selmer Paris, Yanagisawa of Japan, and Chinese makers Jinbao and Wessex. Due to their small size, sopraninos are usually built straight like a clarinet, although Orsi make both straight and curved sopraninos, with the appearance of a miniature alto.[2]

The original patented saxophone family, as developed by Adolphe Sax, included E♭ and B♭ saxophones in the voices of sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass, and subcontrabass instruments, and the same seven in the keys of C and F, though only the soprano, alto, and tenor were ever made. Since the late 1990s the soprillo, an even smaller piccolo saxophone tuned in B♭ a fifth above the sopranino, was developed by the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim.[3] [4]

The sopranino saxophone is a transposing instrument, with the same written range as any saxophone, from B♭ to at least F. Sounding a minor third higher than written, like an E♭ clarinet or soprano cornet, this range corresponds to D♭ to A♭ in concert pitch.

Repertoire

In classical music, the most notable use of the sopranino saxophone is in French composer Maurice Ravel's orchestral work Boléro. Ravel's score calls for a "soprano saxophone in F", but it is likely no such instrument has ever been built; the part is usually performed on E♭ sopranino or B♭ soprano.

The instrument has seen a small revival contemporary music in the 21st century. American rock band Violent Femmes have incorporated a horn section, "Horns of Dilemma", into their live performances and albums, including many sizes of saxophone from sopranino to contrabass. Saxophonist Blaise Garza plays a sopranino in the Violent Femmes' 2019 song "I'm Not Gonna Cry".[5] Outside of classical and rock music, notable jazz and improvising musicians using this instrument include Carla Marciano, James Carter, Anthony Braxton, La Monte Young, Roscoe Mitchell, Christophe Monniot, Joseph Jarman, Paul McCandless, Lol Coxhill, Roger Frampton, Hans Koller, Wolfgang Fuchs, Douglas Ewart, Larry Ochs, Vinny Golia, Thomas Chapin, Martin Archer, Jon Irabagon,[6] Massimo Falascone, Gianni Gebbia, and Ian Anderson (credited with having played the instrument on the Jethro Tull albums A Passion Play and War Child). The sopranino saxophone was also used in the six-member Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra, played by Kelley Hart Jenkins.[7]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Hart . Hugh . 28 June 2010 . June 28, 1846: Parisian Inventor Patents Saxophone . en-US . Wired . 2022-05-11 . 1059-1028 . 11 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220511234924/https://www.wired.com/2010/06/0628saxophone-patent/ . live .
  2. Web site: ORSI Saxophone Catalogue . . Milan . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090618125743/http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/saxophones.htm . 18 June 2009 .
  3. Redefining the saxophone, Soprillo and Tubax: new saxophones for a new millennium . Paul . Cohen . September 2000 . Saxophone Journal . Needham, MA . Dorn Publications . 25 . 1 . 8–10 . 0276-4768 .
  4. Web site: Soprillo . Munich . Benedikt Eppelsheim Wind Instruments . 27 September 2023 . German: B♭-Piccolo-Saxophon . 27 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230927021516/https://www.eppelsheim.com/instrumente/soprillo/ . live .
  5. Web site: Hotel Last Resort: Credits . Violent Femmes . AllMusic . 2019 . 30 June 2020 . 28 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191028152123/https://www.allmusic.com/album/hotel-last-resort-mw0003280144/credits . live.
  6. Web site: Ackermann. Karl. September 1, 2015. Jon Irabagon: Inaction is An Action album review @ All About Jazz. 2020-06-30. All About Jazz. en. 30 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200630033305/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/inaction-is-an-action-jon-irabagon-self-produced-review-by-karl-ackermann.php. live.
  7. Web site: Meet the Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra! . 9 October 2008 . 18 September 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080918020554/http://www.nuclearwhales.com/ . dead .