Talk:Adolphe Sax

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Did Sax patent the Saxophine on June 22, or on May 17? Aliter 10:26, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] ola

1838

The article gives both 1838 and 1846 as pattent dates for the saxophone. I find no outside reference to the 1838 date. I am not confident enough to change it, but I would like for someone to clarify.--Btwied 17:14, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] No evidence ever a Freemason

According to the Grand Lodge of British Columbia there is not enough evidence to say he was a mason. Dwain 19:40, 15 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Being Sued Gave Me Hepatitis!

I don't think legal troubles can be credited with giving him lip cancer, as is implied here. Hey, maybe he smoked a lot of cigars when he was unhappy (who knows?), but that's not stated in the article. It just looks silly right now...

Misha

216.254.12.114 05:02, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

  • I edited the aforementioned passage to remove the suggestion of a causal link. -- Rsholmes 18:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Saxtromba

Here's what is claimed to be a picture of a saxtromba from this site (in Dutch). Is this in fact a saxtromba? If so, then in what sense is it "a hybrid between the trombone and the saxophone"? -- Rsholmes 15:12, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

  • I edited the aforementioned passage, having found a source that confirms the saxtromba has little to do with trombones and less to do with saxophones. Also cleaned up some grammar, non-NPOV, links, etc. -- Rsholmes 18:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] To study an instrument

"He subsequently studied those two instruments...." makes me wonder, especially because Sax was an instrument maker, whether he used magnifying glasses and calipers to study them, or whether he learned how to play them. Unfree (talk) 21:07, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Date of death

Google has plenty of hits for 3 February and 4 February; a few for 7 February; and even a couple for 5 February. I'd say 4 February is the leader on google hits, but that's no basis for writing an encyclopedia article. Does anyone have accurate, authoritative information on exactly when he died? -- JackofOz (talk) 03:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know how significant this is, but his tomb in Montmartre Cemetery says "7 - 2 - 1894". That sign was added in 1994 though, so, again, I don't know whether this is important. ---Sluzzelin talk 04:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, Sluzzelin. That is interesting, although not proof, as we know of many cases where the dates on the grave are simply wrong. Curiously, I found a number of google hits that show Sax's grave, or refer to it, and many such sites include his vital dates, none of which says "7 February", but alternative dates, typically 3 or 4 February. It's odd that nobody seems to have noticed this discrepancy before and questioned his true death date; or, if they have, it hasn't found its way to the internet. Until now. -- JackofOz (talk) 07:03, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone (Richard Ingham, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521596661, 1999, page 10) has :
"In keeping with the turbulence of his life, there is also controversy about the date of Sax's death. Several sources, including Grove, Horwood, and Ronkin, cite 4 February 1894 as the date of his death. Gee gives, simply, 1894, while Kochnitzky says that 'Sax lived to the age of eighty'. Because Sax was born 6 November 1814, this implies that he lived past 6 November in 1894. The correct date, found in Baker's. Deans and Haine, is 7 February 1894."
(I don't know how they conclude that this is "the correct date"). ---Sluzzelin talk 07:17, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
If Baker's says it's 7 Feb, I'd normally be very inclined to accept that as gospel. Slonimsky went to great lengths to verify vital dates, and in so doing managed to demolish a lot of previously rusted-on inaccuracies. However, we only have that on Ingham's say-so; and unfortunately I don't possess this esteemed tome so I can't check. But I do have Webster's New World Dictionary of Music, a distillation of the best of Baker's, with later contributions by Richard Kassel. Webster's says Sax died on 4 February. So there's something going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it. I might ask Antandrus if he can help out here. Cheers. -- JackofOz (talk) 11:19, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Greetings! Looking through my books, I find the following: both the 1980 and the current online Grove give a date of 4 Feb, without elaboration. Slonimsky in the Eighth Edition of Baker's also gives 4 Feb, and Jack, you're right he went to great lengths to verify the accuracy of his dates. Find-a-Grave has pictures of the stone, and a writeup: [1] -- but the person writing the blurb interpreted 7-2 as July 2, in the American manner. I suspect the stone is wrong. We could document that most sources give 4 Feb, but a few sources give other dates, and footnote them. Cheers, Antandrus (talk) 13:51, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Eeexcelent! Thank you, Antandrus. I'll make a notation. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:24, 15 April 2008 (UTC)