Sarrusophone - Use - Classical Music

Classical Music

The sarrusophone is rarely called for in orchestral music. However, around the turn of the 20th century, the contrabass sarrusophones in EE♭ and CC enjoyed a vogue, the latter as a substitute for the contrabassoon, (the French model patterned after the German Heckel model, having been introduced later around 1906 by Buffet et al.) so that it is called for in, for example, Jules Massenet's Esclarmonde (1889), Visions (1891) and Suite parnassienne (1912); Maurice Ravel's Shéhérazade overture (1898), Rapsodie espagnole (1907) and L'heure espagnole (1907–09); Ignacy Jan Paderewski's Symphony in B minor "Polonia" (1903-08; 3 sarrusophones are called for); Frederick Delius's Requiem (1913-16); and Arrigo Boito's Nerone (1924). Igor Stravinsky included a part for contrabass sarrusophone in Threni. The composer Paul Dukas used the contrabass sarrusophone to great effect in 1897 in his The Sorcerer's Apprentice, where the instrument begins the bassoon's macabre dance motif (familiar to all who recall Disney's animated film Fantasia). These parts are nowadays all played on the contrabassoon. In general when the term "sarrusophone" is used, it usually refers to the EE♭ contrabass which appears to have been made in larger numbers than any other size. It should be pointed out that although the CC contrabass was perhaps envisioned for these and other orchestral works, few instruments were made and those that did exist were most likely the property of the orchestras that they were made for. The CC contrabass has a range that is identical to the contrabassoon, while the EE♭ contrabass, while having the same written range as the CC, due to its key, lacks the lowest 3 notes of the contrabassoon's range (C, B, B♭).

The EE♭ contrabass has also been used as an alternative to the EE♭ contrabass saxophone, which due to its large size is impractical in many musical situations, especially marching.

Until recently, the BB♭ contrabass had the distinguishing feature of being the lowest pitched reed instrument ever placed in production, since it is capable of producing a low A-flat, one semitone lower than the lowest note on the standard piano and the extended range contrabassoon's low A. However, the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim has recently introduced a brand new instrument called the "Tubax" (a saxophone hybrid), one model of which, the BB♭ subcontrabass, also has A-flat as its lowest pitch.

The French firm of G. Leblanc for many years (1950s-1980s?) featured photographs of its EEE♭ octocontra-alto and BBB♭ octocontrabass clarinets, instruments that could play lower still, in its advertising. However, despite their notoriety and frequent citing in books on musical instruments and in on-line discussion forums, these instruments were never placed in production and were, perhaps, more along the lines of engineering achievements and curiosities (despite the fact that the EEE♭ model could be a viable instrument, it is said that only three were made). Even then, it appears that few BB♭ contrabass sarrusophones were ever built, the EE♭ being much more portable and perhaps, practical.

In the concert band literature, Percy Grainger used the EE♭ contrabass in the original scoring of his children's march "Over the Hills and Far Away". In early 20th century Italian band scores, parts for the B♭ tenor, E♭ baritone, and B♭ bass sarrusophones as well as the contrabass are common. It appears that higher members of the sarrusophone family were not as popular as the lower members, with the sopranino in E♭ along with its distant cousin, the high E♭ oboe, being particularly rare. For the most part, the use of the sarrusophone was primarily in France, Italy and Spain. During or after World War I, US Military personnel noted the use of the contrabass sarrusophone in French military bands and thereafter, commissioned the U.S. firm Conn to manufacture the EE♭ contrabass for use in U.S. military bands beginning in approximately 1921, as per Conn's advertising of the time. The initial order was for 148 instruments. The instrument was offered for sale to the general public as well, but production appears to have ceased in the 1930s. Conns as late as 1936 are known to exist. Beginning in 1921, the John Philip Sousa band used the Conn sarrusophone for an unknown period of time. In Germany, the instrument was practically unknown (although, curiously, Heckel stated in its 1930 catalog that sarrusophones could be made on demand), and in England, there may have been limited use of the instrument, but it never caught on there. In 1908 when Sir Thomas Beecham wished to perform the work "Apollo and the Seaman" by the British composer Josef Holbrooke (who had included parts for several sizes of sarrusophones), the sarrusophone parts had to be played by performers brought over from France. Paderewski included three E♭ contrabass sarrusophones in his Symphony in B Minor ("Polonia").

Frank Zappa used the E♭ contrabass sarrusophone in his scores for "Think It Over", "Big Swifty", "Ulterior Motive", "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary", "For Calvin", "Waka/Jawaka", and many others. These pieces can be found on his albums "Waka/Jawaka", "The Grand Wazoo", & "Zappa/Wazoo". The sarrusophone was played by Earl Dummler. In 2010, Franklin Stover composed a Double Concerto for Eb sarrusophone, bass clarinet and orchestra.

The British composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji used the sarrusophone in various of his orchestral works, but never specified its type.