Best known for the invention of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax has actually filed multiple patents for wind instruments such as the saxhorn, saxotromba, saxtuba, slide trombone... In 1929, Henri SELMER Paris bought the company Adolphe Sax & Cie, whose workshops were located at 84 rue Myrha in Paris (eighteenth arrondissement). The company then became the universal legatee of the invention of the saxophone, and of several other instruments and prototypes that we present here...
Maison SELMER
SELMER Museum : the inventions of Adolphe Sax
Eb Alto Saxophone
Made by Adolphe Sax, this alto saxophone (serial number15511) belongs to the Selmer Paris collection. Its bell bears the following engraved mentions : "Saxophone alto en mib breveté Adolphe Sax à Paris, Fournisseur de la maison militaire de l'Empereur” ("Patented by A. Sax, Official supplier of the Emperor's Military House").
Trombone with three valves
Trumpet with four valves
Trombone with six valves
The six valve trombone was specially designed by A. Sax for Ambroise Thomas who had a very difficult solo part to play in the first act of the "Hamlet" opera.
Trumpet with 13 bells
Developped by Adolphe Sax son, the thirteen bell & eight valve trumpet is, in theory, a perfectly tuned instrument as each semi-tone owns his own acoustic circuit. This model was built around 1900.
Little tuba
Saxhorn contrebasse en Mib
Adolphe Sax introduced this model at the "Exposition Universelle" held in the London Crystal Palace in 1851.
In Dinant (Belgium), the inventor's birthplace, La Maison de Monsieur Sax invites the public to discover his life and work through texts, objects and historical instruments, musical excerpts... You can find there some instruments recovered during the buyout of the workshops in rue Myrha by the SELMER company.
► Learn more about the invention of the saxophone
► Discover historical Henri SELMER Paris instruments
