A
family of valved brasswind instruments devised principally for the use of
mounted military bands by Adolphe Sax and patented in 1845. The bore profile
of the saxotromba was probably intermediate between the ‘cylindrical’ bore of
valved trumpets and trombones and the more conical bore of the smaller
saxhorns, but the lack of any surviving instruments which can positively be
identified as saxotrombas precludes precise characterization. The instrument
was held vertically in front of the performer. Saxotrombas were pitched in B
and E, with an additional member in F
designed to replace the french horn in military bands. Saxotrombas did not
survive long, and had disappeared from the inventories of French cavalry bands
by 1867. For further information and illustration see G. Kastner: Manuel
général de musique militaire (Paris, 1848/R), 380, pl.xxi.
PHILIP BATE/ARNOLD MYERS