Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

234 saxophon:^ SCALA, LA
'
tubas, nothing distinctive has been added to
the orchestra by them, it yet remains that
popular music has been revolutionised, for
military bands have been reorganised, and the
brass bands which are so largely instrumental
in introducing good music 'to the masses, have
become possible.] w. H. s. ; with additions in
square brackets, by D. j. B.
SAXOPHONE. [An instrument invented
by Adolphe Sax about 1840, introduced officially
into the French army bauds, July 31,
1845, and registered by Sax,
June 22, 1846.] It consists
essentially of a conical brass tube
furnished with about twenty lateral
orifices covered by keys, and with six
studs or finger-plates for the first three
fingers of either hand, and is played by
means of a mouthpiece and single reed of
the clarinet kind. [In addition to lateral
holes giving the scale, two small holes opened
by keys, and knoivn as pipes ' ' or ' speakers,
are also provided, and are used for the production
of the octaves. The saxophones generally
in use are the soprano in 6i>, the alto in
et>, the tenor in Bl?, the baritone in El>, and
the bass in B^b;. A sopranino in e'l> is sometimes
made, and c and / are occasionally used for the
pitch notes instead of bit and ei> respectively.]
Those most used are the alto and tenor varieties.
In French military bands, however, five or more
are in use ; having to a gi'eat degi'ee superseded
the more difficult but more flexible clarinet, and
having quite replaced the bassoon.
[The compass of the saxophone as generally
recognised is from b to/'", but all the members
of the family are frequently made with an extension
of the bell for b\^, which note is obtained
by the closing of an extra open-standing key.
The two highest keys, giving e'" and /'", are,
however, seldom fitted to any but the alto and
tenor instruments. The key -system for the
right hand is similar to that of the Boehm flute,
but for the left hand approaches more nearly to
that of the ordinary oboe. The fundamental
sounds from bb or ifl to c'j are obtained by the
successive opening of the lateral holes, and by
means of the two octave or ' pipe ' keys the
compass is carried up from d' to c"'8. The four
highest notes, d'", e"'b, e'", and /'", are produced
by four keys on the upper part of the
instrument, used exclusively for these notes.
Since its introduction, many improved or alternative
fingerings have been designed for and
adopted on the saxophone, but a description
of these would unduly extend this article.]
The saxophone, though inferior in compass,
quality, and power of articulation to the clarinet,
and basset-horn, and especially to the bassoon,
has great value in military combinations. It
reproduces on a magnified scale something of
the violoncello quality, and gives great sustaining
power to the full chorus of brass instruments,
by introducing a mass of harmonic overtones
wanting in Sax's other contrivance. [The tone
of the soprano saxophone is somewhat strident,
but the general quality of all combines the
'
vocal and the ' ' string ' characteristics, and undoubtedly
bridges over the gap between the older
estahlished ' reed ' instruments and the ' brass.'
In the orchestra the saxophone has not as yet
been much employed. It was first introduced,
in 1844, by M. Kastner in 'Le dernier Koi de
Juda, ' and subsequently by Meyerbeer, Ambroise
Thomas, and others. Among recent examples
if its use may be mentioned Cowen's ' Thorgrim,'
Strauss's 'Domestic Symphony,'
and a quartet for saxophonesinj'Les Hornby
Mr. Joseph Holbrooke.]
w. H. s. ; additions by D. J. B.
SCALA, LA.
The proprietors
of the Ducal
Theatre of Milan,
which was burnt
in 177 6, obtained,
by a decree of
July 15, 1776,
'mm
The Bb Alto Saxophone.
from the Empress MariaTheresa of Austria, leave
to build a new opera-house on the site of the
church of S. Maria della Soala. The celebrated
architect, Piermarini of Foligno, made the designs,
and it was inaugurated August 3, 1778.
The building was not only the grandest theatre
then existing in Europe, but the most artistically
beautiful and complete. Levati and Reina
painted the ceiling, the boxes, and the great
hall, or ridotto ; and the curtain, representing
Parnassus, was the work of Riccardi. The cost
of the whole amounted to one million lire
(£40,000), an enormous sum for that time.
Until 1857 the principal entrance of La Scala
was from a by -street, but since that date it
opens on to a large and beautiful piazza.
The interior of the house is in the horseshoe
form, with five tiers of boxes and a gallery
above them, all in white, relieved by gilded