The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone

On your long list of famous Belgians the name of Adolphe Sax should appear high. There is some doubt about exactly when he invented the instrument he named after himself: the late 1830s is probable. By that time most of the wind instruments in the standard symphony orchestra had reached a stage of technical development that allowed composers to write for them with a very full range of expression and virtuosity, and few saw the need to add yet another member of the family; some, however, immediately recognised the potential of the saxophone (Berlioz was publicly praising it by 1842),...