BOOKS: The Devil's Horn, Michael Segell (2005)

The "devil's horn" is the saxophone, and Segell gives us an informative history of the instrument.

Invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, the instrument was designed to combine the best characteristics of all the instrument families: the smooth tone of the winds, the forceful projection of the brass, the smooth blend from high to low of the strings. It was almost immediately successful; by the 1860s, it had a prominent role in American military and community brass bands.

By the 1920s, it had become the dominant instrument in dance bands. It has been suggested, in fact, that the reason so many popular songs of that decade are written in the keys of F, B-flat, and E-flat is that those were the easiest keys for the saxophone; with its new popularity, there were a lot of novice players, and songs that were easy for them to play would be more likely to be picked up.

The sax is best known as a jazz instrument, and Segell spends several chapters giving us a detailed history of the great players. I think this is the book's weakest section. For non-jazz fans, like myself, it's too detailed and comprehensive to hold interest; and for those who do follow jazz, I suspect that there's not much new or surprising.

When he invented the instrument, Sax hoped that it would find a role in the symphony orchestra, but with a few exceptions, that's never really happened. It's a nasty cycle: because orchestras don't need a full-time sax player, the parts are generally assigned to the resident clarinet or oboe player, and since the sax isn't their primary instrument, the parts aren't always played well, making composers reluctant to include the saxophone in their orchestral music.

Further complicating the acceptance of the classical saxophone is the ongoing feud between two schools of musicians. The German school believes in a darker sound, and prefers to play on older instruments; at their most extreme, they argue that the physical refinements made to the instrument in newer models have changed its sound so much that they're barely even saxophones at all. The French school prefers a brighter sound, newer instruments, and is fonder of the avant-garde extended playing techniques that have extended the instrument's range.

Segell illustrates his history with entertaining anecdotes; he interviews key players and historicans, getting fascinating information from them. I suspect that different readers will respond to different chapters, depending on their own musical interests, as I responded to the jazz chapters, but the book allows for dipping here and there. Anyone with any interest in the saxophone, even if he's not fascinated by everything here, will surely find something interesting.