Classical orchestra .) The sarrusophone is rarely called for in orchestral music. However, around the turn of the 20th century, the contrabass sarrusophones in EE♭ and CC enjoyed a vogue, the latter as a substitute for the
contrabassoon (the French model patterned after the German Heckel model, having been introduced later around 1906 by Buffet et al.) so that it is called for in, for example,
Jules Massenet's
Esclarmonde (1889),
Visions (1891) and
Suite parnassienne (1912);
Maurice Ravel's
Shéhérazade overture (1898),
Rapsodie espagnole (1907) and ''
L'heure espagnole'' (1907–09);
Ignacy Jan Paderewski's
Symphony in B minor "Polonia" (1903–08; 3 sarrusophones are called for);
Frederick Delius's
Requiem (1913–16) and
Songs of Sunset (1906–07);
Claude Debussy's
Jeux (1913),
Lili Boulanger's Psalm 129 (1916) and Psalm 130 (1917) and
Arrigo Boito's
Nerone (1924).
Igor Stravinsky included a part for contrabass sarrusophone in
Threni. The composer
Paul Dukas used the contrabass sarrusophone to great effect in 1897 in his ''
The Sorcerer's Apprentice''. These parts are now normally played on the contrabassoon, although there are early 20th century recordings of at least some of these pieces where sarrusophones can be heard. In general, the term "sarrusophone" usually refers to the EE♭ contrabass which appears to have been made in larger numbers than any other size. Although the CC contrabass sarrusophone, with its range down to B♭ identical to the contrabassoon, was perhaps envisioned for these and other orchestral works, only relatively few instruments were ever made and were most likely to become the property of orchestras or opera companies. The EE♭ contrabass with D♭ as its lowest note lacks the lowest three notes of the contrabassoon. The EE♭ contrabass has also been used as an alternative to the EE♭ contrabass saxophone, which due to its large size is impractical in many musical situations, especially
marching bands. The English composer
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji used the contrabass sarrusophone in various of his orchestral works.
Concert band In the concert band literature,
Percy Grainger used the EE♭ contrabass in the original scoring of his piece "
Children's March: Over the Hills and Far Away". In early 20th century Italian band scores, parts for the B♭ tenor, E♭ baritone, and B♭ bass sarrusophones as well as the contrabass are common. It appears that higher members of the sarrusophone family were not as popular as the lower members, with the sopranino in E♭ along with its distant cousin, the high E♭
oboe, being particularly rare. For the most part, the use of the sarrusophone was primarily in France, Italy and Spain. During or after
World War I, US Military personnel noted the use of the contrabass sarrusophone in French military bands and thereafter, commissioned the U.S. firm
C. G. Conn to manufacture the EE♭ contrabass for use in U.S. military bands beginning in approximately 1921, as per Conn's advertising of the time. The instrument was offered for sale to the general public as well, but production appears to have ceased in the 1930s. Conns as late as 1936 are known to exist. Beginning in 1921, the
John Philip Sousa band used the Conn sarrusophone for an unknown period of time. In 1908 when
Sir Thomas Beecham wished to perform the work "
Apollo and the Seaman" by the British composer
Josef Holbrooke (who had included parts for several sizes of sarrusophones), the sarrusophone parts had to be played by performers brought over from France.
Paderewski included three E♭ contrabass sarrusophones in his
Symphony in B Minor ("Polonia").
Frank Zappa used the E♭ contrabass sarrusophone in his scores for "Think It Over", "Big Swifty", "Ulterior Motive", "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary", "For Calvin", "Waka/Jawaka", and many others. These pieces can be found on his albums "
Waka/Jawaka", "
The Grand Wazoo", & "Zappa/Wazoo". The sarrusophone was played by Earl Dumler. In 2013, Franklin Stover composed a Concerto Breve for E♭ contrabass sarrusophone and winds.
Jazz A very unusual example of the sarrusophone in
jazz is on the 1924 recording by the
Clarence Williams Blue 5 of "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind," with the sarrusophone played by the jazz soprano saxophone and clarinet virtuoso
Sidney Bechet. One can conjecture that the sarrusophone played was most likely a contrabass with a single reed mouthpiece, as Bechet was not a trained double reed player. Bechet later denied having ever played the sarrusophone. According to the biography by Chilton, Sidney "pulled a face" when asked about the solo on "Mandy", though he did not deny playing it. A soprano sarrusophone is seen and heard in the song "Humpty-Dumpty Heart" played by
Kay Kyser's band in the 1941 film
Playmates. In the 1970s and 1980s the American jazz musician
Gerald Oshita (based in Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area and associated with
Roscoe Mitchell) played avant-garde jazz on an EE♭ contrabass manufactured by Conn. More recently (1990–2006), recordings using sarrusophone have been released by saxophonists
Scott Robinson,
Lenny Pickett,
James Carter, and
Paul Winter.
Rock and Roll In
rock music,
They Might Be Giants used sarrusophone in their song "Older", on their album
Mink Car. ==Present status==