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The sarrusophones are a family of metal double reed conical bore woodwind instruments patented and first manufactured by France instrument maker Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. Gautrot named the sarrusophone after French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus (1813–1876), whom he credited with the concept of the instrument, though it is not clear whether Sarrus benefited financially. The instruments were intended for , to serve as replacements for and which at the time lacked the carrying power required for outdoor marching band. Although originally designed as double-reed instruments, single-reed mouthpieces were later developed for use with the larger bass and contrabass sarrusophones.
All sarrusophones are transposing instruments notated in treble clef, except the CC contrabass which is notated in bass clef and sounds an octave lower, like the contrabassoon. The sarrusophone has a very similar written range to saxophone; the lowest note is the same written B♭ below middle C (some have extra keys to go to a low G), and the key work usually allows a practical range to high G.
Until the turn of the 21st century, the BB♭ contrabass had the distinguishing feature of being the lowest pitched reed instrument ever placed in production, since it is capable of producing a low A♭, one semitone below A, the lowest note of both the piano and a contrabassoon with a low A key. Both the B♭ subcontrabass saxophone, first built in 2010, and the Eppelsheim B♭ tubax, a similar hybrid saxophone introduced ten years earlier, also have A♭ as their lowest pitch. Leblanc also made prototype subcontrabass clarinets in the 1930s that could go even lower—the E♭ octocontralto to E♭ and the B♭ octocontrabass to C—but neither model went into production, and the prototypes reside at the Leblanc in France.
The fingering of the sarrusophone is nearly identical to that of the saxophone. This similarity caused Adolphe Sax to file and lose at least one lawsuit against Gautrot, claiming infringement upon his patent for the saxophone. Sax lost on the grounds that the tone produced by the two families of instruments is markedly different, despite their mechanical similarities. However, because the sarrusophone never gained wide acceptance, makers were not inclined to develop its mechanism to the same extent as that of the saxophone.
Features of the sarrusophone's mechanism generally include:
On earlier instruments, the use of rollers on the low E♭ and C natural keys seems to have been more common than having them on the G, low C and B natural keys. Additionally on some (all?) instruments made by Buffet in the early 20th century, the G♯ key is "semi-articulated" so that a G natural to G trill can be made by an additional touchpiece for the right hand. Saxophones of this time period also have this mechanism. Additionally, there is no connection from G to low C or low B natural, which is also identical to how saxophones were constructed at that time.
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 .
The English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji used the contrabass sarrusophone in various of his orchestral works.
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.
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.
The tone of the sarrusophone is less clear but much reedier than that of the saxophone. In humorous terms, the sarrusophone can be said to sound rather "industrial" or perhaps "unrefined." Historically, the Orsi Instrument Company, Rampone (later Rampone & Cazzani), Buffet Crampon (under the ownership of Evette & Schaeffer), Conn (E♭ contrabass only), Gautrot and Couesnon (Gautrot's successor) were the best known and possibly, only makers that produced in quantity.
The somewhat harsh tone quality of the sarrusophone and the need for a double reed may have contributed to it not becoming a standard member of the wind band. Additionally, although originally intended to replace the oboe and the bassoon, the practical ranges of the corresponding sarrusophones, the soprano and bass, as per famed band conductor Edwin Franko Goldman and organologist Anthony Baines, did not lend themselves to proper playing of oboe and bassoon parts, especially in orchestra transcriptions for wind band.
The need for a contrabass pitched woodwind has existed since at least the 19th century. During the 19th century and into the 20th there were sporadic attempts by Sax, Buffet, Besson and others to build a successful contrabass clarinet in either E♭ or B♭. In the early 1930s, upon the suggestion of the American Bandmaster's Association, the French firm Selmer succeeded when they introduced their E♭ contrabass model (the popular E♭ and B♭ contrabass models by the French firm LeBlanc not being placed into production until the late 1940s, although invented earlier). It can be conjectured that the compactness and musical qualities of these instruments may have contributed to the non-use of the sarrusophone, as they are now very common in musical circles ranging from junior high school through professional.
As per advertising of the time, the well-known American saxophone manufacturer, Buescher imported a number of these instruments into the United States during the late 1920s or early 1930s, perhaps as an answer to C.G. Conn's production of the contrabass sarrusophone. Per advertisements for this instrument and photos that have appeared in books, the lowest note on the Rothphone is a low B natural, not low B♭ as with the saxophone and sarrusophone. In the 1930s the band at the University of Illinois under Austin Harding had a full sarrusophone section from soprano to E♭ contrabass that included at least the tenor rothphone. However, this appears to have been an isolated use of the instrument.
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