The rothphone (, ; also rothophone, rothaphone, or saxsarrusophone) is a metal

double reed A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and ...

conical bore In music, the bore of a wind instrument (including woodwind and brass) is its interior chamber. This defines a flow path through which air travels, which is set into vibration to produce sounds. The shape of the bore has a strong influence on ...

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

similar to the

sarrusophone The sarrusophones are a family of metal double reed conical bore woodwind instruments patented and first manufactured by France, French instrument maker Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. Gautrot named the sarrusophone after French bandmaster Pierre- ...

, but built with a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

shape.

History

The rothphone was invented by Friedrich Roth, who initially named it the ''rothcorno''. It was primarily manufactured as the ''rothfono'' by Bottali in Milan when they took over the Roth workshop in 1898. Like the sarrusophone, it was intended to replace oboes and bassoons in military bands. The rothphone gained some popularity in Italian wind and military bands between

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but remained almost completely unknown outside Italy. When Bottali folded in the mid 1930s and was taken over by Milan instrument manufacturer

Orsi Orsi is a surname of Italy, Italian origin, and may refer to the following people: Last name * Adolfo Orsi (1888–1972), Italian industrialist, owner of Maserati * Anaïs Orsi, climate scientist * Benedetto Orsi (died 1680), Italian painter * C ...

, Orsi sold their stock of Bottali-made rothphone instruments as the "saxrusofono".

Construction

Rothphones were patented and introduced in five sizes in 1912 by Bottali, their only significant manufacturer: * Soprano rothphone in B♭ * Alto rothphone in E♭ * Tenor rothphone in B♭ * Baritone rothphone in E♭ * Bass rothphone in B♭ Each instrument corresponded in range to the similar-sized sarrusophone or saxophone, and all are

transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing ...

s notated in treble clef. A contrabass was never built due to the similarity to the already established

contrabass sarrusophone The contrabass sarrusophone is the deepest of the family of sarrusophones, built in three sizes pitched in E♭, C or B♭. It was made in the 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily in France by its inventor and Parisian instrument maker Pierre ...

in bands of the time. For the same size of instrument, the bore of the rothphone is similar to the sarrusophone, and narrower than the saxophone.

References

External links

* {{authority control Double-reed instruments