The Buffet family was a family of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

makers.

Denis Buffet-Auger

Denis Buffet-Auger, born Denis Buffet, was born 28 July 1783 in La Couture, near

Dreux Dreux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise (river), Blaise, a tributary of the Eure (river), Eure, about 35 km north of Cha ...

into a family of woodturners. He became known as Buffet-Auger after his marriage to Marie-Anne Auger. In 1825 he set up a workshop in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

making instruments, a business that was to become the

Buffet Crampon Buffet Crampon SAS is a French manufacturer of wind instruments based in Mantes-la-Ville, in the Yvelines department. The company is the world market leader in the production of Boehm system clarinets. Its subsidiary, Buffet Crampon Deuts ...

company, still in operation and one of the foremost manufacturers of

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s. Jean Louis Buffet was his son. Denis Buffet-Auger died on 24 Sep 1841 in Paris.

Auguste Buffet ''jeune''

Auguste Buffet ''jeune'' (full name Louis-Auguste Buffet) was born 6 August 1789 in La Couture, a younger brother of Denis Buffet-Auger. Auguste was making musical instruments in La Couture by 1813, but by 1830 had moved his workshop to Paris. In the 1830s he designed and built two new

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

s, developed an improved

Boehm system The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847. History Immediately prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an inv ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(with flutist Victor Coche), and, with H.E. Klosé, invented the so-called Boehm system clarinet, the system still most commonly in use outside of Germany, Austria, and Russia for

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

s. In the early 1840s, with P.J.R. Soler, he developed a Boehm system

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

; this, however, was less successful. Louis-Auguste Buffet was his son. Auguste Buffet ''jeune'' died on 30 Sep 1864 in

Anet Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km n ...

Jean Louis Buffet

Jean Louis Buffet, also known as Jean Louis Buffet-Crampon, was born 18 July 1813 in La Couture, son of Denis Buffet-Auger. By about 1830 he had begun to work at the musical instrument manufacturing firm established by his father, and at the latter's death in 1841 he took over the company. Buffet married Zoë Crampon in 1836, and by 1844 his firm was known as Buffet Crampon. He died in Paris on 17 April 1865.

Louis Auguste Buffet

Louis Auguste Buffet was born 15 July 1816 in

, son of Auguste Buffet ''jeune''. By 1845 Auguste (as Louis Auguste called himself) was working in his father's workshop in Paris. Between 1859 and 1862 he was awarded several patents relating to

making, and in 1864, when his father died, he took over operation of the business. He died on 7 April 1884 in Paris.

References

;Notes *Anthony Béthune, William McBride. "Buffet-Auger, Denis", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). *Anthony Béthune, William McBride. "Buffet-Crampon", ''

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). *Anthony Béthune, William McBride. "Buffet, Louis Auguste 'jeune'', ''

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed November 18, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). French musical instrument makers Clarinet makers {{France-company-stub