Adolphe Sax developed in Paris in the early 1840s a family of brass instruments, the saxhorns, which gained an immediate popularity in France, Britain and other parts of the world. The originality of saxhorns was challenged at the time through long-lasting litigations, and is still questioned by many researchers. This thesis investigates the development of the saxhorn from an organological standpoint. Saxhorns are examined in comparison to instruments predating them by other makers, along with relevant archival material (patents, lawsuit minutes, daily press, publicity material etc.) so as to reveal whether the allegations against their originality were sound. It is noticed that idiosyncrasies of intellectual property law of the time facilitated a strong interaction between musical instrument makers particularly of France and Britain. Instruments examined are Adolphe Sax saxhorns, saxhorns by other contemporary makers, mainly French and British, but not exclusively, as well as a number of related instruments, made before and after the development of Sax’s saxhorns. The assertions of Sax’s rivals are not fully confirmed based on the analysis of instrument measurements. It is also argued that the saxotromba family, so far considered extinct, is in fact represented by two members in the saxhorn family, the alto and the baritone. A number of related instruments emerged around the middle of the nineteenth century in various wraps and with different names. These are compared to saxhorns and classified according to bore-profile properties. Only certain groups were distinct, whereas most were essentially saxhorns in different forms. Sax’s brasswind production as a whole is reviewed not only as an enumeration of his developments, but also to provide an assessment of the genuine innovation in his work.

Master of Music / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Frank C. Tracz / This report possesses a detailed analysis of three works, two works for concert band and one for brass ensemble. The works included in this report are Fanfare Héroïque (1944) by Eugéne Bozza, Symphonic Sketch (1994) by Charles Carter, and Tempered Steel 2nd ed. (1997 and 2008) by Charles Rochester Young. Also included in this report is performance information about the pieces above, the author’s thoughts about the role of music education in the American school system, and a section that discusses quality literature for concert ensembles. It is the author's hope that some of this information is used to aid teachers in their study of these works in order to be more effective in the classroom. In order to facilitate this, each analysis includes biographical information about the composer, historical information about the composition, technical information, musical information, an analysis of form, and sample lesson plans with reflections.

Due to a break in its practice and pedagogy during the Classical and Romantic Eras, many misconceptions regarding the Baroque natural trumpet remain today. As newly discovered instruments and pedagogical materials have become known and disseminated, a resurgence in the performance of the natural trumpet has occurred, but its practice is still often conceived as wholly separate from modern trumpet technique. This study clarifies long-held misconceptions about the natural trumpet, describes its physical, pedagogical, and technical traits in comparison with the modern trumpet, and demonstrates that its concurrent practice with the modern trumpet is not only possible, but significantly beneficial. Qualities unique to the Baroque natural trumpet bestow upon it tremendous pedagogical potential for its simultaneous study with the modern trumpet. The possible benefits of this concurrent practice include increased embouchure strength, efficiency and endurance, the elimination of even badly entrenched negative habits, stronger fundamental abilities, and a better understanding of the performance of Baroque trumpet music. The plausibility of these pedagogical gains is evidenced by both modern and Baroque pedagogical literature, the scientific principles behind playing both types of trumpet, and the experiences of professional trumpeters who have demonstrated high levels of proficiency on both instruments.

Treatise (D. of Musical Arts)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-110). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

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When assessing the quality of a brass instrument the player must consider a number of factors, the main consideration being the playability of the chosen instrument. The playability of an instrument is a broad term used to describe how well the instrument plays; this includes how in tune the resonant modes are, how easy it is to start and move between notes, how easy it is to bend notes and the degree of spectral enrichment during a crescendo that is able to be produced. The starting transient is known to be of crucial importance for both the musician and listener, and previous work in the field has been mainly concerned with such starting transients; this work focusses on inter-note transitions. Transitions between notes include both starting and finishing transients as the initial note is ended and the next begun. Using high speed photography images synchronised with pressure signals from the mouthpiece and bell end, the internote transitions are explored. Results from these experiments are compared with those from a simple one dimensional time domain model. Other techniques used to determine the playability of a specific instrument include the rate at which the instrument timbre becomes `brassy' due to nonlinear effects, that are a consequence of loud playing. The relative significance of viscothermal wall losses and nonlinear effects within realistic brass instruments have been explored here using experiments on cylindrical tubes of different internal diameters. These experimental results are compared with results from a computational model that uses weakly nonlinear wave propagation theory and includes viscothermal losses. It is also possible on some brass instruments, when playing loudly, to achieve what are known as super high notes; these notes are above the frequency where the instrument has well defined resonances. Experimental results are presented here using optical techniques to visualise the motion of the player's lips during playing of these super high notes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-199). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-67). Also available on the Internet.