Redphone
The Rothphon (also called Rothophon or Saxsarrusofon , Italian rothcorno , rothfono or saxorusofon , English rothophone or rothphone ) is a double reed instrument . Its body is made of metal; because of its mouthpiece, however, it is counted among the woodwind instruments .
Layout and function
The redphone is similar in material, shape and structure to the saxophone , but is less conical than this and more cylindrical, like a flute or a clarinet. The body with the keys is also narrower than that of the saxophone. The Rothphone is built in five different sizes: soprano (in Bb), alto (in Eb ), tenor (in Bb), baritone (in Eb) and bass (in Bb).
history
The instrument was invented by Ferdinando Roth (1815–1898) and originally called rothcorno . In 1894 Ferdinando Roth handed his Milan business over to his son-in-law, Antonio Bottali, and after Roth's death in 1898 the company was renamed Roth & Bottali . The baritone redphone was first presented in 1911 at the International Music Congress in Rome. In the following year 1912, all five variants of the instrument were patented by the company then called Fratelli A. & M. Bottali . The company continued to produce the instrument and in the interwar period it was popular in several Italian orchestras.
Orsi succeeded Bottali in 1937, but his attempt to sell Bottali's unsold holdings under the name saxorusofon did not result in a breakthrough either. Although it was easier and cheaper to manufacture, weighed less, and was easier to play than the Sarrusophon , the Rothphone was never as common as this. Produced exclusively in Italy, there were difficulties with export, and so it was almost exclusively sold in Italy. It rarely appears in the music literature and there are few copies in some collections outside of Italy.
literature
- A. Masel: Double reed instruments. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel and others
- W. Mang: Tritonikon, reed double bass, Sarrusophon and Roth (e) fono (Saxorusophono) . In: wood and metal wind instruments . Edited by Günter Dullat. Publisher Franz Schmitt. Siegburg, 1986. ISBN 978-3-87710-122-3
- Gunter Joppig: Sarrusophone, Rothphone (Saxorusophone) and Reed Contrabass . 1986
Web links
- William Waterhouse : Rothophone at The New Grove. Dictionary of Music & Musicians , accessed June 9, 2017