Sarrusophone

The sarrusophone is a transposing musical instrument invented by Pierre-Louis Gautrot[?] in 1856 to compete with the saxophone as a replacement for the bassoon in bands. It was named after the French bandmaster Pierre Auguste Sarrus[?] (1813-1876).

It is made of metal, resembles a bassoon in shape, and is played with a double-reed[?]. Its fingering is similar to a saxophone.

The sarrusophone is rarely called for in classical music, a rare example being in Maurice Ravel's L'heure espagnol[?] (1907).

A very unusual example of the sarrusophone in jazz is on the 1924 recording by Clarence Williams Blue 5 of "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind", with the sarrusophone played by Sidney Bechet.