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How the Inventor of the Saxophone Escaped Death 7 Times Before He Was 10
The musical innovator had a strange habit of encountering near-death situations as a child
The saxophone is one of the most recognizable musical instruments in the world, both in appearance and sound. However, the horn may have never come into being if its inventor, Adolphe Sax, hadn’t survived a logic-defying 7 incredibly close calls with death as a child before he even reached the age of 10.
A native of Belgium, Sax was born in 1814 and became a musician (he played the clarinet and the flute) and inventor (he developed several other instruments). His affinity from music and innovation seems to have come from his father, who was a carpenter and produced musical instruments by order of the King. It was under his father’s direction that a young Sax performed such incredible feats as carving a clarinet and two flutes completely out of ivory.; something that had been previously thought to be impossible.
Having grown up immersed in music, Sax pursued it professionally as he got older. Moving to France, he decided to produce a new range of instruments for the French military, which was still large and resplendent even after the departure of Napoleon. One of these new-aged military instruments he worked on was…
