The
soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the
saxophone family, invented in the 1840s by the Belgian instrument maker
Adolphe Sax. It is a
transposing instrument tuned in B-flat, an octave above the tenor saxophone (or, rarely,
slightly smaller in C). The soprano is the smallest of the four saxophones in common use (the others being the
alto, the
tenor and the
baritone), although there are smaller rare instruments such as the
soprillo and the
sopranino. Richard Strauss's
Symphonia Domestica includes a C soprano among four different saxophones, and Maurice Ravel's
Boléro features a
solo for the soprano saxophone immediately following the tenor saxophone's solo. The soprano saxophone also features in some jazz music, with players including the 1930s virtuoso
Sidney Bechet, the 1950s innovator
Steve Lacy, and
John Coltrane. This photograph shows a soprano saxophone manufactured by the
Yamaha Corporation.
Photograph credit: Yamaha Corporation
