Adolphe Sax' bicentennial!? Has it been forgotten on GMG?

[pjme]

I may be mistaken, but I fear that Adolphe Sax's 200th birthday has been forgotten here!

Not so in Belgium:



Anyway: Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (6 November 1814 – c. 7 February 1894) was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician who played the flute and clarinet, and is well known for having invented the saxophone. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba.









Happy birthday, mister Sax!

[pjme]

Marcel Mule cannot be forgotten either:

http://youtube.com/v/-DY_0lGcwcU

nor Sigurd Rascher:


http://youtube.com/v/ihd4nlPFt6g

[pjme]

or François Daneels


http://www.youtube.com/v/wD-z3k_KOrs


and, from the Netherlands , Arno Bornkamp:


http://www.youtube.com/v/H7iJIp_C32A

[Brian]

The Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels is doing a fun, fascinating exhibit on Mr. Sax and his crazy instruments, which I had the great pleasure of seeing. It was terrific! I wrote a blog essay about it.

[pjme]

Indeed, that is a great exhibition!


See more at : http://www.mim.be/en

The building itself is well worth visiting for those who like Art Nouveau.

[pjme]

Great music has been written for sax quartet and orchestra:

Otto Ketting

http://www.youtube.com/v/YMEzPXViMdQ


Tristan Keuris


http://www.youtube.com/v/RJaSC1hxRX0

[Florestan]

I may be mistaken, but I fear that Adolphe Sax's 200th birthday has been forgotten here!

Not so in Belgium:

Manneken Pis says: This smaller one has also a smaller hole... 

[jochanaan]

Yes, how can we have forgotten the inventor of the saxophone and tuba?   And the sax doesn't have to sound raucous or "wailing" as in early jazz and rock'n'roll; it has a full range of dynamic and tones.

[pjme]

The city of Dinant added its own festivities: http://sax.dinant.be/en/2014

Dinant is lovely :http://www.dinant.be/vv/dinant.html

Beer lovers know this name: Leffe ( both a river and a beer!)

Leffe abbey was founded in 1152 on the Meuse River in the province of Namur in southern Belgium. Like many monasteries across Europe, the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) canons of the abbey brewed ale. Using knowledge passed from generation to generation and ingredients found in the wild near the abbey, the canons developed a unique ale, brewed only at the abbey.
The abbey has been damaged by both natural and human circumstances over the years: it was destroyed by a flood in 1460, a fire swept through the settlement in 1466, billeted troops damaged the brewery in 1735, and the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1794 resulted in it being abandoned and the brewery destroyed. The canons returned in 1902.
In 1952 the production of beer was continued after a partnership with the Flemish based Lootvoet brewery in Overijse. This brewery was later bought by the international beer company Interbrew (now AB InBev). Leffe was then brewed in Mont-Saint-Guibert until Interbrew closed that brewery. Now all Leffe brands are brewed at the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven.
The 1952 agreement between the Leffe abbey and a commercial brewery is said to have been the first of its kind (royalties continue to be paid to the abbey). Today, Belgium's beer category called "abbey" is thriving - with several beers brewed under similar licenses to Leffe as well as abbey beers named after abbey ruins or abbeys that no longer exist. The Affligem and Grimbergen beers are a part of Heineken's international portfolio. Other notable abbey brands include Corsendonk.
The Leffe museum in the town of Dinant is open to visitors.

[Florestan]

Dinant is lovely :http://www.dinant.be/vv/dinant.html

Of all Belgian cities and towns I´ve visited, Dinant and Bruges are the loveliest. The train trip from Namur to Dinant offers some great landscapes.

The Leffe museum in the town of Dinant is open to visitors.

Too bad I didn´t know that when visiting...