It is believed that the first step towards the invention of the saxophone was when Antoine Joseph Sax 1814-1894 (to become known as Adolphe Sax) experimented with a bass clarinet mouthpiece on an ophicleide (a cylindrical brass instrument). 

Despite huge opposition (including attempts on Sax’s life) from other instrument makers and some principle orchestral musicians, composers and conductors were very much in favour of using the saxhorns (which were the forerunners to saxophones) due to it’s sweetness of tone and easy agility.

The popularity of the Distin Family Quintet brought the saxhorn to the attention of town bands and by 1850’s the brass instruments had largely replaced the woodwinds.

The saxophone was developed during the 1840’s and the alto sax was already gaining a reputation of being the closest of the saxophones to emulate the human voice in tonal quality and range.

Marcel Mule had a huge influence on classical saxophone. His exercises and studies are an integral part of today’s curricula. He taught at the Paris Conservatoire from 1942 to 1968, some 72 years after Sax who taught there between 1858 and 1870. Marcel Mule introduced vibrato into classical music, a technique developed by jazz saxophonists.

Today the saxophone is commonly associated with jazz although its beautiful voice is becoming more and more popular for classical works both transcribed from previous centuries in particular the Baroque period and new works by modern composers.