Dodworth Saxhorn Band

This post is about another period-specific group: The Dodworth Saxhorn Band. So you probably are familiar with the horn and are probably familiar with the saxophone - so what is a saxhorn?

Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) was a Belgian inventor who contributed a lot to music throughout his innovations. The saxophone family, his invention, is named after him. He also influenced the development of the tuba and euphonium via other instruments like his saxhorns. Wikipedia also has some interesting information.

So, now that everyone knows about saxhorns, I would like to introduce the Dodworth Saxhorn Band.

The Dodworth Saxhorn Band in period dress.
The Dodworth Saxhorn Band is modeled after a similarly-named Dodworth band that was well-respected ensemble whose heyday was in New York City from 1840 to 1880. This ensemble was reborn in 1985 thanks to the avid instrument collector Alexander Pollock. Today's Dodworth Saxhorn Band is based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band only uses instruments from the era of the original band. Their website also includes fascinating information on their brass instruments and drums.

A sampling of Saxhorns from the era of the original Dodworth band

Easy to see the over the shoulder style saxhorn in this photo of members of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band caroling
Last, and certainly not least, here are some videos of the band in action.

  • Columbia Gem of the Ocean while marching as part of a Historic Baseball event.
  • Maggie by my Side - G.W. Frederich. This has close ups of the instruments in action.
  • Here is a battle of the bands with the Dodworth Saxhorn Band and another Civil War era band.
  • And finally, a collaboration between two Civil War era bands (one representing the Union and one representing the Confederacy) performing Home Sweet Home by Stephen Foster.

Comments

  1. Jordan BoehmApril 15, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    I have done a good bit of research into these horns and their creation/implementation over the years, but haven't heard of this group before. It is interesting to see the over-the-shoulder horns used in this setting rather than used to call signals or the march. If you have time you might want to look into the legal trouble that Sax got into with his patents for these instruments, it can be kind of interesting.

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