The soprillo, also known as the piccolo saxophone or rarely sopranissimo saxophone, is the highest pitched and smallest saxophone. The soprillo was developed as an extension to the saxophone family in the late 1990s by German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim, although a working prototype was made in 1960 in compact curved form. Pitched in B♭ and 33cm (13in) long, including the mouthpiece, the soprillo is one octave above a soprano saxophone and half its length.
Adolphe Sax's 1846 patent for the saxophone specified a family of saxophones in several sizes and pitches, ranging from the giant subcontrabass in B♭ to the sopranino in E♭. The concept of another size of saxophone, even smaller and higher than the sopranino, was first realized in 1960 as a sopranissimo saxophone, in B♭ a fifth higher than the sopranino. Hand-made in curved form by Brussels-based maker Robert Vanlinthout, it measured barely 20 centimetres (7.9in) long.[2]
In the late 1990s, German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim created a Piccolo-Saxophon (lit.'piccolo saxophone'), also pitched in B♭, in a longer straight form which he called the soprillo.[1]
The soprillo is pitched in B♭ and is 33cm (13in) long with the mouthpiece attached. Compared to a soprano saxophone, the soprillo is pitched one octave higher and is half the length.[3] Constructing such a small saxophone presents several challenges. The keywork only extends to a written E♭6 (sounding D♭7) rather than F or F♯ like most saxophones, and the upper octave key has to be placed on the mouthpiece.[4]
The very small mouthpiece requires a correspondingly small reed and a tightly focused embouchure, making the soprillo difficult to play, particularly in its upper register. There is very little demand for soprillos, reducing the economy of scale and making the soprillo more expensive than more common saxophones like the alto or tenor.[5] The Eppelsheim soprillo is the only piccolo-sized saxophone manufactured.[1]
Performance and repertoire
There is very little music written explicitly for the soprillo given its short history and extremely high pitch. British saxophonist Nigel Wood wrote and commissioned several solo soprillo works, performing and recording them for his 2008 CD, Soprillogy.[6] Saxophonists Vinny Golia, Jay C. Easton and Attilio Berni also perform and record on soprillo.[7]
References
1 2 3 "Soprillo". Munich: Benedikt Eppelsheim Wind Instruments. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023. B♭-Piccolo-Saxophon
↑ Cohen, Paul (September 2000). "Redefining the saxophone, Soprillo and Tubax: new saxophones for a new millennium". Saxophone Journal. 25 (1). Needham: Dorn Publications: 8–10. ISSN0276-4768.
↑ Wood, Nigel. "The Soprillo". Nigel Wood Music. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
↑ "Interview mit Benedikt Eppelsheim". Saxophonforum: Die deutschsprachige Saxophoncommunity (in German). 13 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
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