Here are five things you should know about Sax and his sax:
1. He invented the saxophone aged just 32, filing a patent in 1846
2. He also invented the whole sax musical family — a bunch of brass instruments including the saxhorn, saxotromba and saxtuba. The saxhorn has endured, but the rest didn’t take quite so well.
3. He was expert at the flute and clarinet, having studied the instruments at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in his native Belgium.
4. After his death in 1894, at 79 years old, he was buried at the world-famous Montmartre cemetery in Paris.
5. Such is Google’s esteem for Sax’s inventiveness, they have coined the Googlehorn in his honour: an attempt by Doodle designer Lydia Nichols to make an instrument as interesting as his were.
