: Why are saxophones not commonly included in orchestras?
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TLDR: The saxophone is a relatively new instrument invented in the 1840’s and therefore most well known classical music pre-dates it.
The saxophone was one of a number of Brass instruments invented by Belgian Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and at the time it was not well received by the industry because Sax refused to use the pre-fab components that dominated the brass instrument industry at the time.
This turned it into a niche instrument (like a small brand synthesizer today) so it ended up being used in *modern* music vs classic music.
The Saxophone was picked up by military bands of all things, and would later become a staple of Jazz music in the US.
But the simple fact is that the saxophone is a relatively new instrument that wasn’t around when most well known pieces of classical music were being written in the 17th and 18th centuries.
So the saxophone isn’t in an orchestra for the same reason that Electric Guitars, Electric Bass, Synths, and Drum kits aren’t.
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