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Baritone sudrophone, C and B-flat

Maker Francois Sudre

Date1900 ca.

Place MadeParis, France, Europe

ModelModèle Déposé

Serial No.1700

SignedStamped on silver shield at bell: F.S [trademark within post horn] / Modèle Déposé / 83 MEDAILLES & BREVET[S] (in banner) / SUDROPHONE BARYTON / UT ET SIb / F. SUDRE / DIPLOME D’HONNEUR / 13, Boulevard Rochechouart / FACTEUR DU CONSERVATOIRE / ET DE L’ARMÉE / A PARIS
MarkingsStamped at second valve casing: PERCE 7 / F.S / BREVETÉ / 1700
Stamped at bell above membrane: Modèle Déposé
Stamped on silver shield at outer membrane cylinder: Breveté
Stamped at outer membrane cylinder: 6
Stamped at valve casings and valve caps, respectively: 4, 5, 6
DescriptionBrass, nickel-silver finger buttons, double loop, main tuning slide with B-flat extension slide (removable) at narrow second bow, fixed leadpipe, detachable bell bow fixed by ligature screw, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), bottom sprung, alignment by one key on brass pistons, parchment membrane in cylinder at bell opening for timbre change, single water key at main tuning slide, windway 1-2-3

B-flat extension
Silver baritone mouthpiece stamped: 3 / F BESSON / PARIS

François Sudre (1843–1912) first patented a family of sudrophones (soprano to contrabass) in France in February 1892 (French Patent no. 21958), in Britain on November 8, 1901 (British Patent no. 22562), and finally in the United States on May 17, 1904 (US Patent no. 759,933).

The sudrophone follows the shape of an ophicleide and can be interpreted as a late example of an ophicleide with pistons. The most characteristic feature of the sudrophone is a silk or, as in this case, parchment membrane, enclosed in a double brass cylinder at the bell. An opening in the bell allows the air-stream to reach this membrane and to put it into vibration when the instrument is played. Depending on the tension of this membrane, regulated by a turn knob, the sound can be modified. The more stretched the membrane is, the closer is the sound to that of a brass instrument, the more relaxed it is the closer the timbre is like that of a reed instrument; releasing the tension even further was meant to imitate a string instrument. The baritone sudrophone was designed to imitate a tenor saxophone, a bassoon or a violoncello.

The dating of this instrument results from the address mentioned in the signature, to which Sudre moved in 1900.
DimensionsHeight: 867 mm
Tube length: 2421 mm (C), 2745 mm (B-flat)
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.9 mm, 11.6 mm, 14.2 mm, 14.2 mm
Bell diameter: 160 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Tony Bingham, London, England, 1996.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 200-202, 292.

Klaus, Sabine..The Sudorphone and other inventions by Francois Sudre in Paris." _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 44, no. 3 (Fall 2020): 6, 7 and 11.

Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999

Object number07145

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