{"id":8552,"date":"2020-06-27T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T22:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vichy-encheres.com\/?p=8552"},"modified":"2023-03-31T16:35:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T14:35:54","slug":"basse-harmonie-sautermeister-muller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vichy-encheres.com\/en\/2020\/06\/27\/basse-harmonie-sautermeister-muller\/","title":{"rendered":"Une rarissime basse d\u2019harmonie : coup de projecteur sur Fran\u00e7ois Antoine Sautermeister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Une basse d’harmonie, instrument exceptionnel tant par sa raret\u00e9 que par son int\u00e9r\u00eat historique, \u00e9tait propos\u00e9e \u00e0 la vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 27 juin 2020. L\u2019occasion de revenir sur son inventeur, Fran\u00e7ois Antoine Sautermeister, l\u2019un des facteurs d\u2019instruments les plus audacieux du d\u00e9but du XIX\u00e8me<\/sup> si\u00e8cle.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
Catalogue<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Contact<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Experts<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
English version<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Basse<\/a>
Basse d\u2019harmonie par M\u00dcLLER \/ Vichy Ench\u00e8res \/ \u00a9 C. Darbelet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Sautermeister : un esprit cr\u00e9atif et entreprenant au service de la pratique musicale<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Originaire de Rottembourg dans le Wurtemberg, en Allemagne, o\u00f9 il na\u00eet en 1782, Fran\u00e7ois Antoine Sautermeister s\u2019\u00e9tablit d\u00e8s 1809 \u00e0 Lyon et y demeure jusqu\u2019\u00e0 sa mort en 1830, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e2ge de 46 ans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compagnon luthier au savoir-faire reconnu, il produit tous les instruments \u00e0 vent, des bois aux cuivres, principalement destin\u00e9s aux r\u00e9giments de la r\u00e9gion lyonnaise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anim\u00e9 par une imagination f\u00e9conde et une volont\u00e9 de fabriquer des instruments innovants dans le but de faciliter, et de perfectionner, la pratique musicale, il d\u00e9pose d\u00e8s 1812, soit seulement trois ans apr\u00e8s son installation \u00e0 Lyon, son premier brevet pour une \u201cbasse orgue\u201d – acoustiquement comparable \u00e0 une clarinette basse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fid\u00e8le \u00e0 ses ambitions, il poursuit ses exp\u00e9rimentations et obtient, le 22 juin 1827, un nouveau brevet de cinq ans : celui de la \u201cbasse d\u2019harmonie\u201d, aussi d\u00e9nomm\u00e9e \u201cnouvel ophicl\u00e9ide\u201d. Mais alors, de quoi s\u2019agit-il ?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Brevet d’invention, de perfectionnement et d’importation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

La basse d\u2019harmonie selon son inventeur<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Description<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Gamme de la basse d’harmonie \u00e0 onze clefs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

La basse d\u2019harmonie est n\u00e9e de l\u2019ambition de Sautermeister de fabriquer un instrument au son sup\u00e9rieur aux autres et \u00e0 l\u2019utilisation simplifi\u00e9e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il la d\u00e9finit ainsi comme \u201cun instrument \u00e0 vent et \u00e0 onze clefs\u201d, donnant \u201cdes sons majestueux\u201d, tout en offrant un doigt\u00e9 \u201cfacile\u201d, \u201cla plus parfaite justesse [et] tous les tons et demi-tons\u201d (M\u00e9moire de Sautermeister, 22 f\u00e9vrier 1827).
La recherche d\u2019un son id\u00e9al explique aussi son \u00e9tendue \u201cde trois octaves et plus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afin de simplifier la pratique de l\u2019instrument, Sautermeister a pens\u00e9 la division des onze trous et la mani\u00e8re dont les clefs les bouchent pour \u201dabr\u00e9ger beaucoup le travail des doigts\u201d et pour rendre \u201cl\u2019instrument tr\u00e8s avantageux et facile pour celui qui les joue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outre ses onze clefs, la basse d\u2019harmonie est compos\u00e9e d\u2019une double coulisse – servant \u00e0 s\u2019accorder et \u00e0 transposer l\u2019instrument d\u2019un demi-ton – d\u2019une perce conique, de deux tubes, d\u2019une embouchure \u00e0 bassin rond (ou conique) et d\u2019un pavillon \u00e9vas\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfectionniste, le facteur a finement travaill\u00e9 le biseau et a annot\u00e9 chaque clef par des num\u00e9ros, faisant de la basse d\u2019harmonie une v\u00e9ritable \u0153uvre d\u2019art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toujours fid\u00e8le \u00e0 une conception ergonomique de l\u2019instrument, Sautermeister a ajout\u00e9 un petit r\u00e9ceptacle – une boule \u00e0 vis – afin de r\u00e9cup\u00e9rer et d\u2019\u00e9vacuer l\u2019eau \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur de l\u2019instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On le constate, Sautermeister r\u00e9fl\u00e9chissait aux moindres d\u00e9tails et on ne s\u2019\u00e9tonnera donc pas qu\u2019il ait anticip\u00e9 la destination de l\u2019instrument, qui pourrait \u00eatre \u201cemploy\u00e9 avec le plus grand succ\u00e8s pour accompagner le plain chant ; ainsi que dans l\u2019harmonie\u201d – d\u2019o\u00f9 son nom \u201cbasse d\u2019harmonie\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

La mise en \u0153uvre d\u2019\u00e9l\u00e9ments r\u00e9volutionnaires<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Comme son deuxi\u00e8me nom l\u2019indique, ce \u201cnouvel ophicl\u00e9ide\u201d partage des points communs avec les ophicl\u00e9ides de l\u2019\u00e9poque, dont ceux des facteurs Halary et Labbaye. A titre d\u2019exemple, le principe de la double coulisse \u00e9tait d\u00e9j\u00e0 g\u00e9n\u00e9ralis\u00e9 sur les serpents droits et sur la plupart des ophicl\u00e9ides. Cependant, Sautermeister a mis au point de v\u00e9ritables innovations techniques. Selon Bruno Kampmann, expert en instruments \u00e0 vent, et J\u00e9r\u00f4me Wiss, facteur d\u2019instruments, de nombreux \u00e9l\u00e9ments sont r\u00e9volutionnaires pour l\u2019\u00e9poque. Parmi ces \u00e9l\u00e9ments, on compte la boule \u00e0 vis servant \u00e0 recueillir la salive, utilis\u00e9e par la suite par un grand nombre de facteurs de bassons russes et d\u2019ophimonocl\u00e9ides, puis par Gautrot pour des sarrussophones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Les supports r\u00e9glables pour les mains, une autre invention de Sautermeister, furent \u00e9galement repris par Gautrot et par Sax, l\u2019illustre facteur d\u2019instruments \u00e0 l\u2019origine du saxophone. Mais, s\u2019il ne fallait donner qu\u2019un \u00e9l\u00e9ment r\u00e9volutionnaire, on s\u2019en tiendrait au fait que la basse d\u2019harmonie constitue une \u201csynth\u00e8se entre l\u2019ophicl\u00e9ide et le doigt\u00e9 du serpent et du basson russe\u201d (Kampmann, Wiss, \u201cLa Basse d\u2019Harmonie de Sautermeister\u201d, Larigot n\u00b055, mai 2015). Audacieux, Sautermeister a revu la g\u00e9om\u00e9trie de l\u2019instrument en renversant les mains afin d\u2019obtenir un doigt\u00e9 \u201cplus logique que celui propos\u00e9 par Halary et Labbaye\u201d. L\u2019usage habituel des deux mains a ainsi \u00e9t\u00e9 radicalement invers\u00e9. C\u2019est d\u2019ailleurs probablement cette caract\u00e9ristique qui explique aujourd\u2019hui la grande raret\u00e9 des basses d\u2019harmonie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Un instrument tr\u00e8s rare, une pi\u00e8ce de collection !<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

En effet, tr\u00e8s peu de mod\u00e8les de basses d\u2019harmonie ont \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9s. Cela s\u2019explique sans doute par le fait que les musiciens aient \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9ticents \u00e0 l\u2019id\u00e9e de changer radicalement leur doigt\u00e9. Aujourd\u2019hui, seulement quelques
rares exemplaires sont connus. On en compte deux en laiton, correspondant exactement au brevet. Le premier estampill\u00e9 \u201cSautermeister & M\u00fcller\u201d, le second estampill\u00e9 \u201cM\u00fcller\u201d.
Une troisi\u00e8me basse d\u2019harmonie sign\u00e9e \u201cM\u00fcller\u201d existe \u00e9galement, mais ne correspond pas totalement au brevet (la premi\u00e8re chemin\u00e9e commence plus bas sur la petite branche). Enfin, on en conna\u00eet une quatri\u00e8me, elle aussi
estampill\u00e9e \u201cSautermeister & M\u00fcller\u201d, dont la premi\u00e8re chemin\u00e9e commence \u00e9galement plus bas sur la petite branche et au bocal tr\u00e8s diff\u00e9rent (Kampmann, Wiss, \u201cLa Basse d\u2019Harmonie de Sautermeister\u201d, Larigot n\u00b055, mai 2015). L\u2019exemplaire mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res, estampill\u00e9 \u201cM\u00fcller brevet\u00e9 \u00e0 Lyon\u201d est donc le cinqui\u00e8me et dernier connu. Tout \u00e0 fait exceptionnel sur le march\u00e9, ce rarissime t\u00e9moin d\u2019une invention qui marqua l\u2019histoire des instruments de musique, est un v\u00e9ritable objet de collection\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
D\u2019apr\u00e8s \u00ab La basse d\u2019harmonie de Sautermeister \u00bbDe J\u00e9r\u00f4me WISS et Bruno KAMPMANN paru dans le Larigot 55 de mai 2015.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A VERY RARE HARMONY BASS: FOCUS ON FRAN\u00c7OIS ANTOINE SAUTERMEISTER<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n

A harmony bass, an instrument exceptional for both for its rarity and its historical significance, was offered for sale by Vichy Ench\u00e8res on 27 June 2020. This is the opportunity to discover its creator, Fran\u00e7ois Antoine Sautermeister, one of the most innovative instrument maker of the early 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
Catalog<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Contact<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Experts<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Version fran\u00e7aise<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Basse<\/a>
Basse d\u2019harmonie par M\u00dcLLER \/ Vichy Ench\u00e8res \/ \u00a9 C. Darbelet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Sautermeister: a creative and entrepreneurial spirit at the service of musical practice<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Fran\u00e7ois Antoine Sautermeister was born in 1782 in Rottenburg in W\u00fcrttemberg, Germany, but later settled in Lyon in 1809, where he remained until his death in 1830, at the age of 46. He was a skilled maker and a member of the Guilds, and he produced all types of wind instruments, from woodwind to brass, mainly for the use of military band in the Lyon region. Driven by a fertile imagination and a desire to produce innovative instruments, with the aim of facilitating and perfecting musical practice, he laid down as early as 1812, only three years after settling in Lyon, his first patent for a \u201cbass organ\u201d \u2013 acoustically comparable to a bass clarinet. True to his ambitions, he continued his experiments and, on 22 June 1827, obtained a new five-year patent, for “harmony bass”, also known as “new ophicleide”. Let\u2019s examine what this instrument is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Brevet d’invention, de perfectionnement et d’importation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

The harmony bass according to its inventor<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Description<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Gamme de la basse d’harmonie \u00e0 onze clefs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

The harmony bass was born from Sautermeister’s ambition to make an instrument that sounded better and was easier to use. He described it as \u201ca wind instrument with eleven keys\u201d, producing \u201cmajestic sounds\u201d, while offering \u201ceasy\u201d fingering, \u201cthe most perfect pitch accuracy [and] all the tones and semi-tones\u201d (M\u00e9moire de Sautermeister, 22 February 1827). This search for the ideal sound also explains its range \u201cof three octaves and more\u201d. In order to simplify the playing of the instrument, Sautermeister devised the organisation of the 11 holes and the way in which the keys close them to “simplify much the work of the fingers” and to make “the instrument very advantageous and easy for whoever plays it”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to its 11 keys, the harmony bass has a double slide \u2013 used to tune and transpose the instrument by a semitone \u2013 a conical bore, two tubes, a mouthpiece with a round (or conical) base and a flared pavilion. The maker, who was a perfectionist, finely worked the bevel and annotated each key with numbers, making the harmony bass a true work of art. Sautermeister also considered the ergonomic design of the instrument by adding a small receptacle \u2013 a ball with screws \u2013 that collects and evacuates the water inside the instrument. Indeed, Sautermeister thought about the most minute details of this new instrument, and it is therefore not surprising that he would have thought about its use: he thought it could be \u201cused with the greatest success to accompany plainsong; as well as in harmony\u201d \u2013 hence its name \u201charmony bass\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The implementation of innovative ideas<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

As its second name suggests, this \u201cnew ophicleide\u201d shares common characteristics with the ophicleides of the time, including those by makers Halary and Labbaye. For instance, the double slide was already a standard feature of straight snakes and most ophicleides. However, Sautermeister developed real technical innovations. According to Bruno Kampmann, expert in wind instruments, and J\u00e9r\u00f4me Wiss, instrument maker, many of its features are revolutionary for the time. Among these features, the ball with screws, used to collect saliva, was subsequently adopted by a large number of Russian bassoon and ophimonocleide makers, and later by Gautrot for sarrussophones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

The adjustable hand supports, another innovation of Sautermeister, were also copied by Gautrot and by Sax, the famous instrument maker at the origin of the saxophone. However, the most innovative aspect of the harmony bass is surely that it constitutes a \u201csynthesis between the ophicleide and the fingering of the snake and the Russian bassoon\u201d (Kampmann, Wiss, \u201cLa Basse d\u2019Harmonie de Sautermeister\u201d, Larigot n\u00b055, May 2015). Sautermeister, who was constantly innovating, further modified the instrument by reversing the hands in order to obtain a fingering \u201cmore logical than that proposed by Halary and Labbaye\u201d. The usual use of both hands was radically reversed in the process. It is probably this aspect that explains the great rarity of harmony basses today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

A very rare instrument, and a collector’s piece!<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Indeed, very few harmony basses have been made. This is probably due to the fact that the musicians were reluctant to radically change their fingering. Today only a few examples are known. Two are in brass, and match exactly the patent. The first is stamped \u201cSautermeister & M\u00fcller\u201d, and the second \u201cM\u00fcller\u201d. A third harmony bass stamped \u201cM\u00fcller\u201d also exists, but it does not fully correspond to the patent (the first chimney begins lower on the small branch). Finally, we know of a fourth example, also stamped \u201cSautermeister & M\u00fcller\u201d, whose first chimney also starts lower on the small branch and with a very different tank (Kampmann, Wiss, \u201cLa Basse d\u2019Harmonie de Sautermeister\u201d, Larigot n\u00b055, May 2015). The example for sale at Vichy Ench\u00e8res, stamped \u201cM\u00fcller brevete a Lyon\u201d is therefore the fifth and last known. This extremely rare example is a real collector\u2019s item, exceptional on the market, and bears witness to an invention that marked the history of musical instruments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
From \u00ab La basse d\u2019harmonie de Sautermeister \u00bb by J\u00e9r\u00f4me WISS and Bruno KAMPMANN published in le Larigot 55 of May 2015.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

\ud83d\ude80 Suivez-nous !<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n