# Rothphone

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The **rothphone** (German: *Rothphon*, Italian: *ròthfono*; also **rothophone**, **rothaphone**, or **saxsarrusophone**) is a metal [double reed](/source/Double_reed) [conical bore](/source/Conical_bore) [wind instrument](/source/Wind_instrument) similar to the [sarrusophone](/source/Sarrusophone), but built with a [saxophone](/source/Saxophone) shape.

## History

The rothphone was invented by Friedrich Roth, who initially named it the *rothcorno*. It was primarily manufactured as the *rothfono* by Bottali in Milan when they took over the Roth workshop in 1898. Like the sarrusophone, it was intended to replace oboes and bassoons in military bands.[1]

The rothphone gained some popularity in Italian wind and military bands between [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and [World War II](/source/World_War_II), but remained almost completely unknown outside Italy. When Bottali folded in the mid 1930s and was taken over by Milan instrument manufacturer [Orsi](/source/Orsi_Instrument_Company), Orsi sold their stock of Bottali-made rothphone instruments as the "saxrusofono".[1]

## Construction

Rothphones were patented and introduced in five sizes in 1912 by Bottali, their only significant manufacturer:[2]

- Soprano rothphone in B♭
- Alto rothphone in E♭
- Tenor rothphone in B♭
- Baritone rothphone in E♭
- Bass rothphone in B♭

Each instrument corresponded in range to the similar-sized sarrusophone or saxophone, and all are [transposing instruments](/source/Transposing_instrument) notated in treble clef. A contrabass was never built due to the similarity to the already established [contrabass sarrusophone](/source/Contrabass_sarrusophone) in bands of the time.[2] For the same size of instrument, the bore of the rothphone is similar to the sarrusophone, and narrower than the saxophone.

## References

1. "Rothophone". 40435.

1. ["Sarrusophone, Rothphone (Saxorusophone) and Reed Contrabass"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080418081540/http://idrs.colorado.edu/Publications/Journal/JNL17/JNL17.Joppig.Sarrus.html). *Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society*. **XII**: 68–106. 1986. Archived from [the original](http://idrs.colorado.edu/Publications/Journal/JNL17/JNL17.Joppig.Sarrus.html) on 18 April 2008.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rothphone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothphone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothphone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.