{"id":63844,"date":"2015-11-08T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T15:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=63844"},"modified":"2020-03-22T12:15:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-22T16:15:05","slug":"cimetiere-de-montmartre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=63844","title":{"rendered":"Adolphe Sax and the Cimetie\u0300re de Montmartre"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m going to slip in a post from Paris because a few days ago it was Adolphe Sax’s 201st birthday (November 6, 1814). Sax is one of the many graves found in the vast necropolis that is the Cimetie\u0300re de Montmartre<\/em>. You could literally walk for days in the Cimetie\u0300re<\/em> and not see everything or find what you are looking for. We spent about a frustrating hour looking for Sax’s grave. In the end, it was a feral cat that led us to the small crypt.<\/p>\n

Adolphe Sax<\/h3>\n

Born in Dinant, Belgium in 1814 as Antoine-Joseph Sax, Adolphe’s mother often lamented about the unfortunate and cursed life of her son. As a child, he faced several near-death experiences that included near-drowning, falling from a three-story building, poisoning (twice), an explosion, suffocation, falling into a frying pan, and swallowing a pin. His childhood nickname was “de kleine geest” or “the little ghost” because no one ever believed he would live to adulthood. Yet, despite all this misfortune, Sax lived to a hearty old age of 79.<\/p>\n

Sax is most famous for… drumroll<\/em>… inventing the saxophone. His parents were Belgian instrument makers who rarely deviated from their traditional designs; but, Adolphe liked to take risks and experiment. Throughout his life, he filed 14 patents for instruments that would eventually revolutionize horned\/Big Band music. These included the bass clarinet, the Saxotromba, the Saxhorn, the Saxtuba, the clarinette-bourdon, and other instruments from the saxhorns family.<\/p>\n

Adolphe was recognized for his work and as such taught at the Paris Conservatoire. Despite all of his success, however, he died in poverty in 1894 thanks to several lawsuits filed against him by rival musical instrument makers.<\/p>\n

All the Other Graves at the Cimetie\u0300re<\/h3>\n

There are so many famous people buried at the Cimetie\u0300re de Montmartre<\/em>; books have been written about all of these people. It is interesting to simply wander and look at the impressive graveside sculptures… these are just as interesting as the people buried under them.<\/p>\n

One thing to note, some of France’s “National Heroes” who were buried in the Cimetie\u0300re de Montmartre<\/em> were exhumed and moved to the Panth\u00e9on (e.g. \u00c9mile Zola<\/a> and parts of Jean Lannes<\/a>). <\/p>\n