Mélophone

{{About|the portable free reed instrument|the brass instrument|Mellophone}}

File:Melophone MET DP120779.jpg]]

The mélophone is a portable free reed instrument first constructed by Parisian watchmaker Pierre Charles Leclerc in 1837.{{Cite book |last=Libin |first=Laurence |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199743391.001.0001 |title=The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-974339-1 |edition=2nd |chapter=Mélophone |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199743391.001.0001}} After persuasion from Leclerc, composer Fromental Halévy included the instrument in his 1838 opera, Guido et Ginevra and briefly popularized the instrument.{{Cite book |last=Lavoix |first=Henri Marie François |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgDP2FZNYSUC |title=Histoire de L'instrumentation: Depuis le Seizième Siècle Jusqu'à Nos Jours |publisher=Firmin Didot |year=1878 |pages=155 |language=fr |oclc=751505}} However, by 1855, the novelty had worn off and the instrument faded into relative obscurity.{{Cite book |last=Snoeck |first=Cesar Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ukPAAAAYAAJ |title=Catalogue de la Collection D'instruments de Musique Anciens ou Curieux |publisher=Vuylsteke |year=1894 |pages=18 |language=fr |oclc=902879877}}