The following table lists the members of the saxhorn family as described in the orchestration texts of Hector Berlioz and Cecil Forsyth, the J. Howard Foote catalog of 1893, and modern names.

During the 19th century, the debate as to whether the saxhorn family was truly new, or rather a development of previously existing instruments, was the subject of prolonged lawsuits.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner wanted to use them in his 2003 recording, but was unable to borrow them from major conservatoires; he was eventually put in touch with a private collector who loaned him a set.

This family of musicians, publishers and instrument manufacturers had a significant impact on the growth of the brass band movement in Britain during the mid- to late-19th century.

Contemporary works featuring this instrument are Désiré Dondeyne's Tubissimo for bass tuba or saxhorn and piano (1983), Olivier Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964), and Dmitri Shostakovich's "March of the Soviet Militia" (1970).