Klarinet Archive - Posting 000084.txt from 1994/09

From: Claudia Zornow <claudia@-----.COM>
Subj: Berlin nochmals
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:37:28 -0400

In the message about my Berlin trip, I completely forgot
to mention my visit to the Musikinstrumentenmuseum there.
This is housed in the Philharmonie building, where the
Berlin Philharmonic and other orchestras play. For 4 DM
you can see an assortment of all kinds of instruments:
strings, winds, brass, keyboards, harps, some percussion,
and more. Most of the instruments are in glass cases, but
the larger ones (e.g. pianos) are out in the open. You
can walk right up to them, although if you attempt to touch
them someone will materialize out of the woodwork and warn
you in German not to do that. (They also don't like you
carrying jackets or bags around, although they're very
polite about asking you to leave things at the desk.)

I should have taken notes on the clarinets I saw. There
were 5-key Denner clarinets, angled (almost Z-shaped)
basset horns, and all kinds of other interesting things.
My favorite was the "clarinet" built into a walking stick.
They also had other instruments in walking sticks, most
notably a sort of violin. I had never heard of such a
thing before. I doubt that they sounded very good, but
they're at least an interesting novelty. If any of you
happen to be in Berlin, I recommend the museum.

Claudia