Klarinet Archive - Posting 000150.txt from 1994/10

From: Cary Karp <karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: the Clarinet d'amour
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 1994 04:14:42 -0400

On Fri, 14 Oct 1994, Timothy Tikker wrote:

> The Clarinette d'amour was in A-flat or F, sometimes G or even B-flat,
> according to Oskar Kroll - who also mentions that the Brussels instrument
> collection even has a specimen in C.
>
> Baines gives its usual pitch as G or A-flat, adding that some were in F.
> One of the few composers to write for it was JC Bach, who has three parts
> for it in his opera _Temistocle_ (1772) - oddly enough, for CdA in D!

Be careful when reading reports based on the pitches of museum specimens.
An instrument which we measure as being in A-flat was likely, when pitch
levels were lower than today's, to have built in nominal A.

The d'amore notion was initially most commonly associated to wind
instruments pitched in A. Unless there are explicit indications to the
contrary it is usually safe to assume this to be the case when
interpretting historical evidence.

I have access to a drawer filled with clarinets d'amore and will take a
close look at them in this regard.

   
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