Klarinet Archive - Posting 000285.txt from 1995/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Rachel Park's comments on basset horn
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 08:24:30 -0400

A really wonderful description of the problems associated with
the physical and space issues of some early basset horns.

However, there is very limited evidence to support the belief that
the basset horn in G was the popular instrument during the b.h.'s
heyday. Of the approximately 15-20 works of Mozart that use one or
more b.h.'s, only 2 are in G and, of these, only one is finished.
Furthermore, Mozart's music IS in the heyday of basset horn writing.
While the date of origin of the basset horn is not known (though
several scholars date it to several different dates), pieces for
basset horn earlier than 1760 cannot be found. So if one looks
at Mozart's basset horn music, one gets an idea of what instrument
was in general use, and that is, overwhelmingly, basset horn in F
by a factor of 10 to 1.

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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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