Klarinet Archive - Posting 000537.txt from 1995/05

From: "<Rachel Park>" <Rachel.Park@-----.NZ>
Subj: G vs F basset horn
Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 06:41:20 -0400

Daniel, I'd never sat down to figure out what key the basset horn in G
would end up playing in, in relation to other orchestral instruments. Of
course you're right - I'd previously thought that basset horn in F survived
purely because the construction of extended range clarinets in both A and F
would have made the G instrument obsolete. I guess the instrument in F
came about in an attempt to, firstly, make clarinets even lower than
Stadler's basset clarinet, AND, secondly, (unlike the instrument in G) be
able to handle playing in an orchestra without those impossible key
signatures! The use of basset horn in G in the 'Notturno' K.437 makes it
pretty much a one-hit wonder although it may have been nice at the time to
hear music including the instrument in a key like concert G instead of the
usual F or B flat majors.

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Rachel Park
c/o School of Music
Victoria University of Wellington
P.O Box 600
WELLINGTON
New Zealand
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