Klarinet Archive - Posting 000588.txt from 1995/09

From: Robin Fairbairns <Robin.Fairbairns@-----.UK>
Subj: Re: Re the Neidich recording of K. 622
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 04:26:14 -0400

David Niethamer writes:

> On the subject of accurate terminology, what exactly is an "original"
> instrument? It has been suggested to me that "period instrument" is a
> more accurate term, or "copy of a PI", to be more accurate still. The
> suggestor implied that an "original" clarinet would be Denner serial #1.

In `English', surely, an "original instrument" is one that was used in
early performances of the work. In this case, AFAIK, no such
instrument still exists (though my Pure Maths director of studies in
the '60s, Richard Maunder, had one of approximately the right
vintage).

In marketing speak, "original", "period" and "authentic" in this
context seems always to mean the same thing. One has to read the
small print to find what is the actual provenance of the instruments
used.

> Anthony Pay plays on a basset clarinet made in Cambridge in 1984. In the
> booklet, the Acad of Ancient Music is said to play on "authentic
> instruments", leading me to wonder whether the rest of us are playing on
> somehow suspect instruments! (Well maybe, but...)

Of course, one often can't find out what sorts of instruments an
orchestra is using, other than by talking to the players, which is
almost always impossible when all you've got is a disc of the
performance. OTOH, Soloists' instruments (such as Tony's, made here
at Wood, Wind and Reed) tend to be described in enormous detail,
whether they're copies or originals. (Program notes for a Music Club
concert earlier this year where Alexander Baillie played the
Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations had more about his [wonderful]
instrument than about the man himself.)

> What do we think about accurate terminology here?

I would love to see it, but I never expect it.

Robin (Campaign for Real Radio 3) Fairbairns rf@-----.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK
<a href@-----.html">Private page</a>