Klarinet Archive - Posting 000658.txt from 1995/12

From: Dave Lane <davelane@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Dave Lane's Buffet
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 1995 20:39:53 -0500

At 07:59 AM 12/26/95 EST, you wrote:
>I cannot, of course, be sure without seeing the instrument described in
>Dave's letter and also learning what he meant by an A-flat/E-flat left
>hand "lever", but what I believe he has is simply what used to be called
>"a full Boehm System" clarinet. Let me work under the assumption that
>I have correctly described it because any other assumption and this note
>is done right now.
>
>Full Boehm instruments in both B-flat, A, and even E-flat clarinets
>were as common as garden style variety peas from roughly the 1930s
>to the mid 1960s. They were characterized by 5 singularities:
>
> (1) compass of the instrument was extended to low written
> E-flat (which is what Dave described)
>
> (2) f#-g# articulation (built for a trill in Carmen) as
> Dave described
>
> (3) left hand g/a-flat tremulo key (not a lever) that
> was fingered by lifting the middle finger of the left hand
> (this is the unclear part in Dave's note)
>
> (4) extra right hand lever-key for something but I never
> used it so I forgot about it and it was not on all full
> Boehm clarinets in any case (not metioned by Davd)
>
> (5) a-flat/e-flat in both pinkys (as Dave described).
>
>This instrument is still the most popular one in Russia today and
>is the one for which Prokoffiev wrote the Peter and the Wolf solo.
>Today we only play it on the A clarinet, but the part was originall
>for a B-flat clarinet that had a low e-flat on it.
>
>The problem with the instrument was that the key work that allowed
>the left hand g/a-flat tremulo was detrimental to the intonation
>of the entire instrument and with an acoustical flaw like that,
>the instruments were not taken up by the major players.
>
>I have a pair of these instruments and I bought the last one in
>Paris in 1963. You still see them in catalogs from time to time
>but their day is past.
>
>I always liked the technical advantages that the instrument gave
>me and the fact that we see some of the goodies on clarinets
>being built today (left and right hand e-flat/a-flat) shows that
>something good came out of them.
>
>
>====================================
>Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
>(leeson@-----.edu)
>====================================
>
>
Dan, I believe you've nailed it. The right-hand key you mentioned is an
extra sliver key that duplicates the function of the C#/G#. I'm foggy on
the tremolo key, and the horn is disassembled, but I'll check tonight as I'm
ready to begin reassembly.

Your comments are appreciated. I bought the horn as a museum piece, not to
play on a regular basis. Looks like it was a wise attitude to have.

Dave