Klarinet Archive - Posting 000513.txt from 1996/05

From: David Ross <dross@-----.EDU>
Subj: Stamitz Quartets/B-natural clarinet
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 13:23:29 -0400

Dave Yee is quite right in saying that the 4th quartet of Stamitz Op. 19
series of quartets is in E major and would probably be played by today's
clarinetist on an A-clarinet. The reason I did not include it in my listing
of Stamitz works using the A-clarinet is that the original Sieber prints
for this quartet clearly indicate the use of a B-natural clarinet (the
clarinet part is in F major). I'm not sure that this work was mentioned in
the discussion of B-natural clarinets on this list some weeks ago.
Mozart's use of the B-natural clarinet has been known and documented for
some time, but one will find additional examples of this instrument's use
in French opera scores (ie Gretry) from around the turn of the 19th
century. So it would not be surprising to find additional works from the
Paris around this time utilizing this B-natural clarinet.

I might also mention that my copy of the Sieber print includes 6 quartets,
not 4. Perhaps part of the confusion lies in the fact that the last 2
quartets also exist in versions for bassoon and strings. My suspicion is
that the the bassoon version came first.

David Ross
dross@-----.edu