Klarinet Archive - Posting 000011.txt from 1996/09

From: Gary Van Cott <mccmis@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Clarinet in the key of 'B'
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 1996 21:06:48 -0400

Last time I read something about this, the owner discovered he had a
high pitch Bb clarinet.

Gary Van Cott (back from vacation)
Las Vegas, NV
mccmis@-----.com
>
> >Please help settle an argument . I purchased a clarinet on the
> >information that it was a 'C' clarinet but it plays a B when I
> >finger a C . THe person that I bought it from says that there is no
> >such thing as a B clarinet and
> is
> >refusing to take it back .
> > The question is "Was there a B clarinet made"?
> > I've tried different barrels including one off of C clarinet .
> >I will forward your reply to her .
> > Thanks for the help , Steve
> >
> >
>
> There was an article in *The Clarinet* within the last two years
> about B clarinets. It was a bit of scholarly research referring to
> a Mozart opera (Cosi?) in which the original score called for
> *Klarinet in H*. Mozart's musical *H* is our B-natural. The author
> points out that there was once upon a time such a thing indeed as a
> B clarinet.
>
> Personally, I've never run across such an animal. I can't imaging
> any major manufacturer mass producing B clarinets. Indeed a C
> clarinet is still a pretty rare bird.
>
> Perhaps this horn a) was custom built in B, b) is a really sharp Bb
> horn, or c) is a really flat C horn.
>