Klarinet Archive - Posting 000122.txt from 1996/11

From: David Ross <dross@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Wooden Mouthpieces
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 20:27:15 -0500

I had dinner and spent an evening last summer with Karlheinz Hahn, a friend
of some 10 or 15 years. He is indeed retired now, but still does quite a
bit subsititute playing in various German orchestras and opera pits. When I
first met him (perhaps even at Nick's suggestion), he was principal (or
"solo" in German orchestra terminology) of the Munich Philharmonic. Though
not too well known in the States I believe, he was a very highly regarded
player in the German clarinet world. Nick is also right in the Karlheinz
played on cocuswood mouthpieces for most of his career, and in fact became
very good at adjusting the facing or lay, partly because of the tendency
for wood to shift a bit and partly I suspect because he wanted to have
mouthpiece facings exactly to his requirements. Many of the younger
generation of German players are now using mouthpieces of hard rubber or
similar material, I should say at least those with whom I have had contact.
Karlheinz of course belongs to an older generation; his training was in the
east (Dresden I believe), where traditional equipment preferences held on
longer than elsewhere. And if one speaks with a player from such a
tradition, they feel very strongly that the advantages gained from using a
wood mouthpiece, particularly sound, are well worth whatever problems there
might be in using such a material. Please note that I am not necessarily
endorsing such a view, but only pointing out that there are still today
players (indeed very fine ones) who feel strongly that wood mouthpieces
produce superior results.

David Ross
dross@-----.edu