Klarinet Archive - Posting 001215.txt from 1997/08

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Mozart K622
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 15:13:59 -0400

*whew!* I think I understand all that.....and it is very useful
information!

Roger GArrett

On Thu, 28 Aug 1997, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> There is a lot of terrific stuff here, but there are three or four
> separate notes and the last two have squashed a lot of history
> together.
>
> Mozart did write begin a concerto for basset horn in G, but
> abandoned it, deciding to write for a clarinet in A. It was
> a clarinet of extended compass and the name of "basset
> clarinet" was given to the instrument by Jiri Kratchovil only
> 30 or so years ago, maybe even more recent than that. When
> Stadler did it, he played it on what he called "a clarinet."
>
> The basset clarinet (in any key) is not a basset horn. The
> latter instrument was the first effort to extend the range of
> the clarinet family and, ultimately, led to the bass clarinet.
> But the key of the basset horn that survived history is in
> F which makes it an instrument of much lower character. It
> is (in my opinion) still a soprano clarinet but its intent
> to make it a bass instrument for basset horn trios distinguishes
> it from the basset clarinet by orders of magnitude.
>
> I doubt very much if this kind of analysis and placing things
> in categories was in anyone's mind during the late 18th century,
> but with the benefit of 200 years of history of clarinet development,
> we can see the intent and organization of what ultimately took
> place. I add that Albrechtbuger mentions the existence of basset
> horns in at least 4 different keys beyond F and G, so I suspect
> that the transition was not very abrupt.
>
> But in any case, Mozart's use of the basset horn is invariably
> as an alto voice and not a soprano voice (though he does
> exactly that in the Requiem where the first basset horn doubles
> the soprano and the second basset horn doubles the alto). So
> even though the basset horn has high notes, they are notes of
> the character of an alto human voice (which can also sing
> fairly high, too).
>
> It's not terribly clear or orderly, but at no juncture of the
> clarinet's history was a basset clarinet in A ever called
> a basset horn, nor was a basset horn in F ever called a clarinet.
>
>
>
> > From: MX%"klarinet@-----.09
> > Subj: Re: Mozart K622
>
> > The words "The theory of course is that" are unnecessary and give the false
> > impression (I'm sure not intended) that this is open to question. When
> > people like Dan Leeson and I were young it was thought to be open to
> > question, but only because we were not familiar with the available
> > information. Mozart wrote K 622 for the basset clarinet in A (and if you
> > prefer to call it a basset horn in A its all the same to me, and if you're
> > interested in what instruments survive look at what Al Rice and I
> > contributed to the end of Colin Lawson's handbook to K 622 (Cambridge
> > University Press), published prior to Pamela Weston's discovery-see below).
> > I'm surprised in the discussions of ornamenting K 622 that people have not
> > brought up Pamela Weston's recent edition, which she previewed in Clarinet
> > around the beginning of the year. In my view this is essential material for
> > anybody trying to decide what she/he is going to do with this piece.
> > Nick
> > >
> > >The person who is probably most qualified to answer questions regarding
> > >the basset horn, its appearance, shape, size, history, and the Mozart
> > >Concerto K.622 is Dan Leeson (don't call him Dr. however!).
> > >But...regarding the recording....most of the recordings today are made
> > >with a basset clarinet rather than a basset horn. That is, an A clarinet
> > >with a lower joint that has been extended to a range of low C below low E.
> > >The theory of course is that the concerto was written for a basset horn
> > >(clarinet?) in A, of which no such instrument exists today. Many scholars
> > >have reconstructed the concerto so that the lower ocatave is present in
> > >the melodic lines. However, there is quite a bit of controversy regarding
> > >the authenticity of the different reconstructions. In any event, the
> > >recordings of Anthony Pay and David Shifrin are excellent. Shifrin's was
> > >nominated for a Grammy, and he was the first person to begin touring with
> > >an extended A clarinet back in 1981 or so (hand built lower joint!).
> > >
> > >Roger Garrett
> > >Illinois Wesleyan University
> > >
> > >On Wed, 27 Aug 1997, Tahna Britton wrote:
> > >[snip]
> > >
> > >> A friend of mine has a recording of Mozart's clarinet concerto played by
> > >> a basset horn. He said that Mozart wrote the concerto for a basset
> > >> horn. My questions are these (even though I should probably know this
> > >> by now!): What does a basset horn look like? I've never seen one, I've
> > >> only heard one once. Is a basset horn an earlier form of the modern
> > >> clarinet? Also, I once read somewhere that Mozart only wrote the 1st
> > >> movement for basset horn and then wrote the rest for clarinet, but I
> > >> can't remember where I read that and it doesn't make a lot of sense to
> > >> me
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> =======================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> leeson@-----.edu
> =======================================
>