Klarinet Archive - Posting 000581.txt from 1998/02

From: ROBERT HOWE <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: Re: History Lesson: Albert and Boehm clarinets
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 09:38:04 -0500

>Does anyone ever use the left hand Eb/Bb key (between the middle and
>ring fingers)? I have never ever used it on a boehm-system clarinet,
>though it is vital on an Albert. I was wondering if it actually does
>serve a practicle purpose, or whether it was just a leftover remnant of
>the Albert.

The question supposes that the Boehm evolved from the Albert. Actually,
the reverse is closer to the truth. The Boehm clarinet was developed by
Auguste Buffet (working with Boehm in Paris) in 1843. These men took as
first principle the idea of large tone holes in acoustically correct
locations covered by pads working at a distance. They did their work
carefully and to a great extent succeeeded, altho C#-G# is mislocated
due to the joint. I have a Buffet-Crampon boxwood Eb clarinet with
Boehm system from circa 1860, it is virtually identical to a 1993 Buffet
eefer. The success of the design is evident in it remaining essentially
unchanged for 130 years.

Albert (perhaps working with Sax) in Brussels, took the design ideas of
the Boehm clarinet--needle springs, rotating pillars on screws, etc--and
used them to overhaul the Muller 13 key clarinet. This produced the
Albert system, which is not a more "primitive" clarinet that the Boehm,
but rather a different way of solving the same problems. Typical
differences between the two systems that work to the Boehm's advantage
are the extra pinky keys for the Boehm and the better first line F.
Advantages of the Albert are a true, perfect slur between middle of the
staff B and C#, as the keys heads are articulated in the "patent C#";
and a very much more secure high C, for the same reason that F is
poorer, the note is fingered (LH) Thumb -2- rather than Thumb --- as on
a Boehm. I have played and hope to purchase a pair of Albert clarinets
in A and Bb, made by Albert in Brussels, the pitch on these instruments
is phenomenal and they are lovely to play.

American players often confuse "simple system" with "Albert system",
this is as incorrect and chauvanistic as is the equally common yet wrong
assertion that the primitive 6 key clarinet was musically inadequate.

The Oehler and other variants used in eastern Europe, which
unfortunately are becoming extinct, are direct descendants of Albert's
work. Listen to old Berlin Phil or modern Vienna Phil recordings to
hear what these clarinets can do. Check out the Adagio of the Beethoven
9, or the solo in the middle of Strauss' Heldenleben, to hear why I
favor high C on the "Albert" type clarinet.

As usual, I offer references: The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet,
which I have misplaced (and which has a GREAT chapter on playing 5 & 6
keyed clarinets)(can Nick Shakleton provide author, year, etc?);
Clarinet by Jack Brymer; Photos from the Edinburgh Collection of
Historical Musical Instruments, which shows innumerable "Albert"
variants used by major British players in the last century and can be
purchased from http://www.music.ed.ac.uk:80/euchmi/index.html#u; Art
Benade's articles in Galpin Soc J 1994 and 1996 on the history of
woodwinds and the physics of a new clarinet design, which can be
purchased from http://www.music.ed.ac.uk:80/euchmi/galpin/; and best of
all, Woodwind Instruments and Their History by Anthony Baines, about 12
bucks from Dover, NYC, and worth 10 times that much.

Robert Howe