Klarinet Archive - Posting 001011.txt from 1998/02

From: Agrenci <Agrenci@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Baroque mouthpiece
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 1998 07:24:25 -0500

In a message dated 2/27/98 5:37:46 PM, you wrote:

>Another question, Vivaldi used Claren, Clarini and Salmoe in his works.
>Are they all referring to clarinet? If not, what kind of instruments are
>they?

Clarini (plural of Clarino) refers to a high trumpet. This term is the origin
of the word "clarinet". The other terms I am not familiar with.

You also ask about the practice of playing clarinet with the reed on top and
damped by the upper lip. In the 17th and early 18th centuries there were
clarinetists who played with the reed on top, while others prefered the reed
on bottom. There was not a universal standard for quite a while. It is my
understanding (recalled Weston's "Clarinet Virtuousi of the Past") that it was
the superb playing and influencial teaching of Heinrich Baermann which firmly
established the practice of playing with the reed touching the bottom lip.
This influence notwithstanding there were some hold-outs as late as the early
twentieth century playing with the reed on top. Try it sometime just for fun,
or to have some fun with your colleagues.

Andy