Klarinet Archive - Posting 000660.txt from 1998/05

From: dnaden <dnaden@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] A new concept in orchestral clarinets
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 09:59:08 -0400

In response to GTs comments, I would like to ask what specifically defines a
"period" performance? While ensembles, such as those conducted by Trevor Pinnock,
John Eliot Gardiner, et. al. (pardon the spelling) perform using "period"
instruments, the reality is that it is their best guess. We are hearing ensembles
using the proper instruments, tuning and ensemble size--but with 20th century
ears!

Dan is correct that if the bassett clarinets were available, composers would write
for them. If they fell out of favor after Mozart, consider the following: 1) the
bassett used by Stadler were made for him, and 2) the composition of solo wind
concertos, etc. generally died out over time.

As far as Greenlines go, Greenline bassett clarinets could also be manufactured!

David S. Naden, MM June 1998
Cal State University Los Angeles

GTGallant wrote:

> In a message dated 98-05-12 19:02:12 EDT, you write:
>
> << I think that what the manufacturers have no sense of is how to
> exploit the market for musical instruments. They are generally
> good technicians, good mechanics, and good players, but they
> have no marketing imagination. They are allowing a first class
> opportunity to slip away from them (i.e., the potential
> replacement of every B-flat and A instrument in the U.S. and
> elsewhere with basset clarinets) because they have no vision. >>
>
> I totally agree that manufacturers lack marketing vision most of the time, but
> a set of bassetts for modern playing? The basset clarinet is a great
> instrument and deserves the right to be manufactured for PERIOD performances.
> I think using bassets every day would be a little tiring. There is little
> music written for them outside of Mozart, so all the extra notes/weight/keys
> are useless. Manufactures also reflect the times and current trends...how
> else could you describe the Greenline! The basset clarinet was great in its
> day but somehow fell out of favor with composers. You would have a wonderful
> point if the basset was is favor today and nobody was willing to build it, but
> that is not the case. For the money it would cost to buy a set of A, Bb, and
> C bassets, you could easily have a craftsman build extensions for the "normal"
> instruments at a lower cost. This whole subject is irrelevant since the 19th
> century.
>
> Don't get me wrong, it would be cool to own a set of those instruments!
>
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