Klarinet Archive - Posting 000747.txt from 1998/05

From: Luiz Angelo Bortolai <bortolai.jau@-----.br>
Subj: [kl] C clarinets in Brazil
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 23:15:19 -0400

Concerning the recent discussion about C clarinets, and with apologies
about my limitations with the english language, I have some curious
informations.
In my country there are some Companies who makes C clarinets, Boehm
and Albert systems, wood and plastic (one of them is a big factory,
and exports their junk horns around the world).
I have tryed all of these clarinets, and all of them are very bad,
high-pitch horns. Is impossible to play with a piano, or another A=440
instrument. If you pull the mouthpiece and/or the barrel, the scale
remains out of pitch.
Unfortunatelly, the school curriculums in Brazil don't have Music, and
Government is not interested.
Now the more curious: In last decades, is happening a big proliferation
of fundamentalist evangelic churchs, and almost all of them have a
windband
(Please, this is a CULTURAL critic, NOTHING about religion).
So, 50% or more of the wind instruments business is in the hands of
evangelic people, and they don't transpose anything. They only play
in key of C major or A minor, and they use C clarinets. There are also
trumpets, euphoniums, etc, pitched in C.
Recently my teacher received a new student from an evangelic church,
with a Bb clarinet. He asked the boy:
- Do you play the clarinet?
- Yes, of course!
- So, give-me a C!
And the boy played D!
- Give me a F!
And the boy played G!
When these guys have Bb instruments they start learning direct
transposition,
and they don't know the real fingerings. But they don't play "profane"
music,
this is "devil's thing".
Being an agnostic I don't fequent churchs and I don't know more details
(well,
sometimes I go to the catholic church, but only to play clarinet with my
friends...)

L. Bortolai
Jau,
SP, Brazil

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