Klarinet Archive - Posting 000758.txt from 1998/05

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: A new concept in orchestral clarinets
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 04:08:43 -0400

It seems likely that the basset clarinet didn't catch on because it wasn't
a "basset clarinet". This is a modern concept. There was no "basset
clarinet" around the turn of the 18th/19th centuries; there were only
*Stadler's special instruments*. Hence, writing for such an instrument
meant writing for Stadler, which, evidently, not many composers wanted to
do. If other *clarinettists* had liked the "basset" idea...
Roger Shilcock

On Wed, 13 May 1998, GTGallant wrote:

> Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 11:00:27 EDT
> From: GTGallant <GTGallant@-----.com>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Re: A new concept in orchestral clarinets
>
> In a message dated 98-05-13 08:45:06 EDT, you write:
>
> << I'm still astonished at the response that was made saying that
> the instrument is simply an 18th century relic. I see that
> as a narrowness of vision and a rejection of the concept that
> a player should take steps to expand his instrument's capability
> as far as acoustics will allow. To accept the view that there
> is no need for a clarinet that descends to low C is equivalent
> to saying that there is no need for change and improvement, there
> is no need for any contemporary effect (such as multiphonics) and
> is nothing less than the remarkable view of "things should stay
> as they are."
> >>
>
> I didn't make the basset clarinet extinct, so an attack is not necessary. I
> am willing to say you know tons more about Mozart than most of us, BUT...
> small thinking and lack of vision alone cannot be used as an excuse for the
> "unbirth" of the basset. Stadler toured Europe using his horns and I'm sure
> most composers/musicians were aware of their extended range. I'm looking for
> a definitive answer on WHY they died. Simply loving basset clarinets will not
> cut it - that is only an opinion. There have been many instruments over the
> years that have disappeared from everyday use (ophiclede, basset horn,
> cornetto, crumhorns, racketts, etc.). Throughout the history of time, musical
> instruments reflected the concerns and changes of the day. Most western
> instruments were killed for one reason - lack of volume. Although the basset
> clarinet doesn't fit in that category, was it possibly considered only as a
> novelty? If only we could ask composers of the day why certain instuments were
> neglected. Is Beethoven an idiot because he didn't use a basset clarinet for
> something? Maybe, but I'm sure he had his reasons. It would take a lack of
> vision to beleive Herr Beethoven - or any Classic/Romantic composer - was not
> aware of the existance and capabilities of the basset clarinet.
>
> A simple argument regarding the range of the clarinet, is that it already IS
> extended well beyond any "normal sized" wind instrument. Most winds lowest
> tone is only extended one or two notes below the coveted C scale. Anything
> more than that (as far as our modern instruments are concerned) is bonus. The
> clarinet could be extended to double low E, but it is impractical. I am not
> trying to impede your love of the basset clarinet or any other outdated
> instrument. I understand where you are coming from and your "lack of vision"
> diatribe.
>
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