Klarinet Archive - Posting 001200.txt from 1998/07

From: Janet McNaught <mcnaught@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart and the right clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 22:42:47 -0400

At 12:50 PM 7/28/98 -0400, you wrote:

>In any case, Roger mentioned that the instrument "was either an original (I
>doubt) or a reproduction of a basset clarinet." And then "but the guy did a
>great job of demonstrating on it." It was, in fact, a *reproduction* that
>Eric Hoeprich (the guy) was still working on. He explained that fact early
>in the session (or perhaps at one of the evening concerts). Actually, "it"
>wasn't an "it"; "they" were a "they." My recollection is that he had
>reproduced (and demonstrated) copies of a clarinet in Bb and a basset
>clarinet in A at that afternoon session. He used the A instrument when he
>played excerpts from the concerto; he used the Bb when he performed the
>trio. At the evening concert, he also played his reproduction of a basset
>horn. (Can anyone else support my recollection?)

Yes - he used all three. Although I think it was difficult to hear
differences among the three, the variation in "tonal colour" over the range
of any of these was really notable. And Hoeprich actually contends that
Mozart was aware of this - that some notes on these instruments are
especially difficult to voice clearly, and that to plague Stadler, he
intentionally wrote ackward passages using these notes as a sort of joke.
Passages which would not be ackward, or would at least not be the same on a
clarinet in another key. So Hoeprich certainly believes that Mozart was well
aware of the tonal colour of the instrument, and intentionally wrote to use
that colour.

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