Klarinet Archive - Posting 000421.txt from 1999/09

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: [[kl] Low Eb Key]
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 19:31:06 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.07
> Subj: [kl] Re: [[kl] Low Eb Key]

> I happen to be the proud owner of one such Selmer Paris Series 9 Full-Boehm
> clarinet. It is pitched in B-flat. As far as I know, the Full-Boehm models
> have been widely used in Spain and Brazil, as well as portions of France and
> Italy. I do not believe it was ever intended to replace an A clarinet, as I
> have also heard of Full-Boehm A's.
>
> Noelette Stout

Noelette, while you are correct that there are full-Boehm A's (in fact,
I own one), I do not believe you understand the financial situation for
the parents of young students in Italy, Spain, and Brazil some 50
years ago. It would have been inconceivable for some of these poor people
to purchase two clarinets for their child, so the common method was to
train these young learners on how to transpose A clarinet music onto
the B-flat instrument. In this way, they could get along with a single
clarinet. The range requirements of the A clarinet mandated that the
B-flat instrument extend a semi-tone lower and thus, the full Boehm
instrument with a low written E-flat was born.

After this event, players became so used to the low E-flat that they
wanted their A clarinets to be compatible. In effect, they did not
want to have two clarinets with two different fingerings systems. Thus,
the A full Boehm was also given and extension to low E-flat, and,
believe it or not, composers began to write for that note the moment
it was available.

I once used the A full Boehm to get the equivalent of a low D requested
on a B-flat clarinet.

In New York, when I played a lot of feasts in the Italian neighborhoods,
almost every kid had a full Boehm B-flat for precisely the reason I
suggest. One player had a full Boehm A and used it for all his gigs
including those that require B-flat clarinet. He liked the sound so
he spent most of his professional life transposing. He was very
fluent and I always admired how he could play anything on the
A clarinet.

>
>
> Don Mayer <dmayer@-----.net> wrote:
> I would appreciate comments from the group on this. I have seen pictures of
> a soprano clarinet with a low Eb key. I have always presumed that this
> option was intended to allow a clarinettist playing a Bb instrument to
> transpose parts written for an A clarinet, and which would therefore
> require a low Eb to play a written E.
>
> Is this perception correct? Putting it another way, can I presume from the
> presence of this key that the clarinet is pitched in Bb?
>
> Your comments are appreciated and invited.
>
> Regards,
>
> Don Mayer
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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