Klarinet Archive - Posting 000466.txt from 2000/12

From: Grant Green <gdgreen@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] reed position (was Antique clarinets in Museum of Fine
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 17:34:38 -0500

>Tony Pay wrote,
> >>Is that as I would imagine, a function of the display, or is there
> >>independent evidence that determines the 'reed uppermost' configuration?
>
>The clarinet had a separate mouthpiece that could have been turned either
>way. The curator must have decided it belonged reed-up, but I don't know
>why. It was frustrating to find so little information available about this
>display! Sorry I can't give a better answer.
>
>Lelia

According to Baines, the original clarinets and the chalmeau (its
ancestor) were played with the reed upward (except in Germany, where
they apparently always played with the reed towards the lower lip).
To quote:
"Germans played with the reed downwards as we do today. Willman
played with it uppermost; English players began to change over in the
1830s when Berr, a German, became professor at the Conservatoire."
("Woodwind Instruments and Their History", Anthony Baines, 1967 Dover
Publications, at page 331)

Honk,

Grant

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