Klarinet Archive - Posting 000923.txt from 2000/12

From: MVinquist@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Serpentine Bass
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 18:00:01 -0500

On 12/6, Leila Loban said:

> The clarinet that interested me most was an Italian bass clarinet by
> Nicola Papalini (no date), made of pearwood with three brass keys.
> The shape was partially serpentine, in tight bulges, so that it bore a
> disquieting resemblance to a short section of intestines, but
> slightly flattened. The fingertips would cover some of the holes
> while other holes would lay under other parts of the fingers.

and Tony Pay said:

> There's another instrument matching this description (I think) in the
> museum in Cologne. I don't know the details of the maker, but I can
> find out. We were there recently to play the Berlioz concert, but I was
> tired, and shamefully didn't make the effort to go and look at it. How
> interesting that there are two!

A serpentine bass is shown in Oskar Kroll's book The Clarinet (Tr. Baines),
Plate 18 (following p. 64) with the legend "Bass clarinet by Nicolo Papalini
(Brussels Collection)." He discusses it at p. 113. The plate shows a
separate bell with a metal end. It has three keys on the front, one for the
throat A and two for the low F# and E. I assume there's a thumb hole and a
register key on the back. All of the keys ride in carved saddles. There is
a double hole for the right ring finger, to give the low G#, a hole to be
covered by the right index finger knuckle (or even the knuckle of the right
thumb) for the low C#, a double hole for the left index finger, presumably
for F#, and a hole for the knuckle or the side of the right index finger for
Ab. Assuming it was played with the keys to the front, the bell faces to the
player's right. The bell has a largish vent hole well back from the end.

The instrument was clearly made from a large plank sawn in half lengthwise,
with the bore hollowed out and then glued together, like a cornetto. There
would be no way to bore the serpentine, and the outer twists and turns are
obviously carved rather than bent into shape. Thinking about it, there's no
good reason for the double hole for the left index finger, unless there's no
thumb hole, so maybe there is none, and no register key, and it's a
low-register-only instrument.

At pp. 113-13, Kroll also mentions a "bassoon-like glicibarifono ('sweet
low-sounder') by Carrerino Catterini of Bologna, first heard in 1838 at the
Teatro Communale in Modena, after which it soon disappeared from the scene."
Kroll distinguishes between the two, and the glicibarifono, from his
description, had straight descending and ascending joints.

There's at least one more serpentine bass, in the Metropolitan Museum in New
York, labeled "Bass Clarinet (Glicibarifono), Italian, early XIXth century,
The Crosby Brown Collection, 1889." Either Kroll misnamed the bassoon-style
instrument or the Met confused the two. I have a beautiful color postcard
(unfortunately out of print) showing it with two early basset horns. The Met
instrument has exactly the same key and hole conformation as the Brussels
instrument, though with differences in detail, including an elegantly shaped
all-wood bell.

The Met instrument is tiny -- small enough to hold in your lap.
Unfortunately, it has an obviously modern mouthpiece -- clarinet size, with a
modern metal ligature. The Kroll plate shows a small, old-looking mouthpiece
positioned to hold the reed facing down (not that that means much, since it's
a separate piece). On the other hand, the Brussels mouthpiece doesn't look
right, and the end of the neck looks incomplete compared to the Met
instrument.

Both instruments have a barrel that would let the neck and mouthpiece be
rotated. The barrel on the Brussels instrument is shortish with what look
like horn mountings. The one on the Met instrument is about twice as long,
with no mountings. It's a bit lighter in color and may not be original.

By rotating the barrel, it would be possible to hold the instrument with the
bell facing to the rear and the finger holes and keys facing to right, which
could make the knuckle holes easier to cover. (Holding it with the bell
facing out and the holes facing left also looks possible, though more
difficult.) This would be easier if there is no thumb hole or register key.
Unfortunately, the Kroll plate doesn't show the back of the instrument, and
the Met instrument is in a glass case with no way to look at the back. I
know the Met musical instrument curator slightly, so he may be willing to let
me take a peek.

Finally, even with the serpentine bore straightened out, the instrument
wouldn't be long enough to be a Bb or even a C bass. F or Eb is more like
it.

Does anyone know of another example?

Ken Shaw

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