Klarinet Archive - Posting 000924.txt from 2000/12

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] Serpentine Bass
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 18:36:41 -0500

At 06:00 PM 12/17/2000 -0500, you wrote:
The serptent is the same as a serpentine bass I am assuming - at least I
think it is.

There are some really great recordings out there - one is a set of trios
for Serpents. I don't have it in front of me so I don't know the works
being played or the players, but it is very odd to find a group of people
playing these unweildy instruments - and also very cool.

For those of you who are band folks looking for good solo works for wind
solo and wind accompaniment, the edition for the Adagio and Polonaise for
Kenthorn and Obligato by Crusell that I did a year ago will be published by
Ballerbach Music Co. For those of you who are interested, the original
autograph score had, as the lowest instruments, alto, tenor, and bass
trombone and Serpent as the bass line. What is perhaps most interesting
about the piece is that it is a work that is described in one of the
Clarinet Concerto collections by Crusell and performed by Karl Leister as a
work for clarinet - the manuscript having been lost long
ago. Unfortunately (or fortunately I really think), the piece is for keyed
bugle and wind accompaniment. Alas, the work has been edited by me to
use Euphonium and Tuba rather than Serpent (Dan - you absolutely must
forgive me! Yowza! I'm in for it now - I'll give you a pizza to not
dismantle my choices in front of everyone).

Sincerely,
Roger Garrett

>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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Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director, Symphonic Winds
Advisor, IWU Recording Services
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
Phone: (309) 556-3268
Fax: (309) 556-3121

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