Klarinet Archive - Posting 000320.txt from 2001/06

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 23:18:52 -0400

on 6/7/01 6:15 PM, Christopherhill@-----.net wrote:

>I've seen quite a few Bonade mouthpieces, and usually you'll see
>"Qualitie Superiour" lightly printed to the right of the table. Some are
>excellent blanks, while others have a problem with the lower baffle
>going down below the bore before coming back up into the bore. I've been
>told by some that these are Chedeville blanks, and by others that they
>were made by Lelandais. (I don't have firsthand knowledge, since they
>were made before I was born.) Whoever made them, I think that the
>majority of them are excellent blanks which need very little work.

In Carol Kycia's book about Bonade, the Bonade mouthpieces and reeds and
ligatures are discussed at some length. Bonade made all his students buy
them, and apparently they were pretty mediocre (to be kind). Many of his
students played them in lessons, but nowhere else. The book discusses
where they were made and by whom - seems to me I remember they were made
by a relative of Bonade's in France.

Re: Kycia's book - it is a book badly in need of an editor. There is a
lot of repeated information, and it is written in the worst sort of
Academic-speak. It was her doctoral dissertation.

BUT - she interviewed many of Bonade's students, some of whom are no
longer living. The information is fantastic. It paints a picture of the
man and the teacher, and gives some insight into his career in the US as
an orchestral player.

In spite of my reservations about the writing, I'd recommend it to anyone
wanting to know more about his/her clarinet ancestry. It's available from
the author (see the advert in "The Clarinet") or from Gary Van Cott.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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