Klarinet Archive - Posting 000622.txt from 2001/07

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] German clarinetists defend German system
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:44:58 -0400

This controversy is especially interesting to me, as there is an almost
exactly parallel situation in the bassoon world with regard to the conflict
between the German or Heckel system bassoon, and the French "basson,"
sometimes called the Buffet system. But, in this case it is the German
system bassoon that is seemingly about to push the French bassoon out of
existence. This conflict is being manifested mostly in France. Even the
Paris Conservatoire, there are now two bassoon professors, one for the
French bassoon and one for the German.

There was a very big controversy a few years ago when Daniel Barenboim was
hired as conductor of the Paris Opera, and he announced his intention to
fire the French bassoonists and hire players of the German bassoon. The
final result of all this infighting was that Barenboim was fired from that
job before he had even conducted one note.

Personally, while I would hope that neither the French bassoon or the German
system clarinet will become obsolete or extinct, in the final analysis, it
is the players themselves who will determine which instruments they prefer
to play. It is for this reason that the French bassoon has already been
replaced in such places as Italy, most of Spain, parts of Switzerland and
South America, to say nothing of the fact that many orchestras in the US had
players of the French bassoon early in the 20th century. The great majority
of bassoonists tend to prefer the sonority and the feel of the German
bassoon. Perhaps the same is true, in reverse, of the clarinet.

In the very great majority of orchestras around the world, the overwhelming
preference for many years has been for the sound of the French oboes and
clarinets and the German bassoons. The flute situation is a little more
complicated. While the Boehm flute is the model to which almost all modern
flutes owe their musical heritage, and while Boehm was German, perhaps one
of the chief early makers of this type of flute was a Frenchman, Louis Lot.
Actually, for much of the middle third of the 20th century, the most widely
desired flutes were from American makers, such as Haynes and Powell.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville
EL2@-----.edu

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