Klarinet Archive - Posting 001187.txt from 2003/04

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mozart's 12 duets for 2 basset horns
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:48:43 -0400

If they are playing on basset horns, then they are basset horns in F.
You can't get any other kind. (There was a basset horn in G, but it is
obsolete.) And if anyone is playing the French horn duets on basset
horns, then someone hasn't done any serious study about what those duets
are for. A musician is supposed to know enough about what he plays so
that the correct instrument is selected. Those duets are for French horns.

Does the New World Basset Horn trio play basset horns like mine? It may
be a different make, and it may have a different bore and mouthpiece
size, and it may have a different fingering system, but a basset horn is
a basset horn. It is as if you said, "Does Tony Pay play on a clarinet
like mine?" Probably not exactly like yours, but it's still a clarinet
and the general idea is the same.

And Schifrin does NOT play K. 622 on his basset horn. He never did and
he never will. Schifrin doesn't have a basset horn. He owns and plays
K. 622 on his basset clarinet in A.

I think you are mixing up the basset clarinet (which comes in three
flavors, B-flat, A, and C) and the basset horn (which comes in one
flavor, namely F).

To rub it in a little, I remind you that when I came to deliver a
lecture at the Society for 18th Century Studies in Colorado Springs
about a year ago, I brought my basset horn with me in order to get a
case fit for it when I drove through Denver. I even invited you and
anyone else who wanted to, to come and play the thing when I was in
Colorado Springs. I even suggested that we play the Mozart Adagio for 2
clarinets and 3 basset horsn (with clarinets substituting for bassets 1
and 2) and I would play the 3rd basset horn part. But I was shouting in
the wilderness because no one was interested and I never get an answer
to my generous offer.

And if you never talked about playing basset horns at Oberlin, then it
was because you didn't ask. It is not their business to put 100% of the
knowledge you need into your head. It's the business of the student to
read and learn and find out. I'll bet Oberlin even has a pair there.

Anne Lenoir wrote:
> My question is probably stupid. I am wondering what kind of basset horns
> The New World Basset Horn Trio plays on when they perform the Mozart 12
> duets for 2 basset horns and the Mozart Divertimenti. Are they playing
> on F basset horns? Are they playing a basset horn like yours? What key
> are these basset horns in? For example, I know that when I listen to
> David Schifrin play K-622 on his basset horn, that he is playing the
> same fingerings that we all use on a regular A clarinet ( for a lot of
> the piece). Is that called an A basset horn? How many types of basset
> horns are there for the clarinet repertiore? Would a person need several
> to play the works of Mozart?
> When I said that I "got it", what I meant was that I can see why you
> think that people should use the correct instrument that is assigned in
> the part. But now I am starting to get more confused than ever. ANNIE
> P.S. We never talked about or played basset horns at Oberlin.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is supported by Woodwind.Org, http://www.woodwind.org/
>
>

--
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**Dan Leeson **
**leeson0@-----.net **
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