Klarinet Archive - Posting 000141.txt from 2003/05

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Basset Clarinet
Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 10:18:37 -0400

I don't know what Süssmayr wrote in his concerto fragment, but whatever
he did cannot be used to conclude what Mozart might have done. There is
no documented case of Mozart using an altissimo high G, and thus the one
that is occasionally played in K. 622 is suspect. It's possible, of
course, but using Sussmayr to establish what Mozart might or could have
done is not useful. For example, Sussmayr placed basset horns in the
written key of A major for the Requiem, and this alone shows how little
he knew about writing for clarinet type instruments.

Dan

Joseph Wakeling wrote:
> << It is the absence of the manuscript that leaves questions about not only
> the low notes in K. 622, but also the high ones. Did Mozart write for a
> high G, as is often done in today's performances? >>
>
> If I recall correctly, didn't Sussmayr, in his concerto fragment, write an
> altissimo *C* for Stadler's basset clarinet? Which would suggest that
> Mozart using high G is not at all an impossibility.
>
> -- Joe
>
>
>
>
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>
>

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