Klarinet Archive - Posting 000665.txt from 2003/07

From: Elgenubi@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] basset horn vs. basset clarinet vs. extended clarinet
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:27:41 -0400

Tony wrote:
<With a modern orchestra, at A=440Hz, I play a basset clarinet which is a
boxwood clarinet of around 1850 by the maker Doelling of Potsdam,
extended to low C by Ted Planas. It used to belong to Alan Hacker, and
there is a picture of it in Brymer's book.>

I think this is particularly interesting, Tony. I enjoy looking at
the old instruments in the plates in the clarinet history books, but I always
sadly imagine them sitting on a museum shelves gathering dust. I was reading
Brymer just last week about the 13 key clarinets; and I was wondering about that
particular one. Who was Planas? Was the extension made in the 1960's or
70's when the scholarship on the use of a bassett clarinet in the Mozart was
firming up? Or was it made earlier? How long have you had it, Tony? Are there
particular tuning issues to get it to play at 440 Hz? Can you further comment
on how this instument came to be used like this?

I have just interrupted myself to poke around the web. I see that
Planas and Hacker are well known names of 30 (?) years ago.

Wayne Thompson

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