Klarinet Archive - Posting 000068.txt from 2004/03

From: "Matthew Lloyd" <Matthew@-----.f9.co.uk>
Subj: RE: [kl] Basset Clarinets - to take over the world???
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 09:42:33 -0500

Dan,

Makes more sense now - I was thinking backwards not forwards - not
unknown for me.

Basset Clarinets in A are now commonplace - but who makes the instrument
in Bb?

C?

Eb?????? No - can't imagine that one!

Although I know that one can get a pair from Fox, and I accept he is a
maker of the first rank, he is a one man band only - and there are a
hell of a lot of clarinettists out there.

I'm afraid that a player in the position and influence of Anton Stadler
is unique.

Tony Pay - are the Howarth instruments only in A?

Matthew

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Leeson [mailto:leeson0@-----.net]
Sent: 02 March 2004 14:37
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Basset Clarinets - to take over the world???

Matthew Lloyd wrote:
> Dan,
>
> I understand completely why the Basset Clarinet is essential for the
two
> big Mozart works.
>
> I understand that there are parts written (Tito?) for Basset Clarinet
in
> Bb. So the need for one of those is there - same principle of course.
>
> But why have a pair of Basset Clarinets as your regular pair? That I
> can't see. The Basset Clarinet has practical disadvantages in that it
is
> much longer and therefore heavier as well as more expensive. Leaving
> aside those rare works (albeit that they are central to the
repertoire)
> that are written for them, why should I carry around more wood than I
do
> at present?
>
> I'm sure that there is a good reason - it's just that I can't see it!
>
> Matthew
>
Because if clarinetists have them, composers will write for them. In
this way we, as performers, will impact the repertorie for many years.
And as the instruments are required for this or that piece, players will

buy basset clarients in order to play them.

There is a slightly similar situation with the clarinet that descends to

low E-flat, a note that is not on all traditional clarinets. But as
composers began to require that note (the clarinet part in Peter and the

Wolf, for example) you found a player here and there (and certainly all
the Russian players) who bought such a clarinet for exactly that
purpose.

Don't think of yourself of a passive being. As a clarinet player you
should be establishing the range of an instrument that you can play so
that composers will write for it. Don't be passive. Be active.

Dan

>
>
>
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>
>

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

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