Klarinet Archive - Posting 000041.txt from 2004/09
From: "Tereshchenko, Feodor" <Feodor.Tereshchenko@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 15:11:28 -0400
Dan, do you know if NMA publishes original part in H (B-natural) or
transposes it to A?
Feodor
-----Original Message-----
From: dnleeson [mailto:dnleeson@-----.net]=20
Sent: 2 =D3=C5=CE=D4=D1=C2=D2=D1 2004 =C7. 14:04
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
Interesting that you should mention the clarinet in H. I did speak =
about
Mozart's two uses of the clarinet in B-natural and pointed out that a
high-pitched clarinet in B-flat would probably work for. I remind the =
list
that in the 1920s, when one got a gig, the first quesiton asked was "Is =
it
for low pitch or high pitch?" And when you bought a clarinet, you had =
to
specifiy which of the two pitches you had in mind. Well, the high =
pitched
clarinet in B-flat is very close to a clarinet in B-natural, though I =
never
made a technical examination of the pitch to any serious degree.
One day I got a phone call from a person I did not know. I was told =
that
this person (a man) had a girlfriend with a very valuable clarinet. =
Would I
be interested in seeing it, playing it, and maybe buying it. So I gave =
him
my address and he came over the next day.
The first thing I did was play the instrument and it felt very strange;
i.e., much more like a C clarinet than a B-flat instrument. So I =
tested the
pitch using my piano which was in tune. And what I found out was that =
the
instrument was a full half-tone higher. The concert pitch note of =
B-natural
was obtained by fingering and playing a C on this instrument.
A closer physical examination of the instrument found the letters "HP" =
on
the body (though not on either the barrel or the bell). It was when I =
asked
about the price of the instrument (which was not at all in very good =
shape),
that I got shocked. The owner had told her boyfriend that she would =
not
accept less than several thousand dollars for it. And he adamantaly
insisted on that price, namely $3,000. I thanked him for the =
opportunity to
play the instrument, told him what I thought he had, pointed out that =
it
required an extensive overhaul to make it playable, probably wasn't =
worth
more than $200, if that much, and would not be of much value except as =
an
interesting but not very useful historical item. He felt that I was =
trying
to steal it from him, left, and I never heard from him again.
It was that experience that allowed me to hypothesize that a high pitch
B-flat clarinet might work as a B-natural clarinet.
Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Tereshchenko, Feodor [mailto:Feodor.Tereshchenko@-----.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 10:18 AM
To: 'klarinet@-----.org'
Subject: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
What about parts for H clarinet (American B-natural)? Nobody seems =
eager to
revive this instrument...
Feodor
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Lloyd [mailto:matthew@-----.uk]
Sent: 2 =D3=C5=CE=D4=D1=C2=D2=D1 2004 =C7. 13:15
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
Isn't it at least two works for the basset? And then at least one =
(Cosi?
Tito?) for the basset in Bb?
Matthew
-----Original Message-----
From: klarinette@-----.net]
Sent: 02 September 2004 15:50
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] A bass clarinet
So now I can buy a low C basset clarinet in A from the dominant
manufacturers (Buffet, Leblanc, and Selmer), which has only one piece =
of
music written for it, however I cannot buy a bass clarinet in A at all =
which
has a significant (Not that K.622 isn't significant.) repertoire =
written for
it. Considering the current emphasis on period/original instrument
performance practice this seems a little strange. Has anyone called any =
non
dominant manufacturer to inform them of the gap in the market? I was
thinking Wurlitzer would be a good option.
Laurence E. Young
-----Original Message-----
From: "Mark H. Weinstein" <mark.weinstein@-----.edu>
Sent: Aug 17, 2004 5:51 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] A bass clarinet
Selmer no longer makes an A Bass clarinet, not even on special order, =
so
it now bewcomes impossible to purchase one new. Mark
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