Klarinet Archive - Posting 000042.txt from 2004/09
From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 15:21:45 -0400
In the NMA Idomeneo edition, the editor notes the existence of
clarinet in H but prepares the parts for clarinets in A in both
the score and the performance parts. In the Cosi score, the
parts are left in H, but if you rent a set, I'm not sure what you
will get. My perspective is that if one wants things simple, the
use of A clarinets could do, but if you want to achieve the
character of sound in the Mozart original, then clarinets in C
(or a high pitched clarinet in B-flat) should be used.
Feodor, where are you? I can tell by the use of Cyrillic in your
postings, that you may be in Russia. And if so, I and probably
many members of the list will have questions to ask about the
wonderful Russian players. I met the first clarinet of the
Moscow orchestra in France and, though we could not communicate,
I certainly expressed my pleasure in his playing with all the
body motions at my command at his brilliance in Brahms 1.
Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Tereshchenko, Feodor
[mailto:Feodor.Tereshchenko@-----.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 12:10 PM
To: 'klarinet@-----.org'
Subject: RE: [kl] A bass clarinet
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]
Sent: 2 ÓÅÎÔÑÂÒÑ 2004 Ç. 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 ÓÅÎÔÑÂÒÑ 2004 Ç. 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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