Klarinet Archive - Posting 000500.txt from 2005/01

From: "James Fay" <fay.james@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] up or down?
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 18:40:59 -0500

Story I heard was that when Gino Cioffi (from Italy) auditioned for the
Boston Symphony, he played with the reed up.

When someone mentioned that players here play with the reed down, he said
"OK," and proceeded to continue his audition, playing as beautifully as
before.

He won the audition and was principal clarinet with the Boston Symphony for
many years.

--Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Lelia Loban [mailto:lelialoban@-----.net]
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 8:36 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] up or down?

Colin Touchin wrote,
>Hello all, my teacher was Graham Turner, bass
>clarinettist in the Halle Orchestra, Manchester
>for over 25 years. I recall he told me in the mid-60's
>that he'd seen some players in the 50's on the continent
>still playing with reed on top - in particular in Italy; he
>also expressed awe at those players (in Germany) using
>string ligatures working as fast as those of us using metal.

I think it's possible that some jazz musicians in the USA still played with
the reed on top as recently as the 1950s. While reviewing movies for
"Scarlet Street," I've noticed clarinet players in film noir jazz combos
playing reed-side up. Often, the musician on screen is an actor who fakes
playing, and does unusual things because he doesn't know any better, but
I'm pretty sure I've seen real players with their instruments set up that
way, too. Unfortunately, I can't remember (or verify) which movies I think
I'm talking about!

Lelia Loban

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