Klarinet Archive - Posting 000037.txt from 2005/10

From: X-MailScanner-tom.henson@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Kaspar Mouthpiece with Solid Silver Facing
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:52:29 -0400

Hello all,

I figure that this list would be a good place to start in asking this
question. I recently obtained an original Kaspar Cicero # 13 mouthpiece
from a friend who has retired and was a student of Marcellus. It is the
most unusual Kaspar I have seen, and I have only seen one other like it.
The entire tip, rails, and table are solid silver and beautifully worked
into the rubber Chedeville blank. The workmanship is so good that it is
almost unbelievable.

I was told by the person I bought it from that it was custom made by
Frank Kaspar for Ted Johnson, who played it in the Cleveland Orchestra
and who sat next to Robert Marcellus. So this particular mouthpiece was
used professionally and not just some oddity. I have been unable to find
out anything else about this mouthpiece or how many like this Frank
Kaspar might have made. I was also told by the person that I bought it
from that it has an asymmetrical facing, something that Kaspar was not
known for, so this would also lead me to believe that it was a custom
piece and the facing was specifically requested by Ted Johnson.

In talking with the other person who has one almost exactly like mine,
they told me that they were quite rare and that they had not even seen
one on eBay. I sent the mouthpiece to them as they were interested and
wanted to measure and document it. They told me that it was indeed
original and unaltered in any way. Of course, being that the entire
facing is solid silver, I would think it would be quite a bit harder to
reface, but guess it is possible.

The really good part is that the mouthpiece plays really well. The reed,
vibrating against the silver instead of rubber, produces a little
different sound, but not radically different than any other Kaspar I
have played. It still has the deep, resonant sound that they are known
for. One thing that it does very well is articulation. The reed is able
to respond quite quickly, possibly due to vibrating against a harder
surface. This may have been the whole idea behind this set up.

If anyone has ever seen, heard, or has any knowledge about this, please
let me know. I am just really curious about it. I was also told that
Frank Kaspar learned to fashion a mouthpiece like this from his days
working for Goldbeck, and that Goldbeck had experimented with this as
well.

Tom Henson

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