Klarinet Archive - Posting 000338.txt from 2005/11

From: "danyel" <rab@-----.de>
Subj: Re: [kl] Georg Ottensteiner clarinet (was Odd Clarinet)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 13:05:11 -0500

Sure, if I'd find it rewarding; the clarinet would certainly not stand in
the way. Actually, the thumb-f#/c# adds an agility that is far beyond what
you can do with the little finger-acrobatics required by Klosé-instruments!
I find this a rather unwieldy feature.
Fingerings for multiphonics and freak notes are different but at least as
numerous. Early Klezmorim played "simple system" clarinets, much simpler
than the full-Baermann! Of cause, that depends on the player and
mouthpiece/reed combination. I prefer not to sacrifice the mellowness of
timbre to the easiness of ultra high notes. The main thing is of cause the
timbre and that is not quite what Berio or Boulez might have reckoned with.
And that's why I don't relish their clarinet writing at all. Feldman's
Clarinet and String Quartet, in turn, sounds quite ridiculous on a modern
Klosé, doesn't it?
I think if a piece can't be played on a proper clarinet, it is ill-written.
Not many composers today care as much for the subtleties of our instruments
and know as much about it as Mozart, Weber, Mendelssohn or Brahms did. Hence
ever since Spohr entered the scene, myriads of holes have been drilled in
our once so beautiful instrument just to make things easier for ignorant
composers. Seeing the latest full-Oehler instruments or rather the barbed
wire fences around them (28 keys? Or more? Bell Keys? Key-keys? Why not keys
on the reed?) makes me very sad.

Best wishes,
danyel

www.echoton.de/clar.html

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Wakeling" <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 11:36 AM
Subject: Re: [kl] Georg Ottensteiner clarinet (was Odd Clarinet)

> danyel wrote:
> > I think they might actually represent the apex of clarinet making. The
> > full-Beermann keywork leaves nothing to be desired and the sound and
> > intonation are fantastic.
>
> Can you effectively play Pierre Boulez' "Domaines", or the Berio
> Sequenza IXa, or the Elliot Carter Clarinet Concerto, on these
> instruments? :-)
>
>
>
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