Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 2006/04

From: Laurence Beckhardt <lbeckhardt@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Bassetto in Boston
Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:57:05 -0400

danyel,

with all due respect, my Leblanc basset horn sounds
exacly like a basset horn when I play it.

the key to playing any basset horn to sound like a
basset horn is this: one must keep in mind a sound
picture of Lester Young's tone playing, lets say, his
solo on Billie Holiday/Teddy Wilson's recording of "I
Must Have that Man." This is clearly the sound that
Stadler and the Springers had in mind.

Good luck!

--- danyel <rab@-----.de> wrote:

> I would say it depends on the alto clarinet and on
> the bassett horn and even
> more so on the reeds and mouthpieces.
>
> A German alto clarinet in Eb by the Gebrüder Moennig
> in my collection sounds
> (with proper mouthpiece and reed) more like a
> bassett horn (except for the
> bottom notes of cause) than any modern bassett horn
> I would know.
>
> Anyway, Stravinsky did not ask for a bassett horn at
> all. There are alto
> clarinets in F and they should be used if possible
> (I have seen several by
> Hammerschmidt and Uebel). Transposing the part on a
> good Eb instrument could
> be compared to playing C parts on the Bb--done all
> the time. A real bassett
> horn would be too soft and pale. On the other hand,
> most modern *bassett
> horns* are merely alto clarinets in F with
> additional keys. Such large bore
> instruments are as much bassett horns as a bass
> clarinet with low C
> extension could be called a bassett horn in C.
> Historically and
> aesthetically I don't think they have much in
> common. In that respect, a
> modern *basset horn* in F might be quite suitable
> for the Stravinsky.
>
> Best wishes,
> danyel
> www.echoton.de/clar.html
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
> To: <klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 4:48 PM
> Subject: RE: [kl] Bassetto in Boston
>
>
> > From Robert Howe in response to a request about
> getting a basset
> > horn in Boston for a performance of the 1929
> Stravinsky.
> >
> > "Alto clarinet just isn't the same sound."
> >
> > Easy statement to make. Very difficult to
> justify. What
> > evidence is there that an alto clarinet can be
> differentiated
> > from a basset horn in realistic circumstances?
> >
> > I am not arguing for or against the statement that
> Howe made.
> > I'm only opening up for discussion this long held
> belief for
> > which almost everyone has an opinion, but also for
> which this is
> > little or no objective evidence to support or deny
> it.
> >
> > Dan Leeson
> > dnleeson@-----.net
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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