Klarinet Archive - Posting 000143.txt from 2006/12

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Basset horn vs alto clarinet
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2006 15:38:59 -0500

Lelia, consider it a sign of great intelligence that my opinions
can change, and so rapidly.

I do want to mention one aspect of basset horn playing that I
think is entirely missed by most of the clarinet world.

First, you can make a lot of money depending on where you live,
how well you play the instrument, and how knowledgeable you are
about the reportoire. I'm confident that in Washington, New
York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. there are probably no less
thatn 3-5 performances of the Mozart Requiem every year. And the
moment you get your first gig and get known as a basset horn
specialisit, gigs come your way.

Second, as you get recognized as a basset hornist, you will get
additional work on clarinet/bass clarinet, etc.

People who express the statement that the basset horn is an
arcane instrument make noises as if they are not interested in
the economics of clarinet playing; i.e., to make as much money as
you can within the limits of your talents, abilities, and breadth
of instruments available to you. If I were a 30 year old today,
I'd get original instruments, and taragottos, and goodness knows
what else, but there is work for the those pieces.

What are you going to do? Live in an ivory sewer playing only
soprano clarinet???

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Lelia Loban [mailto:lelialoban@-----.net]
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2006 10:33 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Basset horn vs alto clarinet

"Morgul"/Stan wrote,
>At the risk of provoking a firestorm, please
>allow me to parade my ignorance.

>Basset horns, Dan's and others, are highly
>regarded specialized instruments. Alto
>clarinets, on the other hand, are just as
>roundly reviled. Why is this?

I nearly replied that in addition to the Nomex suit, you might
want to find
a blast-proof shelter before reading any reply from Dan Leeson,
but then
Dan wrote,
>>While there are and always have been criticisms
>>of the alto clarinet as being an inferior instrument,
>>there are no significant reasons why this should
>>be the case, though it is often true in the case of
>>instruments available to us. I suspect that
>>manufacturers do not invest the time and effort
>>needed to produce a superior alto clarinet --
>>particularly one that is in tune from top to bottom
>>-- but that is not synonymous with saying that it is
>>impossible to do so.

Dan followed this comment with similarly reasonable and
interesting
information. But Dan--after your lecture before the Orchestra of
the Age
of Enlightenment concert at the Library of Congress on December
7, when a
man in the audience raised his hand and asked you a similar
question, you
said--no, you SHOUTED--that the person who invented the alto
clarinet
should be put to death! I was terribly tempted to raise my own
hand and
debate, since I'm rather fond of my pro-quality Selmer alto from
the 1980s,
but chickened out, not because I feared for my own life so much
(with an
arthritic knee, I'm not sure whether I can run faster than you,
but you
were up there behind a podium while I was near enough to the
aisle and to
the back of the room to get a good head start, and I'll bet I
know a tunnel
or two that you don't know...and besides, Mad Andy was hanging
around down
there and anybody who messes with me really does not want to run
into Mad
Andy in the cellar), but because, given the number and volume of
the death
threats already issued at that point, across the street from the
U. S.
Capitol, I feared you might attract the attention of the goon
squad, oops,
I mean the security personnel, and we might all be told to leave
the
building and might miss the concert and--well, anyhow, I kept my
big trap
shut, but your latest message does seem like a bit of a reversal
from three
weeks ago!

Merry Cthulhumas to all, and to all a good fright--
Lelia Loban

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