Klarinet Archive - Posting 000141.txt from 2008/01

From: John Dablin <jdablin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Which clarinet woes (was Bartok Contrasts)
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:52:55 -0500

On Monday 07 January 2008 23:08, Penny Ward Marcus wrote:
> For many years I understood that the majority of clarinetists in
> Great Britain played nearly all parts on Bb clarinets, starting a
> craze for low Eb keys on their instruments. I thought that they
> performed their solo repertoire on Bb as well, including the
> Mozart. I can't be certain who, or for how long this went on,
> because I wasn't really paying that much attention to the idea,
> having a perfectly good A clarinet on hand. This may have
> something to do with the British band being a major musical
> entity, and with orchestra having slightly less snob value.
[ snip ]

Not as far as I know, and I've been an amateur British clarinettist
for some 50 years. I've heard on this list that many Italians
played everything on the Bb, but I've no first hand knowledge to
verify this. British orchestral players have always played both Bb
and A.

And I would say that until recently, orchestra vs band snobbery was
very strong in this country, and is still there in some quarters.

John Dablin
Aylesbury UK

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