Klarinet Archive - Posting 000196.txt from 2011/03
From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Basset Horn Question
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:51:39 -0400
Danyel's note is a lot of opinion about the basset horn, but it is so
subjective that the information content has minimal value.
For example, you say that, "most modern basset horns are alto clarinets with
added range..." What's modern and how many are there? Until about 10 years
ago, Selmer and Buffet made basset honrs of one type, and LeBlanc made
basset horns of another (and based on an alto clarinet bore and style).
Then Buffet changed its horn to be similar to that of the Le Blanc, and I
have no idea what Selmer did. The pair of Fox basset horns that Keith and I
owned (and which came from the same tree) were quite different. The Grman
basset horns are very much different and having nothing to with alto
clarinets.
So the generalizations that you make about what the basset horn is, how it
plays, and your preference for the alto clarinet are simply manifestations
of a prejudice of one instrument for another, and do not represent
statements of fact. I don't mind such manifestations, except to the extent
that you offer them as if they were proven scientific facts, which they have
not been shown to be.
Then you branch off on another idea, one that suggests that if you don't
really know about writing for [clarients], then the effort to write for them
is futile. You say, "With the exception of people like Mozart, Weber,
Mendelssohn, Brahms who knew the clarinet intimately as played by their good
friends, the greatest clarinetists of the respective period, mostly anything
written for clarinet is useless or unsatisfying at the least." This is
nonsense. Richard Strauss ' writing for clarinets contradicts this
statement and, as far as I am aware, he did not have any good friends who
were clarinetists. (Strauss had very few friends for that matter.) French
Horns maybe (because his father played that), but not clarinetists. And in
Electra he mixes the A insruiment with the B-flat instrument simutaneously,
with a pair basset horns, an E-flat clarinet, and even a C clarinet
insisting that the B-flat instrument not be substituted for it.
There are fistfulls of great clarinet parts written by composers who had
only passing knowledge of the instrument. Rimsky-Karsokov is such an
example.
Now I don't mind anyone sharing their opinion with all of us. That's good
to do. But using an opinion as a scientific stake in the ground is
deceptive, just as questionable as insisting that wooden clarinets sound
better than metal clarinets, or that the Buffet sounds better than a Selmer,
or that clarinet blow out, or all the many pieces of clutter that have crept
into the clarinet world and stick around to confuse young kids into thinking
tha these fairy tales are ture.
Dan Leeson
----- Original Message -----
From: "corvo di bassetto" <rab@-----.de>
To: "The Klarinet Mailing List" <klarinet@-----.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:54 AM
Subject: Re: [kl] Basset Horn Question
> Hello Tom,
>
> Frankly, I think that your nomen does not suffice as an omen to write for
> the basset horn unless you know more about it than can be communicated on
> a mailing list. I learned many years ago that writing for instruments you
> don't really know is futile. You can see this in all those ill written and
> horrible sounding clarinet parts, in French operas for example or modern
> music festivals. With the exception of people like Mozart, Weber,
> Mendelssohn, Brahms who knew the clarinet intimately as played by their
> good friends, the greatest clarinetists of the respective period, mostly
> anything written for clarinet is useless or unsatisfying at the least. Now
> with the basset horn it is even more problematic because there is no
> standard type instrument. Bore, mouthpieces, reeds and attitudes of
> players are so vastly different that unless you know the specific player
> and setup you can't write a meaningful note of music. I personally prefer
> the alto clarinet (I have a some very good instruments, finding a good
> mouthpiec is crucial) for ensemble work (for solo the bassetto is my
> ultimate favorite instrument) because it blends better with other modern
> clarinets. Most modern basset horns are alto clarinets with added range
> (and none of the peculiar character of a proper corno di bassetto) anyway.
>
> Best regards
> danyel
>
>
>
>
> Am 20.03.2011 um 23:23 schrieb Tom Bassett:
>
>>
>> I want to begin writing a clarinet quartet... the problem is I never
>> played basset horn (in F) before and I never even saw music for it.
>> Finale is auto generating the basset horn to have a bass clef... is that
>> normal? I thought basset was the same as alto just in F not Eb in which
>> case it would be in treble. I mean... I've seen contra parts in treble
>> so I dont see why basset would be bass but if that is standard practice
>> then I'd like to leave it that way.
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Tom
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