Klarinet Archive - Posting 000087.txt from 2011/08

From: simonaldrich@-----.ca
Subj: [kl] Basset clarinet
Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:49:57 -0400

"Your last sentences made me curious, Keith! A"basset joint"! Is this a sor=
t of a prolongation for an ordinary clarinet - to get ekstra deep tones?"

Finn - To learn more about the basset clarinet and in particular, Stadler's=
basset clarinet as made by Theodore Lotz, a good place to start is Pamela =
Poulin's Eastman thesis, "The Basset Clarinet of Anton Stadler and its Musi=
c". You can download this paper (in two parts) at:
https://urresearch.rochester.edu/fileDownloadForInstitutionalItem.action?it=
emId=3D5327&itemFileId=3D8221
(Dan Leeson is acknowledged in the preface as being a scholar of great serv=
ice to the author.)

The thesis is a good representation of what was known about the basset clar=
inet at the time of the paper's writing (1976).
There is an interesting chapter, with photos, on the earliest *modern* bass=
et clarinets, from the first one in 1950 (an extension added to a Selmer A =
clarinet) to Stalder's 1968 extension made by Eubel and Alan Hacker's 1969 =
instrument (a 19th-century Boehm Albert A clarinet modified by Ed Planas).
Another interesting chapter is the one in which Poulin provides a hand-draw=
n hypothetical proposition of what Stadler's basset clarinet might have loo=
ked like. Compared with what we now know (based on the drawing of Stadler's=
basset clarinet on the program cover for a concert in Riga) she wasn't far=
off. One supposition that turned out to be inaccurate was that she presume=
d the lower part of the basset clarinet would feature a kasten, since most =
extant basset horns had a kasten (a box which houses the lower part of the =
instrument "folding over on itself" to avoid excessive length).

There is also an interesting chapter in which she wonders if Stadler used a=
n instrument with more that the minimum number of keys (5 keys plus the low=
4 basset keys).
She writes, "The clarinet of Mozart's time was the five keyed clarinet. It =
had also been assumed that Stadler also used a five keyed clarinet. However=
Stadler's instrument has been described as "overladen with keys" as well a=
s possessing numerous improvements, suggesting more key additions besides t=
hose notes of the lower extension."
Based on the Riga program drawing she was perhaps not entirely wrong (the d=
rawing can de seen at http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/download.htm=
l?1,181/stbc01tg.gif). In the Riga drawing, one of the keys that is most cl=
early-renderd by the artist is a key that is in the position of a B key (B =
just below middle C, on the lower joint, played by the right hand). This wo=
uld make it a "sixth key" or a tenth key with the 4 basset keys. Some maker=
s of historical reproduction clarinets point out the presence of this key i=
n the Riga drawing but not all include it on their basset clarinet reproduc=
tions. As one maker said to me, "what else could this key be, other than a =
B key?".

Keith Bowen is right that Steve Fox's work is excellent, from his historica=
l reproduction instruments to his hyper-modern Bohlen-Pierce clarinets.
Keith wrote, "There is no problem getting Steve to make you a basset extens=
ion - just tell=A0him the make and model of your clarinet. It will fit and =
work."
An option to having Steve make you an extension is to send him a lower join=
t that you know fits your clarinet. He will, in effect, cut off the lower p=
art of the joint and add an extension with the added four low notes and whe=
n you attach the new, extended lower joint to your existing upper joint,=A0=
voila,=A0you have a basset clarinet. This is what I had Steve do for me abo=
ut 10 years ago. I found an A clarinet that had problems with its upper joi=
nt and was unsalable, bought it for much less than it would have cost had i=
ts upper joint been good (knowing that its lower joint matched my upper joi=
nt) and sent the lower joint to Steve. When I play the Mozart Concerto with=
orchestra (which I might do again with my orchestra the season after next)=
I play it on Steve's basset clarinet.
My preoccupation at the moment however is finding an orchestra in this area=
with which to play the Concerto on the reproduction of the Stadler/Lotz 10=
-key basset clarinet !!!!
(To see a Stadler/Lotz reproduction basset clarinet in action (a 9-key vers=
ion), see Lorenzo Coppola's wonderful version at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DRbXnIBzxsEA)

Regarding the Bb basset clarinet, the same Fox Bb basset clarinet (modified=
Buffet) comes up from time to time on eBay but to my knowledge never sells.
The fragment of the Allegro from Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in Bb=A0K516c=A0=
(pg 41 of the NMA volume "Quintets with woodwind instruments") does indeed =
include basset notes, so ideally requires a basset clarinet in Bb.

------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Aldrich =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0

Clarinet Faculty - McGill University
Principal Clarinet =A0- Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal
Principal Clarinet =A0- Orchestre de l'Opera de Montreal
Artistic Director - Jeffery Summer Concerts
Clarinet - Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
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