 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kim
Date: 2001-10-03 21:49
I purchased a clarinet off ebay with the brand of Warner on the bell. I can't find out any info about the company or my instrument. I saw a clarinet today on ebay that has the same design around the name as mine, but has the name "Meyer" on it and it is also made in Czechoslavakia. Has anyone ever heard of these brands or know where I can find information about them?
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-10-04 10:05
I have a Soviet-era clarinet made in Czechoslovakia. Unplayable!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-10-04 14:29
A maker of quality insts [many cl's] was/is? Kohlert {CZ, Poland, East Germany}, I'm not sure how they survived the many wars and gov'ts, but I have several good ones., including an 1850 english horn saying Hammer, Sondershausen , predating German unification perhaps!! Am sure there many others , good, mediocre and poor! . Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-10-04 15:45
Kohlert was in Graslitz (in Bohemia, a part of the world which bounced between German and Czechoslovakian influence during the first half of the 20th century), a town now named Kraslice (pronounced about the same, I suppose, but the transliteration is different) --- where the current Czech Amati-Denak concern is. Sometime in the late 1940's, as best I could find out, the majority of the Kohlert folks moved out (or were forced out, I'm not sure) of the town (now part of Czechoslovakia) and settled in Winnenden, Germany where they continued to make decent instruments for another 20 years or so. In the early 70's what little was left of Kohlert was bought out by Bernd Moosman who has adapted the well-regarded Kohlert bassoon design into his own current product. I think when the Kohlert workers departed their factory in Kraslice (ex-Graslitz) the Czechoslovakian/Czech government seized the factory and rolled it into their nationalized Amati company. I may have oversimplified and/or made some errors here, but my point is that Kohlert was never Polish or East German. I have high regards for the Winnenden, Germany-era Kohlert instruments (~1950-1970), as well as the pre-WWII Graslitz instruments.
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Author: jmcaulay
Date: 2001-10-04 17:07
Good condensation, Dave. My only add would be a bit off the thread, just a mention that Grasliz/Graslitz/Kraslice has been home to a whole lot of musical instrument builders. The Czechoslovakian government expelled all the German companies in 1946. Another company formerly there was Keilwerth. That company split into Julius Keilwerth (now part of Schreiber, owned by Boosey and Hawkes), known for saxophones; and Richard Keilwerth (independent), primarily a maker of clarinets.
Regards,
John
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-10-04 19:07
As I remember, Kohlert, Winnenden went belly-up in 1965.
Amati has undertaken an effort to become a real player (no pun) since the glorious revolution. (I believe that's what the Czechs call the 1989 bloodless revolt.) They have retooled their factory. Opinions of the results vary quite a bit, but their newer clarinets aren't "unplayable" like their communist era horns.
Was Amati where the communists dumped all of the cottage industry instrument makers or what? How was that company formed in the first place?
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-10-04 19:20
TKS to all for "our" expanded info, it always surprises me what cooperation can achieve. Don
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-10-04 19:46
This is from subjective personal experience, Kim.
As a long time player of Albert system horns, earlier instruments out of Czechoslovakia seem to be pretty good. Earlier (LP) Kohlerts are very good. I've owned a couple and seen several. I've both heard and read that later Czech musical instruments, as well as other industrial products, took a big downturn in quality during governmental turmoil (40s, 50s ?) but recently have taken a turn for the better.
If Kohlert has moved to Germany they'll have to upgrade to compete with German products, of course. You'd have to determine the instrument's worth on an individual basis, I suppose. There seems to be no clearly defined periods of good or poor that I can find. Personally, I wouldn't purchase one without a tryout period. Chances are, yours may be a decent horn with not much resale value; unless for some reason it's interesting to a collector.
- ron b -
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Author: Graham Golden
Date: 2001-10-05 02:10
All makes sense here Dave. Except Kraslice is in post "glorious revolution" ( from the Slovak point of view anyways) Czech Republic. I have seen 2 very nice Bohemian/Czechoslovakian choleras, and 3 nice wined Germany models. I think that they are a fine company,at least they where at one time. The border between the now Czech Republic and Germany was once littered with many many many instrument manufacturers known as the musikwinkel. and Communism did put the few remaining cottage industry musicians into what was originally the co-op AMATI Kraslice, now owned by AMATI Denak. The AMATI Denak site is littered with Kohlert information, you justhave to hunt for it.
www.amati.cz
I have a .avi format movie with more information on Kohlert/AMATI/MusikWInkel
AMATI History info at
http://www.amati.cz/english/history.htm
but not as extensive as on the video. interesting info also at http://www.amati.cz/english/special/articles/distribution.htm
and of course best of all! the giant clarinet
http://www.amati.cz/english/company/old/bigclar.htm
there is more extensive choler information elsewhere on the site, but I forget where it is, and it is a very large site. Im sure that AMATI USA wouldn't mind you asking them about older Czech made instruments,
amati_strunal@msn.com would be the best place to contact English speakers. They will mostlikely forward it to the Factory.
Graham
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