 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JamesE
Date: 2003-09-23 00:42
This summer my wife and I visited the Old Sturbridge Village historic site in MA. In the display of military weapons, there was on case with period musical instruments.
There was one which looked very much like a clarinet, with the following placarding:
Bassoon, 8 keys, no rings. George Astor & Co., London, 1784-1826. With the additional note CA 1820.
The attached picture is the best I could get, but this is definitely a single reed instrument. On the other side of the mouthpiece, there is a single reed attached.
Thought it was interesting.
Somehow, the attachment did not want to attach. Answer was I already have too many attachments, or I am not me.
Post Edited (2003-09-23 00:50)
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-09-23 02:39
LOL - hope you sort out your attachments (sounds complicated). I'd love to see an image of the beast if possible.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-09-23 06:32
Astor definitely made clarinets, I don't know of any bassoons by this maker. A lot of his clarinets are European Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and appear to be white or off white to yellow in colour.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-23 22:13
At first, Old Sturbridge [visited it years ago] caught my attention, then the instrument. Curt Sachs in "The History of Musical Instruments" pgs 420-2, a pic on 423, discusses the Basshorn [or Bass Horn] as being derived from the Serpent, mentions J. Astor and Frichot as its Eng. makers, "in the form of a bassoon", and speaks of the confusing nomenclature!! These early 1800's wind insts. were apparently played mainly via brass cup mouthpieces but also reed mpsmay have been used. Baines in "Woodwind Insts and their History" pg308-11 also describes them as to fingerings and performance in bands, etc, to "assist" the bassoons. I'd suggest looking-up these insts in Groves Dict. and picture-books of old insts, our library has one! I hope Al Rice will see and respond to this momentus question, if not try the Early Clarinet site for better info. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-23 22:42
Looking further, in my catalog from the Deutsches Museum in Munich, 4 basshorns are listed, 2 pictured, along with serpents, fagottserpents [Russian bassoons] in the section of Grifflochhorner [someone please translate!, I cant]. They appear to be conical bore in "bassoon shape" played with a cup mp. Only a bit of info on each, in German!!, and 19.jr [1800's?]. WOW, Help, Al, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: JamesE
Date: 2003-09-24 05:08
Sorry everyone, the title was really "A Bassoon." I don't know what happened there. I'll try again to get the picture to "take" but I don't know what is wrong.
[ I fixed the heading of the thread for you - GBK ]
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-09-24 12:10
Astor definitely made basshorns or chromatic basshorns which were an improved serpent, ie. they had extra keywork to facilitate chromatic notes. Always played with a brass mouthpiece but doubled upright like a bassoon, the bocal was broder to accomodate a brass mouthpiece. There was also an instrument called a Russian Bassoon which was played with a brass mouthpiece and doubled upright in bassoon fashion but had an elaborate bell shaped like a dragons head complete with tongue. Both were superseded, or at least began to be superseded, by the Ophicleide sometime during the 2nd decade of the nineteenth century which in turn was put out of business a little later by the tuba and euphonium.
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