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Re: Marcellus's Mozart

Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2004-01-03 03:20

The serial number is correct. The date (1957 -1958 season) is when Marcellus started using the A clarinet full time in the Orchestra. An A clarinet with that serial number is certainly from 1953 according to Buffet's own register.

R-13's were manufactured as a *line production* instrument available to the general public starting sometime in 1955. During a couple of years leading up to that there was much experimentation, testing, and evaluation before a model was brought to market by top French players that were testers for Buffet France (much as it is done today).

In my extensive conversations with Marcellus about his legendary A clarinet (the finest clarinet I've ever played), he explained to me that in one of his annual visits to Moennig of Philadelphia while he was in the Cleveland Orchestra, Moening pulled out a beautiful playing A clarinet that he had been storing that was one amongst several that Moennig had received from Buffet that were of a then new type of *polycylindrical* bore. Some of these prototypes were sent to him and Moening naturally wanted his top players to be the be the ones to evaluate them.

Marcellus said that the improvement in the basic blowing and sound characteristics of that particular instrument were so astonishing that he bought it immediately.

So, there was a significant lag time between manufacture, arrival, storage and adjustment by Moening, purchase, then additional extensive adjustments for Marcellus (which Moening was legendary for especially when it came to the R-13) before Marcellus started to slowly break it in to eventually play it full time in the Cleveland Orchestra.

It was the only A clarinet he owned from that point on and played until the end of his life. It was constantly adjusted to Marcellus's wishes on a continuing and ongoing basis throughout the rest of the years that he played in the orchestra. It was so customised for his own hands - key heights, springs, placement, tone hole modification, barrels made from scratch on Moening's belt-driven lathe,etc. Moening was old-world artist and craftsman in the finest sense collaborating with a master of their instrument. And since it was a collaborative endeavor accross many miles, it took time to evolve. Things simply moved slower back then.

Gregory Smith

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Marcellus's Mozart new

theclarinetist

2003-12-31 04:56