The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2000-04-03 00:39
Eoin McAuley wrote:
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My music dictionary (Percy Scholes) claims the Basset Horn is a type of clarinet called a Basset (a small bass) invented by a German inventor called Horn. I don't believe this.
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Get another dictionary! The Basset-horn is supposed to be the invention of Mayrhofer of Passau, Germany c.1770. The pitch was in G or F. The original type was "sickle-shaped", like a half-moon similar to the Corno da Caccia that became the English Horn. The shape gave it it's name "horn". Basset comes from italian "Basetto", a small bass. A slightly later model had a knee-joint in the middel that made it angular. It is not clear who first made this model. Rendall suggests that it could have been Theodor Lotz, Anton Stadlers instrument-maker.
It's true that the original horns had a narrow bore, similar to the clarinet. The wrong relation between the length and the size of the bore gave it it's special character.
The Basset-horn was a favorite instrument of Mozart's. You can tell from the way he used it. His music for the instrument is in my own and many others opinion some of the most beautiful music that he wrote. Take the 25 pieces for Bassethorn-trio, also called Five Divertimenti. The Requiem, the aria "Non pił di fiore" from Titus, the "Gran Partita" among others. Keep in mind that all we have left of the original score of the Mozart-concerto is the first 199 bars scored for a basset-horn in G. For some unclear reason he changed it to basset-clarinet in A.
In my humble opinion the actual concept of the BH is lost on modern instruments. At least the french instruments since the bore is usually way too wide to be called a BH. Only the makes that you can play with a normal clarinet-mouthpiece, like the Selmer, come close. The rest are just in my opinion alto-clarinets in F with extention to low C.
The Alto-clarinet in Eb doesn't have a history of it's own like the Basset-horn. It's just another instrument of the clarinet-family to fill up the gap between the soprano-clarinets and the Bass. Just like the Contra-alto just fills up the gap between the Bass and the Bb-contra. These instruments are only used in windbands and clarinet-choirs.
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Re: Basset-horn new |
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Alphie |
2000-04-03 00:39 |
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beejay |
2000-04-03 10:28 |
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Alphie |
2000-04-03 16:10 |
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Don Berger |
2000-04-03 17:50 |
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Alphie |
2000-04-03 23:12 |
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