The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mel Lazin
Date: 2008-12-01 15:30
I just recently bought (at a whim) an Eb Clarinet made by F. Hofinger in Brussels.
It has a one piece body but no serial number.
The keys are Gold Plated, but I clearly believe that this was done by the former owner.
It has an unmarked wooden mouthpiece.
It plays with incredible ease.
The only reference I could find was the Gustave Langenus preferred clarinets made by Florent Hofinger.
Does anyone own one, or does anyone have any more history on this?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-12-01 16:34
Is it simple (or Albert), German or Boehm system?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-12-01 18:37
Google takes you straight to this:
http://mozartl.ifrance.com/Clarinet/Facture/Facture.htm
Also, but much more relevant to flutes than clarinets:
http://www.nfg-fluit.nl/art-dl/2006-1%20Florent%20Hofinger%20.pdf
The two websites don't seem entirely consistent, though the authors of the second site have referred to the first.
The former site tells us that, by 1928, the Hofinger workshops had "cingt" workers. This is not a French word, but is presumably a misprint for "vingt", that is to say twenty. The latter site, however, tells that there were 100 employees by this time. It may be that 20 was the number of skilled workers, and 100 was the total number.
More seriously, the second site tells us that the workshop remained in existence until 1950, implying that the firm then went out of business. The first site tells us it survived much later than this.
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