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basset clarinet questions

Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2018-04-28 18:49

In a recent thread reporting a performance of the Mozart Concerto, a poster expressed slight disappointment that the soloist was using a standard A clarinet instead of a basset clarinet. I've enjoyed hearing basset clarinet performances online, and they reveal how naturally the musical lines can flow and how interesting the lower notes can sound. I've also enjoyed performances of the same pieces (the Concerto, the Quintet, the aria from Clemenza di Tito) played on standard soprano instruments. The music doesn't suffer much when standard instruments are in capable performers' hands. I have a couple questions that are probably technical.

In a number of the basset clarinet performances I've heard, the players, some very well known, didn't seem to sound as good as I've come to expect of them. Their overall sound seemed to lack something, and their fluency didn't seem as smooth. That wasn't universal: I have also heard a couple marvelous basset clarinet performances with nothing perceptibly lacking in sound or fluency. Where differences seemed noticeable, the deficits were kind of subtle, so I hope my imagination wasn't inventing them. Still, I wonder if a) the instruments they were playing weren't as "good" as their chosen standard clarinets, and b) the requisite pinky finger technique wasn't as fully accomplished.

Are there basset clarinets (or extensions for standard clarinets) that are equally great as top of the line instruments by Buffet, Yamaha, Backun, Wurlitzer or (fill in other names?) Maybe that's a dumb question and a yes should be assumed. Are basset instruments available in both Oehler and Boehm types?

Pinky technique for high-level playing must be demanding - I know it's an ongoing challenge for me at whatever level I'm at or have been at before. Having more keys and wider stretches must make it harder. True?

If basset clarinets can play down to C3, then does it follow that their clarion register must extend down to G4? If so, then are those notes in clarion employed as alternatives to standard throat tone fingerings (G,G#,A,A#4?)

If a professional owned a great basset clarinet and became completely proficient with it, would they use it in other contexts that normally specify an A clarinet, such as much orchestral playing? That would seem to a) offer alternative fingerings / sounds for some notes, and b) serve to maintain their proficiency and "feel" for the basset instrument.

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