Author: Clarimellonet
Date: 2019-06-05 19:06
Attachment: Screen Shot 2019-06-04 at 11.06.16 AM.png (1866k)
Ruben: For late 19th and early 20th music from France, I used to have a beautiful matched set of Buffets from 1901 that had the integral barrel setup. They were a little below A440, but with the right mouthpiece, I could get them to 440 and they sounded quite nice. I ended up using an old Lelandais Artistic Facing mouthpiece with these instruments, and that seemed to get the right sound I was looking for, but ultimately, I wasn't doing enough work on them, so I ended up selling them to a collector and keeping the mouthpiece in my collection.
The mouthpiece that came with the clarinets was absolutely beautiful, but didn't work at all. It was a Chedeville blank finished by Robert with a silver table and facing. I haven't tried to find a Robert clarinet for it, but it made the Buffets play a little on the low side, so I just keep it in my collection.
I'm a big fan of the integral barrel Buffets, but they weren't standard. Bonade played on "newer" models throughout his career that he inherited from Rose after his studies at the Conservatoire. If I'm remembering correctly, these were small bore Buffets (probably something close to 14.6mm with a straight bore) which were very much different from the post-WWI Buffets that are much more common today with relatively large bores. Given that there was still a divide between "band" players and pedagogical practices and "orchestra/opera" players, this is to be expected, but I would try to find small bore instruments if you can.
There are some players for whom we know the specific instrument, so these are easier to track down. Henri Akoka premiered "Quatour pour la Fin de Temps" on a Couesnon Monopole clarinet with a mouthpiece made by Perrier. I have a Couesnon/Perrier mouthpiece in my collection with a facing that is incredibly "French." Very narrow throat and parallel sidewalls as well.
Just as with the German instruments, it's much more about the playing techniques of the time period. It's been a dream of mine to do "L'Histoire" on period instruments (including gut strings on the violin and bass) for quite a while. Of course, that was premiered in Switzerland, so that opens up a whole other facet of research. It's an ongoing process...
Thomas Carroll
Historical Clarinets and Chalumeaux
http://carrollclarinet.com
lotzofgrenser@gmail.com
Post Edited (2019-06-05 19:22)
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