 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2021-06-01 20:44
Gustave Langenus, probably most famous today for his three volume clarinet method, was trained in Belgium and emigrated to the US to play in the Sousa Band and eventually became principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic (1920-1923). An advocate of double lip playing, he designed a clarinet mouthpiece in the early 1920's that had a very narrow beak often referred to as a "duckbill" mouthpiece. He believed this narrowing of the beak made it easier for double lip players to comfortably seal the lips around the mouthpiece. He also worked with the Florent Hofinger company in Brussels to design a Langenus model clarinet.
The earliest Langenus mouthpieces (circa 1920-25)appear to have been made on Chedeville blanks that may have been altered by Hofinger or some other technician. Later mouthpieces bearing the Langenus name appear to be of different design; not all of those have the duckbill configuration and most are probably not on Ched blanks. As late as the 1950s, some mouthpieces marked Langenus were still produced (perhaps by Leblanc?). Still later, Ralph Morgan made some duckbill Langenus copies.
Langenus mouthpieces do not appear to have ever been as popular as Selmer, Vandoren, Chedeville, the Kaspars, Kanter, or O'Brien, and they do not have the mythical allure or high resale value of pieces made by Henri leRoy, Eugene Bercioux, or A. Robert.
Gustave Langenus recorded the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with the Budapest String Quartet. CDs of this turn up in the inventory of Discogs and other sources that sell used recordings. Judging from this performance, Langenus was a polished, agile performer with a strong classical style and a glowing, resonant tone.
Post Edited (2022-08-03 06:31)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2021-06-01 22:53
It might be a real treasure. I wish I could try it.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2021-06-01 23:00
the morgan i have is a duck bill. thanks for the info. there is one for sale on reverb and its 100$. not sure i will gamble at this price. if its a ched blank-that would be a different story. the pics arnt that good to see the ligature lines
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Author: LFabian
Date: 2021-06-09 02:25
Dan, I bought it. I previously bought an even rarer Charles Bay MO-M duckbill two years ago.
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2021-06-09 05:20
cool! let us know how it is. the bay is another on my list to try. have only owned his sax mpcs and they are on another level than others.
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