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 Mozart and Brahms
Author: fernie51296 
Date:   2011-04-16 04:52

I was just wondering. The clarinets used during Mozarts and than later Brahms time sounded alot like german system clarinets than the boehm clarinets right? And if that was true would Mozart and Brahms have written as much music as he did for the clarinet if all the clarinets in his time sounded more like those of the boehm clarinets. Would Mozart and Brahms have liked the sound of the boehm clarinet just as much? Because alot of people say the german and french clarinet sound very different. just curious what others think.

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: Bob Phillips 
Date:   2011-04-16 05:12

(Going out on the limb of ignorance...)

I imagine that for Mozart the timbre of this new instrument, along with his good friendship with Stadler were sufficient motivation to write for the instrument regardless of the details of its harmonic structure.

Similarly for Brahms, his infatuation with Mulfield (sp?) and his sensuous, vibrato-rich playing were motivation to bring him from retirement to a late-life spasm of creativity.

Bob Phillips

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: Liquorice 
Date:   2011-04-16 08:17

Listen to this and tell me if you think it sounds like a modern German clarinet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdGgoR37EzI

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: sonicbang 
Date:   2011-04-16 09:58

This is interesting. I hope he's not cheating and playing on an original wooden mouthpiece with a handmade reed and waxed string as a ligature. OMG he's not. Wait a moment...there is no wig on the musicians sprinkled by rice dust. This makes me think this is a fake :)

Aside from joking most of the early clarinets had smaller bore and probably their sound was much smaller than today's instruments. The Mannheim school's impotrant novelty is the crescendo/decrescendo instead of gradulal changes of the dynamics, so I think a modern clarinet from our time would have been welcomed in that age.



Post Edited (2011-04-16 12:01)

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: Ed Palanker 
Date:   2011-04-16 16:50

Every composer of that time wrote for the instruments of their time and place. That's what they heard and had no idea of how they would develop in the future. Just because a composer writes for the quality they hear in their era or country doesn't mean they might like or not like the quality of another era or country. It's a question that has no answer. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: tictactux 2017
Date:   2011-04-16 17:09

Hmmmmmmm. Re the tonal differences between these two family members ... how about the "school" involved? I've read things about the "British", "French" and "American" school of clarinet playing and their concepts of what makes a "good" clarinet sound - how'bout the "German" or "Austrian" schools then? How much of their distinctive sound can be attributed to taught and traded ideals rather than to differences in the architecture of these instruments?

I don't mean to say that both kinds of instruments sound identical, but wouldn't a German player on a Boehm, and an American player on an Oehler sound differently but still within the tonal range of what they are used to with their familiar instruments?

(I admit I'm supporting the "it's the player, not the instrument" theory...)

--
Ben

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2011-04-16 17:55

Boehm system clarinets were a completely new design of clarinet whereas German/Oehler systems have developed over time from the 5-key instruments.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010

The opinions I express are my own.

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: sonicbang 
Date:   2011-04-16 18:59

How many of you can answer what system was used in this performance?

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: cigleris 
Date:   2011-04-16 21:46

Well Sonic it's a five keyed basset clarinet.

Peter Cigleris

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 Re: Mozart and Brahms
Author: sonicbang 
Date:   2011-04-16 22:24

Thanks. In fact I forgot to add a link to my question, so it sounds a bit stupid.
Here is the performance you should judge. So how many of you could tell without take a look on his instrument that it's a german horn?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RniQCkFvkhk

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