 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2011-11-16 12:34
Hi all,
The Netherlands Wind Ensemble (Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, NBE) celebrates its 50th birthday this month. It was created originally with the mission to promote the wind music of Mozart on a professional level. Since then, the ensemble has evolved into a 'wind +' orchestra promoting music in its broadest sense and in very original ways. The members are all professional musicians with careers as soloists or in major symphony orchestras, such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
They have made it their mission to bring their music as close to the audience as possible. They do so by giving concerts with lots of variation, use of ethnical instruments, guest musicians, new arrangements or compositions, programming very modern music next to medieval etc. Every concert is a little party with unexpected gems. However, at all times their basis remains mastery of professionally played classical wind music.
As an anniversary present, they have made available for free several hours of high quality MP3 downloads via the website of Radio 4, the Dutch classical station, which granted them their yearly prize for 'presenting classical music in an outshining way to a broad audience'. See the site under http://festivals.radio4.nl/home/radio4prijs2011/#. The downloads are at the left, under the yellow buttons.
A registration of one of their unique concerts (in fact the one of last Sunday, 13 November) is available through the YouTube window at the right of the same webpage.
Enjoy!
Regards,
Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2011-11-16 15:03
Luuk, thanks for sharing this. I've always enjoyed hearing the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and I remember attending one of their concerts many years ago while they were in Michigan on a U.S. tour.
After the concert (it must have been about 36 years ago), a few friends and I had a chance to talk to the clarinet players. I don't remember their names, but they were quite friendly and eager to chat. We were interested in their German system instruments because most of us had never seen one before. We were amazed when they told us their instruments were made in East Germany--who knew that clarinets were made there? They were interested in what we were playing, and were not at all judgmental when we said we played Buffets.
Do you (or does anyone) know who made these East German instruments? Is the company still around? Do most clarinet players in the Netherlands currently use German system instruments, or are Boehm clarinets becoming popular?
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2011-11-16 16:38
36 years ago, some of them might very well have been playing Fritz Wurlitzer clarinets, who was still making instruments in Erlbach (in East Germany).
Fritz's son Herbert was able to escape to the West in 1959, eventually setting up the now famous shop in Neustadt an der Aisch, but Fritz remained in Erlbach.
Maybe one of our Dutch experts can tell us what instruments were being played?
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2011-11-16 18:32
Thanks for this link Luuk.
I was not aware of the ensemble's wind arrangement of Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht.
Simon
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-11-17 12:18
I owe the ensemble from the 70s a debt of gratitude for sharing their information on the Herbert Wurlitzer clarinets. I played on them for thirteen years due to this contact (the name and address of Herbert's Shop used to be printed on each of the cloths that lined his cases).
Too bad 'clarinetguy' didn't get a name. Could it be Schenk and Seggelke? It's hard to remember who was East and who was West anymore.
..................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2011-11-17 22:09)
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