Author: Clarimellonet
Date: 2019-02-05 22:28
Hi all, jumping in here from the period clarinetist perspective:
The basic 5-key fingers were still very much in vogue even as additional keys were added, from a technical standpoint. The reason for most of the keys being added was not technical facility, though that was indeed a byproduct. The main reason for additional keys being added (I'm thinking specifically of the C#/G#, Eb/Bb, low B/F#, and Bb/F) was for intonation on otherwise "fuzzy" notes, which coincidentally begin to show up in symphonic and solo literature more frequently around that time. We still see many of the clarinetists from the 19th century relying on earlier instruments, or performing with techniques from the previous generation. Cavallini performed on a 6-key instrument throughout his career, and while we have numerous accounts of Baermann's performances on his 10-key Griesling & Schlott clarinet from Berlin, he didn't acquire such an instrument until 1809, meaning that he learned on an earlier style of clarinet. Similarly, Crusell by all accounts seems to have performed on Parisian instruments of a six-key style (I believe Baumann, but I'd have to check my notes and I'm away from my library) until he purchased his 11-key Grenser instruments at the urging of Tausch (who incidentally never paid Grenser for HIS instruments). The take way from all of this is that that early 19th century was very much a mix of old and "new" traditions of playing, as reflected in the music. Spohr and Hermstedt are obvious outliers to this rule, but for the most part, the players and the composers of the early 19th century knew the limitations of the 5-key instrument, wrote for them, and judiciously broke with tradition when possible which symbiotically pushed the instrument makers to innovation on a technical level.
Looking forward to the middle and end of the 19th century when the "French" and "German" schools are more codified, it becomes very apparent that the "traditional' manner of playing was still at least mentioned in contemporary treatises, even when confronted with the technical wizardry of the Baermann-Ottensteiner and Oehler instruments. The first edition of the Carl Baermann treatise from 1864 makes reference several times to the "GabelGriffe" fingering for low Bb and clarino F, despite the Baermann-Ottensteiner clarinets having a left hand F. Marked with a "O" in the text, Baermann is very clear that such a fingering is still possible and preferential in certain circumstances, despite not being the most obvious choice from a "modern" perspective. Indeed one has to look no farther than the Breitkopf Weber Op. 73 print edited by Carl Baermann to see that he added such markings throughout the first movement "Cadenza" indicating when a forked fingering would be preferable to a keyed fingering.
The German players of the late 19th century were very aware of the legacy from whence their "modern" instruments came and were were aware of the proper way to use forked fingerings. From a modern German clarinet school perspective, there are still certain passages where one would be apt to use a forked fingering, even with the left hand F. In the case of late 19th century original instruments, I've often found that the forked fingerings work just as well as the keyed ones, owing perhaps to the size of the tone holes and relatively large bores.
Of course all of this means nothing if one cannot pull off a musically satisfying performance. The modern French instruments are increasingly built to be homogenized in terms of color and sound, so it is becoming harder to "emulate" the five key sound on them, but that doesn't mean one cannot incorporate aspects of phrasing and 18th and 19th century rhetoric. Some of the best Mozart performances I've heard have been on modern Buffets by extremely sensitive and historically aware performers who've never touched a period clarinet. While I don't think I would play the Mozart concert the same way on my modern instruments as I would on my Lotz basset clarinet copy, I would certainly be sensitive to the phrasing and language I've tried to cultivate on the 18th century clarinets and carry that through as much as possible to the modern instrument.
~Thomas
Thomas Carroll
Historical Clarinets and Chalumeaux
http://carrollclarinet.com
lotzofgrenser@gmail.com
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