 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-06-28 00:20
The Couesnon company was in a small French town near the Leblanc factories. I personally have only come across one high-level clarinetist that played this brand: Henri Akoka, who premiered Messiaen's Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps in a German prison camp during the war. Akoka went on playing Couesnon until the end of his career. I have in my collection a late 19th century Couesnon: perfect for French music of that period. Who else played Couesnon?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-06-28 00:47
Akoka is also reputed to have played a Perier model Couesnon mouthpiece. I have heard that Paris Conservatory professor August Perier himself played a Couesnon clarinet, probably the Monopole model, at some point in his career. For a number of years the Couesnon Monopole clarinet came paired with a Perier mouthpiece.
Post Edited (2020-06-28 01:02)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-06-28 12:52
I've had two Couesnon clarinets at different periods. One was a pretty standard Bb, the other was a Monopole Bb. I sold the first one because I found the ergonomics didn't suit my shovel-sized hands. The keywork was excellent and I was quite impressed with the general fit and finish. I had the Monopole more recently and found it a delightful instrument. I gave that instrument to a friend, who still plays it.
Tony F.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-06-28 15:09
Tony F: would you call it a professional-level instrument?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-06-28 17:51
Seabreeze: That is also the information I have-a Perrier model mouthpiece. I remember Akoka had a very bright, almost shrill sound and incredible technique. Apparently, his tone appealed to Messieaen, so maybe we shouldn't be playing the latter with a dark, round sound.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-06-28 18:35
Did you hear Akoka play in person? Reportedly Messiaen didn't like the way Guy DePlus sounded on his piece and changed the dynamic markings to make the clarinet a little more "in your face." But he did like the way Andre Vacellier sounded in his performance. I wonder if Akoka sounded like Perier.
I have a rare CD, "Les Grands Maitres de la Clarinette" vol 3 that has Perier playing Rabaud, Busser, Delmas, Grovlez and other composers. He gets a slightly nasal and snarky but overtone rich sound that would be a perfect expression of Erie Satie's music. I love this guy's playing--nothing has ever been more "clarinety" It's too bad he never recorded the Debussy Rhapsody or the Saint Saens Sonata (which was written for him). Most likely Messiaen would have been crazy for Perier's playing too; his playing is like the sun shining through tree branches, just waiting for the birds to start chirping. His Solo de Concours (Rabaud) is without peer; he snarks through it with "attitude" and drama, painting an entire landscape along the way.
Asoka never recorded anything, did he?
Post Edited (2020-06-28 22:21)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-06-28 20:34
The basic Bb was well made but I wouldn't consider it to be a professional level instrument. Certainly it would take an amateur player a long way. The Monopole I would consider a professional instrument of it's period, although I think that by present-day standards it wouldn't be.
Tony F.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-06-28 23:13
Seabreeze; I heard Akoka many times with the Orchestre Philharmonique de l'ORTF- now Radio France. I knew his brother. Akoka never recorded chamber music and never played the Messiaen Quatour again after having played it in the prison camp where it was premiered. Let's say-to put it nicely-that he wasn't the most motivated player I've ever met. André Vacellier of the Paris Opera sounded very much like Akoka. I seem to recall that he is on the version with Messiaen at the piano.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-06-28 23:48
I have an Angel LP of the l'ORTF woodwind quintet with Robert Cliquenois on clarinet playing Hindemith, Ibert, and Milhaud.
Getting back to the original question, on this board, Roger Aldridge on May 4, 2006 (in the thread "Is an o/haul for a Couesnon worth it") praised his 1960 Cousenon Monopole as an instrument with "a special kind of personality and character rather than ... a clone of what others are using." He noted that his repair tech judged the wood better than what one finds on later instruments and measured the bore diameter at BOTH ends of the upper joint at "exactly .580." In a later post on April 14, 2007 ("Most Undervalued Clarinet Today") Aldridge adds that he bought a second Monopole made in the 1970s and he and his tech found it tuned well and was a fine instrument.
Couesnon clarinets go back a long time. I've seen Albert system Couesnons dated around 1898 and some Boehms from 1910 or so. They even made a very handsome looking double wall metal Boehm clarinet. Haynes flutes made a few clarinets of this type, and so did Selmer. Any idea who made the first double wall metal clarinet?
Post Edited (2020-06-28 23:49)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-06-29 20:49
Tony: By the time Couesnon went out of business, no professionals were using it here in France. It was superseded by Buffet. When I was a student in Italy, the Italian brands were also fast becoming extinct, everybody switching to Buffet. I find this uniformization rather a pity. I'm eager to try a Couesnon Monopole. It might not be as good as what the "big three" makes these days, but it also might have its own distinctive qualities.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: jim sclater
Date: 2020-06-30 18:27
A year or so ago, I bought a Couesnon "Monopole" Bb clarinet to have as part of a small collection of clarinets. It's low serial number indicates that is is a relatively early example. The wood in it is exceptionally fine and the keywork is lovely. I feel fortunate to have acquired this instrument and only wish I could find a "Monopole" A clarinet to pair with it. In my estimation it is definitely a professional quality instrument.
jsclater@comcast.net
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Author: Chris J
Date: 2020-07-01 14:48
I am a much biased Couesnon fan, and have many saxophones and clarinets by them. I have three Monopole clarinets. All very good, but one is exceptional and I play more readily than my 1970's R13 or my Leblanc Opus.
seabreeze, I also have a very handsome looking double wall metal Boehm clarinet, put into working order by Chris P from this forum.
Chris J
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Author: zagor76
Date: 2020-07-07 19:38
I played an A clarinet Couesnon in Italy, in what I guess was a kind of "professional model".
What i remember most was the weight: it felt much heavier than buffet clarinets, but I was younger back then and I used to practice much longer. Beside that, I had not so much to complain about the sound or the mechanic.
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Author: tyleman
Date: 2020-07-17 16:55
I recently have picked up three Couesnon clarinets - all on the French website leboncoin. One was quite an old one without a serial number, the tradename in a oval similar to other French manufacturers. It has a beautiful brown color and gorgeous wood. I'm assuming it's unstained grenadilla. It's missing one of the bridges in the lower joint from the left pinky keys to the right which will need to be replaced.
Another fairly recent purchase is a model marked "Conservatoires," seven rings with an extra vent hole in the bottom joint and a roller on the top right hand pinky key. It's a very nice playing instrument although it will need new pads at some point. It has a six digit serial number and may be from the 1950s.
The latest one I picked up is a regular six ring, is much older with a five digit serial number and different logo and "Fournissuers de l'armee" as part of the trademark on the bell.
Many years ago I had quite a nice seven ring with an articulated G#/C# but I sold that.
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