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See Full details of the Colloquium publication
The majority of these attempts have concentrated on the upper joint;
one attempt was to improve the "fuzziness" of the throat Bb. The defect
of the throat Bb note has been a problem for the clarinet ever since the
beginning of its development. It was known that the problem was due to
the dual function for the speaker key to produce both the overblown
twelfth and throat Bb. However, not until the beginning of the
twentieth century did makers finally attempt to solve this problem by
creating two separate tone-holes, one for for each purpose, and by
designing two separate keys to cover them.
The Stubbins S-K System was invented by William H. Stubbins, an
acoustician and a former professor of clarinet at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor. Stubbins ingeniously and successfully adapted
ideas from earlier approaches to solving the throat Bb "fuzziness"
problem for the Boehm System clarinet. He patented his "S-K Mechanism"
invention in 1950.
This paper addresses the approach in the Stubbins S-K System.
Already by 1800, specific, national characteristics in clarinet
design had emerged, establishing nascent characteristics of French and
German instruments. In fact, by the 1820s, clarinets in each country
possessed qualities that were entirely unique, and playing styles
adapted accordingly. In Paris, Frédéric Berr, for example, mentioned
specific local makers in his Traité (1836), as did several
others, such as Fröhlich in Würzburg, Backofen in Darmstadt and
Fahrbach in Vienna.
The origins of this division and its influence on musical life is a
fascinating subject with an unlimited number of international
repercussions, a variety of which are discussed.
The basset horn was not played in France as it was in neighbouring
countries, particularly in South Germany and Austria, and this paper
examines the reasons for this. Detailed study of the construction
of these three surviving curved french basset horns (all different from
each other) allows us to assess their musical function, and also
reveals some relationships with other curved basset horns. The entire
corpus of these sickle-shaped basset horns was thoroughly examined by
Sir Nicholas Shackleton in 1987*: this study completes the French
part of this remarkable work, taking into account the discovery of the
important Amelingue basset horn in 2002.
* Nicholas Shackleton, `The Earliest Basset Horns', Galpin Society
Journal, 1987, pp.2-23.
Patents were from Arthur (the father) in 1884 and 1891, and James in
1891 and 1898. George offered no patent applications. However, as a
pre-eminent clarinettist and professor in major London conservatoires he
also acted as a clarinet consultant with Boosey and Co. In this role,
helped by the eminent acoustician David Blaikley, he developed the
models of clarinet which bear his name - the Clinton System and the
Clinton-Boehm. The former of these models enjoyed considerable
popularity into the mid-twentieth century.
James Clinton, also a fine player tended to concentrate more on
instrument design, especially a Combination Clarinet with models in the
Albert and Boehm Systems. For this he enlisted the services of
J.B. Albert of Brussels and formed a company for its manufacture and
distribution chaired by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
Personal circumstances are described where germane to the
investigation and where they differ from the published literature.
Finally the influences on design, mutual and otherwise, are explored.
During Sir Nicholas Shackleton's lifetime the worlds of the collector
and professional period instrumentalist sometimes diverged in quite
radical fashion. Clarinets were among the instruments that began to be
widely copied within a musical environment where few period conductors
showed much organological interest, ever anxious to be acceptable to
modern ears. The regularisation of historical pitches, (for instance to
A=415 or A=430) has been ironic, given that Quantz in 1752 lamented the
lack of a uniform standard, which he reckoned was detrimental to his
work as a flautist and to music in general. For today's players it is
perhaps unfortunate that organological evidence in the public domain has
tended to focus upon such matters as key mechanisms, bores and visual
impact, with insufficient attempt to communicate the subtle quality of
different instrumental sounds. Of course, words struggle to communicate
certain aspects of art, whether quality of timbre or those tiny
differences in emphases and timing that distinguish a great performance
from a merely good one. As Daniel Türk put it in 1789,
"certain subtleties of expression cannot really be described; they
must be heard". The fascination with different
nationalities of instrument which was a central focus of Nick's life as
a collector has been largely ignored in the studio, with composers as
diverse as Cherubini, Rossini and Beethoven routinely recorded on the
same set of "period" instruments. Unripe fruit indeed!
This paper describes some of the techniques for clarinet in their
avant-garde guise and uncovers their antecedents, which range from the
ancient Greek aulos to twentieth century Albanian folk music.
The Royal College of Music's Museum of Instruments, forming part of
the Centre for Performance History, houses an internationally-renowned
collection of over 800 instruments and accessories from c 1480 to the
present (700 European, keyboard, stringed and wind; 100 Asian and
African). This collection embraces some sixty instruments from the
clarinet family, including specimens by Doleisch, Griesbacher and
Scherer.
In using the RCM instruments as a case study, this paper examines the
nature of such collections and the way in which objects interact within
them.
Over the past 20 years the measuring instruments and methods
presented here have been developed in an attempt to objectively evaluate
a mouthpiece. With these instruments/methods the physical dimensions of
a clarinet mouthpiece can be precisely determined: lay, rail widths,
baffle, table, chamber, bore, window, angle of the lay and of the baffle
with respect to the bore etc.
It is essential, however, that the parameters measured be compared
objectively with the playing characteristics. This can be accomplished
by comparing nominally identical mouthpieces and correlating their
differences in performance with the differences in the physical
parameters measured. The cooperation of experienced clarinettists is
essential if the ultimate goal of these studies is to be achieved.
The main body of the paper concentrates on Lotz's activity as a
maker, with particular reference to clarinets and basset horns. Lotz's
instruments are placed in the context of contemporary wind instrument
making through a brief discussion of the development of the clarinet and
basset horn. The representation of Lotz's instruments by modern
instrument makers is then discussed, using a comparative approach.
Three modern copies of Lotz clarinets by different makers are contrasted
with one another, and with the original instrument. The same
methodology is then applied to two basset horns. Finally the legacy of
Lotz is examined, with particular emphasis on the careers and
instruments of his two pupils, Kaspar Tauber and Franz Scholl.
The compromise in placement of the clarinet tone hole to produce an
acceptable throat B-flat and yet facilitate easy production of the
twelfths has been the subject of debate and experimentation since the
invention of the clarinet. In his book The Clarinet, Rendall
elaborates the problems encountered with the dual functioning speaker
hole: "The basic cause of the trouble is the speaker. The
air-column cannot be divided into the segments necessary to give the
twelfths without a speaker, and strictly every separate note requires a
different position of the speaker for perfect results ... one speaker
in one fixed position has to do the duty of several ... the problem is
aggravated by the necessity of using the speaker as a note-hole for
middle b-flat as well. For this purpose the hole, to give an adequate
note, must be of a certain diameter, and this diameter does not happen
to be the ideal for overblowing ... [The maker is] forced to compromise
in making the speaker-hole of a size to serve its dual purpose as
adequately as possible." Lee Gibson, in his book Clarinet
Acoustics, outlines the acoustical problems: "Frequency ratios
between the first two harmonic modes of a closed pipe are more or less
radically altered by the inverted hemispheric arc of errors induced in
the opening of a speaker vent for the production of harmonic modes,
particularly when this vent also functions as a primary producer of the
tones of the third-line B-flat." Gibson concludes that "these
faults prompted a century of searches for methods of separating the
speaker function from that for the B-flat and for methods of reducing
frequency ratios mistuned by the dually functioning speaker-B-flat vent
..."
This paper surveys the various methods that makers have prescribed
for curing the clarinet's "sore" throat B-flat. The clarinet
collection of Sir Nicholas Shackleton is a phenomenal source of examples
that illustrate many of these methods. Instruments designed and/or made
by Conn, Wurlitzer, Mazzeo, Romero, Kolbe, Leblanc, Boosey, Albert, and
Heckel are examined.
Sir Nicholas Shackleton's dicovery of a Sax clarinet corresponding to
the 1842 patent can therefore not be rated highly enough. This clarinet
being obviously a very rare and outstanding example of the Sax
manufacturing, the question remains what a clarinet of Adolphe Sax's
every-day production looked like.
Fortunately the author could acquire a nice and interesting 13-keyed
clarinet marked "AD.SAX et Cie. / PARIS" which must date from
Adolphe Sax's very early years at Paris, c 1842-1850. This find
encouraged the author to do more research in this field. This paper
presents both in words and pictures some thoughts on the remarkable fact
that there are so few woodwind instruments extant of such a large
production as came out of Adolphe Sax's factories.
In Brussels, Sax grew up learning instrument making from his father
Charles Sax, a skilled and very successful woodwind and brass maker. By
1835, Charles was hailed as the foremost wind instrument maker in
Europe, and in that same year his twenty one year old son exhibited in
Brussels an improved clarinet with twenty four keys. From 1835 to 1842,
Sax held the commanding position of "contremaîstre" in his father's
factory which by that time employed about 250 workers.
Sax produced his first bass clarinet and received a Belgium patent
for its design in 1838. Three surviving bass clarinets were made in
Brussels and are presumed to have been made by Adolphe Sax or under his
supervision. In late 1842, Sax established his instrument making
factory in Paris. Only eight examples made in Paris are known today.
Four of these are stamped and four others are attributed to Sax. They
are made of boxwood, African black wood, or maple with brass ferrules
and feature large plateau keys and open standing keys designed to cover
large tone holes placed in their acoustically correct position. Sax's
key mechanism actually consists of the usual thirteen or fourteen keys
of the soprano clarinet, including a second Eb/Bb key to provide an
option in fingering, and a second register key covering a small tone
hole in a brass key seat placed high on the front side of the brass
crook. The latter key was a genuine innovation and brilliant idea by
Sax since with its use the response and equality of tones in the upper
register were greatly improved. Most of the surviving bass clarinets
are made with a straight body but three later instruments were made with
an upturned bell and these were ultimately the most popular and
successful models.
During the 1840s and 1850s, Sax's bass clarinets were used in
orchestras and bands in Brussels and Paris. So the question arises, why
are there so few extant Sax bass clarinets? Their scarcity is most
likely due to their high price of 200 francs, documented in a price list
of around 1845, higher than any other instrument offered by Sax except a
bass saxophone, which is listed at 300 francs. In addition, the
majority of Sax's instruments produced in Paris were brass instruments
and saxophones. He appears not to have emphasized production of his
woodwind instruments. Also, it must be noted that Sax was involved in
at least three major court proceedings where he was sued by Parisian
musical instrument makers whom he counter sued. This activity no doubt
limited his time in producing and selling woodwinds.
In summary, Adolphe Sax produced superior playing bass clarinets
which were copied by some makers but their greatest importance was in
the use and modification of several of Sax's designs in the later bass
clarinets by the important Parisian makers L.A. Buffet and
Buffet-Crampon. By the 1870s, the modern bass clarinet had evolved and
adopted worldwide.
A number of prominent, award-winning Japanese composers (Akira
Nishimura, Hiroyuki Itoh, Hiroyuki Yamamoto) have recently completed new
chamber music works for the author that demonstrate startling new
possibilities for the clarinet. Their musical language draws from
traditional Japanese aesthetics and music (such as gagaku), combined
with the latest research in extended clarinet techniques for the Boehm
system clarinet that the author has been working on for 25 years (this
merging of Western and Japanese elements into a new music is just one
example of a characteristic way of thinking within Japanese society that
the Japanese call wa-kon-yo-sai - a Meiji era slogan that means
Japanese spirit, or soul - foreign technology). This extended clarinet
research, unlike previous studies which have generally consisted of mere
catalogues of sound effects, is organized according to the peculiar
acoustical principles of the clarinet. As a result, the music of the
above composers can freely express micro-tonalities and timbral
transformations such as microtonal sequences of multiphonics, fingered
microtonal portamenti, vertical sonorities (multiphonics) where pitch
components can be articulated in various ways, and numerous trills
(multiphonic split trills and multiphonic timbre trills, split
microtonal trills, and double trills affected [or not] by flutter
tonguing and/or portamenti) that take on new coloristic qualities.
In this context, the paper describes the instrument making process of
the gaida using technological methodology and ethnographic data
and the playing technique from a Westerner's point of view as well as
from the natives' perspective. It explores the way natives perceive and
categorize their repertoire. The structure of some sample pieces is
analysed. Finally, a theory of 'musical-geographical streams' that
surface in the repertoire of the gaida is proposed.
Through data analysis interpretative reflections were offered that
justified and/or complement the information collected from the
performances, trying to find reasons for those decisions taken by the
interpreters and proposing, for future performances, interpretative
ways. As a secondary objective a critical edition of the score has been
proposed.
Stubbins S-K Mechanism Clarinet
Nophachai Cholthitchanta
The clarinette à anneaux mobiles, known as the "Boehm System"
clarinet, was invented as a collaboration between the clarinetist
Hyacinthe Klosé and maker Louis-Auguste Buffet, and was first
introduced at the Paris Exhibition in 1839. Since then there have been
several attempts to "perfect" the Klosé/Buffet clarinet.
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, University of Arkansas, USAClarinets and Tárogatók used in the Viennese Court Opera under the Director Gustav Mahler
Beatrix Darmstädter
The basis of this paper is the interpretation of archival documents
belonging to the inventory of the files named
"Generalintendanz" and "Hofoper" preserved by the
Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) and
evaluated for the first time. The material includes for instance
correspondence of Gustav Mahler, who became the artistic director of the
Viennese Court Opera in 1897, with renowned instrument makers, such as
Wilhelm Heckel, Georg Berthold, József Schunda and with the
musicians Felix Weingartner, Heinrich Hiekisch, Franz Schalk etc. The
archival documents provide information about technological details,
pricing, delivery conditions, instrument repairs and the musician's
individual preferences concerning the choice of instruments. Moreover
the authorities interacting within the administrative board of the Court
Opera deciding the acquisitions of musical instruments become clear. As
far as the tárogató is concerned it was Gustav Mahler
himself who invited Mr. Hiekisch, a musician working for the Opera in
Budapest, to introduce a new designed tárogató in Vienna.
Although his appearance in Tristan and Isolde in 1902 was quite
successful, further engagements seemed to be impracticable mainly
because the instrument needed was a special construction with an
additional lower key which was neither delivered nor received in Vienna,
furthermore the Viennese clarinettists - as the documents tell us -
never got used to the difficult intonation of the
tárogatók.
Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, Kunsthistorisches Museum, ViennaThe Home Key of the Clarinet
John Dick
"Home Key" refers to a concept well understood by baroque and early
classical wind players, makers, bandmasters and composers.
Written sources advise on the selection of a size of clarinet and the
principles followed by composers can be inferred from opera scores, Scottish
Military band parts, and transcriptions.
Tonal quality has often been over-emphasised as the reason for the selection
of a particular size of instrument and digital facility or precision of
tuning has been wrongly assumed to be the aim of early additions to keywork.
When the reasons why instruments have a home key are understood, these
factors are seen to be secondary.
The Home Key provides the explanation for many apparent anomalies and raises
the issue of whether it is unhelpful to think of the instruments as having
"good" and "bad" notes or "improvements" in design. These changes are
developments in response to changed operational requirements.
Focus on the home key can lead to challenging the current attribution of an
instrumental part. This is illustrated by two very well known pieces. One
is, and the other is not, currently considered clarinet repertoire.
Rothesay, Isle of Bute, U.K.The Early American Clarinet: Makers, Sellers, Players
Jane Ellsworth
The clarinet's role and status in early American musical life has
received little scholarly attention until now. Yet clarinets were being
made in America by 1761 and imported by 1764. Military documents,
newspaper advertisements, tutors, and existing instruments provide ample
evidence for the kinds of clarinets that were in use. Makers such as
Wolhaupter, Anthony, Callender, Catlin, Whiteley, Meacham, Eisenbrandt,
Gütter, Ashton, and many others were active in all of the major
cities, as were merchants who sold clarinets from England and elsewhere.
This paper examines the activities of these makers and sellers,
identifies several heretofore unknown makers, and considers some of the
ways in which the clarinet was used in America in the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries.
Eastern Washington University, USAThe Sir Nicholas Shackleton Collection in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments: an Overview
Heike Fricke
The late Sir Nicholas Shackleton collected about 800 clarinets over some
40 years and his collection has been bequeathed to the Edinburgh
University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. This paper gives
an overview of the clarinets chosen for an exhibition dran from the
collection. Starting with early examples of eighteenth century
instruments, made, for example, by Rottenburgh of Brussels, Cahusac of
London, and Buehner & Keller of Strasbourg, the author takes a
closer look at English clarinets of the early nineteenth century,
comparing them with continental instruments of the same period. Lyon
with the instrument makers Bernard, Simiot, Piatet et Benoit, and
Jeantet seems to have been a place of outstanding instrument making as
some examples show. Other important centres of clarinet making in the
19th century were Paris, Brussels, Munich, Vienna, and Dresden.
Regional differences and developments are shown with selected clarinets
made by Baumann, Buffet jeune, Adolphe Sax, Jacques Albert, Bachmann,
Stiegler, Hess, Osterried & Gerlach, Griesbacher, Ziegler, Uhlmann,
and Grenser. Finally the instruments of Fritz Wurlitzer are examined
(Nicholas Shackleton much admired them).
BerlinThe Origin of French and German Clarinets
Eric Hoeprich
Today, the schism between French and German clarinettists is profound,
and occasionally even engenders animosity. It certainly defines
potential employment in various countries; currently, no player of the
French clarinet can sit in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, nor will
any German clarinettist ever be welcome in Paris, or for that matter,
London or New York City.
Royal Conservatory of the Netherlands; Conservatoire de Paris; Indiana University, BloomingtonThe Basset Horn in France in the Eighteenth Century
Jean Jeltsch
We often read that Paris was a very important centre in the developemnt
of larger clarinet family instruments, for example the appearance of the
bass clarinet (Gilles Lot) or the first use of low clarinets (Missa
pro defunctis of Gossec). But no example is known today of any bass
or "alto" clarinet bearing the stamp of a Parisian workshop
and made in the 18th century. Only two basset horns made in Paris are
known today (Michel Amelingue and Dominique Porthaux), and a third made
in Strasbourg (Bühner & Keller).
Université de Lille, FranceClarinets of the Clinton Family
James Joseph
This paper seeks to provide a re-appraisal of the work done by Arthur
Clinton and his two sons George and James in the field of clarinet
design. Having lived for 35 years in Newcastle upon Tyne which was the
Clintons' native city, the author had a unique opportunity to access
local sources of information. Other valuable sources include patents,
instruments in major collections and practical performance experience by
the author on his own Clinton instruments.
NorthumberlandMusical History: Historical Music
Colin Lawson
"I am convinced that 'historical' performance today is not really
historical; that a thin veneer of historicism clothes a performance
style that is completely of our own time, and is in fact the most modern
style around; and that the historical hardware has won its wide
acceptance and above all its commercial viability precisely by virtue of
its novelty, not its antiquity". Richard Taruskin's once notorious
yet now widely-accepted views can justifiably be applied to those most
tangible of artefacts - the instruments themselves. As long ago as 1932
Arnold Dolmetsch's pupil Robert Donington remarked of his teacher's
reconstructions; "the old harpsichord has certain limitations [and
produces] a jangle, slight in the treble but audible in the bass. The
new instruments, which remedy these historical oversights, have proved
both purer and more sustained than any previous harpsichord". Two
generations later Robert Barclay drew attention to the finger-holes
often placed on copies of the Baroque trumpet, so that "the
so-called out-of-tune harmonics of the natural series will not be
unpleasant to modern sensitivity. The result is a trumpet which
resembles its baroque counterpart only superficially." During the
heady days of recording activity in the early 1990s Clive Brown issued a
timely warning that the characteristics of some of the orchestral
instruments employed in Beethoven cycles by The Hanover Band,
Christopher Hogwood and Roger Norrington would certainly not have been
familiar to musicians in Beethoven's Vienna and that the public was in
danger of being offered "attractively packaged but unripe
fruit".
Royal College of Music, LondonThe Reform Boehm system: Right Compromise Between French and German Systems ?
Luigi Magistrelli
In spite of the good tone qualities, hand forged mechanism, flexibility
and evenness over all the registers, Reform Boehm system clarinets so
far have not received a wide acceptance in the clarinet world. Is this
system considered, perhaps, a sort of hybrid between the French and
German Oehler system clarinets without its own identity ? An opposite
opinion is presented in this paper, that this instrument is an ideal
compromise between the dark, compact and warm sound of the german Oehler
system and the more flexible, brighter and technically easier to handle,
French Boehm system. The paper aims to show the Reform Boehm and German
system clarinets, comparing them and their distinctive (but also in a
way similar) tonal characteristics, trying also to find some connections
with the French system clarinets. Fritz Wurlitzer, father of Herbert
Wurlitzer, was the first maker (before World War II) to make good Reform
Boehm system clarinets, on the basis of the teaching of Schmidt and
Kolbe. The author still considers them the best Reform Boehm clarinets
ever made.
ItalyThe Derivation of Contemporary Performing Techniques for Woodwind
Ian Mitchell
Many of the extended techniques for woodwind that are found in modernist
music from the 1950s onwards, and that became easily recognisable and
archetypal contemporary music gestures for twenty years or so, are
usually assumed to have been developed as a consequence of, and
alongside, the demands of avant-garde music itself. These novel
performing techniques created a whole new repertoire of sounds and ways
of playing wind instruments. One of the earliest and most influential
compositions was Berio's Sequenza 1 for solo flute, which, on the final
page, requires the performer to produce more than one pitch
simultaneously. However, some of these techniques that were thought to
be current inventions, such as multiphonics, glissandi, flutter tongue,
microtones, circular breathing, colour fingerings and more are actually
far from new; indeed, in some instances they derive from practices
thousands of years old.
Trinity College of Music, LondonIwan Müller's Soprano Clarinet: Structural Evolution towards Adolphe Sax's Bass Clarinet
Juncal Diago Ortega
Conseervatory of Music of A Coruña, Spain
Iwan Müller's developments demonstrate important elements and ideas
influencing most of the clarinets manufactured subsequently in Europe
(and in the world). Rarely is this heredity recognized in designs and
patents. We can view Adolphe Sax's 1838 bass clarinet as the evolution
and improvement, in the low register of the family, of the constructive
system which was developed by the Russian inventor.
José-Modesto Diago Ortega,
Conservatory of Music of Cadix, SpainIn Contemplation of the Clarinets at the Royal College of Music, London
Ingrid Elizabeth Pearson
Founded in 1882, the Royal College of Music enjoys a reputation as one
of the world's leading conservatoires. Due partly to the vision of its
founders, particularly Sir George Grove, the RCM holds research
collections of international significance.
Royal College of Music, LondonThe 'Stradivari Interview' - The Correlation between the Geometry of a Clarinet Mouthpiece and its Performance
William B. Peatman
The playing characteristics of a clarinet such as tone, ease of blowing,
tuning in the various ranges, brightness, carrying power are dependent
upon many factors, not the least of which are the mouthpiece and the
reeds used. Strangely the mouthpiece is the one main part of a clarinet
which is no longer permanently associated with the instrument itself.
Furthermore, as is well known, nominally identical mouthpieces perform
with differing results!
BerlinThe Viennese Wind Instrument Maker, Theodor Lotz (c 1747-1792)
Melanie Piddocke
This paper commences with an examination of the current knowledge of
Lotz's biographical details. Particular emphasis is placed on his
career as a performer, maker and composer in an attempt to highlight
possible influences which may have had an impact on his later career.
As Freemasonry was a significant aspect of intellectual life in Vienna
in the late eighteenth century, involving several significant musical
figures - including Lotz - his involvement in the movement is therefore
discussed in the context of the broader social significance of
Freemasonry.
The Hague, Netherlands and Saintes, FranceClarinet Forked E-flat/B-flat; a New Approach
John Playfair
L-hand forked E-flat/B-flat remains one of the few advantages of the
simple system clarinet over the normal Boehm. Several successful
solutions are reviewed, including a novel one involving fewer
alterations than most.
U.K.The 'Melba Gift': the Role of Woodwind and Brass Instruments in the History of the Stabilisation of Pitch Standards in Melbourne in the early Twentieth Century
Simon Purtell
In December 1908, when a variety of pitches were used in Melbourne, the
celebrated Australian soprano, Dame Nellie Melba, purchased a set of
"normal pitch" (A4=435) woodwind and brass
instruments from the London instrument manufacturer, Rudall, Carte &
Co. In March of the following year, Melba presented these instruments
to the Marshall-Hall Orchestra. This paper describes the instruments
(including the four clarinets) and considers the important role played
by the "Melba Gift" in the history of pitch standards in
Melbourne in the early twentieth century. It draws upon ongoing
research into the history of pitch standards in Melbourne and throughout
the State of Victoria, an area of study not yet considered in histories
of music in Australia.
University of Melbourne, AustraliaA Prescription for the Clarinet's Sore Throat: Throat B-flat Mechanisms as Illustrated using Clarinets from the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Collection
Deborah Check Reeves
It has been described by Leon Leblanc as "inferior," producing
"a tone less good than the others around it." It has been
depicted by Rosario Mazzeo as "the problem note," and by
William Stubbins as a "difficulty" and "has not been any
secret from makers or players at any time in the history of the
evolution of the clarinet." Most succinctly put by Geoffrey
Rendall, "the real bug-bear is the middle b-flat."
National Music Museum, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, USAClarinets by Adolphe Sax
Thomas Reil
Most books on the clarinet have been paying tribute to Adolphe Sax's
achievements for this instrument. His 1840 and 1842 patents relating to
the soprano clarinet are often described in detail, nevertheless there
has been no illustration of these or other Ad. Sax clarinets in any of
the well-known publications yet, nor is there more information to be
found in listings of public collections. Even the most important
Catalogue des Instruments Sax au Musée Instrumental de
Bruxelles by Malou Haine and Ignace de Keyser describes and shows
only clarinets by Charles-Joseph Sax: the list included list of 400 Sax
instruments gives only a report about a 13-keyed clarinet shown in 1890
at the London Royal Military Exhibition.
Uhingen, GermanyThe Bass Clarinets of Adolphe Sax and their Historical Importance
Albert Rice
One of the most important advances in the evolution of the bass clarinet
is manifest in an instrument made by the brilliant player, maker, and
inventor Antoine Joseph (Adolphe) Sax (1814-1894). This paper presents
a short review of 18th and early 19th century bass clarinet designs that
precede Sax's 1838 bass clarinet, briefly reviews Sax's career,
discusses the design innovations reflected in Sax's surviving bass
clarinets, compares his bass clarinets to those by his contemporary
Parisian rivals Louis August Buffet and Widemann, and shows the
influence of his designs on instruments made by later makers.
Fiske Museum, Claremont Colleges, CaliforniaThe New Clarinet in Japan
E. Michael Richards
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USAThe Gaida Bagpipe in the Evros region of Greek Thrace
Haris Sarris
This paper presents the main points of the author's doctoral research at
the University of Athens, which is an organological ethnography that
focuses on the construction, the playing technique, and the repertoire
of the gaida bagpipe in the Evros region of Greek Thrace. Part
of the old agricultural world, the gaida died out in the course
of the post-Second-World-War rapid urbanization. This urbanization
process eventually resulted in the reduction of the number of musicians,
the discontinuing of the instrument-making tradition, and the
displacement of the gaida by the clarinet. At the time when this
research started, in the late 1990s, the gaida was being
reappreciated thanks to the activity of local folklore cultural clubs.
Unfortunately, this did not lead to a passing on of the playing
tradition to the younger generation.
GreeceBrazilian Clarinet Music by the Composer Francisco Mignone and his 'Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra'
Fernando Silveira
This paper studies, as a main objective, the freedom of interpretation
taken by contemporary performers of the 'Concertino para clarineta e
orquestra' (Concertino for clarinet and orchestra), by the Brazilian
composer Francisco Mignone, through the historical context and thoughts
of the composer, from the genesis of the musical work itself and from
the contemporary philosophy of interpretation. To determine the above
objective the recorded performances of four outstanding Brazilian
clarinetists were analyzed.
Rio de Janeiro State Federal University, BrazilHeinrich Grenser's Keywork Concepts
Eleanor Smith
The Sir Nicholas Shackleton collection contains three clarinets by the
German maker Heinrich Grenser (1764-1813), noted for his innovative
clarinet keywork. This paper discusses the Grenser instruments in
Shackleton's Collection: how they fit within his oeuvre, and how they
reflect on Grenser's statement in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of
1811 highlighting the importance of the basic five-key instrument.
University of EdinburghResources for Clarinet Research in the Boosey & Hawkes Collection and Archive
E. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer
In 2004, the Horniman Museum became the new home of the instrument
collection formerly housed in the museum at the Boosey & Hawkes
factory in Edgware and also of the firm's instrument production and
design archives. These collections represent an important resource to
researchers of British clarinet design and performance practice.
Clarinet making was the leading activity of woodwind production at
Boosey. This is reflected by the unusual and innovative clarinets
collected for the factory's museum, which was curated by Eric McGavin,
an active clarinettist, from 1950 to 1970. Instruments in the
collection include prototype clarinets designed for Boosey by George
Clinton and Manuel Gomez. Some 330 technical drawings dating from the
late 19th century to the 1970s detail aspects of clarinet design from
tone hole placement and bore profile to mouthpiece and key design.
Extensive manufacturing records allow clarinet production at Boosey to
be traced from the late 19th century into the 1970s. This paper
provides an introduction to resources available to researchers of
clarinet design and history in the Boosey & Hawkes Collection and
Archive at the Horniman Museum, London.
Horniman Musuem, LondonNicholas Shackleton: Collector extraordinaire
William Waterhouse
What differentiates the Musical Instrument collector from collectors of
other kinds of art-object? Noteworthy collectors of the past and present
are identified, and their differing achievements and motivations are
discussed. Sir Nicholas Shackleton's status in this company is
examined, together with his outstanding contribution to organology as
researcher and author.
London and Cheltenham