| SB:
Charles, we have talked a lot recently about what is often called "the
education of discontent." I would like you to expand on this idea
as it applied to you in regard to your choice of the Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm
German clarinets over the Buffet Boehm French clarinets. Where were you
in terms of your study, instruments and career when you decided to switch
to the Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm clarinets?
CS:
It was not a quick decision, but one that evolved from a series of life
experiences. I was pretty far along by this point and had benefited by
the excellent guidance and help of outstanding teachers. I began my studies
in Charleston, SC with Dr. Gordon
Bobbett (late of Knoxville, TN) to whom I owe my lifelong
musical motivation and all-important concept of sound. I continued my
education (B.A.) with Dr. Randall Thompson (now of Bartlesville, OK) at
the College of Charleston and concluded the bulk of my formal training
(M.M. and D.M.A.) with Dr. Norman Heim at the University of Maryland.
I then did post-doctoral work with Alan Balter (former principal clarinetist
of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and current Musical Director of the
Memphis and Akron Symphony Orchestras) and completed my post-doctoral
training in America as a student of Dr. Robert Marcellus (who was also
the teacher of Gordon Bobbett and Alan Balter). By this point I was also
concertizing on what I would call state-of-the-art French equipment: beautiful
Buffets that had been adjusted by W. Hans Moenning of Philadelphia, an
impeccable Frank Kasper No.13 Chicago mouthpiece and was using the classic
Morré reeds.
SB:
With a background like that, why were you unhappy?
CS:
At the time, I didn't think I was! I was, however, beginning to get worried
about two things. The first is whatI would call "the end of the system":
Buffet's apparent decline of qualitative production values, the retirement
of Furstel (the maker of the Morré reed) and the deaths of Kasper
and Moennig. It was getting harder and harder to find a Buffet whose sound
I enjoyed, there was no substitute for the Morré reed, no replacement
for the Kasper mouthpiece, and no repairman in sight with the breadth
and depth of expertise like Moennig.
The second
was in developing and expanding the traditions of what I had been taught
into my own personal vision of sound and style. I began to intuit that,
for some reason, I was not able to completely express all that I felt
and thought about the music using the present means at hand. It gradually
became apparent to me that the reason was the limitations of the equipment,
not the limitations of my musical understanding.
SB:
To whom and what did you turn?
CS:
The undeniable beauty of sound in the solo, chamber and orchestral recordings
of two European clarinetists had always haunted me. The logical question
was to talk with them and to find out what instruments they were playing
on. The first was Karl Leister, Principal Clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic.
In my opinion he is one of the most outstanding musicians and influential
clarinetists of our time and is the leading proponent of the Wurlitzer
Schmidt-Kolbe German system. Several years earlier it had been my privilege
to have two memorable private lessons with him at a clarinet convention
organized by Michael Getzin in Washington, DC. The other man was George
Pieterson, Principal Clarinetist in Holland's Royal Amsterdam Concertgebouworkest
and was the first clarinetist in the now-defunct Netherlands Wind Ensemble.
In my opinion he too is one
of the most outstanding musicians of our time and could be called the
leading proponent of the Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm system. After a live performance
by the Royal Concertgebouworkest in the Kennedy Center in Washington,
DC, it was my privilege to have had a private lesson with Mr. Pieterson.
The overwhelming experience of hearing the sound of the two Wurlitzer
clarinet systems and of speaking with and playing alongside these two
gentlemen confirmed in me the realization of the musical, tonal and intonational
advantages of the German bore clarinet over the best French Boehm clarinet/mouthpiece/reed
system in existence. It was clear that they were getting more
musically and personally out of their clarinets than I (or they!) could
get out of mine. I ultimately chose the Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm system
as the best combination of German sound with French technique and so I
went to Amsterdam for me to study privately with George Pieterson in 1984.
It was a fabulous cultural adventure and and excellent musical and personal
experience. Since Wurlitzer clarinets are difficult to come by, George
"vouched" for me to Herbert Wurlitzer and I had a set by 1987.
SB:
Besides what you had heard, had you read anything about the Wurlitzer's
up until then?
CS:
Yes. Printed below are excerpts that helped to galvanize and confirm my
opinion.
- Boehm
system alternatives as custom made in Germany and Austria
Among the most sought-after woodwind trademarks in the world is currently
that of Herbert Wurlitzer of Neustadt/Aisch, West Germany...The Wurlitzer
Boehms are widely used in Europe...As compared to the Buffet-Crampon
clarinets they are considerably more stable, with Germanic undercutting
and outstanding workmanship and design."
"Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from "The Clarinet",
Vol.7, No.2, Winter 1980, p.20.
- The
Herbert Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm clarinet has combined the sound and bore
of the German system with the advantages of the Boehm application
As you may know, Herbert's father, Fritz Wurlitzer, made German system
clarinets with a wider bore; they were all the rage in the orchestras
30 years ago and many players still use them. They were available in
the German Oehler and Schmidt-Kolbe systems as well as in Boehm system.
They are meant for orchestral playing. Their disadvantage was their
inconsistency with respect to their intonation; some were excellent
in intonation while others were just inferior in that field, but with
a beautiful sound. Many players went to great lengths to correct faulty
notes. The wider bore must have been the bugbear. That's why H. Wurlitzer
decided to narrow the bore at the expense of the carrying sound but
with the advantage of superior intonation. [Lee Gibson's footnote: Until
c.1948, when M. Robert Carree redesigned the Buffet soprano clarinets,
the accepted standard for soprano clarinets remained, as it had been
for at least 75 years, a cylinder (at the middle of the bore) of about
15 mm. My 1905 E.J. Albert German-system clarinets are this size. H.
Wurlitzer's new bore for his best-ever German-system clarinets is c.14.65
mm. It is my impression that his Boehm's are not this small.] There
are other a few other makes around here, but they are old instruments.
Todt and Waschevsky (Swedish) have never been surpassed in sound. The
best basses are the Fritz Wurlitzers and Herbert Wurlitzers."
Letter in "The Clarinet", Vol.9, No.2, Winter 1982, p.27,
to Lee Gibson from Mr. Hein van Maarschalkerwaart of Amsterdam, Holland.
- Where
is our definitive design?
...All of the previous review is another regrettable reminder that
at no level from the cheapest to the most expensive has any maker of
the Klosé-Boehm system clarinets yet reached a design which has
been found to be worthy of complete emulation by other makers. The hand-crafted
instruments of the West German Herbert Wurlitzer...are generally unavailable
outside of Germany, and one doubts whether most leading makers of clarinets
have ever seen them." "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from
"The Clarineto, Vol.9, No.3, Spring 1982, p.5.
- The
State of the Clarinet
...All of which brings us to the clarinets of Herbert Wurlitzer, possibly
the finest and certainly the most expensive and difficult to obtain
of all clarinets. It is to the clarinets of Wurlitzer, who believes
that a fine artist is entitled to every possible acoustical and mechanical
development of his or her instrument, that all makers, whether French,
English, Japanese, or German, should
be looking for state©of©the©art models. The International
Clarinet Society can hardly have had a notable impact upon the work
of Herbert Wurlitzer (other than encouraging clarinetists to beat a
path to his door.)" "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from
"The Clarineto, Vol.11, No.3, Spring 1984, p.7.
- Comparison
of the Oehler and Boehm clarinet fingering system
The superiority of the Oehler system bore design and the more facile
Boehm technique have been recognized for many years. As early as 1890,
attempts have been made to create a clarinet utilizing the advantages
of both systems. Although most experiments have resulted in limited
public acceptance, more recently the success of such a union has been
achieved. Such achievements are the product of Herbert Wurlitzer of
Neustadt/Aisch, West Germany. Proponents of the Reform-Boehm system
cite the improved bore design of the Oehler system coupled with the
more facile Boehm technique as reasons for their preference. Although
this system has received increasing popularity, most Oehler system players
view it as an oddity. The accomplished Oehler clarinetist has the bore
advantages offered by this system and generally has no desire to change
fingering systems. Therefore, much of the fate of this system lies in
the hands of the Boehm player. Even though the success of this union
is presently speculative, it is the opinion of the writer that the Reform-Boehm
system will become increasingly preferred. David Feller from "The
Clarinet", Vol.11, No.4, Summer 1984, p.24.
- The
Boehm clarinet in the twenty-first century
For the twentieth century the development of the Boehm-system clarinet
has been marked by notable innovations which have been favorably received,
then almost forgotten. After the first world war H. & A. Selmer
led in the perfection of the so-called "full improved Boehm,"
with twenty-one keys and seven rings. For opera and theater orchestra
players this model, in B-flat, became the standard soprano clarinet
almost everywhere excepting the Germanic countries. It retains its position
in Italy and in Spanish countries. Also during the 1930s, Ernst Schmidt
of Mannheim developed, with the assistance of Kolbe and the Wurlitzers
of West
Germany, the Schmidt Reform Boehm clarinets which has been acoustically
improved in a smaller bore by Herbert Wurlitzer and is now accepted
in the Netherlands and elsewhere as the standard bearer for the Boehm
system." "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from "The
Clarineto, Vol.12, No.2, Winter 1985, p.40.
- During
the 20th century, German clarinet makers have maintained a tradition
of customized handcrafting of instruments for the professional. Oehler,
the Schmidts, and the Wurlitzers have believed that performers deserve
and will pay for every possible improvement, and today Herbert Wurlitzer's
clarinets are required for admission to many orchestras of West Germany
and the Netherlands. If the clarinetists of the rest of the world have
fewer choices now, it may indeed be due to their own unwillingness to
try or to buy an innovation." "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson
from "The Clarinet", Vol.13, No.3, Spring 1986, p.10.
-
...what
the German makers call the `Reform Boehm-clarinet' is an interesting
hybrid which includes all Klosé's finger-patterns with some
of the acoustic features of the German system, though usually with
a mouthpiece which owes a lot to the French design. This is a valid
departure from the tradition of either side, and is in fact an instrument
capable of the sort of catholicity of approach which players of the
future, must, logically, have as their aim. It is probably ture that
this model of instrument, certainly as much or more than any other,
is capable of producing the different varieties of tone which will
be demanded of the next generation of accomplished clarinettists."
"Clarinet" by Jack Brymer, New York: Schirmer, 1976, p.154.
-
German makers
have always provided their clarinetists with every possible mechanical
advantage, while the French have mostly relied upon the admirable simplicity
of the ordinary Boehm system developed by Klosé and Buffet 145
years ago. Perhaps inspired by the gradually developing preference of
Dutch and English players of the Boehm system for the improvements of
the Schmidt Reform clarinets of the Wurlitzers in West Germany, Yamaha
has in 1987 introduced in Europe a model which includes all the features
of the Schmidt system with the exception of the A-flat/B-flat trill."
"Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from "The Clarinet",
Vol.15, No.1, November-December 1987, p.18.
- At this
date (1988) the reversed conical models of Herbert Wurlitzer in Neustadt/Aisch,
West Germany, have become the unquestioned standards for the formerly
simple system of Ivan Müller, improved for 175 years by such as
the Baermanns, the Alberts, Oehler, Schmidt, and the Wurlitzers."
"Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from "The Clarineto, Vol.15,
No.2, February-March 1988, p.17.
SB:
Here are some later excerpts that helped to solidfy my reasons for playing
Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm clarinets (E-flat, B-flat, A, and Bass)...
- The intonational
advantages of the Schmidt Reform Boehm soprano clarinet, which produces
practically perfect twelfths and upper-mode ratios, have remained untapped
by major French clarinet manufacturers. Georges Leblanc, who produced
his B-flat speaker exchange mechanism about 1930 (a time of world-wide
depression), soon abandoned it, leaving the further development of the
Boehm clarinet with auxiliary B-flat and B-F#-D# venting to the Wurlitzers
in Germany. There is absolutely no reason why clarinetists the world
over should be deprived of the opportunity to play this clarinet, which
is essentially handmade in such small quantities by the Wurlitzers at
Neustadt/Aisch, Germany as to be almost unobtainable. (Yamaha's German
Boehm, a similar though not identical model, is said to be selling well
in Germany.) It is time for each of our fine french clarinet makers
to provide such an alternative for discerning performers, which they
can do at an affordable price once its mechanisms--no more complex than
those which have been made for a century in the full Boehm models--have
been set up." "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson from "The
Clarinet", Vol.21, No.3, May©June, 1994, p.10.
- At this
date (1988) the reversed conical models of Herbert Wurlitzer in Neustadt/Aisch,
West Germany, have become the unquestioned standards for the formerly
simple system of Ivan Müller, improved for 175 years by such as
the Baermanns, the Alberts, Oehler, Schmidt, and the Wurlitzers."Claranalysis"
by Lee Gibson from "The Clarinet", Vol.15, No.2, February-March
1988, p.17.
- During
the 20th century, German clarinet makers have maintained a tradition
of customized handcrafting of instruments for the professional. Oehler,
the Schmidts, and the Wurlitzers have believed that performers deserve
and will pay for every possible improvement, and today Herbert Wurlitzer's
clarinets are required for admission to many orchestras of West Germany
and the Netherlands. If the clarinetists of the rest of the world have
fewer choices now, it may indeed be due to their own unwillingness to
try or to buy an innovation." "Claranalysis" by Lee Gibson
from "The Clarinet", Vol.13, No.3, Spring 1986, p.10.
- The
Boehm clarinet in the twenty-first century
For the twentieth century the development of the Boehm-system clarinet
has been marked by notable innovations which have been favorably received,
then almost forgotten. After the first world war H. & A. Selmer
led in the perfection of the so-called "full improved Boehm,"
with twenty-one keys and seven rings. For opera and theater orchestra
players this model, in B-flat, became the standard soprano clarinet
almost everywhere excepting the Germanic countries. It retains its position
in Italy and in Spanish countries. Also during the 1930s, Ernst Schmidt
of Mannheim developed, with the assistance of Kolbe and the Wurlitzers
of West Germany, the Schmidt Reform Boehm clarinets which has been acoustically
improved in a smaller bore by Herbert Wurlitzer and is now accepted
in the Netherlands and elsewhere as
the standard bearer for the Boehm system. "Claranalysis" by
Lee Gibson from "The Clarinet", Vol.12, No.2, Winter 1985,
p.40.
- Boehm
system alternatives as custom made in Germany and Austria
Among the most sought©after woodwind trademarks in the world is
currently that of Herbert Wurlitzer of Neustadt/Aisch, West Germany...The
Wurlitzer Boehms are widely used in Europe...As compared to the Buffet-Crampon
clarinets they are considerably more stable, with Germanic undercutting
and outstanding workmanship and design." "Claranalysis"
by Lee Gibson from "The Clarinet", Vol.7, No.2, Winter 1980,
p.20.
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