The heritage of English clarinet virtuosi

The relationship between virtuosi, instrument makers and composers are of great interest - many a work would not have been composed, had there not been the instrument makers who provided mechanical solutions for the complex requirements of composers. On the other hand the tonal and technical possibilities of a certain instrument model might have inspired the playing of a virtuoso. The famous British clarinettist Henry Lazarus (1815-1895), for example, played on the clarinet by Albert shown here, which was obviously a present by the firm. As a result of such a donation the instrument makers could use the fame and brilliance of the virtuoso in their advertising. The annotation “Approved by Mr. Lazarus” applied on Albert clarinets became a hallmark. His Simple System clarinet has a patent C sharp mechanism, an additional B^b throat key, and a side B^b for R1. An interesting detail of the Lazarus instrument are the cross keys, which have rollers to enable the fingers to slide between key and tone-hole in fast or legato passages.

Photos: Detail of a clarinet in A owned by Henry Lazarus by E. Albert, Brussels, c 1865 (136).

The mouthpiece of the set doesn’t show any traces of the teeth, because Reginald Kell always used a double lip embouchure. The B levers for L4 are bent so as to lie much higher than on most instruments; a piece of cloth is glued below the thumb-rest; both of these modifications were made by Kell himself.

Photo: Pair of Boehm system clarinets owned by Reginald Kell made by Hawkes & Son in London about 1925 (2800) and (2801).