Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 145
Scan 145
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
16 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 125. See the scan on archive.org.
1crank or swivel-keys (similar to those of the keyed contra-bassoon). This instrument was made of maple, and had a deep-toned clarionet mouthpiece of suitable size. Between the mouthpiece and the instrument there was a cylindrical shaped crook of brass, of proportionate size, as in the bassoon. To ensure portability the instrument was constructed of two upright cylindrical tubes, and the mouth was provided with a brass bell. The quality of its tone was somewhat like that of the lower notes on the manual of an organ, pleasant and full, but not sufficiently powerful to take the place of the contra-bass in a military band; and, further, it could be played with facility only in its nearly related keys. It sounds two octaves lower than the c' clarionet, and possesses the same compass, but was played by means of keys. The easiest keys for this instrument were G and F major; and the farther one went from these keys, the more difficult it became."
3The invention, however, does not seem to have been of much practical use, and was abandoned. A somewhat similar attempt to produce a contra-bass clarinet was made by Adolphe Sax, of Paris, in 1843. Sax made an instrument of brass, with a cylindrical bore, somewhat differing in outward appearance from the Batyphone, and gave it the name of Saxophone, a word which he afterwards applied to a class of instruments totally different.
5Lent by M. Césare Snoeck.
7265.
9GLICIBARIFONO, in B♭. This instrument is a kind of bass clarinet with a vertical bell, and in shape somewhat resembling the bassoon. About 1838 the instrument maker, Catterino Cotterini, of Bologna, produced instruments of this description. This particular specimen is however stamped "P. Maino, Milano," and has 17 brass keys fitted on studs, which work in grooves cut in the thickness of the keys.
11Lent by the Conservatoire Royal de Musique, Brussels.
13266.
15Bass Clarinet, in C, made in the form of a bassoon. This instrument is made of light wood, and has nine square-flapped brass keys working on knobs. The keys give B♭, A, G♯, F♯, F♭; there is also a speaker key. There was originally a crook, which had a key
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