Reform Boehm system

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Wurlitzer Reform Boehm clarinets in B♭ and A with additional mechanisms

The Reform Boehm system is a modified Boehm system for the clarinet. It was developed with the aim of producing clarinets with the Boehm keywork, the sound of which is similar to that of the German clarinet.

Development[]

1. roller connection 2. register key with B♭-improvement
normal register key
deep E/F improvement
Reform Boehm clarinet in B♭ (or A), details
3rd ring on the upper joint and key for C(♯) / G(♯) with extension for the right index finger

In the 1940s, the in Erlbach[1] / Vogtland / Saxony based clarinet architect Fritz Wurlitzer, had the idea, Boehm clarinet while retaining the fingering system to change so that their sound became largely the historic and thus also corresponded to the Oehler clarinet. For this purpose, he built a Boehm clarinet with a narrower bore, in which also the cone was reduced,[2] whereby the impairment of the intonation caused by this was compensated by shortening the lower part by a few millimeters and a slightly smaller pitch of the lower tone holes. He also provided this clarinet with a mouthpiece of German design. Finally 1949 the first clarinet of this type, which he called "Reform-Boehm" clarinet",[3] went to a clarinetist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

A reform Boehm clarinet does not have to be visually different from an original Boehm clarinet. For some brands or models, however, there are these differences: 1. The two upper keys for the little finger on the right (for C and E♭) are (as in German clarinets) on the insides with rollers provided. 2. The overblow-key shaped like German clarinets, this means the corresponding tone hole is not on the underside of the clarinet, but on the left side, which instead of a straight requires an upwardly shaped key; this can be associated with an additional automatically opening and closing key to improve the sound of the B♭ at all the intonation of the notes on the upper joint. 3. There is another ring on the upper joint (on the tone hole for the c), so that the E♭/B♭ can also be executed as a fork grip. However, this ring can also be found on normal Boehm clarinets, albeit rarely ("full Boehm"). 4. Extension of the key for the Gis to operate also with the right index finger. 5. Deep E/F improvement. All of the above (taken over or inspired by the German clarinet) improvements can be seen in the illustrations.

Current situation and outlook[]

Initially reform Böhm clarinets were built only by Fritz Wurlitzer and later by his son Herbert Wurlitzer, followed by other manufacturers in Germany (e. g. Leitner & Kraus, Wolfgang Dietz, Harald Hüyng) and Japan (Yamaha). The big French instrument producers showed no interest in this clarinet type. The main buyers were clarinetists in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Japan, but for instruments from the GDR until 1990 also the Eastern bloc; there was and still is a low distribution in the USA.[4]

The quantities sold by the individual manufacturers are likely to be well behind those of their manufactured clarinets with the German system declining, which was probably due to the relatively high prices of these instruments. It was also due to smaller market. Yamaha discontinued production of this type several years ago. The current trend for this system is down (mid-2019). Nevertheless reform Boehm-clarinets are still made by various German manufacturers for lovers of this instrument. Instead of reform Boehm – as already in a work from 2007– "it has recently become increasingly evident that more and more professional clarinettists, in collaboration with instrument makers, are developing individual instruments constructed for the needs of the musicians, based either on the German or the French system."[5][6] Finally, it should be mentioned that – in accordance with the basic idea of Fritz Wurlitzer – the Canadian manufacter Stephen Fox in recent years has newly developed under acoustic aspects clarinets in B♭ and A, wanting „to blend the focus and cleanness of the German sound with the brilliance and projection of the French clarinet, with superior intonation.“ Their development called in a R13 by Buffet Crampom and a Reform Boehm clarinet by Herbert Wurlitzer, from which some of the above-mentioned mechanisms were taken over and supplemented by others.[7]

The decline of reform Boehm is probably due to the fact, that in the last 20 years, the sound conception of the French clarinetists (meaning those who play Boehm clarinets) has changed in the direction of the German sound perception. Producers of Boehm clarinets have influenced this trend with new drilling techniques with the result that today the sound of a modern Boehm clarinet is not far away from that of the reform Boehm clarinet or even that of a German clarinet. If then the clarinetist also uses a German mouthpiece with the appropriate reed, it may be that even trained ears can not discern the difference from a German clarinet. An example would be the soloist Sharon Kam.[8] While ambitious followers of the sound of German clarinets (in cultural orchestras) may welcome this development, from a more independent point of view, one might rather regret the actual global unification or strong rapprochement and associated loss of different soundscapes. The same is the observable worldwide loss of the individual sound of top international orchestras.[9]

References and Notes[]

  1. ^ today a district of Markneukirchen
  2. ^ The conicity of reform Boehm clarinets is about 4.5 mm.
  3. ^ Colin Lawson, The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet, p. 29f, Cambridge University Press, December 14, 1995
  4. ^ Stier, Charles (July–August 1991). "The Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm Clarinet in America". The Clarinet. International Clarinet Society. 18 (4): 18.
  5. ^ Stephanie Angloher l.c., p. 246)
  6. ^ so e.g. here: "Konfigurator Modell 1000/1000+/3000 A/B". on the website of the manufakturer Schwenk & Seggelke.
  7. ^ "Benade Clarinet". www.sfoxclarinets.com.
  8. ^ Stephanie Angloher l.c., p. 140
  9. ^ Detailed on this topic: Stephanie Angloher l.c., p. 221-234

External links[]

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