Hoeprich & Historical Clarinet: Searching for and Finding the Genuine Article

DSM: The performance of Nachtmusique at the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) illuminated several aspects of historical wind performance practice. Eric Hoeprich took a moment during the performance to explain to the audience the construction of 18th century clarinets and bassoons. Having only 5 keys, these instruments compel the performer to use a wide array of exotic “alternate” fingerings in order to realize the whole chromatic scale. And, as a result of these fingerings, the varying segments of the shaft of the instrument that are open, patterns of open tone-holes, and so on — the physics of the air column and the timbre of the instrument are tremendously different, not just across the registers but within each octave and from note to note. The timbral texture of the music is strikingly different when played on these period instruments, compared to performances of these same pieces on modern instruments. Fascinating – as well as beautiful!

• Nachtmusique (Eric Hoeprich, clarinets; Toni Salar-Verdú, clarinets; Javier Zafra & Eyal Streett, bassoon; Erwin Wieringa & Gijs Laceulle, horn; Gonzalo Ruiz, oboe; Kristian Bezuidenhout, harpsichord)
  
• Mozart, selections from Die Zauberflöte, K. 620
  
• Mozart, Quintett in E-flat, K. 452
  
• Duvernoy, Allegro pour deux cors
  
• Kreutzer, Allegro pour deux clarinettes
  
• Weyse, Allegro pour deux bassoons
  
• Beethoven, Sextett op. 71

CMT: Eric Hoeprich is a founding member of several chamber music groups, such as Nachtmusique, which features these wind instruments of the 18th century (not just clarinets, but basset horns and other exotics). He also collaborates with the Salomon Quartet, Artaria Quartet, Festitecs Quartet, Aston Magnon, Turner Quartet, Apponyo Quartet, Da Camara Houston and other chamber groups. Besides his performing, Eric is on the faculty at Conservatoire de Paris and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and lectures in Oxford and Cambridge, several American universities and conservatories in Brussels, Oslo, and Würzburg.

DSM: Eric has a new book published this year by Yale University Press, on clarinet history and performance practice. Richard Taruskin once wrote “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.” But that was 15 years ago, and Taruskin’s once notorious views can now be applied not only to performance practice but to the instruments themselves. Eric’s passion for old instruments induced him to collect clarinets of the 18th and 19th century. Particularly interesting in his collection is the instrument of Heinrich Baermann for which Carl von Weber wrote his concerti opp. 73 and 74, and for which Mozart composed his concerto for clarinet KV 622 and his quintet KV 581. Sometimes, when it proves impossible to use old instruments, Eric Hoeprich plays on copies he makes himself. Eric’s attention to historical detail is exacting – he is clearly a purist. But his scholarship and high standards for authenticity don’t drive the life out of his subject.

CMT: I loved his remarks to the audience last night “How would Mozart feel about such a copy? Well, we have to acknowledge that these designs were, for Mozart and his contemporaries, ‘modern’ instruments in their day. And I’m not sure that Baermann or Lotz would necessarily have wanted to play a 250 year-old clarinet.”

DSM: There are quite noticeable differences between the technique of French and German clarinetists, and Hoeprich’s playing is faithful to these – as part of his historicism. By 1800, some specific, national characteristics in clarinet design had emerged, and he has published analyses of French and German instruments and given talks on these in recent symposia. In Paris, Frédéric Berr, for example, cited specific local clarinet makers in his Traité of 1836, as did several others, such as Fröhlich in Würzburg, Backofen in Darmstadt and Fahrbach in Vienna. With Hoeprich’s and Rice’s and Lawson’s and others’ careful study, the history of these wind instruments now approaches the depth characterizing strings, piano, and other instruments.

CMT: These books are a joy to read and a wonderful companion to the recordings and live performances. Bravo!

• Eric Hoeprich, represented by Satirino Agency
  
• Eric Hoeprich, Goldberg website
  
• Eric Hoeprich, GlossaMusic website
  
• Museum of Musical Instruments (Royal Museums of Art and History), Brussels, Belgium
  
• Clarinets in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments
  
• Butt J. Playing with History: The Historical Approach to Musical Performance. Oxford Univ, 2002.
  
• Gibson J. Advanced Intonation Technique for Clarinets. JB, 2006.
  
• Gibson J. Advanced Clarinet Technique. JB, 2003.
  
• Goehr L. The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works. Oxford Univ, 1994.
  
• Hoeprich E. The Clarinet. Yale Univ, 2007.
  
• Hoeprich E. Mozart, Brahms: Clarinet Quintets. (Glossa, 2006.)
  
• Hoeprich E. Nachtmusique: Gran Partita. (Glossa, 2002.)
  
• Hoeprich E, et al. Mozart: Three Quartets. (Classical Express, 2002.)
  
• Hoeprich E, et al. Krommer: Nachtmusik. (Glossa, 2001.)
  
• Hoeprich E, et al. Mozart: Three Quintets. (Classical Express, 2001.)
  
• Hoeprich E. Mozart: Complete Wind Concerti. (Music Masters, 1997.)
  
• Hoeprich E, et al. Mozart: Divertimenti I & III, K439b. (Harmonia Mundi, 1996.)
  
• Hoeprich E, et al. Mozart Quintets. (Harmonia Mundi, 1993.)
  
• Lawson C. The Early Clarinet: A Practical Guide. Cambridge Univ, 2000.
  
• Rice A. The Clarinet in the Classical Period. Oxford Univ, 2003.
  
• Rice A. The Baroque Clarinet. Oxford Univ, 2003.
  
• Taruskin R. Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance. Oxford Univ, 1995.
  
• In Search of Mozart website