At 13:52 10.6.2002 -0000, Sarrusophone Moderator wrote:
>
>Hello,
>
>Welcome to the Sarrusophone Mailing List. Please take a moment to
>review this message.
>
>Since this is a very low-traffic site, you may wish to start some
>conversation by introducing yourself to the rest of us. Tell us where
>you're from, your background with sarrusophones (if any), what your
>interest is, and any other details that would help introduce you to
>us. In that way, we can all get to know each other better, and
>perhaps get a good discussion of our beloved instrument going.

As requested, I am posting a few words about my interest in this
instrument. I simply consider that the sonoric quality of the contrabass
sarrusophone would be the best solution to enhance the bass of the woodwind
group in a symphony orchestra. The sound quality of the double bassoon is
not adequate - you only have to listen to a symphony of Brahms, for
example, with a score at hand to detect that actually almost nothing is
heard from the double bassoon. When the general volume is more than mp,
then the sound of the double bassoon is entirely masked by the other
instruments.

However, there could be some other solutions than the sarrusophone - i.e.
the bass saxophone (in my experience, almost a similar rarity as the
sarrusophone), and the contrabass clarinet (I just heard that there indeed
exist perhaps two of those in this country, but I have never heard the
sound of this instrument).

I have personally been thinking, out of pure spite, to write a piece for a
symphony orchestra with a part for "reed contrabass", with a footnote that
this part should be realized primarily by the contrabass sarrusophone, if
none is available, by the bass saxophone, if neither is available, by the
contrabass clarinet, and if neither is available, only for the last resort,
by the double bassoon. Of course, properly written parts for each of these
instruments should be attached (i.e. for sarrusophone in Eb, bass sax in
Bb, cb. clar. either in Bb or Eb, and double bassoon in C).

I have never heard a sarrusophone being played in a live performance, and
my knowledge of the instrument is based on descriptions found in literary
sources as well as the sound clips I have been able to gather from the
internet. Still I am pretty sure that its quality of sound would be
unbeatable. It sounds far better than the double bassoon, and fairly better
than the bass sax, and still blends well with the rest of the orchestra.
You cannot properly describe the sound once heard it - it is so phantastic.

Currently, I don't play any reed instruments. But I have been considering
to start with an oboe (the sound of the saxes is something that I don't
especially like). Then, if some day a sarrusophone comes available, and I
have got the necessary funds, I will most likely purchase one.

By the way, in your experience, is there much difference between the sounds
of cb. sarrusophones played with double-reed / single-reed mouthpieces, and
does switching to or from double-/single-reed require irreversible
modifications in the instrument itself? The latter being the case, would
you suggest considering a double- or a single-reed version of the instrument?


Sincerely,


Jopi Harri, musicologist, composer, Turku, Finland