Clarinet Flute English Clarionet Flute English Cremona English?

A wooden flute stop of 8' or (according to Irwin) 4' pitch. Most sources describe it as a variety of Rohrflöte. Audsley gives it a medium scale with longer and wider chimneys than the Rohrflöte, lower mouths (1/4 cut-up or less), thin upper lips, and fine, close nicking. Wedgwood gives it a “fairly large” scale. Sumner claims that it is a small scale overblown Gedeckt with a beard; he may have been confused by Wedgwood, who also compares the Clarinet Flute to the Gedeckt, implying (incorrectly) that the Gedeckt has chimneys like a Rohrflöte. Irwin claims that it is sometimes open, and has no standard pipe form.

The tone of the Clarinet Flute is reedy and reminiscent of that of the orchestral clarinet, but Audsley finds the resemblance too remote to justify the name. Hopkins & Rimbault write “the tone is very rarely even or equal throughout the stop”, and Wedgwood reports that the tone is difficult to preserve and control. The latter also states that the stop was probably invented by Gray & Davison. Other builders who made this stop include Bishop, Estey, and Odell.

Examples

All known examples are listed below.

Clarinet Flute 8', Swell; Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne, Dorset, England; Gray & Davison 1856.

Clarinet Flute 8', Great; Troy Savings Bank Musical Hall, Troy, New York, USA; Odell 1882.

Clarinet Flute 8', Gallery-Swell; St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, New York, USA; Kilgen 1930.

Clarionet Flute 8', Choir; City Hall, Glasgow, Scotland; Gray & Davison 1853, 1855 (replaced 1905).

Clarionet Flute 8', Great; Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Hastings, Michigan, USA; Odell 1867. (Formerly in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan; restored late 1900's?)

Clarionet Flute 8', Manual; First Congregational Church, Chester, New Jersey, USA; Odell 1873.

Bibliography