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Clarinet in B-flat

ca. 1960
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 684
The great clarinetist Benny Goodman purchased this Boehm-system clarinet in 1964 and customized it with a Boosey & Hawkes ebonite mouthpiece, interchangeable barrel, and bell section from other sources. Goodman played this clarinet in many concerts and recordings including his last recording, made shortly before his death in 1986. A photograph by Steve J. Sherman of Goodman’s last recording session shows him holding this instrument; he marked the barrel with white tape to distinguish it from a second barrel stored in the same case.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Clarinet in B-flat
  • Maker: Buffet, Crampon & Cie. (founded 1859) (mouthpiece)
  • Date: ca. 1960
  • Geography: Paris, France
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Grenadilla, nickel-silver, plastic, other materials
  • Dimensions: 26 1/8 × 3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (66.4 × 7.9 × 7.9 cm)
  • Classification: Aerophone-Reed Vibrated-single reed cylindrical
  • Credit Line: Gift of William F. Hyland, in memory of Theodore and Margaret Hyland, his parents, 1998
  • Object Number: 1998.457
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

More Artwork

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Benny Goodman from TV and Radio Stars Exhibit Cards series (W409), Commercial photolithograph
Benny Goodman from TV and Radio Stars Exhibit Cards series (W409)
ca. 1935–45
Benny Goodman from TV and Radio Stars Exhibit Cards series (W409), Commercial color photolithograph
Benny Goodman from TV and Radio Stars Exhibit Cards series (W409)
ca. 1935–40
Benny Goodman from Mutoscope Music Corporation of America series (W409), International Mutoscope Reel Company, Commercial photolithograph
Benny Goodman from Mutoscope Music Corporation of America series (W409)
International Mutoscope Reel Company
ca. 1935–40
Clarinet in B-flat
Buffet, Crampon & Cie.
1924
Clarinet in B-flat, Buffet, Crampon & Cie. French, grenadilla (dalbergia melanoxylon), silver, cork, French
Clarinet in B-flat
Buffet, Crampon & Cie.
ca. 1860–65

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