Leitner & Kraus is a German clarinet manufacturer based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria.Musical Life in Germany, 2019, p. 236Gisbert König, Eine Reise durch die deutsche Klarinettenbaulandschaft (A journey through the German clarinet making landscape) in 'rohrblatt - die Zeitschrift für Oboe, Klarinette, Saxophon und Fagott (the magazine for oboe, clarinet, saxophone and bassoon) 38 (2023), vol. 3 p. 49 ff, here p. 56 f Leitner & Kraus GmbH Overview The company was founded in 1993 by Josef Leitner and Wolfgang Kraus. In 2001 the company expanded its production and moved to new facilities. As of 2019, Leitner & Kraus employs 15 people.Website
Products
Clarinets of different moods are produced with the German and the French fingering system as well as those with the Reform Boehm system.Eric Hoeprich, The Clarinet, Yale University Press, 2008, p. 211, 212 With German system (Oehler) 10 models in Bb and A, of which one is a Viennese model with further bore,The other models in Bb and A are also made on request with the Vienna bore. three models in C, and four in D and high-Es are offered. The lower section is covered by three basset horns in F and three long bass clarinets ranging to low-C. With the French system (Boehm) the company manufactures four models in Bb and A, with the reform Boehm system six models in Bb and A, a Bassett clarinet in Bb and A and three models in C, D and Es, as well as a basset horn in F. The instruments are made to order, using grenadilla wood, on special request also from cocobolo.
For the German models the company developed a new patented A-Bb-Enhancement.Publication and description For the Bb-Clarinet with German System, Model 250, the company received the 2016 German Musical Instrument Award.Wolfgang Schicker: Award for Middle Franconian Workshop, 8. April 2016
While some clarinet makers dispense with the production of mouthpieces, Leitner & Kraus devotes special attention to this important partBlasmusik (Online-magazine), 20. Juni 2009, New mouthpieces by Leitner and Kraus and offers a configurator for the right choice of mouthpiece on its website. There are mouthpieces for German and French clarinets, with different track lengths and web openings, made of “Zelltec”, a composite material, and of "cast wood" (linea verde), a material developed by the company.
The instruments of Leitner & Kraus are mainly sold in Germany. 20 to 25% of the production is spread over several European countries, the US and China.
References
External links
Website Poulenc on a clarinet by Leitner & Kraus played by Wenzel Fuchs (Berliner Philharmoniker)