Baumann, Jean Jacques

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(fl Paris, France, c1791–1827). French woodwind instrument maker. In 1803–4 he worked at 282 rue St Honoré, Paris, and from 1809 to 1827 at 23 rue de la Bibliothèque. Surviving instruments include flageolets, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and a bass horn. Baumann reportedly advertised contrabassoons and bass serpents in 1825, and his keyed serpent was praised in 1835 in Hermenges’s serpent tutor. He is particularly notable for his varied range of clarinets (in E♭, C, B♭, A, and high F), with five to 12 square keys. Pillar-mounted, the sixth key was a closed key for c♯′/g♯′′, as required by the player Jean Xavier Lefèvre in his clarinet tutor. Sets of six-key clarinets in B♭ and C with corps de rechange for A and B♮, and two early Muller-system clarinets survive in private collections. Jean Jacques Baumann is often confused with the horn player Joseph Baumann....