A visit with Benedikt Eppelsheim

The music community was stunned and deeply saddened by the untimely and recent passing of Benedikt Eppelsheim. Benedikt was both a genius and innovator in woodwind design, manufacture and craftsmanship. His instruments set new standards both in pushing the boundaries of what wind players thought possible as well as creating instruments ingeniously made, expertly crafted and amazingly easy to play.
In 2018, while appearing with the Zurich-based Swiss Saxophone Orchestra as soloist and conductor, I had the good fortune to visit Benedikt in his shop. The visit was organized by Peter Schmid, an extraordinary contemporary woodwind player and also a member of the Swiss Saxophone Orchestra. Both of us own and perform on a number of Eppelsheim instruments. On November 5, Peter drove the three of us (including my wife, Jeannie) to Munich, Germany for an afternoon visit.
We spent many hours at his shop learning more than we could possibly understand about Benedikt and his amazing instruments. While there, Peter and I saw the C Kyhlbass prototype tucked away high on a shelf, and we prevailed upon Benedikt to let us try it. Peter and I were stunned by the uniqueness of the instrument, both in sound, size and versatility. The result, after a lot of discussion and persuasion, was that Benedict agreed to make a C Kyhlbass for each of us. 18 months later (just at the start of the Covid lockdown) mine arrived in the United States. There are some Facebook posts in which the instrument is demonstrated.
Jeannie took photos and videos of our visit, but we did not realize the extent of her documentation until we reviewed them last week. We were surprised to find so many video clips of Benedikt working while describing his craft. I’ve put these together as a tribute to Benedikt. Not only is it fascinating to watch Eppelsheim at work, but I’m hoping this tribute may offer greater insight into this brilliant, humble and generous soul.
Paul Cohen