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.[3]
Products
Clarinets of different moods are produced with the German and the French fingering system as well as those with the Reform Boehm system.[4] With German system (Oehler) 10 models in Bb and A,[5] of which one is a Viennese model with further bore,[6] three models in C, and four in D and high-Es are offered. The lower section is covered by three basset horns in F[3] 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.[3] 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.[7] For the Bb-Clarinet with German System, Model 250, the company received the 2016 German Musical Instrument Award.[8]
While some clarinet makers dispense with the production of mouthpieces, Leitner & Kraus devotes special attention to this important part[9] 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.[3]
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.[3]
^Gisbert 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
