Klarinet Archive - Posting 000033.txt from 1994/10

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Pauline Minevich's comments on transposition
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 09:09:07 -0400

Pauline is completely correct in her assertion that it is necessary to be
able to transpose at sight. For a bass clarinet player not to be able to
handle bass in A in the bass clef is a serious impediment to one's
professional career. We have no dispute on this issue and I did not sense
anyone disagreeing with her point of view in the multitude of responses
that were received.

Personally, I did A bass transposition for years and then decided, almost
at the end of my career as a player, to buy a bass clarinet in A. I am
glad I did purely for financial considerations. I think I got the last
one since Selmer took it out of their product line after having sold very
few of them. As a result, it is worth a lot more now than when I bought it.

And three weeks ago we did Rachmaninoff 2nd symphony (which
started off this discussion) and I had a wonderful time playing it on the
A bass (as I am going to have in two more weeks when we do a rare work
of Dvorak and in 6 weeks when we do Nutcracker with the Kirov ballet).

But even with the advantage that I have, I still do parts transposition
in advance for a variety of reasons. I mentioned that we had to play
a work of Lou Harrison, the Symphony on G whose bass clarinet part was
in C in the bass clef. Now that is a transposition that I do not know.
So I used my computer to produce the part and then had it automatically
transposed for me. I certainly would not have needed the assistance had
it been for treble clef C bass (though I have never seen one of those,
either), but bass clef C threw me for a loop. Later, Harrison himself told
me it was all a mistake. The publisher should have transposed the part
during the publication process. But they didn't and I was stuck with
the problem. You can get stuck with a lot of problems like that over the
course of a professional career.

I also mentioned that I have trouble with D clarinet parts on E-flat
clarinet and, therefore, I did all the Mahler symphonies that present
that problem (5, for example) on my computer.

I also use the technique for preparing viola parts to be played on
my basset horn whenever we do string quartets. There, I have the
problem both of pitch and clef.

So having the capability of computer preparation of parts simply adds
a new dimension of flexibility to the professional (or amateur) player.
And none of this is inconsistent with Pauline's comments. If she
were to teach her students that parts for A bass are only handled with
a computer, she would be exposing herself to serious pedagogical
criticism, but clearly she does not do this thing. But, on the other
hand, to reject the use of a new tool that adds to one's professionalism
simply because one should be able to transpose, is to ignore the
advantage of technology on our profession.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
(leeson@-----.edu)
(dnl2073@-----.edu)
Any of the above three addresses may be used. Take your pick.
====================================