Klarinet Archive - Posting 000282.txt from 1994/10
From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: David Niethamer on the "right" clarinet
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 1994 15:09:01 -0400
I found David's views on which clarinet to use to be interesting and
thought provoking. I also admit that my opinions (the plural is important)
on this have changed and rechanged over time. (As a side issue, I would
hope that every one of us has the ability to be influenced by changing
circumstances and that our opinions are not carved in concrete.)
Just last evening I played bass clarinet in a performance of Ravel's
Rhapsodie Espagnol. Movements 1 and 2 for B-flat. Movement 3 for A.
Movement 4 for both. And as I rehearsed the work last week, I kept looking
for some clue within the music to tell me why Ravel (who certainly knew
orchestration as well as anyone who lived and who also knew what kind of
a sound character he could expect from every orchestral instrument) suggests
a bass clarinet switch in mid-stream so to speak? It is an easy transposition
on the B-flat. What was his motivation? Did I have to lug a second and
heavy instrument to satisfy some vague sense of performer integrity and duty
to the composer?
As it turns out, this particular part appears to request the changeover
simply to get an extra half-tone lower for a brief passage in both cases
where the A bass is requested. But then additional technical questions
arise. Was the low E-flat on B-flat bass clarinet not available when he
was composing? Did he not know of it's existence (har-de-har-har)? Was
the only reason for the switch to play a low E on A bass (which says that
Ravel must have thought that everyone had such a thing)?
And I am finally left with a pile of goo in attempting to understand Ravel's
motivation. So I drag an extra instrument and feel that I have done a
good deed for Ravel, but in my heart of hearts I would have preferred simply
to transpose the part to avoid the shlep of another 15 pounds of weight.
That a C clarinet has a significantly different character of sound than
a B-flat is clear and unequivocal. That is why Strauss calls for both
C and B-flat clarintets at the same time. He heard the difference. He
exploits those differences.
That an A clarinet has a different character of sound from a B-flat is
not so clear, though some may be able to detect a clear difference. That
a composer uses the A (or B-flat or C) for a specific purpose is unclear.
Is it the character of sound, is it the available extra half-tone, is it
the avoidance of complicated keys? I can find excellent examples of all
three cases, but there are hundreds of other examples which have no
rational justification.
I told the story a month ago of playing the bass clar. part in Lou Harrison's
Symphony on G. It was in C in the bass clef, a transposition that I do not
know. And Harrison was there! So I asked him why he did this thing, expecting
a detailed compositional purpose for his peculiar notation. His answer:
"Didn't the publisher transpose it? Damn, that's dumb. I wrote the whole
score in C."
Bottom line, there probably is no single answer to the question that covers
all eventualities. But unless evidence to the contrary can be found in the
music or its history, it is safe to assume that the composer knew
better what was needed for the piece than I. So when Beethoven says
"Clarinet in C" in the 1st (and 9th) symphony, I figure that he had a good
reason and that is what he gets. When Schubert says (in the C major
symphony) "Clarinet in A" in the second movement, same conclusion. When
Ginastera does his awful thing in the variations, I grab for whatever allows
me to play that thing (which in my case in C clarinet).
So I admit to being duplicitous here. I don't think anyone can be fully
consistent in this respect no matter what side of the bed they sleep on.
But completely ignoring what the composer has said under the assumption
that I know better under all circumstances, is too far a swing to the
right for me. And, except for trumpet and French horn, no one does this
more than clarinet players. We start thinking that we are gods and we
make musical (technical? business?) decisions that we are neither paid to
make or perhaps even qualified to make. ("Play that part on A clarinet. It
sounds better!")
Depending on your point of view, this is either a serious problem or a
serious non-problem.
====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
(leeson@-----.edu)
(dnl2073@-----.edu)
Any of the above three addresses may be used. Take your pick.
====================================
