Klarinet Archive - Posting 000007.txt from 1995/06

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Weird keys, emotional keys, colored keys
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 15:05:42 -0400

On Thu, 1 Jun 1995, Thomas Labadorf wrote:

> goes: Band transcribers, especially from early 1900's, commonly transposed
> keys of many orchestral works so that the entire clarinet section wouldn't
> have to play string parts in E or B major. That's OK in most cases, but I
> know of one transcription of the Mozart Concerto in A transcribed into Bb
> concert to facilitate the music for ... the.. .. (here it goes)
> EUPHONIUMIST! I know a euphoniumist who's done it. Here is a case where an
> Oli North style shredder can come in handy.
>

I can understand changing the key for a band transcription. About 100
years ago, my high band played a movement of the Mozart concert
transcribed and transposed into B-flat. But, in my original post, I was
asking about a concert in which I saw an entire symphony orchestra on the
stage playing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. The strings didn't appear to
sound ... (well) ... different while they were playing the theme before
the clarinet entered.

I suppose it's possible that Stoltzman was playing everything on an A
clarinet. But since it's unlikely that Rhapsody in Blue had been
transposed for the entire orchestra, the clarinet gliss at the beginning
would be ... (well) ... different transposed up a half-step for the A
clarinet.

--Mitch Bassman