Klarinet Archive - Posting 000124.txt from 1995/06

From: thehat@-----.ORG
Subj: B-flat vs. A
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 1995 19:55:37 -0400

Il> I was studying the score of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a
Il> Faun this spring and my mouth dropped open when I saw that he had
Il> given the first clarinet a big two beats to change instruments, just
Il> before a solo passage.

This is a classic example of the need to be able to transpose easily into
b-flat, c or a from either b-flat or A clarinet. I transpose constantly,
especially if there is very little of one horn in a concert or 1/2 of a
concert. Although this may be "incorrect" musicalogically, the benifits of
consistant intonation and convenience cannot be overlooked.

Another passage with a difficult change is the first A clarinet solo in
Brahms 3. Brahms originally wrote the solo in b-flat, but someone pointed
out how much better it would be on "a" and he changed the score. Because
the change involves TWO solos,one on either instrument, one really has to
have an assistant play a few whole note chords in the 1st clarinet part
while the change os being made. With the Debussy, one simply changes at
points other than those specified by Debussy and transposes.

There are a zillion other examples of passages and solos that are
routinely transposed for convenience, sound quality or ease of execution,
including Shostakovich 5, spots in Don Juan, etc.

-David Hattner

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This copy of Freddie 1.2.5 is being evaluated.