Klarinet Archive - Posting 000137.txt from 1995/06

From: Neil Leupold <Neil_Leupold@-----.COM>
Subj: Re>Tom Izzo's comments
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 12:55:12 -0400

ntouch Memo 06/10/95
Subject:Re>Tom Izzo's comments 9:07 AM
Tom wrote:

"For many years I've been writing (both compositions & arrangements) [of] large
Clarinet choir music for several local choirs. As a composer I write for the
instruments that I want to hear play the part. As a non-clarinetist, I DO NOT
neccessarily write for a A or Bb or C Clarinet because it's easier to play, but
rather what sounds better tonally to me."

While I can appreciate your input as a composer, I think your particular
example is on the fringes of our discussion focus. Yes, you are a composer.
And you are sensitive to the particular timbral differences between the
various-keyed versions. It seems like a very unique, not necessarily
representative, example of choosing one instrument over another - as an
orchestrator -
..._because_your_resources_consist_entirely_of_nothing_but_clarinets_.

It stands plainly to reason that, as a clarinet choir orchestrator, you would
pay close attention to timbral differences between the different types of
clarinet when assigning melody and harmony in your scores. What about standard
orchestral writing, however, where the composer/orchestrator is dealing with
100 instruments' worth of different strings, winds, and percussion? Are
composers of conventional orchestral literature as sensitive to timbral
variances between an A and Bb clarinet as an orchestrator of music written
exclusively for a group of clarinets?

It seems much like eskimos in Alaska, if I may make a comparison. Because
their environment (analogous to "resources of an orchestrator") consists so
predominantly of one thing - snow - their sensitivity to snow is particularly
heightened. Don't they have something like 100 different distinct categories
of snow in their vocabularies? Such a sophisticated understanding of snow, in
all of its permutations of color and consistency, is not an accident and would
not be a very accurate representation of how the general population perceives
snow. The same argument would seem to be applicable to orchestrators of
clarinet choir music if the various clarinets were seen as analogous to the
various types of snow on the Alaskan tundra. I would venture to say that most
people in the general population aren't as sensitive to snow's variations, and
recognize maybe 3 variations: white, yellow, and brown (this is a
simplification, but I think my point is apparent). And, if my logic isn't too
warped, most orchestrators of standard orchestral music (using all of the
resources at their disposal) are not as sensitive to the differences in tone
quality of clarinets as somebody who writes a piece exclusively for clarinets.

I'm posing questions and scenarios here - to Dan and Tom and everybody - as a
means of stimulating discussion for the sake of learning. This is very much a
dialogue of discovery for me since I am not a composer/orchestrator and desire
to access a broader spectrum of our readership for input. Playing the devil's
advocate is just one device for catalyzing such a discussion. I certainly
don't claim to know any of the answers, as such.

- Neil

   
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