Klarinet Archive - Posting 000077.txt from 1996/03

From: Jacqueline G Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: C clarinets, continued
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 1996 11:57:25 -0500

Hi again, Dan,

I happen to think it would be optimal to use the indicated horn for the
music -- after all, many composers specified horns for reasons of sound
quality, not just technical (key signature) purposes. But just how
practical is that in real life?

1) Assuming there are two clarinet parts, both players really need to
use the same pitch horn or it just won't work.

2) The added expense of first purchasing and then maintaining another
horn could be prohibitive -- that ties in with #1 above also.

3) The opera we just did ("Don Pasquale") had horn changes indicated on
virtually every page. Constantly having to switch horns in a dark pit
would be rather risky -- although I have perfected a technique for
yanking the mouthpiece off INTACT and within the span of four average
measures! Temperature changes would also cause problems here.

4) We'd all have to practice LOTS more to keep in shape on each of three
(or four, for me -- or 10 for you!!). Actually, that would probably be a
good incentive, at least at the beginning....

What say you to this? Just want to keep the discussion going...

Jacqueline Eastwod
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu

On Mon, 4
Mar 1996, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> There have been a spate of postings on this list about the use of C
> clarinets, but if I may be presumptuous to attempt to classify them,
> they fall into to arenas.
>
> The first, exemplified by David Neithamer, myself, and many others,
> suggest that there is little justification in arbitrary substitution
> of an A or B-flat clarinet for a C because of issues of tonal balance,
> no matter what the composer's reasons for using the instrument were.
>
> The second, suggests that there is no reason not to transpose C
> parts onto whichever clarinet is the most logical, and that the instrument
> has little purpose in contemporary performance.
>
> I am not going to argue or reargue the issues involved here. That has
> been done enough times that re-doing it now would serve no useful purpose.
> But I do want to mention an excellent article on this subject as found
> in "The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet," edited by Colin Lawson and
> published by Cambridge University Press. The price in the UK is 14.95
> pounds (forgive me English brethren, I don't have the British currency
> symbol in the character set).
>
> The book contains a number of excellent articles and I recommend them all,
> but the one to the point of the C clarinet is by Colin Lawson and is
> one of two parts entitled "The clarinet family," with part 1 devoted to
> the B-flat and A clarinets, and part 2 to the C clarinet.
>
> I quote only the first sentence so that you can see the direction that
> the article takes: "The C clarinet's relatively low profile during the
> twentieth century is highly regrettable, since the instrument has been
> specified by a vast range of composers and can bring its own special
> musical rewards."
>
> The recent posting by another "Dan" on this list suggested that the
> sound of the C clarinet was an amalgam of the E-flat in its higher
> register to the B-flat in its lower one. I suggested that this was
> an opinion with which I was not in agreement and Dan has not posted
> on the subject since. I hope that he does. It was of value to me to
> hear what others thought about a subject on which I have well-formed
> (but not imobile) positions.
>
> But if a highly inflammatory statement will ignite the discussion once
> again, I offer it now: it is arrogant of clarinetists to presume that
> they have any authority whatsoever to ignore a composer's request for
> a specifically pitched clarinet, and to substitute at will some other
> pitched clarinet of his or her choice. At the heart of that arrogance
> is the assumption that the player knows better than the composer what
> the composer really wanted, needed, or meant.
>
> Like all extreme statements, this one too has exceptions, but one does
> not ignite discussion with inoccuous, kissy-kissy assertions.
>
>
>
> ====================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> (leeson@-----.edu)
> ====================================
>