Klarinet Archive - Posting 000259.txt from 1996/03

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <mcheramy@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Don Yungkurth's comments on C clarinets and transposition
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 1996 11:50:38 -0500

>When I played in New York, I invariably wound up playing second to a
>wonderful player who owned only one clarinet, in A. He was born in
>a small village in Italy and his family could only afford one
>clarinet. He played everything on that instrument and he did so with
>such ease and such elegance that I was in awe at his ability to do
>that. He said that it was all due to his training in solfeggio.
>
>
>====================================
>Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
>(leeson@-----.edu)
>====================================

Good grief! I've never heard of anyone doing everything on A. I did study
with an ancient Italian in Chile fifteen years ago, who told me when he was
my age and studying in Italy they had to learn to read "the seven clefs",
ie do solfeggio in any clef or transposition, and that it was standard
practise to play everything on a B flat clarinet with low E flat.

Ahh... the good old days (not)

LGB