Klarinet Archive - Posting 000471.txt from 1996/07

From: Tom Labadorf <Labadorf@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Clarinet Jobs & Brahms in Band
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 15:05:37 -0400

On July 22, Dan Paprocki said,
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One other point - hold the flamethrowers all you band people - it is
a band. First, I must defend myself. I'll match almost anyone in years put
in playing in a band, wind ensemble, etc. I've played alot in bands
throughout my life and do feel they fill a great nitch in music performance
and education. But you don't play Brahms in a band. All my studying of
orchestral pieces and literature would be irrelevant if I were in a band.
Also, talk to a violinist in an orchestra and see how they feel after playing
in a section with 9 other players on the same part for 10 years. It does get
boring from conversations with fiddle friends. The bottom line is you do get
paid for playing your instrument but it's not an orchestra.

Let 'em fly

Dan
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As a member of one of this nation's premier military bands, I would have to
agree with Dan about the performance of certain transcriptions of orchestra
music for band. Brahms, along with just about any other Classical/Romantic
orchestra composer, should be left alone. One of my particular bugaboos is
Mozart transcriptions for band. But this is not to say that no orchestra
music will work as a band transcription. There are some works, mostly 20th
c., that work well. The difference is that while the strings are the real
center of an orchestra in the Classical/Romantic orchestra, the 20th c.
orchestra relies more extensively on the use of the wind and percussion
sections therefore diluting the importance of the strings.

There are no hard and fast rules about which orchestra pieces work best for
transcriptions. But one thing is certain, and Dan is right about this: bands
and orchestras are two completely different performance media. To illustrate
my point to an obsurdity, I wouldn't want to hear a version of a late
Beethoven string quartet performed by a jazz combo. If you want to transcribe
anything, the transcriber must imagine how the band can best represent the
music, and not which instrument can best imitate strings. In some cases, it
would be better to transcribe a work from a piano reduction than from the
full score just so you wouldn't be tempted to give the clarinet section all
the violin parts.

Someone else mentioned (I'm sorry I forgot your name) the value of these
transcriptions as teaching tools. That is a different situation, but she
makes a very good point. Working up a transcription of Brahms Haydn
Variations, for example, may be the only exposure some kids have to this
music (unless, of course, you play them a recording). Performance is in
itself a teaching tool. Combining these tools is an efficient way of dealing
with limited student/teacher exposure. However, performance experience is not
an issue with a professional bands. As an example, I own a number of Jamie
Abersol's Jazz book and CD sets, but I would never consider using them as a
performance medium.

I hope I expressed my position clearly. Dan, do you and I agree on this
issue? If so, we can both brave the flames together.

Tom L.
Clarinetist, U. S. Coast Guard Band
Labadorf@-----.com