Klarinet Archive - Posting 000231.txt from 1997/01

From: thehat@-----.org
Subj: How much opinion vs. how
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 21:20:48 -0500

In a message dated 01-18-97 INTERNET: leeson@-----.FH wrote to ** ALL **:
Il> Clarinetists (in general, all instrumentalists) have no
Il> business making arbitrary substitution of one pitched
Il> instrument for another, particularly in the face of an
Il> explicit request on the part of a composer with an unusually
Il> good ear, which is what Brahms is reported to have. When
Il> arbitrary substitutions are made, the impact on the sonic
Il> palette that the composer hears when s/he composes is altered
Il> to some unknown degree. And if one can substitute an A
Il> clarinet for some other pitched instrument with impunity, why
Il> not a tenor saxophone for a clarinet in B-flat, or an English
Il> horn for a basset

Dan, we HAVE discussed this before, and I belive that I pointed out at that
time the reason that there is no time for the clarinet change in this
symphony. Brahms originally wrote the whole section for the b-flat clarinet.
Someone, presumably a clarinetist, suggested to him that the passage worked
better on the A clarinet. Brahms changed the passage accordingly. Thus, the
only way to play this movement without either transposing the opening or
having an assistant play some of the bars just before the solo in 9/4 time is
to switch in a few beats.

It seems to me if Brahms were so inflexible about his choice of b-flat or a
clarinet, he would have refused to change the score in the first place or
changed the key of the symphony.

David Hattner
clarinetist-at-large, NYC
-> Alice4Mac 2.5d3 E QWK Eval:04Feb96
Origin: Hat's Nut House

   
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