Klarinet Archive - Posting 000235.txt from 1997/01

From: FROM ME MAN <musicandkeyclub@-----.com>
Subj: Re: How much opinion vs. how much fact
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 23:08:54 -0500

Then, what do we do in cases when we come to music that requires a
clarinet in "c"...i.e. "Ouverture zur Oper 'Die lustigen Weiber von
Windsor" by Otto Nicolai.

This message is not meant to defend anyone...just a simple question that
happens to be pertinent to this conversation ;-)

Kenneth Chin
New York Youth Symphony
Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division
http://www.geocities.com/South Beach/7413/index.html (Constantly
UPDATED!!!)

On Sat, 18 Jan 1997 15:32:01 EST "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu"
<leeson@-----.edu> writes:
>Dave Blumberg of Pennsylvania responds to a question about the use
>of clarinets in Brahms 3. He states: "The opening of the Brahms 3rd
>is best played transposed on A clarinet" and he suggests that if one
>trys this, then the person will like it.
>
>I have no doubt that Dave believes what he wrote but I would think
>that, on reflection, he might say it as "For me, the opening of the
>Brahms 3rd is ..."
>
>The issue is what does Brahms say and what do clarinet players feel
>that they may do? Now we have been around this circle before but
>it has been a long time and some of the newer members may not know
>that there are views on this matter diametrically opposed to the
>one expressed by Dave, me for one. So I'll give my view - which is
>nothing more or less than my opinion - and then shut up:
>
> Clarinetists (in general, all instrumentalists) have no
> business making arbitrary substitution of one pitched
> instrument for another, particularly in the face of an
> explicit request on the part of a composer with an
> unusually good ear, which is what Brahms is reported to
> have. When arbitrary substitutions are made, the impact
> on the sonic palette that the composer hears when s/he
> composes is altered to some unknown degree. And if one
> can substitute an A clarinet for some other pitched
> instrument with impunity, why not a tenor saxophone for
> a clarinet in B-flat, or an English horn for a basset
> horn?
>
>I am done. I'll shut up for the moment.
>
>
>
>====================================
>Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
>(leeson@-----.edu)
>====================================
>