Klarinet Archive - Posting 000492.txt from 1997/01

From: Martin PERGLER <pergler@-----.EDU>
Subj: Pieces awkward on a specific clarinet
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 13:52:32 -0500

Fred Duerr writes:
>Has anyone thought that the Albert system (which was in vogue when many of
>the musical works in question were written) is practically impossible to
>play in certain keys?
>
>And, perhaps the composer used a particular clarinet solely to make the part
>"lay right" for the clarinettist?

How about writing a part to deliberately "lay (lie?) wrong" on a clarinet.
A few years back there was a discussion on this list on Prokofiev's
Overture on Hebrew Themes. People observed that this was based on klezmer
style and could (should) be played in this way...not with a staid,
conservative, "perfectly balanced tone" approach.

I changed the way I play this piece as a result of this discussion. A
small part of the change is that I now take delight in the awkward
transitions around the throat register, rather than trying to hide them
(of course, everything within reason). It certainly *seems possible* that
Prokofiev *could have* written the parts to deliberately "lie badly" in
this way on the clarinet, for deliberate effect. I'm not arguing Bb/A
here.

First, does anyone actually know if this *was* the case in the OHT? How
about other examples of pieces demonstrably or putatively deliberately
"lying badly" on the clarinet. Or (to get back to the present discussion),
are there pieces where a composer used a specific (A or Bb) clarinet, not
for real or imagined tonal difference, but for a deliberately "awkward"
effect?

Martin

-------------------------------------------------------
Martin Pergler pergler@-----.edu
Grad student, Mathematics http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~pergler
Univ. of Chicago