Klarinet Archive - Posting 000654.txt from 1997/01

From: thehat@-----.org
Subj: Which clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 16:02:35 -0500

In a message dated 01-28-97 INTERNET: leeson@-----.FH wrote to ** ALL **:
Il> Nowhere is this more true than in the Russian editions of music in
Il> which the composer takes advantage of a particular kind of clarinet
Il> (available and common in Russia) but which rarely exists in the US
Il> and thus requires some modifcation. The best known example of this
Il> is Peter and the Wolf which, in the original, is for clarinet in
Il> B-flat with extension down to low E-flat. For those of you who have
Il> played this on A clarinet for years, be aware that this is not what
Il> Prokoffief wrote. The famous "cat" solo starts on low E, going as
Il> follows: "Solo music of the cat" E A C# A E E-flat ... etc.

Well, Dan, I haven't seen Prokofieff's manuscript, but since he did his
manuscripts in short-score (very detailed) and then let others make them into
full scores, I am not sure that prokofieff specified which clarinet he
intended for this piece. In another instance, he used several saxophones in a
work called "Ode to the end of the War." Each saxophone part goes to a low
"a;" not an available note. It is possible that the copyist who expanded
Prokofieffs short score was the one who chose the key of the clarinet part. I
have no specific information on this, I am only hypothesising. Anyone have
the real information?

-> Alice4Mac 2.5d3 E QWK Eval:04Feb96
Origin: Alice strikes back =