Klarinet Archive - Posting 000052.txt from 1997/03

From: "David C. Blumberg" <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Schumann Three Romances -- A or Bb?
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 18:55:50 -0500

It was written for Oboe. We transcribed it for Clarinet.

At 04:01 PM 3/2/97 -0600, Gary Young wrote:
>Did Schumann write the 3 Romances (op 94) for A or Bb clarinet? Or both? Or
>neither?
>
>The New Grove entry says: "3 Romanzen, ob (vn/cl ad lib), pf," which means
>(if it is correct) that Schumann intended this piece to be played on some
>clarinet. But the entry leaves it unclear whether Schumann had a
>particular clarinet in mind, and also leaves unclear whether Schumann wrote
>out any clarinet version(s), or simply expected the clarinet player to read
>from the oboe part.
>
>The books by Brymer and Thurston (4th ed.) don't even mention this piece.
> Pino's book lists it but does not specify A or Bb. The edition I have,
>"revised" by Yona Ettlinger, contains both A and Bb parts, and the
>non-piano line in the piano part is marked simply "inst." There is no
>indication of the nature of the original that was "revised." The only
>recording of this I have is by Stoltzman and Goode, and the liner notes
>indicate that the piece is played in a transcription not of the composer's
>own devising, without naming the deviser.
>
>The piece plays much better on A than Bb, or so it seems to me. But that
>hardly decides the question of Schumann's intent. Maybe he thought it
>sounded better on Bb, if he thought about it at all.
>
>I'm sure all this has been explained somewhere, if I only knew where to
>look. But I'm at a dead end. So here are my questions:
>
>Did Schumann himself intend the 3 Romances to be played on clarinet as well
>as oboe? How do we know? If so, did he specify a clarinet, A or Bb or D
>or C or contrabass or... ? Did he write out any clarinet part? Or did he
>leave that for others to do? On what clarinet should we play these pieces?
> Or doesn't it matter?
>
>
David C. Blumberg
Principal Clarinet Riverside Symphonia
reedman@-----.com