Klarinet Archive - Posting 000910.txt from 1997/05

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Use of different key clarinets
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 16:14:43 -0400

On Sat, 31 May 1997, Keith P Koons wrote:

> To continue this discussion of the reasons composers chose to write for
> different instruments, let us consider the French horn family. In the
> days before valves, composers would write for different keyed horns
> [....]
> I suppose the use of different keyed trumpets would also be relevant.
> Most of the trumpet players I have talked to seem to use the most
> expedient keyed trumpet for orchestral parts, not necessarily the one
> specified on the part.
> [....]

A similar circumstance would relate to the tuba. All tuba parts are
written non-transposed, as if intended to be played on the tuba in C.
However, most orchestral have more than one tuba available, and depending
on the requirements of the task at hand, may choose to play on tuba in C,
Bb, Eb, or F. I have never heard a conductor suggest to a tuba player
which instrument they should play.

The same generally is true for trumpets. Most of us have probably seen a
trumpet player come to a rehearsal with a "suitcase" full of 3, 4 or more
trumpets. The favored instrument for orchestral playing is the trumpet in
C. However, a player might choose to use a Bb (not really very likely, as
many of them feel that the Bb is a "band" and "jazz" instrument), a
trumpet in D or Eb, or a piccolo trumpet in A or Bb, among several other
possibilities. The choice of instrument is for the player to make, based
not only on technical requirements, but also on the players desire to
produce a particular tone quality.

If the music in question was written in the Baroque, classical or early
romantic period, and even extending quite late into the 19th century for
many composers, the part would not necessarily be in the key of any of the
instruments mentioned above. The player would be expected to make the
necessary transposition for whatever instrument he/she has chosen to use.

I know of a few exceptions to all this. One exists in the orchestra in
which I play. Our conductor believes that the trumpet players should use
rotary valve instruments in music of Mozart, Beethoven, and other
composers from about the same period. The orchestra purchased a couple of
these instruments, and I can report that most of our trumpet players dread
to see music on the program for which they expect that the conductor is
going to mention the dreaded term, "rotary valve." There are a couple of
problems: one of these instruments is a trumpet in C, while the other is
in Bb. This further complicates the intonation problems which the players
are going to have anyway due to playing on instruments other than their
own. Another rather curious thing to me is that none of the rest of us
are expected to play on "period" instruments. Even if we did, the
likelihood is that we would tend to do what our trumpet players do, and
that is produce a tone quality which is much like the sound we have in our
ears from years of playing on more modern instruments.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention - probably in part due to the fact that the
players don't play regularly on these instruments, almost no one can tell
which instrument they are using unless they turn around and look at the
valves. Those of us in the woodwind section, who have to sit in the
"direct line of fire" of the trumpet section, can usually tell the
difference, because when playing on the supposedly less penetrating rotary
valved instruments, the trumpets tend to sound even more "blatty" and
piercing than on their regular ones. I'm pretty old, but I can report
that I was not alive during the lifetime of either Mozart or Beethoven.
However, my musical instincts, however accurate they may or may not be,
tell me that these composers would not have expected or liked a tone such
as many modern players produce on these instruments.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu