Klarinet Archive - Posting 000980.txt from 1997/07

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: What Key -- Stranger on the Shore Revisited
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 02:39:09 -0400

On Thu, 31 Jul 1997, Ed Lowry wrote:

> An earlier note stated with authority that Stranger on the Shore (the Acker
> Bilk piece featured in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus) is in Bb. I assume
> that means one playing a Bb clarinet would play it in C, n'est-ce pas?

Likely it was I who said that. I have never seen this piece in print, but
I was merely going by my memory of the sound of it as I heard Mr. Acker
Bilk play it many years ago. I'm quite sure he played in the key of C,
which would be concert Bb.

> My question relates to the fact that the music in this book has it written
> with one flat, which I take to be F. However, maybe it's a minor key,
> perhaps D minor?? How does that translate to playing it in Bb?

In a vocal version, it could be published in any key whatsoever, depending
on the range of the singer. If the original is in Bb, the first two notes
would be octave F's. For many singers, that could be much too high in
their upper octave and much too low in the lower one. Transposition for
this purpose is common. Many songs are published in versions for high
voice, medium voice and low voice, each in different keys. This has not
often been mentioned during our periodic discussions of varying keys on
the effect of music.

(It would not be a minor key in this case, and if you want a pianist to
play the printed music and play along on the clarinet, you will need to
play in G, one sharp, and your first two notes would be written as D
octaves - definitely not the same as the original recorded version.

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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