Klarinet Archive - Posting 001006.txt from 1997/09

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: Transposing
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 04:12:49 -0400

Sorry to reproduce all of this, but it doesn't make complete sense
without....
Antony Pay didn't sound "Germanic" at all when he played a thebrahms
quintet using a copy of Muhlfeld's intrument - that is, if "sounding
Germanic" means sounding like Sabine Meyer or Karl Leister.
Post-Mueller-type clarinets have probably changed in dimensions and
keywork
more than Boehm instruments since Muhlfeld's day, in any case - haven't
they?
Roger Shilcock

On Sat, 20 Sep 1997 reedman@-----.com wrote:

> Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 12:47:08 -0500 (CDT)
> From: reedman@-----.com
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.us
> To: KLARINET@-----.us
> Subject: Transposing
>
> I have been too busy to register in on any of the threads,
> but this is one that I find very interesting. While I understand
> Dan's emphatic stance on playing the instrument that the composer
> intended, that position with all of it's implications becomes
> completely untenable. Here is a very thoughtful response from
> Steve Prescott:
>
>
> I'm riding the fence on this one. Where as I believe we should try in every
> > > > instance to play the instrument intended by the composer, I also know that
> > > > most of us cannot afford to purchase the entire family of clarinets. I have
> > > > an Bb and A of course and also an Eb and Bass. The bass is not a low C bass
> > > > (which is problematic) and it is pitched in Bb, not A. There have been some
> > > > instances where an A bass clarinet was needed; I transposed the part.
> > > > Though I am first and foremost a clarinetist and I love to play and oddly
> > > > enough practice, I cannot justify, with my present income, the purchase of
> > > > an A bass clarinet, an A sopranino, a C clarinet and/or a D clarinet. Does
> > > > this make me a villain...I don't think so. Does this mean I do not want to
> > > > play the instrument intended...I don't think so. Most of us are caught
> > > > between a rock and hard place. This is not a justification to play the
> > > > "wrong" clarinet, merely an observation.
> > > >
> > > > Steve
> > > >
> > > > Steve Prescott
> > > >
>
> One can spin Dan's logic a little further and insist that in the case of
> Mozart we must use a 5 key clarinet, for Beethoven a 5 or preferably 8-10 key
> clarinet. And for Brahms we MUST use a German system clarinet to reproduce
> the beautifully GERMANIC sounds of Herr Muhlfeld.
>
> I do not own a C clarinet, and frankly it is lower on the list than
> BBb Contra. I also do not own an A bass clarinet. I was extremely lucky
> to have studied with Russell S. Howland at Fresno State as an undergrad. Mr.
> Howland was one of the most "complete" musicians I have ever known. In
> addition to mastering all of the woodwinds and several other instruments, he
> was a composer and arranger. As a very young man (18!) he began playing
> in the studios and theaters of New York. From this experience he knew
> the value of being able to transpose at sight! He was the first person
> to bust my butt to learn transposition. I became quite fluent in A, C and
> octave transposing. I am very often called into the SF Opera to substitute
> at the last minute and if it's an Italian Opera you better know C transpositon!
>
> I am completely dumbfounded by the resistance to learning transposition.
> I know of a young bass clarinetist in our area who is quite capable, but is
> so terrified of any bass part in A he pays to have the part transposed on a
> computer. Another plus to learning transpositon - especially C- is that
> one learns to read by key rather than reading note to note. If you do
> not know how to transpose into C, I highly recommend grabbing a good
> looking flutist and playing duets (For two C instrunments).
> I did this as a student and learned a life long skill.
> Well, two life long skills!
>
>
> Clark W Fobes
>
>