Klarinet Archive - Posting 000578.txt from 1997/11

From: Jim Lytthans <lytthans@-----.net>
Subj: Stravinsky Octet
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 20:06:54 -0500

Dan Paprocki mused:
> I was playing in a wind octet as part of a conductor's workshop at
> the U of Wis one summer. One of the pieces for the workshop was the
> Stravinsky Octet.

Dan, I did the same damn thing at a rehearsal of the Octet once. We
read the piece at the end of a long 3 hour rehearsal, and, of course, I
started the 1st movement on the wrong horn. Having not played the piece
for over 25 years, I (and the conductor) didn't immediately react to the
strange "dissonances", since the piece is rather dissonant anyway.
About halfway through, I glanced at both the music and my clarinet,
realized my faux pas, and switched horns during a 4-measure rest.
Nobody noticed the switch, but the intonation improved remarkably
afterwards, to say the least!
--

Jim Lytthans "Primo Arundo Donax!"
Principal Clarinet
La Mirada (CA) Symphony Orchestra
Claremont Symphonic Winds
(http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~dooley/csw.html)
My home page:
http://home.pacbell.net/lytthans/index.html