Klarinet Archive - Posting 000756.txt from 1997/12

From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.com>
Subj: Music question (not clarinet related)
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 13:09:35 -0500

I've never played in a band or orchestra (other than electric band)
so I have no experience in the string instruments. Thus, this
question.

In Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings", the violins at the top of
chords sound slightly flat to my ears, giving the chords a
plaintive sound, even when the minors and minor 7ths (and
minor 9ths and major 4ths I think) resolve. It's a beautiful
sound, and is used as an effect all over orchestral music with
massed strings. Barber's Adagio just holds them for a long time,
letting you really hear the effect. Listening to the transcription
for chorus that Barber wrote ("Agnus Dei"), the effect just isn't
there, even though the chords are the same. I only seem to
hear this in massed string parts.

Is that particular sound due to:
The upper partials on a violin being slightly flat?
The effect of vibrato averaging lower than the fundamental
note?
Something I know nothing about (most probable :^)

Or is it just me?

I'm sure this is an easy one for all you "real" players out there!
--
Mark Charette, Webmaster - http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet
Web/Personal - charette@-----.org
Business - charette@-----.com
"There's already an educational TV channel - it's called 'off'."
Lily Henderson, age 11