Klarinet Archive - Posting 000791.txt from 1998/01

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Till on bass cl.
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 01:19:11 -0500

I have a Kalmus edition of Till for bass clarinet, which makes
me question some of the notation. Maybe this is a case where
I'm simply unaware of the common performance practice in a par-
ticular situation. Here's what I see: 7 bars after rehearsal
16, there begins a series of grace note figures. The first grace
note, a G#, precedes what looks like a G, but the "goal" G has no
accidental. Does this imply that the player is to drop down a
half step for the resolution as if the goal tone were a G-natural?
The next three grace notes occur on notes G, A, and B -- all of them
natural. The odd part: The grace notes and their resolution notes
are identical. There are no accidentals to indicate that the grace
note is a different note from the one which follows it.

This sort of thing happens three times in a row, each iteration
separated by a bar of rest before repeating. Is the edition I
have in error, or is there an authoritative explanation regarding
how these figures are to be played? Each grace note has a ">"
accent over it, which opens the possibility that perhaps Strauss
was saying that he wants the player to play each note slightly
ahead of the beat, and with an accent for emphasis of the synco-
pation -- i.e.; it's really just one note per figure, where the
accented grace note is simply an indication to play early and
accented. What is the correct and/or authentic way to play
this passage?

Unbelievably, I don't have a recording of Till in my 300+ classical
CD collection, so I can't listen for the passage to see how it is
played. I'll buy one this week, which brings up another question:
what are your favorite recordings of Till?

Thanks,
Neil