Klarinet Archive - Posting 001024.txt from 1998/01

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <lgbuick@-----.net>
Subj: Re: Adagio for clarinet choir
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 19:50:22 -0500

A few points of agreement and disagreement with Matthew Hanson's post:
>
> No, it is not... And I hope that it is not to be thought of such in the
> future. This Stolzman/Opperman choir arrangement is not approved by
> Barber. And anyway, it is not very original. It is for one, much
> shorter-very edited. The climax is lacking (in my opinion)

So far I agree - I heard this recording a while back and wondered where the
climax went. They turned it from an incredibly intense, emotional piece to
a bland, nice bit of new-age music. (sorry for the hyperbole but I really
think the piece deserves better)

but I guess
> that is good. Who wants to hear clarinets trying to do that anyway???

Have to disagree here - I've done it in my own transcription for 8
clarinets, it was tremendously satisfying to play and we got very good
feedback from audiences.

> No, there is no Eb clarinet. Maybe then they could give it a try.
> But without 5 or so of them, it just wouldn't have the thinkness of a
> string orchestra. But the 5 Eb clarinets would be a nightmare, even if
> all the same brand/model.

This is one of my pet peeves among clarinet myths, the idea that playing
the same brand/model of clarinet somehow ensures a good blend or
intonation. Five people playing the same notes out of tune together are
still out of tune, and five players using identical equipment down to the
reed and ligature can still sound totally different. Conversely, five E
flat players as good as John Bruce Yeh (if you could find them) could play
five totally different setups, blend perfectly, and play perfectly in tune.

The actual CD this recording is from mentions
> that it DOES include arrangements approved by Samuel Barber, but I would
> imagine that to be the vocal arr. since people have been doing that one
> for quite a long time. There ARE two string orchestra recordings
> present. It mentions "plus unique arrangements performed by superstars
> James Galway, The Canadian Brass and Richard Stolzman".

Sounds like a nauseating concept to begin with. Is it really a whole CD of
arrangements of the Barber Adagio?
>
> I have a friend here in Texas who arranged Barber's original string
> orchestra version for full clarinet choir. In my opinion, it is more
> true to Barber than the Stolzman/Opperman recording, which is very
> "Stolzmanesque" and probably meant to be more entertaining.

If I'm not mistaken, the Adagio was originally the slow movement of a
string quartet, which Barber or someone else expanded to string orchestra
to use on its own. Personally I've always preferred the quartet version -
the only reason we used eight clarinets (including bass, basset horn & E
flat) was to cover the double stops.

Oh well. My reactions to Stolzman's recordings range from undying
admiration to nausea - in this case I lean towards the latter. But on the
bright side, maybe it'll lead to a huge resurgence of clarinet choirs -
soon there'll be dozens of them touring the country playing Brandenburg
III, the Dvorak String Serenade, the Schubert quintet...

Or maybe not.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGB Lorne G Buick currently On the Road
lgbuick@-----.net somewhere in the western USA