Klarinet Archive - Posting 001175.txt from 1998/01

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Grainger's band music
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 04:08:34 -0500

On Mon, 28 Dec 1998, Jarle Brosveet wrote:
> Versions conceived for band in the first place often sound better or are
> more substantial than arrangements coming as a afterthought.

If I understand your reference to Grainger then, are you suggesting that
he did not arrange or sketch the others for band as well as others he
wrote for band? Is that your contention? I am just trying to understand
exactly what you meant by this statment. Are you saying that Irish Tune
and others you have mentioned were simply afterthoughts only? That he put
no true effort into their scoring because they were just to earn him some
extra salary?

> I cannot help feeing that the two Hill Songs, Over the Hills and Lincolnshire
> Posy are Grainger's best works for band because they were written for band
> in the first place. Reading the story behind these works it becomes clear
> that Grainger invested much effort in exploiting the band medium to the
> utmost. The other band works by Grainger are arrangements and were written,
> as Dan has rightly pointed out, because Grainger felt that there was a
> marketplace for them and because he was concerned with royalties.

Are you suggesting then that the arrangements were not really suitable for
band, but that he only wrote them for monetary reasons? That he really
felt they would just be money makers? An even bigger question, is why he
would elect to conduct some of his "lesser" works with famous bands than
his "best" works? Are these seond thoughts for band lesser in quality
than the others? Certainly we all understand his efforts in Lincolnshire
Posy.....but you (or was it Dan) pointed out that at least one movement of
this work was written for another medium first....are we to assume that
Lincolnshir Posy is his best work for band, except for that one movement?

> Only if band music is your choice no matter what is being played I can
> understand that it is unimportant to know about the medium for which it was
> first written.

Sarcasm aside, I am wondering exactly what you meant by this statement?
It is always important to know the medium for which a composition is first
written...whether that changes the worthiness of performing it with the
medium of second choice is a different issue entirely. Are you suggesting
that I don't care where it came from? That isn't what I meant to
imply.....I meant to say that it matters nought if it was second or
first....only that it is the composers choice and deed of
transcribing/arranging/sketching/setting the work for band that helps
lend credibility to the argument thatthe composer felt it was worthy of
being performed by the band medium. I wonder if you really feel that
Irish Tune from County Derry is less worthy.......only as a money-maker
that its vocal counterpart?

Roger Garrett
IWU