Klarinet Archive - Posting 000772.txt from 1998/05

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Orchestras which sing
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 10:22:28 -0400

On Thu, 14 May 1998, Dodgshun family wrote:
> I noticed in a recent posting something about a piece which calls for a wind
> band to sing. (I can't find the post so I can't give a reference!) This
> interested me, because I thought we had a bit of a rarity here in
> Christchurch. Our Youth Orchestra, which I play in, has a conductor who is
> very keen on choral singing. This probably has something to do with the fact
> that his wife is a very capable singer and conductor herself! Anyway, it's
> become a tradition that whenever we give a concert, it's ended with a song.
> We've done Maori songs (Maori are the indigenous people of NZ, for those who
> don't know) and madrigals, among other things; we sing in 3, 4 and 5 parts.
> The best one we ever did was the Gibbons 5-part madrigal "The Silver Swan".
> What makes it even harder for us is that we stand in our normal orchestral
> places, so you're not usually standing next to someone who's singing the
> same part as you. Still, that helps the balance! Does anyone know of any
> other orchestra anywhere else in the world that does this kind of thing, or
> are we the only ones?!

Naw - conductors pull this sort of thing all the time. Even if it's not
written in the part. It's far more common in wind ensembles. There's a
piece by either MacBeth or Hutchison (you'd think I'd know since they're
both from this university) about Moby Dick that actually has a movement
that's completely vocal. Beowulf also has a choral part in the brass
(composer escapes me). A lot of conductors have the woodwinds sing during
the first time through the brass chorale in the first movement of De
Meij's Lord of the Rings. It's quite a powerful effect, and when done
well, makes the ensemble better.

> I was also interested to discover recently that horn
> players can play 3-part chords! There's no way of doing this on clarinet,
> is there?

Ah yes...the infamous multiphonics. Brass accomplish this technique by
actually singing while they are playing. Really neat effect - and
coincidentally, the first composer to write multiphonics was our beloved
clarinet composer Carl Maria von Weber. His Concertino for Horn contained
a solo section with two part chords. Really good piece, btw.

The recent jazz festival here at NMSU brought down a trombonist as one of
our clinicians - he performed at our student recital, and wowed us with an
arrangement of 'Round Midnight that he wrote for solo trombone. I kid you
not - five parts. His name was Ron Wilkinson, and this man could PLAY!
Most of us just sat in awe as he multiphoned away...

As for clarinetting, it's somewhat possible. We have a clarinetist here
who can get more than one tone out of his stick, but not by singing. He
plays in such a way that the lower harmonic is just as prevailant as the
upper. He can only do it with a few notes, so its just an experimental
thing at this point. Myself, on the other hand, have attempted to do it
the traditional way (being a noted member of the choral program, I
figured, hey, I can sing good, so I can do this, right? Wrong.). However,
all for naught - but I think it may just be a matter of coordination.
After all, I'm still not coordinated enough to circular breathe...

Shouryu Nohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe; ICQ 6771552
Coffee Drinker, Musician, Otaku, Jesus Freak, Admirer of Women
(Not necessarily in that order)
--------------------------------------------------------------
"WHY...are you here?" Ikari Gendo
"Because--I AM THE PILOT OF EVANGELION UNIT ONE! SHINJI IKARI!!!"

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