Klarinet Archive - Posting 001483.txt from 1998/05

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] clarinet range
Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 01:52:11 -0400

Merlin:
> OTOH, many of the bass and alto clarinet parts I see shy away from
> anything above the throat register, and I think it's an absolute shame.
> I recently wrote a band arrangement in which I treated the alto clarinet
> as part of the clarinet section, rather than an instrument for
> reinforcing octave on the bass line. The required range on the part is
> from low F# up to E above the staff (written pitches). The alto
> clarinet player came up to me after the first read-through of the
> arrangement and thanked me profusely for putting his instrument to good
> use.

Contemporary band composers actually do a fantastic job of taking
advantage of the clarion in the bass, IMO. Rolf Rudin used it moderately
in his...uh...the Dreams of something or other...if you've heard the piece
you know it (sorry...German doesn't stick in my memory too good). His
Sternenmoor crosses into the altissimo as well (a VERY prominent part),
and has plenty of clarion. Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of
playing it - I had to play the icky icky second-third Bb part (there are
actually 9 Bb parts, and Eb, and a Bass...).

Ticheli's Blue Shades has some of the most fantastic bass solos I've
heard, a lot of which is in the clarion as well. I've played a few
orchestral arrangements (Barber of Seville is the first to come to mind)
that has the bass functioning as the cello, and mimicking the range as
well. (That was my first clarion solo...at the time, I was nonexistant as
far as altissimo went...needless to say, the concert had it's share of
problems). Berstein's Overture to Candide has a generous share of
clarion work after the grand pause, and De Meij's Hobbits (LotR Mvt. V)
has some nice high stuff (it's horn doubling basically).

Also, the scores I've played for Mars and Jupiter have some good clarion
work as well. I would hesitate to call Holst contemporary, so a little
bit of high stuff was around before composers went nuts...I mean, uh,
creative. ^_^

(Personally, I think the smart composers are the ones who completely avoid
the throat tones on the bass clarinet. ^_^ Of course, that's just the way
I feel.)

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)
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