Klarinet Archive - Posting 000770.txt from 1998/07

From: "Tim Roberts" <timr@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] About the Mozart concerto on B-flat clarinet
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 14:41:08 -0400

Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com> wrote:
>...But MY point was that, if one does not posess the unfortunate faculty
>of "perfect pitch," the original key is irrelevant! Within the first
>few notes, people with the more common "relative pitch" will become
>comfortable with WHATEVER key the piece is being played in.

This topic is being hotly discussed in our community band. We are doing a nice
band transcription of Copland's Hoedown. In itself, this is no trivial piece
to play. But this particular transcription is made evil by being keyed in
concert D major, giving the clarinets four sharps. We prima donna clarinet
players are just not accustomed to seeing so many sharps! I'm convinced we're
all wearing the plating right off our trill and alternate fingering keys.

There are some parts of this for which I still not come up with adequate
fingerings. I'd like to post some sequences to see if there are suggestions;
right now, I'm doing it brute force, and I simply will not be able to do so at
full speed. The melody, for example, starts with a turn on top space E3, then
B2 C#2 E3 C#2 B2 G#2 F#2 E2 G#2 B2 E3, G#3, E3, C#2 B2 G#2 E2 F#2 A2 G#2 E2 E2.
Those last seven notes, all throat tones, seem to require incredible dexterity
in the left index finger.

The reason this is relevant to the current topic: I have proposed as a
solution taking this piece home, entering into Finale, and transposing the
whole thing up one half step. With that, all the problems simply disappear.
However, the purists in the group argue against this.

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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