Klarinet Archive - Posting 000461.txt from 1998/11

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] More shows....
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 15:36:31 -0500

At 09:04 AM 11/12/1998 +1300, Anna Dodgshun wrote:
>1) What are the reed parts for "West Side Story" written for?

Anna,

I've played a lot of different shows, and I think _West Side Story_ has, by
far, the best score of any I've played. Here's the reed book instrumentation:

1. piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax
2. Eb clarinet, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet
3. piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn, tenor sax,
baritone sax
4. piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, bass sax
5. bassoon

The scoring is quite flexible. Three piccolos (and there's at least one
number that uses all three at the same time in the extreme high third
octave ["America," I think]), three flutes, four Bb clarinets, four bass
clarinets (and there is at least one number that uses four bass clarinets
together! [during the rumble perhaps?]), and one each of the saxes from
soprano down to bass.

Reed 2 is the lead clarinet book and the classic clarinet-only doubling
opportunity. Reed 4 is the lead flute and piccolo book. When
orchestral-type scoring is called for, the arrangement tends to be as
follows: piccolo or 1st flute (book 4), flute (1), oboe (3), clarinet (2),
bassoon (5). The eight-instrument reed 3 book must have made someone a lot
of money in doubling fees on Broadway.

I played the reed 4 book in a three-week-long production about a year and a
half ago. We had a very good woodwind section with almost all of the parts
played as written. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on a bass sax, so
I played those parts down an octave on the bass clarinet. (Watch out for
the fast switches between piccolo and bass clarinet.) Now I'm eagerly
waiting for two more opportunities to play this show so I can experience
books 1 and 2.

If you have the chance to choose to play this show, jump at it. But
understand that all of the parts have some challenging passages.

Mitch Bassman
Burke, Virginia, USA

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