Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 1999/05

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Orchestral Rep Question
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 10:37:23 -0400

Gary Van Cott wrote,
>What percentage of the work in the general orchestral repertoire has parts
for Eb clarinet or bass clarinet and how does that compare to other less used
instruments like contra-bassoon?>

I don't know percentages, but one place to hear frequent use of bass and
contrabass clarinets is in the soundtracks of old TV science fiction
programs, such as "Dr. Who" and the first "Star Trek." The sound of bass or
contrabass clarinet almost never means anything good. Usually it grumbles
the leitmotif for Villain of the Week, Resistance is Futile, Alien Menace
Approaching FTL, "Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!!!", etc..

The use of bass clarinets is so strikingly frequent on "Doctor Who" up
through the Tom Baker years (he played the role from 1974 to 1981) that it's
made me curious about who played bass and contrabass clarinet for the BBC
Radiophonic Workshop then, because he or she is/was a very proficient
musician. Bb soprano clarinet was used prominently, too. I have the
impression that the same person usually doubled all the solo clarinets, since
they rarely overlapped. Most of the bass and contrabass parts didn't sound
technically difficult (long, low, groans), but then the composer (Ron Grainer
in the early years, at least) would toss in a wicked flourish that let the
clarinetist show off. Anybody know who played those parts? By the
mid-1980s, the BBC started replacing live musicians with a synthesizer much
of the time. I miss the low clarinets in the more recent incarnations.

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hieronymous (Court Astrologer, Demnos cultist): "You profane the sacred
stone!"
The Doctor: "Hello, there! Had a hard day in the catacombs?"
Scriptwriter Louis Marks for Doctor Who, "The Masque of Mandragora,"
BBCV 4642
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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