Klarinet Archive - Posting 000193.txt from 1999/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] C Clarinets (was Orchestral Rep Question)
Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 20:55:52 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.61
> Subj: Re: [kl] C Clarinets (was Orchestral Rep Question)

> Of course Strauss knew the difference in timbre. I recently performed Der
> Rosencavelier and in the score Strauss wrote that in no way should the C clarinet
> parts be transposed on another clarinet. I wonder if the publisher supplies
> clarinets to increase performances.
>
> I also wonder if Schubert used the C clarinet in the variation movement of the
> Octet for its brighter more youthful sound.
>
> MG

Schubert used the C clarinet in the octet because having the part played on
B-flat would have required the clarinetist to execute in the forbidden
written key of more than 1 sharp. By using the C clarinet he avoided
that necessity.

>
> >
> > David B. Niethamer wrote re my question on C clarinets:
> >
> >
> > I had the opportunity to play the "Klarinet in Ut" part in Strauss' Happy
> > Workshop. No way could this unit play it on a Bb, so I bit the bullet and
> > finally acquired a C.
> >
> > The tone is VASTLY different from a Bb--it's more like an Eb! I suppose
> > that it's possible that Beethoven and others of his age put parts in C as a
> > random exercise--but it's very clear to me that Strauss, writing this in
> > 1944-45, definitely wanted the brighter sound. Probably ditto with Mahler
> > and the other late Romantic works using the smaller instrument.
> > >>
> > I'll second this! Both Strauss and Mahler were VERY attuned to the various
> > colors which could be gained from various clarinets solo or in combination.
> >
> > Strauss, especially, understood and USED the special color of the C clarinet,
> > and the A versus the Bb. I don't have the score in front of me, but in Der
> > Rosencavelier, there is an extended solo passage played by the third clarinet
> > part on the A clarinet, which I believe he contrasts with the paired Bb first
> > and second.
> >
> > When these guys specified Bb, A, Eb, C........they meant it!
> >
> > P.S. Does anybody out there have a Bass Clarinet in A to sell?
> >
>
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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