Klarinet Archive - Posting 000258.txt from 1999/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] C Clarinets
Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 20:54:31 -0400

At 10:26 AM 5/8/99 -1300, Dan Leeson wrote:
>> At 06:49 AM 5/8/99 -1300, Dan Leeson wrote:
>> >And in my experience, most composers have a specific reasons for
requesting
>> >a particular clarinet type which is very much independent of how flaky
>> >they are, and it does not matter if they can or cannot guess which
>> >clarinet type was being played on.
>> >
>> Ah, but that is EXACTLY the point! If the composer cannot HEAR the
>> difference, HOW (or even WHY) would he SPECIFY it?
>
>Bill, I spent a great deal of time explaining exactly why composers
>up to about 1850 would specify a particular clarinet type. I suspect
>that it was a note you missed. Let let me give you the brief explanation:
>
> It was a rule in clarinet playing that the instrument could
> only execute in the written keys of C, F, and less frequently
> G. Mozart taught his students never to write for clarinets
> in anything but C and F, though he later relented to allow for
> written G.
>
> The clarinet type was selected that enabled the clarinet player
> to play in these non restricted keys no matter what the concert
> pitch was.
>
> So given a concert key of say A major, a clarinet was selected
> that would put its written key in C, F, or G, in this case either
> the A or the B-natural clarinet.
>
>If you want to know where these rules were cited, I'll give you chapter
>and verse. In effect, the choice of clarinet was independent of its
>sound. But once that choice was made, the composer would very well
>take advantage of its particular character.
>
>After 1850, this factor entered less and less into how composers
>wrote for clarinet. Mostly it was a matter of key, but it was also
>become more and more a question of character.
>
>I'm not making this up, and, furthermore, this is a big technical
>paper on this very subject awaiting publication in the Mozart Jahrbuch
>(1998-99 edition). The evidence for this is overwhelming.
>
Yes, I recall the discussion, and have absolutely no trouble at all with
the concept of chosing the particular key of clarinet based upon the keys
to be played and the limited technical development of the instrument at
that time. It makes perfect sense. Playing in a pit orchestra like I am
lately (another performance tonight) makes me wish for a couple of
differently-pitched ones even now! It is only the leap to making the
selection based upon timbral differences that loses me. If the instruments
are properly made and properly played, it just doesn't seem like there
should be enough difference to matter. A different setup on the same
instrument could make as much of a change in character.

Note of explanation: I will admit my ignorance on this subject. I have
never played a clarinet in A, Eb (except alto), or C. But I have also
never heard a recording where I did not hear simply a CLARINET, with the
characteristic CLARINET sound, although occasionally a high-pitched,
squealy one (eefer). Still, I am musician enough to think that the
difference should not be so subtle as to be so completely lost on me. And
if it is lost on ME, I would imagine that vast numbers of others are even
LESS sensitive to the difference. Can you help me understand this anomaly?

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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