Klarinet Archive - Posting 001233.txt from 1999/07

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Flutter tongue
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 03:11:56 -0400

Michael wrote,
>I'm playing this crazy modern piece for orchestra, and it calls for flutter
tongue in ppp-pp between e''' and gb''' on the b-flat clarinet. Furthermore,
it asks for flutter tongue on loud g-flat''' on the
eb-clarinet. Well, I tried it, and I simply couldn't make the high notes
speak AND flutter tongue. Is this composer perhaps a little bit crazy, or is
there a way to perform such tricks after all? I'd like to hear your opinion.>

After reading your message, I tried flutter-tongue on Bb clarinet at
g-flat'''. If you want the opinion of an amateur, no, I don't think the
composer is "a little bit crazy." He or she is *completely* crazy. My cat
confirms this opinion.

But then the violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated his only violin concerto
refused to premiere it on the grounds that (A) it was unplayable and (B)
Beethoven was crazy. Well, since the Beethoven violin concerto is now part
of the standard repertoire, the violinist got it half-right! The difficulty
is in knowing whether your composer is a latter-day Beethoven, or whether he
occupies the more commonplace position dictated by Sturgeon's Law, which
states, "90 percent of everything is crap." Not knowing who wrote this music
or what it sounds like, I wouldn't presume to take a wild guess whether this
composer is productively nuts or just another jar of Nutter Butter. But
lotsa luck with that g-flat'''. Warn your neighbors first....

Lelia

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