Klarinet Archive - Posting 000130.txt from 2000/01

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] The D clarinet
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 22:05:59 -0500

on 1/4/00 9:12 PM, Sam Jones wrote:

>Why are D clarinets rare if "the characteristics of a D clarinet are very
>favorable and they tune beautifully".

Until very recently, these parts were transposed to Eb for the
convenience of the player, i.e. not having to buy yet another instrument.
I think Dan's point was that it was possible to get a good D clarinet
from at least one of the major manufacturers. (It was Dan Leeson's quote,
wasn't it?)

>Has anyone reading this list ever used
>the D clarinet in a performance of "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks". If
>so, do you think Strauss purposefully intended this instrument to be used
>instead of the E-flat?

Last question first. Strauss was a very knowledgeable and talented
composer. He used all the many members of the clarinet family in various
settings, always with a keen ear to the color of tone that he wanted in
that spot in the music.

To hear "Till" played on the D clarinet, find the Chicago Symphony
recording conducted by Barenboim. John Yeh is the player.

We attempted to use a D clarinet the last time we did "Le Sacre" here,
but the instrument had intonation problems that would have necessitated a
mouthpiece or barrel search, and there was no time. The instrument
itself, a Buffet, was very nice, and had a good scale, but was uniformly
flat with our player's mouthpiece (or maybe it was the one with the
instrument - can't remember). As I recall, it had a similar difference of
timbre to the Eb as the A has to the Bb - a little "darker" and more
mellow - some of the edge of the Eb sound is taken away.

Hope this answers the question.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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