Klarinet Archive - Posting 001133.txt from 2000/06

From: mus_ldj@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] Eb solos - Heliogabolus Imperator
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 02:05:49 -0400

So should there be a minimum of three Eb clarinet players to a piece like this?

MVinquist@-----.com wrote:

> I wrote:
>
> >Hans Werner Henze's "Heliogabolus Imperator" has a big cadenza for Eb. I
> >heard the New York premiere by the Chicago Symphony several years ago, when,
> >I believe, Julie DeRoche played it. However, the piece is a monstrosity --
> >an hour long, calling for maybe 120 players, and not a note of music in it,
> >even in the Eb cadenza.
>
> >Ken Shaw
>
> ------------------------------
>
> to which Gregory Smith replied:
>
> >Ken,
>
> > I'm afraid that this is not possible. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Eb
> >clarinetist is John Yeh. A large Eb clarinet cadenza of this kind would have
> >been played by him or another member of the section, not an extra (or
> >substitute) player with the orchestra. Although I do not remember performing
> >this work at Carnegie in my 16 years with the orchestra, I could assure you
> >that the personnel was slightly different than you mention. Do you remember
> >what year or span of years that you heard the piece?
>
> >Gregory Smith
>
> Gregory -
>
> I do not remember the date of the concert, but it was certainly more than 16
> years ago -- probably closer to 25. It may have been before Clark Brody's
> retirement. At any rate, I'm positive that the Eb player was a woman.
> Several months later, at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, I met
> Grover Schiltz (the Chicago english horn player at the time), who had come to
> learn baroque oboe from Michel Piguet. The conversation turned to how one
> dealt with having to play everything that came along, even when it was
> dreadful. I mentioned Heliogabolus Imperator as an example, and he agreed
> that the orchestra members thought it was nothing but noise. As I recall,
> his phrase was "a piece of s___."
>
> I asked him about the Eb cadenza, and he said the woman was definitely a
> "temp" and not a regular orchestra member. Perhaps the regular Eb player was
> indisposed. At any rate, whoever it was did a dazzling job.
>
> Grover Schiltz was a very funny fellow -- maybe 5'6", with his 6'2" wife, who
> played the tiniest double bass I've ever seen. I believe they bred champion
> dachshunds. He had biggest, roundest, most beautiful tone I've ever heard on
> english horn. I was at a Famous Concert -- again, 25 years ago -- that
> established a sort of professional wrestling atmosphere for Solti/Chicago
> concerts in New York, where the reputation became as important as the
> performance. They played Roman Carnival and the Symphony Fantastique, and
> the english horn playing was mesmerizing. I remember that as much as I
> remember the brass nearly bringing down plaster during the March to the
> Scaffold.
>
> If you talk with Grover Schiltz, I'm sure he'll remember the New York
> concerts, and probably the Henze. Clark Brody should also remember.
>
> Best regards.
>
> Ken Shaw
>
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