Klarinet Archive - Posting 000081.txt from 2000/11

From: David Glenn <notestaff@-----.de>
Subj: Re: [kl] What is it? (Masochism)
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 08:25:04 -0500

Tony Pay wrote:

> On Tue, 31 Oct 2000 20:57:57 EST, ShawThings@-----.com said:
>
> > In a message dated 1/11/00 7:04:38 AM AUS Eastern Daylight Time,
> > Tony@-----.uk writes:
> >
> > > Note, *having to*, not *choosing to*.
> >
> > > But, not to be left out, I'm dangling a chicken's guts down this
> > > instrument I've just got, in order to flatten it -- it's the right
> > > period, but the wrong pitch -- and filling up some tone-holes with
> > > clotted blood....it all helps....
> > >
> > > We're starting rehearsals the day after tomorrow, you see. But
> > > I'd much rather go to that orgy round the corner....
> > >
> > > Clue: this instrument is only in one movement...
> >
> > In previous e-mails Allen Levin suggested Berlioz; Leila Loban
> > narrowed it down to the "witches sabbath" part from his "Symphonie
> > Fantastique".
>
> Quite right.
>
> By the way, Lelia, I had a go at finding 'Fantastique' by Marvin Kaye,
> but it doesn't even show up as having gone out of print here -- no
> record of it whatever at Blackwells or Waterstones.
>
> I'll try Bibliofind, etc.
>
> [snip]
>
> > "Right period, wrong pitch" suggests that either Tony has a higher
> > pitch 19th century Eb clarinet which needs to be flattened to Eb or
> > even D. Playing a sopranino clarinet is difficult enough; I imagine
> > that playing a period instrument unnaturally tuned would be
> > horrendously difficult.
>
> Unfortunately almost every original instrument is 'unnaturally tuned',
> in the sense that we don't really know what pitch it was designed to
> play at.
>
> The way we talk about it is, will it go at 435? -- or 438?
>
> In this concert, we'd agreed to play at 435 because the bassoons have
> recently found a good pair of instruments that won't go higher.
>
> This Eb clarinet, a Simiot of around Berlioz's time, was designed to go
> quite a lot higher, I think. It's missing a mouthpiece, and a more
> modern style mouthpiece that isn't really what would have been used in
> the period puts it at around 438. Hence the dangling of a cord through
> the instrument, and filling in some holes.
>
> But that bit of it was OK. The intonation of an instrument with such a
> cord through it is really surprisingly good, and the sound is changed
> only a little. And I'm sure that in those days people had to do that
> sort of thing if they travelled and played with different orchestras,
> or different organs.
>
> So what finally went wrong today, apart from what I was having to
> extemporise with the faulty keywork (oversized sleeves, worn threads,
> pads not closing properly) was that a crack opened in the top joint that
> meant that the instrument wouldn't have been reliable enough on tour to
> Spain and Germany. Plus that the keywork needed more time for me to get
> used to -- everything is very close together, and it was too easy to
> touch the wrong key by mistake, and stop the right note (or indeed,
> *anything*) from coming out.
>
> Fortunately my good friend Lesley Schatzberger was willing to help out,
> and is sending her own instrument by courier to London from York
> tomorrow. I'll have an hour with that before the rehearsal.
>
> She says it knows the piece. I'll let you know!
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
> tel/fax 01865 553339
>
> ... Insanity doesn't just run in my family; it practically gallops
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Best of luck on tour. Please say hi to Leyslie for me. I haven't seen
her
since around the days of our lessons with Alan.

Where will you play in Germany?

David

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