Klarinet Archive - Posting 000148.txt from 2002/01

From: Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Shostakovich 10th Symphony
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:44:28 -0500

Hello, Klarinet List.

I rarely get out any more, but yesterday, Sunday,
January 6, 2002, I got to hear the Tucson Symphony
play the Shostakovich 10th Symphony, which is a
beloved old favorite of mine. I studied it in detail, way
back in my undergraduate years, in the mid-1970's,
and it is a gorgeous work! The Motivic Development
is worthy of study by all composers, and it is practically
a Concerto for Orchestra, due to all the beautiful and
difficult solos in most of the winds.

In the First Movement of the Shostakovich 10th
Symphony, the First Theme is in the low cellos and
string basses, but the Second Theme is in the Clarinet.
It is right in the middle range, going back and forth over
the break, but it's really gorgeous, so I am guessing that
it is in many Orchestral Excerpt Books, as well as the
solos for the other winds. If you don't know this work,
you are in for a treat when you get to hear it! And
the Tucson Symphony did a great job of all those solos,
many of which require subtle, sad, endearing touches
to the performance, and they really did a beautiful job
of it!

You may know about the BACH Motive: Bb, A, C,
B-Natural (from the German Musical Alphabet Notes
B, A, C, H).

Since Shostakovich couldn't spell "Dmitri" nor
"Shostakovich" in Musical Notes, he settled for his
Initials in the German Spelling of his name as D(imitri)
SCH(ostakowitsch): D, "S" ("Es" or "E-Flat"), C, H
(or B-Natural), in the German Musical Alphabet.

The DSCH Motive has been famous since Shosta-
kovich used it in his 10th Symphony, and a few other
works. It is used as a Motive, all over the place in the
3rd Movement of the 10th Symphony. The Low Brass
get to pound it out loudly, near the end of both the 3rd
and 4th Movements of the 10th Symphony, while the
woodwinds swirls rapidly about it! It's a great effect
and a lot of fun.

A number of composers have used the DSCH Motive
in works in the last 20 years, including Ronald Stevenson
in an 80 minutes long 'Passacaglia on DSCH'. I have
used it in the Triple Fugue 4th Movement of my Sonata
for Horn and Piano.

But the real point here is, that there are several gor-
geous moments for the Clarinet in the Shostakovich
10th Symphony, and the Tucson Symphony members
did a beautiful job of it! I know some of them, but not
the clarinetists. The program notes say that Mr. Patrick
Hanudel played that Clarinet Solo in the First Movement.
Bravo!

As for my new Trio for Flute, Oboe and Bb Clarinet,
I'm going for 5 movements, to total around 15 minutes.
I just finished the Capriccio, which was originally the
3rd movement, but will now be the 5th. So far I have:

I Vivace 3' 10"
II Andante: Fugue 3' 40"
III Pastorale (just begun)
IV (will have to be slow)
V Capriccio 2' 40"
total: 9' 30"

The movement speeds are fast, slow, fast, slow, fast,
and may be harder to play than I planned, but at least
I'm having fun writing it. I just hope the players will
like it. We'll see.

Bear Woodson
Composer, Tucson, Arizona, USA

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