Klarinet Archive - Posting 000496.txt from 2002/06

From: The Guy on the Couch <jnohe@-----.Edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Beethoven "Clarinet" Concerto!!!???
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 06:51:00 -0400

On Sun, 16 Jun 2002, Bear Woodson wrote:
> and settled on buying the David Shifrin, with
> the Extended-Body Clarinet in A. I've heard it
> on the radio years ago, but have never owned it
> before.

This was my first recording, and still remains my favorite.

> 1) Just how high does the Clarinet's Written
> Range go in the MODERN Version of the
> Mozart Clarinet Concerto?
>

Depends on which version you speak of. IIRC, an article and breakdown of
current publishings of the concerto had been published in The Clarinet
(ICA's publication) a few years ago, and it listed around 14-17 versions.
>From what I seem to understand, the most widely accepted version is the
original Breitkopf/Hartel editing by H.Kling, as it was the very first
edition publicly published in 180X. On the otherhand, the officially
accepted edition (endorsed by the NMA - the autority on Mozart) is the
Barenreiter publication.

I do not own the original B/H, but instead a recent re-editing by the Trio
di Clarone (I reccomend against it), and the aforementioned Barenreiter.
The Barenreiter touches an altissimo G; I haven't looked at the B/H Trio
version in some years, so I can't say.

> 2) And is the Highest Note in Mozart's
> ORIGINAL Version of his Clarinet Concerto,
> the same as it is in the Modern Version? (Is it
> higher now in the Modern Version?)

We don't know. We don't have Mozart's original version. We have no
manuscript whatsover - only a fragment of a concerto in G for basset horn
he was sketching that matches what he eventually wrote and presented to
Stadler for basset clarinet in A (or so we assume). Believe me, many of
us wish we had it - it'd settle a LOT of arguments around here! ^_^

I will say THIS much, however...I am no Mozart scholar, so you should wait
until Dan has something to say before you take my remarks seriously. I
can only draw upon my rather diminuative Mozartian experience: I have
played the Kegelstatt trio, Li Nozze di Figaro (first part...very fun!),
and naturally, the Concerto. I have also examined, but not played, the
quintet as well. It is my observation that his use of altissimo in the
clarinet is very very very very conservative, and this corrolates with
what we know of Stadler, who expressed a fondness for lower registers. If
one applies the conservativeness of the quintet, trio, and the opera to
the Concerto, then it makes sense that Mozart would also not over utilize
the top register...at least not in the fashion that Weber and Spohr would
soon undertake.

(Anton had a younger brother named Johann...I think...who was technically
less proficient, but still a strong player. The brothers were often hired
in pairs in their various posts, and almost always, Johann started the gig
playing first clarinet, because Anton chose to play second due to his
love of the lower register...or so I've read in Weston, I think.)

> (Besides I'm writing my series of Clarinet
> works now, and would also like to know how
> high it is safe to write. I'm assuming the Con-
> cert E, 3 Ledger Lines above the Treble Clef as
> a safe ceiling, but it wouldn't hurt to write in
> Ossia Passages.)

Depends on just how virtuosic you want the work to be.

> Third Movements, to allow for Cadenzas. He
> then wrote his own Cadenzas, and hit the HIGH
> Written C, 5 Ledger Lines above the Treble
> Clef! I look forward to more educational com-
> ments, and thank you all in advance.

Too bad Mozart (from what we are able to discern) didn't intend for any
cadenzas to be added to the work. (That's not to say he didn't intend for
improvisation, but simply that he didn't intend for the insertion of
cadenzas...from what we have in our editions, anyways. But hey, the
performer makes his/her own decision...many do the same with Weber's
Concertino.)

J. Shouryu Nohe
Grad Assistant, New Mexico State University
"I think we have a ghost in our house." - Kaycee Nicole
"I should probably be playing Buffet." - Steve Moore

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