Klarinet Archive - Posting 000551.txt from 2002/06

From: BEresman@-----.com
Subj: [kl] A couple of reviews
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 14:20:09 -0400

I made a promise a while back and want to make good on it, even though it
is much later than i had intended.

Some time back, Bear Woodson offered to let folks on the list try out a
couple of scores he had recently written if they would post their comments
on the list. These pieces are: Trio for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet and Suite
for 2 clarinets (arranged from a Suite for 2 bassoons). I have had the
music for some time, but due to schedule conflicts have had difficulty in
getting folks together for a quintet rehearsal, where we could also try the
trio. That finally happened a while back, and i would like to offer this
brief impression of it and of the bassoon duo (which i played in the Bb
clarinet version).

First let me say that we are accomplished amateur musicians. Each of us
has played professionally (though not full-time) in the past, and we have
performed, as a quintet, the likes of the Hindemith, Milhaud and Ibert, and
currently are working on Nielsen.

I at least am not an expert in modern music; indeed, not in composition of
any kind. I can't offer an in-depth discussion of the various
compositional elements Mr. Woodson might have used, or expound upont their
effect. What you will get from me is a read on the playability and which
parts we wanted to play again (and which we didn't!).

The Trio is in five movements. All but the last we could play at tempo the
first time (the last movement is fast, and we slowed down a little to make
it easier to pick up the accidentals). It is not an easy piece of music,
but it is quite playable for a college level player, i think. Lots of
accidentals, interesting time signatures and rhythms. Some places (notably
the second movement) it was difficult to tell whether we were together or
not--it will take several reads through before we hear each of the parts
properly against the others.

Some parts of the piece were just fun and enjoyable the first time around.
Others will require some work to be able to appreciate them. The third
movement in particular was pleasant to play and easy to listen to the first
time around. There were portions of the first and fifth movements which
were the same. Other portions require more active listening to understand
and appreciate what the composer has done. There is throughout the piece
interesting playoff between the instruments--no one has a main line for
more than a measure or two, and often less. The composer also uses
dynamics to great effect, with each part sometimes having very different
dynamics. The fourth movement was, for me, the least enjoyable, though it
was here that i particularly noticed the effective use of dynamics.

The Duo Suite is also in 5 movements, and i confess that it has been a bit
longer since i played this one, and i remember less about it. I played it
with a member of the local symphony orchestra. What i do remember is that
there are moments where we said, "That was really neat!" and also moments
where we said, "What was *that*?" Some of the latter, as i suggested
before, may be due to our unfamiliarity to the music and its not being
strictly melodic in nature. I think that given some additional time with
it, we would grow to better understand the music and appreciate it.

Anybody else tried either of these pieces?

Brent Eresman
YSI Precision Temperature

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