Klarinet Archive - Posting 000873.txt from 2002/07

From: "Kent Krive" <k.krive@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Writing Across the Break
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 07:12:38 -0400

Bear,

Check out Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie for clarinet and orchestra.

Kent

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bear Woodson" <bearwoodson@-----.net>
Cc: "Mr. George Kidder" <gkidder@-----.org>
Subject: [kl] Writing Across the Break

> Hello, Klarinet List and Mr. Kidder.
>
> Mr. Kidder wrote some wonderful advice about
> being aware of the different Timbres in the Ranges
> of the Clarinets, and to be careful about Writing
> Across the Break. THANK YOU! I LOVE getting
> REAL Answers like this! These types of things go
> WAY beyond the advice of Orchestration Books.
> And, yes, I DO make a point to work with a
> Dedicatee for most of my major works, just so
> that I can get this kind of advice.
>
> In the last 8 years of heavy composing, I try to
> use the Different Timbres of the Clarinet Registers
> to my advantage in Orchestral and Chamber writing.
> The "throaty" Chalumeau Range can be VERY
> endearing! I really love it, and had a lot of fun in
> writing the "Trio for Flute, Oboe and Bb Clarinet"
> (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 15 min.), which some of you
> have. Since the Clarinet was the Low Man present,
> it plays in the lower register for most of the work.
>
> When I write, I try to stay on one side of the
> Break, or the other, for a while. Two famous
> passages that seem to be a bit tricky to me, are:
>
> 1) Crossing the Break in the Clarinet's First
> Phrase of the Mozart Concerto; and
>
> 2) the Frequent Crossing of the Break in the
> Lonely, Mournful, Second Theme of the First
> Movement of the Shostakovich 10th Symphony.
> It is sounding in E Minor, so he uses a Clarinet
> in A, Written in G Minor, and crosses the Break
> far more often than I would be comfortable to
> write.
>
> I've heard many recordings of both works, and
> no one seems to have a problem with Playing back
> and forth across the Break in either work. (The big
> differences on all the recordings have to do with
> Interpretation, rather than problems with the Break,
> itself.) Just the same, I'd rather try to write a bit
> more comfortably for the Clarinet.
>
> I'm used to writing complex Fugues, and accom-
> modate ranges and fingerings in those works. It
> can't hurt to try to apply the same cautions for
> Clarinets, that I'm used to in writing for Strings.
>
> Meanwhile, can anyone suggest any Famous
> E-Flat Alto Clarinet Solos, and Bb Contra Bass
> Clarinet Solos, that I could hear on CD's? And
> are there other Famous Examples that I should
> know about, that Cross the Break a Lot? Please
> advise.
>
>
> Bear Woodson
> Composer in Tucson, Arizona, USA
> "Bear Woodson" <bearwoodson@-----.net>
>
>
>
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