Klarinet Archive - Posting 000269.txt from 2002/09

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: bass clarinet
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 23:10:36 -0400

on 9/16/2002 8:37 PM, Ken Shaw wrote:

>Since no one has mentioned it yet, the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata is
>wonderful on bass clarinet. I have a Rubank (I think) edition for clarinet
>edited by Bellison that's usable without alteration. The piece has no
>double
>stops, it lies within the compass of a low-Eb instrument, and the
>string-crossing arpeggiations are manageable.
>
>You need to have a well controlled altissimo up to A and be comfortable with
>a mostly clarion register tessitura, but this is glorious music -- too good
>to miss.

I agree that this is a wonderful piece of music. We have Bellison to
thank that it is (was) originally transcribed for clarinet (pub. Carl
Fischer), but unfortunately, he got it wrong in one important respect.
The music for arpeggione (a fretted string instrument roughly the size of
a cello) was written in treble clef and octave higher than it actually
sounds (thus not unlike the bass clarinet). Bellison transcribed it "as
is" and thus it is an octave too high.

A soprano clarinet has roughly the right range to play the correct
sounding pitches. For a recital in 1981, I made a transcription of this
piece in which I used A clarinet, which made the keys more manageable.
The original is in A minor, and thus on Bb clarinet, when the key moves
to A major, the sharps are a pain. There are a few instances of notes
that are too low for clarinet, but it is easily solved in transcription.
IIRC, the highest pitch is 3rd leger line E (written G for A clarinet).
Bellison retained the written key for the solo Bb clarinet, and
transposed the piano part to G minor. Since he intended students to study
this piece, that was a reasonable change IMO.

Since I made my transcription, Jack Brymer has published one which solves
the problem caused by clarinetists needing to breathe! He gives some of
the solo material to the piano, creating "recovery" time for the
clarinetist. Barenreiter now publishes a critical Schubert edition of the
piano score with a clarinet part (in Bb) by Douglas Woodfull-Harris which
transposes many passages one octave higher than Schubert's original.

I suppose you could play this on bass clarinet - after all, cellists play
it - but the register of some passages may create odd voicings with the
piano part that were unintended by Schubert.

In the 70's there was a Deutsche Gramophone Archiv recording on LP of
this piece played on period instruments, including a real arpeggione.
It's an interesting sound. I have no idea whether this recording made the
transfer to CD, but if so, it's worth a listen.

HTH

David

David Niethamer
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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