Klarinet Archive - Posting 000799.txt from 2002/11

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Rimsky's opinions of clarinet tone
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 00:00:27 -0500

Descriptions of tone as "dark" and "bright" and so forth may be of limited
usefulness, but they have a long history. Here are some comments about the
clarinet from the Russian composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). All
quotations come from his _Principles of Orchestration_, translated from
Russian into English by Edward Agate and edited by Maximilian Steinberg. New
York: Dover, 1964, an unabridged republication of the 2-volume 1922 Edition
Russe de Musique; the Dover trade paperback edition binds both volumes as
one. (Emphasis is Rimsky's; * indicates italics):

>Flutes and clarinets are the most flexible wood-wind
>instruments (the flutes in particular), but for expressive
>power and subtlety in *nuances* the clarinet supersedes
>them; this instrument can reduce volume of tone to a
>mere breath. . . . On account of its construction the
>clarinet is not well adapted to sudden leaps from one
>octave to another; these skips are easier on flutes, oboes
>and bassoons.
--p. 18

>In the endeavor to characterize the timbre of each
>instrument typical of the four families, from a
>psychological point of view, I do not hesitate
>to make the following general remarks which
>apply generally to the middle and upper registers
>of each instrument....
>
>Clarinet. -- Pliable and expressive, suitable, in the
>major, to melodies of a joyful or contemplative
>character, or to outbursts of mirth; in the minor, to
>sad and reflective melodies or impassioned and
>dramatic passages.
....
>In the extreme registers these instruments convey
>the following impressions to my mind:
....
>Clarinet --
>
>Low register
>Ringing, threatening
>
>Very high register
>Piercing
--p. 19

He qualifies these generalizations in a footnote:
>no mood or frame of mind . . . can be aroused by any
>one single isolated timbre....
--p. 19
and gives examples of exceptions.

However, he then goes on to say,

>The small clarinet in its highest register is more
>penetrating than the ordinary clarinet. The low
>and middle range of the piccolo and small clarinet
>correspond to the same register in the normal flute
>and clarinet, but the tone is so much weaker that it
>is of little service in these regions.
....
>The bass clarinet, though strongly resembling
>the ordinary clarinet, is of darker color in the
>low register and lacks the silvery quality in the
>upper notes; it is incapable of joyful expression.
--p. 20

I've selected only from what Rimsky says about the clarinet (he mentions it
elsewhere in his discussions of part writing), but he provides descriptions,
tables and lists with similar types of judgments about most of the common
orchestral instruments. The context is his advice to composers about how to
write music that takes best advantage of the strengths, weaknesses and tone
character of all the instruments in an orchestra.

Rimsky left this treatise unfinished, in a 200-page handwritten notebook from
1873-74 and in other fragmentary manuscripts. He wrote in his memoirs that
he didn't finish his volume on orchestration because he was dissatisfied with
it, although he'd started working on it again when he died. According to
Maximilian Steinberg's 1912 preface, organizing these unfinished manuscripts
for publication involved heavy editing, and therefore I think it's unwise to
regard _Principles of Orchestration_ as Rimsky's official word on the
subject. However, since Rimsky is generally regarded as one of the all-time
great orchestrators, I suspect that this frequently reprinted, widely
available book has greatly influenced the way today's composers perceive
instruments as posessed of particular personalities.

Lelia

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