Klarinet Archive - Posting 000251.txt from 2002/12

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] claribass in A
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 04:31:55 -0500

Now claribass players have got used to transposing, the norms have changed.
I think for most amateur players (e.g., me), it's actually easier to
transpose a part than have it written with a key signature of a huge number of
flats.
Roger S.

In message <003d01c2a0a7$626eb400$85bc6dc2@-----.org writes:
> On the bass clarinet list I got following messages. Maybe something for Dan
> Leeson?:
>
> >>
> Why would Frank Bridge write the Bass part for his Orchestral
> Suite "The Sea" predominantly for BC in A ?? Work was printed and
> dated 1920.
>
> The second movement is for BC in Bb. Certainly, the 1st and 2nd
> clarinets are configured similarly, so it corresponds in that sense.
>
> Any comments ?
>
> BobT
> <<
>
> >>
> so funny you should mention that bob,
> i just finished a season playing that last week.
>
> the only conclusion i made is that the man was an
> idiot... (i'm joking obviously, but still, not my most
> favourite work in history).
>
> perhaps either there were lots of Bass clarinets in A
> back then - prokofiev, rachmaninov, ravel, mahler all
> wrote for Bass in A.
>
> OR there were only a few people who played bass
> clarinet by trade. by this i mean that since there
> were not so many people making bass their "thing",
> there was not very much common knowledge about the
> instrument - ie, that it was ONLY in Bb. as far as i
> know, the bass didnt become trendy till Josef Horak
> (1960's?), or really big until Harry Sparnaay (1972).
>
> still, one would assume that even a master
> orchestrator like ravel (who put the entire part for
> La Valse in A), or mahler (who would have studied more
> scores - particularly operas - than most...)would have
> done their homework...
>
> very interesting question - horn players and trumpet
> players are expected to transpose, maybe this is just
> a skill that is dying out for clarinettists? it could
> be that clarinettists were always expected to
> transpose, and over the past few generations
> "laziness" has kicked in, and it is no longer
> taught??? where i study, trumpet players are
> instructed to "pick an instrument" for each concert
> (Bb or C) and stick to it for the rest of the program,
> transposing where necessary - could this have been the
> case for us 60-70 years ago?
>
> great question bob, i'll be thinking about that one
> for a while - we all know how annoying it is
> (particuarly if we arent so proficient at
> transposing), but very seldom do we think "Why?"
>
> philip.
> <<
>
> >>
> That's an interesting lesser known work, I remember not having time to
> recopy the part for Bb and just learned the part transposing it in my head.
> I think you have it right when have the bass in A matched as a section to
> the soprano clarinets in A. What would be interesting is if anyone has had
> their bass part in A while their section mates are playing on Bbs. Of
> course Frank Bridge has studied how other composers score their works,
> sometimes I wonder if people write for bass in A because they've seen others
> do it and just figure it's expected.
>
> Bradley Stevens
> <<
>
> >>
> There's a really simple answer for this (and most other instances) of
> bass clarinet in A:
>
> Most bass clarinets until the mid-1900's went only down to E, like
> their clarinet counterparts. People used bass clarinets in A so that
> the range would be extended (like the clarinet). Only until bass
> clarinets were developed to go down to Eb did it become an obsolete
> practice. If you look at the part, see if that particular movement
> goes down to low E (i.e. transposed to an Eb on the Bb bass), then you
> have your answer.
>
> Otherwise, yes the composer was an idiot :) -- I'd agree with Philip.
>
> Mike
> <<
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

--
Cet animal est méchant. Quand on l'attaque, il se défend.
---- Alleged sign in French zoo.

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