Klarinet Archive - Posting 000083.txt from 2004/02

From: "Matthew Lloyd" <Matthew@-----.f9.co.uk>
Subj: RE: [kl] Clarinets in A and C?
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 05:47:05 -0500

Bass clarinets in A are available by special order from Selmer, for one.

They are very commonly used in the music of Wagner, and in the light of
his importance I'm surprised that Bear isn't aware of their existence.

The important thing is to write for the sound that you want. Until you
know the difference between the A, Bb and C instruments then how can you
do this properly? I concede that the difference between the Bb and A
(and Eb/D) might be subtle but it is there, but the difference between
the Bb/A, C, Eb/D is significant. Why else would some composers write
for several different clarinets at the same time?

Think of the sound of the clarinet in the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and
Quintet and how it differs from the sound in the Clarinet trio. The
difference between the C and the Bb/A is far less subtle and has been
discussed extensively by many on this list, in depth and with authority
by various distinguished contributors such as our Dan, who is almost
evangelical about the virtues of playing on the correct clarinets.

Why are you transcribing the pieces for clarinet if they were written
with the sound of oboe, Cor Anglais and bassoon in mind? If you're
writing for the Cor Anglais, why not use the Basset Horn? You might find
the sound of the C and the Basset Horn an interesting combination. Or
are you just trying to increase sales?

There is no reason why players of the clarinet - looking for music to
play privately - couldn't pick up your piece and play it on Bb
instruments without transposition - the piece is lowered a tone but I'd
guess that is a smaller difference in the sound from the pitch and the
timbre.

Matthew Lloyd

-----Original Message-----
From: Bear Woodson [mailto:bearwoodson@-----.net]
Sent: 07 February 2004 09:54
To: Klarinet List
Subject: [kl] Clarinets in A and C?

Hello, Klarinet List.

I'm still weeks behind on reading, storing and
answering E-Mails to people on several Instrument
Lists. Only tonight did I finish storing the January
2004 E-Mails, and haven't read any of this month's
Klarinet Digests. Therefore I don't know if anyone
has already explained this, but I have a few
questions.

How common are Clarinets in A and C? I would
guess that Bb Clarinets are the most common, for
young students playing Tonal band music, and all
of my former orchestral, chamber and Solo Clarinet
Works have been for the Bb Clarinet. Lately I've
written a new work for Double Reeds, that I'm
transcribing to Clarinets.

"Trio No. 1 for Oboe, English Horn and
Bassoon" (Dec. 2003, 5 mvts., 19 min.) also
called my "Double Reed Trio No. 1".

I am transcribing it to these other woodwinds:
Oboe:
to Flute, or Clarinet No. 1 (in Bb, A and C);
English Horn in F:
to Clarinet No. 2 (in Bb, A and C);
and Bassoon:
to Bb Bass Clarinet.

The problem is that after I completed the Bb
Clarinet Transcription a few days ago, I noticed
that the 2 Soprano Clarinets have many passages
that use a lot of Sharps. I'm only about half-way
through transcribing the 2 Soprano Clarinets to A,
but they are already using a LOT less chromatics,
and more of those are in Flats. BUT since the
Original Oboe Part does go up to the High D and
E a few times, these do become High F's and G's
on the First Clarinet in A. (Ouch!?!)

I'm guessing that Orchestral Clarinetists own
Clarinets in C and A. (I can think of a Mozart
Piano Concerto and the Beethoven 7th Symphony
in A, as well as the beloved Schubert Great Sym-
phony and the Prokofieff 3rd Piano Concerto, both
specifying Clarinets in C.) I've never owned, nor
been a player of, any woodwind instrument, and am
never around them. Unlike Woodwind-Performer
Composers, I can not hear the difference between
the brightness of the Bb, A or C Clarinets.

Since Bass Clarinets are only available in Bb, I
guess they'll just have to deal with some passages in
Sharps. But I hope that by transcribing these Part
Books to Clarinets in Bb, A and C, I can allow each
player to decide which version is more comfortable
for the individual player. Does this seem practical?

Bear Woodson
Composer in Tucson, Arizona, USA

"Bear Woodson" <bearwoodson@-----.net>
http://www.fluteconnection.net/
Then click on "Contemporary Composers",
then click on "Bear Woodson".
http://catalog.lib.asu.edu/search/a?SEARCH=McGale

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org