Klarinet Archive - Posting 000007.txt from 2004/05

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Beethoven 9th
Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 11:17:47 -0400

Well, there are 10 bars of rest before the Alla Marcia, which requires a
change from A to Bb, while everyone else modulates from D to Bb major.
There's already been one change from Bb (the whole introduction) to A while
the strings and bassoons do the Ode tune.

There's another spot in one of the other symphonies, but I don't have time
right now to look for it, where I remember a number of times noticing that a
section is a recap of some loud tutti passage that we'd (the clarinets)
already played once but where we're left out the second time (again EVERYone
else is playing). If I remember it correctly (iffy, since I can't even
remember what piece it's in) it's in the same key both times. When I have
time I'll go back through my parts and see if I can find it.

Maybe the clarinetists in 1800-x were just too feeble to make it through a
whole piece of music (some days I sympathize with that)? Or they had a
better union than the rest?

Karl

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Leeson [mailto:dnleeson@-----.net]
> Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 10:18 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: RE: [kl] Beethoven 9th
>
>
> I know the passage well, though I never really thought about the
> issue that Karl brings up. I'd have to look at the key
> signatures of the "before" section, the "during section" (where
> they are not playing), and the "after section" to confirm that
> their are no conflicts (such as something that would cause TWO
> changes of clarinets), but failing that I can only conclude that
> he was giving the clarinet players a rest.
>
> Dan Leeson
> DNLeeson@-----.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Karl Krelove [mailto:karlkrelove@-----.net]
> Sent: Friday, April 30, 2004 8:05 PM
> To: Klarinet
> Subject: [kl] Beethoven 9th
>
>
> I'm playing a concert this weekend that includes a commissioned
> premier by
> Philadelphia composer Richard Brodhead and the Beethoven 9th
> Symphony.
> Rehearsing it reminded that there is a passage that I've wondered
> about
> through past performances of the symphony. I wondered if anyone
> on the list
> has any explanation.
>
> The passage in question follows directly after the "Turkish
> March" section
> of the last movement (if you've played the symphony, you'll know
> where I'm
> talking about). After the clarinets finish playing there are 17
> bars of rest
> while the orchestra moves back toward D major, then 52 measures
> with the
> entire wind section and choir playing (and singing) the main Ode
> to Joy tune
> in D major with the strings playing a running scalar counter
> figure (triplet
> eighths in 6-8 meter) - all fortissimo, flat-out tutti --- except
> for the
> clarinets! We're the only ones on the entire stage counting
> rests. What
> follows is the slower "Seid umschlungen..." starting in G major,
> where the
> clarinets change from Bb to A. The preceding section (the D major
> recap of
> the main Ode theme) would have been perfectly playable on an A
> clarinet even
> in 1824, and there were 17 measures before it during which a
> change from Bb
> could have been made. Does anyone have any insight into why
> Beethoven chose
> to leave only the clarinets out of this section? Was changing
> clarinets so
> much more difficult in the early 19th century that 17 measures
> wouldn't have
> been long enough?
>
> It's just one of those things I wonder about while counting
> rests.
>
> Karl Krelove
>
>
>
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