Klarinet Archive - Posting 000423.txt from 2004/06

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Transposition
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 08:03:59 -0400


Oliver Seely wrote,
>I'm embarrassed to say that I had completed
>maybe two dozen accompanied pieces for
>clarinet back in the mid 90s before discovering
>the transposition option in Finale (I figure
>Sibelius has it also). That is, you pick a concert
>key for the piece and the violins, violas, flutes
>and oboes and bassoons (and all the other C
>instruments) stay in that key.

Yes, the Sibelius program will transpose or not, as the composer chooses.
It's easy to toggle back and forth between options. It's possible to write
the score as a C-score, with all the parts (regardless of instruments
chosen) in concert key, then switch to a transposing score to see how the
parts will look to the musicians, then switch back for continued editing;
or start right out with a transposing score. The computer program
automatically transposes the correct key for each instrument when moving
music from one instrument's part into another's (except when it doesn't: in
the 2.1.1 version of the Sibelius I'm using, a small bug brings the
contrabass saxophone in an octave too high) .

A second transposing feature allows the composer to alter the key of the
entire score, although the only way to do this is by telling the program to
take the key down by steps: a diminished third, a perfect fourth, an
augmented fifth or whatever. The program will change the key signature to
match or use accidentals, as the composer prefers (often, a prief passage
should have accidentals, not a key signature change), and can re-spell the
accidentals (flats into sharps, or vice-versa, so that the key of C# major
can re-spell itself as D-flat major, for instance). It's possible that in
the new version, which I don't have yet, you also can just tell the program
to put the score in concert Bb or whatever key you want.

The transposition feature comes in very handy for learning an unfamiliar
instrument, by the way. It's sometimes useful to transpose a practice
piece into a key that wouldn't necessarily occur to a professional
publisher. I'm new to EEb contra-alto clarinet. Going back and forth
over the break is a little bit tricky on this clarinet, and I also wanted
to spend plenty of time going back and forth over the lower notes of the
clarion that use the lower register key. I also wanted to make sure I used
the side keys a lot, especially the low E-flat extension, a slightly longer
stretch than on my Eb alto clarinet. Also, I don't want to spend a lot of
time working on altissimo right now. I want to work on those more
fundamental things first, in the heart of the range. The H. Voxman book
published by Rubank, "Introducing the Alto or Bass Clarinet," has some very
good exercises, but I wanted some good, longer music, too.

J. S. Bach's Suite No. I for solo cello (orignally in G major) works very
well for contra-alto when transposed into concert D-flat / Eb clarinet's
Bb. That transposition requires nearly the whole range, from low EEb
extension up to first B-flat above the staff, with many jumps between
chalumeau and clarion, from small jumps (between throat Bb and clarion C)
to big jumps of a twelfth and almost every interval in between. There are
plenty of runs up and down, too -- useful practice because sloppy
fingerings that will work, sort of, on a small clarinet are less feasible
on a big one. As usual, Bach modulates keys quite a bit. That suite is
turning out to be a good practice piece that will keep me interested and
learning for a long time.

LeliaLoban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/
Re-defeat Bush in 2004!

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