Klarinet Archive - Posting 000215.txt from 2004/11
From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Clarinets
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 14:00:03 -0500
<<<As to the soprano sax, this band doesn't even have one because they
have 0 music for one so they continually sway kids away from wanting to
play that particular instrument.>>>
Well, I would guess that they can play it if they want to, but as a
general rule, they can't play it very often in jazz bands because there
aren't very many parts for it. They also can't play it in a symphony
orchestra, unless the orchestra is playing "Pictures at an Exhibition,"
because that's one of the very rare instances where there is a part for
a soprano saxophone. And, that part, while it is a solo, is only about
16 measures long.
Students also can't often play the French horn, oboe or bassoon in the
jazz band for the same reason, and they can't play the accordion or
banjo in the symphony orchestra. If you want to change this, you have
to talk to the people who write the music.
Composers have not made these decisions because they want to
discriminate against the players of certain instruments. Rather, they
write for the instruments that will give their music the tonal
characteristics they want it to have.
But, it pretty much makes my blood boil when people try to ascribe all
kinds of evil intentions to jazz band directors because they "won't let
clarinet players in the jazz band." Fortunately for all of us, the
instrumentation of the jazz band has more or less become standardized.
That means that composers can write for this combination of instruments
with reasonable assurance that their music will be played by the
instruments that they intended and that they wanted to hear.
<<<Explain to me why they are out when there are plenty of jazz bands in
the world that uses clarinet players in their band?>>>
When the clarinet does occur in the jazz band, it is usually under
fairly rigidly prescribed circumstances. Beginning almost at the
beginning of jazz in the early 19th century, the "woodwind doubler" came
to be regarded as a valuable asset to a jazz band. At first, this was
mostly limited to the saxophone and clarinet. And for the most part, it
was a matter of having saxophone players who could also play the
clarinet, and not clarinet players who had also picked up saxophone as a
side line. Later, flute came to be expected to be a part of the
repertoire or "bag of tricks" of the doubler. Currently, the true
woodwind doubler plays all of those, plus the oboe and bassoon, and many
varieties of each of these, such as the piccolo, bass clarinet, English
horn, etc., etc.
In the Dixieland or traditional jazz era, from the late 1890's through
the late 1930's, the guiding principle in jazz was "one player to a
part, and one of each instrument" in the band. And, the clarinet was
almost one of those instruments.
However, during the swing era (approximately the late 1920's through the
end of World War II, jazz bands became larger, and there were multiple
players of single instruments. However, while the clarinet was used in
these bands, it was mostly as a solo instrument, and not as an integral
part of the ensemble. (One notable exception was the Glenn Miller
Orchestra, in which the clarinet was often the lead voice in the
woodwind section.) Other occasions when the saxophone players would be
asked to pick up their clarinets would be relatively more rare.
However, since the mid-1940's, jazz musicians have tended to prefer
other sounds in jazz to the tone quality of the clarinet. That
reasoning is the same that led to the standard instrumentation of the
symphony orchestra, the wind band, the jazz band, and other ensembles.
So, if a person wants to be in one of those types of groups, he/she
should learn to play one of the instruments that are commonly regarded
as being appropriate to the sound of the ensemble. To play some other
instrument and then complain because they won't let you in the ensemble
is an exercise in futility. It might make someone feel good to complain
about perceived injustices, but it doesn't reflect reality.
Ed Lacy
University of Evansville
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