Klarinet Archive - Posting 000206.txt from 2005/01

From: "Bryan Crumpler" <crumpletox@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: Rhapsody in Blue Gliss
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:38:19 -0500

>From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
>The notation in the part, after all, is for a diatonic scale all the way
>up, not chromatic.

The notation in the part can be ignored. According to what I've researched,
the smear was used in the first performance after the clarinetist (whose
name I forget) smeared it in a rehearsal... just as a joke. And Gershwin,
who was conducting at the time, loved it and instructed that it be played
that way in the premiere performance. The smear has been adopted by
clarintists ever since. This history is exactly what I did NOT want to get
into.

My concern is that I can comfortably and effectively gliss the entire range
of the horn (well, standard range from low E to 4th octave G) as was
mentioned about Schifrin. It was something I figured out how to do a few
years ago after working on the Copland.... But my current teacher claims
glissing the entire opening passage of the Rhapsody is wrong - european
classical thinking perhaps. So my main question is... is glissing the entire
passage flat out unacceptable... or is there really a standard, "acceptable"
way to do that opening passage. From the responses, I gather that what my
teacher thinks is more a result from the fact that most clarinetists
fingerfudge it up to a point where he/she *can* gliss comfortably up to the
C. And I can understand how that has become somewhat of a standard due to
the difficulty involved in smearing over the break, but either I'm blind or
just stubborn in trying to understand why smearing the entire passage would
be "unacceptable" per se.

Bryan

P.S.
For those who might inquire, what I end up doing to achieve a smear across
the break is loosening the embouchure, dropping the tongue, and fingering
chromatically across the break. If your embouchure is loose enough, the
notes won't sound articulated, but will rather run together. I do that up
until the 4th line D and then fingersmear the rest of the way to the high C.
And what you end up getting is a rather chromatic smear across the entire
range.......... easier said than done ---- also better demonstrated than
expained by email. But you get the idea.

http://www.whosthatguy.com

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