Klarinet Archive - Posting 000337.txt from 2005/06

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Basset clarinets are regular orchestral instruments
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 22:08:02 -0400

About a year ago, I was at a regional CBDNA (Collegiate Band Directors=20
National Association) conference and partook in a meeting with some really=
=20
big name composers. The really big composers were asked by a doctoral=20
student "What can we do to get you to write more works for the wind band?".=
=20
One of the really big name composers, without missing a beat, responded=20
"Write us a check.".

There are two very important goals in a professional composer's mind:=20
making a living and making music. Some composers are lucky enough (or,=20
perhaps, gifted enough) such that they are able to reach both goals to=20
their satisfaction. Most struggle with one or both throughout their entire=
=20
career. It would make no sense for them to write for basset clarinet,=20
unless they were being paid to do so (or, perhaps, if they owned one=20
themselves... talk about your chicken and egg problems!). For better or=20
worse, writing for basset clarinet severely limits the performance=20
opportunities of a piece. As a composer, I gain a few extra notes but I=20
also now have a piece playable by only a tiny subset of clarinetists.

Now I'm not even a really small name composer (I rank probably only=20
slightly higher than completely unknown composer), but I think I am=20
qualified enough to say composers need to make a living, too. If anyone=20
feels we need more basset clarinet music, the easiest way to achieve this=20
goal is to commission such music. Write a check.

Driving home tonight I was pondering whether or not we would even be=20
discussing this if someone other than Mozart had written the one clarinet=20
concerto with an extended range. Say Salieri, Stamitz, or JC Bach? Like it=
=20
or not, the basset clarinet exists only to play Mozart and it seems there=20
is not enough Mozart being performed in this world for most players to=20
justify the purchase of a basset clarinet (a sad state of affairs which=20
goes way beyond the subject of basset clarinets). If the pieces were=20
written by a lesser composer, or even if the pieces were lesser examples of=
=20
Mozart, it is likely we would not even be having this conversation (Save=20
the Glass Armonica! Um... er...).

The bass clarinet to low c argument is comparing apples to oranges, since=20
the extension to low c of the bass clarinet adds new range to the clarinet=
=20
family (Eb Soprano, Soprano, Bass->Eb) of the orchestra. The basset=20
clarinet does not offer composers any new notes which were previously=20
unavailable to the existing (common) orchestral clarinet family.

Technical superiority has nothing to do with it. Beta was technically=20
superior to VHS in almost every way, to use the most common example.

-Adam

At 05:53 PM 6/19/2005, Joseph Wakeling wrote:
>I highly support the greater use of the basset clarinet and I would=20
>encourage modern composers to make use of the instrument in orchestral and=
=20
>other contexts. (I think Thomas Ad=E8s wrote a piece---the Chamber=20
>Symphony?---which includes a significant part for the instrument; it was=20
>originally intended, I think, as a basset clarinet concerto. And then=20
>there are the beautiful works written for Alan Hacker such as Birtwistle's=
=20
>Linoi.)
>
>However, I don't think it is sensible to adopt the basset clarinet as the=
=20
>"standard" instrument for orchestral and all other playing. There are=20
>several reasons for this. First is that compared to the standard=20
>instrument the basset clarinet is relatively cumbersome and it's=20
>inconvenient to carry around relative to the actual need for the=20
>extension. It's easier to have standard instruments but to have an extra=
=20
>"basset" lower joint which can be swapped to when needed (as provided by=20
>Steve Fox, Howarths, Guy Chadash and others)---something I would encourage=
=20
>all serious clarinettists to invest in since it's not expensive compared=20
>to the cost of a whole instrument.
>
>One cannot fairly make the comparison to the bass clarinet. From what I=20
>recall the bass clarinet was built to low C from earliest days---building=
=20
>on the basset horn---and the existence of basses descending to low E or Eb=
=20
>only is a compromise that was invented to make the instruments more=20
>portable for band use. The bass to low C is therefore the "standard"=20
>instrument written for in a great deal of the instrument's repertoire.
>
>By contrast the standard clarinet descends only to low E and this is the=20
>instrument that is written for by most composers. This is particularly=20
>worth noting in modern music calling for multiphonics etc., since the=20
>acoustics are notably different from the basset clarinet, but it's=20
>noticeable even in the standard repertoire. I feel that a basset clarinet=
=20
>has a unique character distinct from the standard instrument to low E,=20
>that goes beyond simply the added low notes.
>
>(On the multiphonics issue, there *are* some modern pieces where a basset=
=20
>clarinet can be useful, e.g. the Berio Sequenza IXa and other Italian=20
>works written for "full Boehm" instrument. Using the basset clarinet=20
>allows one to play the multiphonics which are not possible on the ordinary=
=20
>instrument.)
>
>I think this is a case where one simply has to respect the history of how=
=20
>the clarinet family has evolved. Ultimately I think it's positive that=20
>clarinet and basset clarinet have a separate existence. It gives us more=
=20
>resources as players *and* composers.
>
>Incidentally, on the economics issue, I don't think it's really a=20
>problem. A friend in London has basset clarinets in both A and Bb. He=20
>got the former to perform the Mozart concerto of course, but the latter=20
>was bought for Clemenza di Tito---he for a long time principal with an=20
>opera company (and has since frequently been a guest soloist for that=20
>work). He told me that when he commissioned the instrument, people almost=
=20
>queued up to tell him it was a waste of money; but in fact the extra work=
=20
>that he received because he had the Bb basset, combined with hiring it out=
=20
>to other players, paid off the investment (and more) in less than a year.

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