Klarinet Archive - Posting 000159.txt from 2005/11
From: "Shaw, Kenneth R." <krshaw@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Tchaikovsky 6th -- Bass Clarinet or Bassoon Continuation of
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 16:36:51 -0500
This subject has of course come up on the IDRS list. Here's what has
been said:
James Hough: I have a lot of experience with that pppppp passage.
Conductors, including Stokowski, Ormandy and Toscanini, have
traditionally given it to the bass clarinet, as its easy subtone takes
over easily from the clarinet. However, our new generation of "purist"
conductors often want it as written. I've had to play it many times and
John Shamlian has been my salvation. He makes a mute consisting of two
square pieces of foam rubber, one of which goes in the bottom of the
long joint. The other one goes in the top. Since they are square, they
leave ample room for the air to get through the bassoon, therefore not
affecting the intonation. With the Shamlian mute, no sock in the bell is
necessary and you can play a comfortable mp. The result will be pppppp.=20
Robert Howe: Tchaikowsky of course knew of the bass clarinet and wrote
=66or it wonderfully in his ballets and operas, but the English horn and
bass clarinet were not considered "symphonic" instruments in Petrograd
in the 1890s. And, of course, the upper-class culture in Russia spoke
=46rench and had their orchestras play on French instruments.
Don MacCourt: I own a pre-serial number Heckel made sometime between
1840 and 1870. This is the type of instrument Tchaikovsky would have
heard, and the low notes are very friendly at pppppp.
So -- there's no definitive answer. And we need to go back to period
instruments for it to sound right.
Ken Shaw
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