Klarinet Archive - Posting 000448.txt from 2006/03

From: "Francis Firth" <Francis.Firth@-----.uk>
Subj: [kl] Alto Clarinet Recording
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:02:07 -0500

Dear all,

Although I am not myself a clarinettist I think that if anyone wishes to
hear some excellent alto clarinet (solo) playing try the following
piece:

Roennes, Robert: Hommage a Andre Jolivet for alto clarinet and piano

It is on the CD by the Norwegian clarinettist, Terje Lerstad called
Lyrical Punk Clarinet - Norwegian clarinet music and seems to be
available on the following site among others:

http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/home/forsiden?opendocument&url=3Dhttp://www.mic=
.
no/mic.nsf/doc/art2003032808444149879606 =20

=20

The alto clarinet playing sounds really excellent. There is also some
impressive contrabass playing on this CD not to mention C clarinet, Eb
clarinet and bass clarinet.

Terje Lerstad also has for those old enough to have a turntable and know
how to use it an LP version (unfortunately without the contrabass piece)
which he was sending out free while stocks still lasted.

His site is at kunst.no/lerstad/ <http://kunst.no/lerstad/> .

=20

There are also records with jazz alto clarinet by John Surman, Hamiet
Bluiett and Bill Smith where the playing is also to be recommended.

=20

It's a pity that the alto is so poorly regarded in the US presumably for
the reasons stated in previous postings. It is little used in the UK
outside of clarinet choirs where it seems to have a home and a future
and where it is taken as a musical instrument and not the basis for a
lampstand.

=20

It terms of tone, an earlier posting mentioned the basset horn. Given
that some basset horns have a bore nearly as wide as the alto and that
to some writers at least (Newhill in his book on basset horn) the tone
of the two different bore widths in basset horns can be virtually
indistinguishable (he mentions the recording of a duet on the LP by
Georgina Dobree (with Thea King) now reissued on Clarinet Classics
<http://www.clarinetclassics.com/> as This Green Tide CC0012) then, in
theory the tone of the modern alto should not always be distinguishable
from the basset horn. I know that this will probably upset basset horn
purists but, given that tone is such a personal creation of the player,
I do not worry too much about it unless one is playing on facsimile
period instruments.

=20

The alto is also used in Europe in the clarinet sextet (there is a fine
example by Florent Schmitt) and, on occasion, in the clarinet quartet.
According to the English group, The Clarinet Section, it blends better
with the other instruments than the basset horn (I'm not totally
convinced here).

=20

I hope that some members may find this contribution helpful. The alto is
a ridiculously-maligned instrument.

Francis Firth

Francis.Firth@-----.uk

=20

=20

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