Klarinet Archive - Posting 000514.txt from 2006/03
From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Transposed Parts
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:15:16 -0500
Doug, I could not agree with you less. Clarinet players are
arrogant about what instrument they chose to play on. It is
everyday business for clarinetists to substitute an A for a
B-flat (or vice versa) under any of a variety of invented reasons
and excuses; i.e., it sounds bettter on my A, or it speaks better
on my A, or the composer didn't know very much or he would have
written it for an A, so I am within my rights to put where it
should have been put in the first place..
What this shows is that clarinet players (not all, but many) are
only concerned with the pitch they produce, and that it should be
in the right register. The presumption is that if those
constraints of pitch/register combination are met, then
everything is OK. But with that attitude, one could just as well
assert that the player wishes to execute on a bass clarinet (or
even a tenor sax instead of a clarinet), playing the music an
octave higher where necessary in order to retain the right
register. The subject of the character of what is produced
appears not to enter the equation.
To maintain that the behavior of professional players is or
should be inherantly different from the behavior of non
professionals is a very questionable thesis. It may be better
(or in some cases worse), but both performers should make an
effort to achieve that which has been requested by the composer,
to the extent of their abilities. Even though there may be
exceptions, it is a false hypothesis to presume that the clarinet
player knows better on which instrument s/he should play.
If there is any scorn to go around, it is to the arrogance of
clarinetists who believe that they have a right to do whatever
they wish.
Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Potter [mailto:doug@-----.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 4:46 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] Transposed Parts
Which might explain why the part for the Moldau I found on "The
Orchestra
Musician's CD-ROM Library" was in C, Bb, and A. However the part
our
orchestra has is in Bb - although whoever transposed it
incorrectly left the
"muta en A" in before the end section.
But, alas, we have no such transposition for the Symphonic
Variations.
I think some of you are a bit harsh on those who don't know about
C
clarinets (or the even more obscure instruments mentioned).
Perhaps for
professional musicians or those who studied music in college, it
might be
appropriate - but I don't believe playing the clarinet is limited
to those
people. People who refuse to be educated (such as the conductor
in the Dan
Leeson story) seem more appropriate for such scorn.
Doug
http://ConicWave.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Shilcock
[mailto:roger.shilcock@-----.uk]
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 6:11 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] Transposed Parts
The Symphonic Variations are based on a Czech folk-tune - I won't
give the
title, as I can't do the diacritics on this keyboard. Given that
by the mid-
nineteenth century the C clarinet had become a folk instrument in
Bohemia,
it
seems likely that Dvorak wanted an association with this
tradition. Smetana
used the C a lot, too; one of the reasons our amateur orchestra
decided not
to
play his "Sarka" was the difficulty of the C clarinet parts -
also one of my
reasons for buying a C.
Roger S.
In message
<002901c64f79$8521cda0$9f091cac@-----.com>
klarinet@-----.org writes:
> But, alas, we have no C clarinet players in our orchestra. And
just to
show
> our true ignorance, neither the other clarinet players nor our
conductor
> knew C clarinets existed.
>
> So we could debate (as we have before) how important it is to
play what
the
> composer intended as opposed to what the player does - but in
this case,
we
> need Bb or A transpositions so we can play it at all. We could
also sight
> transpose it - but that would be much harder and the effect
would be the
> same.
>
> Doug
> http://ConicWave.net
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roger Shilcock
> [mailto:roger.shilcock@-----.uk]
> Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 4:32 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: RE: [kl] Transposed Parts
>
>
> .... but C clarinet is clearly what he wanted.
> Roger S.
>
>
> > Great resource.
> >
> > Can anyone point me to Dvorak's Symphonic Variations
transposed for Bb
or
> A?
> > The parts we have are in C (with a little Bb).
> >
> > Doug
> > http://ConicWave.net
> >
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
----
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc.
http://www.woodwind.org
>
>
--
The truth that survives is the lie that is pleasantest
to believe.
--------- H.L. Mencken
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