Klarinet Archive - Posting 000306.txt from 2006/10

From: Glenn Kantor <klarinet@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tchaikovsky 6th Question
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 00:48:24 -0400

Karl -

Slight correction:

The bassoon part is marked pppppp..... not..... ppppp

It's trivia like that which lets musicologists sleep at night. :-)

Glenn B Kantor (GBK)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:19 PM
Subject: RE: [kl] Tchaikovsky 6th Question

> It's interesting - this is the argument that's always cited, of course.
> The
> bassoon can't match the dynamic the clarinet reaches. Well, it's true that
> a
> clarinet CAN play extremely softly on those notes, many players using so
> much subtone that there really isn't much more than pitched air, and it
> DOES
> say PPPPP! But Tchaikowsky knew and used the bass clarinet and so was
> certainly aware of its dynamic capability, and he knew the capability of
> the
> bassoon as well. Even a French style bassoon set up wouldn't produce the
> kind of PPPPP that a bass clarinet playing subtone can manage, but
> Tchaikowsky would have been well aware of that. He still chose a bassoon.
> Assuming he cared what the music sounded like, the only explanations are
> that(a) he wanted the bassoon to enter abruptly at a louder volume than
> the
> clarinet (even though they are marked with the same dynamic) or (b) he
> meant
> the PPPPP in the same way I've read Verdi meant it - to counter the
> tendency
> of orchestra players in his environment to be lazy and ignore markings
> that
> weren't extreme. The clarinet simply has to reach a dynamic the bassoon
> can
> match - "issimo" needs to be determined by the bassoon. Which in my
> opinion
> makes all the subtone that so many clarinet players value in that spot a
> really questionable goal and the bass clarinet unnecessary. My 2 cents,
> FWIW.
>
> Karl
>
>
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