Klarinet Archive - Posting 000125.txt from 2008/01

From: Tom McKay <tjmckay@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Bartok Contrasts' B-flat clarinet part
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:36:31 -0500

This is not just a clarinet issue. In many major orchestras (in the US at
least), the trumpet players use C trumpets for parts written for B-flat
trumpet (because the sound is more brilliant). And the trombones used are in
many cases of a much larger bore than those the composers would have
expected (changing the sound quality considerably).
Tom

On 1/7/08 1:43 PM, "Daniel Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net> wrote:

> I do not think that there is a good solution to the problem of which
> clarinet to use in the Bartok. There are probably other pieces that also
> will not yield to the rational approach of "it's the composer's decision,
> not the performer's." I admit that this conundrum exists, sometimes.
>
> But, in the broadest sense, the problem of which clarinet pitch to use is
> completely out of control today. In my observations, people use a particular
> clarinet of their choice to lighten the weight of what they have to bring to
> a performance. Or else the statement is made that "it sounds better on a
> clarinet in XX," as if that personal decision was universally agreed to.
> There are probably a dozen reasons offered for changing that which the
> composer explicitly requested and for which there may have been a very good
> reason, thought personal to the composer. And not owning the instrument is
> the most often presented reason, to which the response should be, "You are a
> professional. Go buy one. Take out a loan. But play what is asked of you on
> the instrument that is requested. It is not your decision to change that
> situation to one that is more amenable or cheaper or less heavy or sounds
> better or whatever."
>
> The fact that clarinettists do not, in the main, even consider the use of
> the C clarinet for music in which its unique character adds a special sound,
> is a demonstration of just how out of control the situation finds itself.
> (Major exceptions exist here.) The fact that this problem does not arise for
> other woodwinds, allows the clarinet world to conclude that it is perfectly
> all right to do as one wishes. Bullshit!
>
> Dan Leeson
> dnleeson@-----.net
> SKYPE: dnleeson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alexander Brash [mailto:brash@-----.edu]
> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 10:10 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Re: Bartok Contrasts' B-flat clarinet part
>
>
> butbutbut! You can't do the low Es! Unless you had some kind of extension
> I guess?
>
> On this one, I kind of agree with Dan, caveating it with the statement
> that you should consider carefully the composer you're dealing with, and
> why the instrument was chosen. I don't think anyone is going to argue that
> Bartok chose the two clarinets in this piece for anything *but* color and
> character considerations, and as such it should be respected in
> performance. The name of the piece is "contrasts" after all, not "medium
> well please" :) It's the same issue with violinists fingering the opening
> of the third movement.
>
> Of course if your options are not to share this great piece with an
> audience, or to play it entirely on Bb (if you didn't have access to an
> A), then of course I'd say perform it all on Bb :)
>
> That said - I cheat on some of the changes in the third movement because
> I'd otherwise never make it at the tempo we like to go. On an unrelated
> note, it makes one of the passages phenomenally easier ;)
>
> There is an excellent recording of this put out recently by a rather
> famous clarinetist that does the first page of the first movement on the
> Bb, and at some point that would not be possible if not in a studio,
> switches to an A clarinet (gasp!).
>
>
>
> On Mon, January 7, 2008 9:34 am, Margaret Thornhill wrote:
>> Both of my copies of the Bartok Contrasts (Boosey and Hawkes) were
>> printed with two clarinet parts. One of them is entirely for clarinet in
>> B-flat
>>
>> There is nothing arrogant about a clarinetist playing the piece on one
>> clarinet. Some people actually consider the first movement easier in
>> B-flat.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Margaret Thornhill
>> Artist/Teacher of Clarinet
>> Los Angeles
>> http://www.margaretthornhill.com
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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--
Tom McKay
Philosophy
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York 13244-1170
315 443 2536
fax: 315 443 5675
tjmckay@-----.edu

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