Klarinet Archive - Posting 000157.txt from 2008/01

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevin.fay.home@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Bartok Contrasts' B-flat clarinet part
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:28:39 -0500

Dan Leeson posted:

<<<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!>>>

First, a disclaimer. I own a C clarinet and use it. (Once owned, one's
laziness can easily be turned into a quest for purity!)

I think that this happens *more* with other instruments than clarinet.

Trumpet players are all over the map. Our scab-knuckled brethren in the
back row has a whole pile of trumpets, but in the orchestra invariably plays
most everything on his Bach C (preferably a 229 bell with the H leadpipe).
So much of the late-19th Century Romantic literature is written for trumpet
in F - when was the last time you saw one available for sale?

Note the "his" - while there are many fine female trumpet players, the back
row still has more than its share of sexism.

There are unnamed places (like New York) where a particular *brand* of
instrument is required to get gigs, composer's intention be damned.

What horn player brings crooks to the gig? How many trombonists leave the
F-attachment at home?

. . . this is not a clarinet-specific malady.

kjf

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