Klarinet Archive - Posting 000158.txt from 2008/01

From: "Daniel Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Bartok Contrasts' B-flat clarinet part
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:31:46 -0500

Gentlemen, gentlemen! My statement was, "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." So shlepping in trumpets and
horns and trombones does not nullify what I wrote.

And while there are a few cases of a non-clarinet woodwind using instruments
other than the one called for, those events are small potatoes next to the
enormity of the choices available to a clarinet player.

Dan Leeson
dnleeson@-----.net
SKYPE: dnleeson

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Fay [mailto:kevin.fay.home@-----.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:29 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] Re: Bartok Contrasts' B-flat clarinet part

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

------------------------------------------------------------------
The Woodwind.Org 2008 Donation Drive has started. Visit
https://secure.donax-us.com/donation/ for more information.
------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------
The Woodwind.Org 2008 Donation Drive has started. Visit
https://secure.donax-us.com/donation/ for more information.
------------------------------------------------------------------

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org