Klarinet Archive - Posting 000138.txt from 2009/08
From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinets in F
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:26:45 -0400
The name "basset clarinet" was used in Mozart's time. Further, even if that
usage has disappeared by Berlioz's era, everyone was familiar with the fact
that the "Parto!" solo demanded a low written C (and in bass clef, too).
One English critic in the mid 1800s said that Mozart was not familiar with
the lower end of a clarinet's range, since no instrument could reach that
low!
He was just unfamiliar with the convention of writing the part in the bass
clef to save ledger lines.
The clarinet in D is available today from any of the major manufacturers.
And if my memory serves me correctly, one of the Mahler symphonies (maybe 5)
has a part for both D and E-flat clarinets. I never owned a D but I have
played Till Eulenspiegel on an E-flat instrument, and it is hard because of
the transposed key.
Dan Leeson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Potter" <doug@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 8:59 AM
Subject: RE: [kl] Clarinets in F
I don't believe he mentions basset clarinets at all. Weren't they unknown
to have existed when he wrote this?
I would think that you'd appreciate this:
It is also the conductor's duty to see to it that clarinetists
do not always use the same instrument (usually
the clarinet in Bb) without regard to the author's indications,
as if the different clarinets, especially those
in A and D, did not have their own individual character,
whose special value is well kown [sic] to the intelligent composer.
Although where I'd find a clarinet in D, I have no idea.
Doug
http://ConicWave.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Leeson [mailto:dnleeson@-----.net]
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:55 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Clarinets in F
Thanks Doug. I can't think of any reason why I would object to seeing the
material you now show. And who am I to disagree with Berlioz' opinion on
sound character?
On the other hand, I am prepared to disagree with his statements of alleged
fact. For example, he writes: "he also assigned to [the basset horn] some
important solos in his opera "La Clemenza di Tito."
The plural "solos" is not correct. There is only a single basset horn used
in the opera and that is in the aria "Non piu di fiori." Berlioz may have
been thinking that the other solo, the one in "Parto! Parto!" was for basset
horn, though it is not. It is for B-flat basset clarinet. But that's only
a guess on my part.
Dan Leeson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Potter" <doug@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 8:06 PM
Subject: RE: [kl] Clarinets in F
Sorry, Dan.
In the previous item, Mr. Wakeling suggested you would be upset at Berlioz's
description:
The basset-horn differs from the alto clarinet in low F only by having the
added little brass bell extending its lower end by its faculty to descend
chromatically to C, a third lower than the lowest note of the clarinet.
What Mr. Wakeling didn't point out was the further comment:
Mozart used this beautiful instrument in two voices to darken the color of
the harmony in his Requiem; he also assigned to it some important solos in
his opera "La Clemenza di Tito" - and employed it in wonderful combinations
in his "Entfuehrung aus dem Serail" and especially in the solemn arias of
Sarastro in "Die Zauberfloete." The basset-horns are suitable as soft
middle voices and for filling in the harmony, ...
Again, sorry for accepting Mr. Wakeling's anticipation of your response.
Doug
http://ConicWave.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Leeson [mailto:dnleeson@-----.net]
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 4:49 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Clarinets in F
Doug, which Dan are you talking about. I don't remember making any comments,
positive or negative about any document. The only negative comment I made
on this list for the past month was to make a disparaging remark about
Richard Franko Goldman's arrangement of the Mendelssohn piece for modern
bank. I think I said that it was turgid.
So what you are hanging on me?
Dan Leeson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Potter" <doug@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: [kl] Clarinets in F
Regardless of what Dan thinks, this is a wonderful document. I've always
wondered about many of the details on various instruments - and here they
are. I especially liked the comments on bowing (why do we need someone to
mark bowing on top of what the composer wanted?).
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