Klarinet Archive - Posting 000207.txt from 2009/10

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Coolest
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:28:39 -0400

When you say that the overture to Barber of Seville begins with a C clarinet
playing in E major (then switching to E minor), you must first tell me if
you are speaking about what Rossini did in the original manuscript or in
some contemporary edition.

If some contemporary publisher printed the part that way, it does not mean
that that is the way that Rossini wrote it.

And there is another aspect to the question. The E minor portion of the
overture would be written with 1 sharp (the key of the relative major),
which is occasionally found in early clarinet performance so it is not a
serious aberration of the classical clarinet using only the written keys of
C and F. There are even two works of Mozart that are written in the key of
1 sharp.

Further, it is important to know if the notes f#, c#, g#, d# are actually
used in the E major portion of the overture.

And finally this: in what year did Rossini write the overture to Barber of
Seville. The keys in which clarinet were permitted to play were more
lenient as time passed.

Dan Leeson
dnleeson@-----.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Nichols" <mrn.clarinet@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 6:07 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] Coolest

> On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 5:28 PM, Dan Leeson <dnleeson@-----.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Multiply pitched clarinets were invented so that clarinets could be used
>> AT
>> ALL in the most common keys of C and F.
>
> I have a question you might know the answer to. What sort of clarinet
> did Rossini write for when he wrote the Barber of Seville Overture?
>
> The reason why I ask is that I found it puzzling that it starts in E
> Major on the C clarinet, then switches to E minor (so it goes from
> four sharps to one sharp in the key signature). Seeing that the piece
> was written in 1813 (the overture, anyway--the opera came later), it's
> pre-Baermann system (and almost pre-Mueller). Seems like this would
> have "broken the rule," so to speak, unless Rossini was writing for a
> more technically advanced instrument than Mozart did. I didn't think
> he was--I thought both would have written for basically the same sort
> of 5-key clarinet (Stadler's, of course, having extra keys for low
> notes)--but I am really just beginning to learn about the ins and outs
> of 18th-century and early 19th-century clarinets, so I really don't
> know.
>
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>

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