Klarinet Archive - Posting 000015.txt from 2010/06

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] clarinets in original key
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:23:31 -0400

Nancy, let me tell you a story about a conductor who wanted a specific
instrument.

Herb Blayman was with the Utah symphony and the piece was the Schubert 9, I
think. He was playing everything on his B-flat and he had his A with him but
it wasn't being used. So he was playing everything on the B-flat because
there was a leak which he had to fix. Abravanel stopped and asked, "What
instrument are you using, Mr. Blayman?"

Herb said that he was playing a B-flat clarinet.

"Please Mr. Blayman, would you play that on your A clarinet as requested by
the composer?"

And Herb said, "Certainly maestro," and he reached into his case and pulled
out the A.

He then made a lot of motion with his hands and arms, and picked up the
B-flat clarinet again.

Abravanel began conducting and when Herb played, he called out, "See how
much better it sounds, Mr. Blayman?"

Amusingly, Stalder the Swiss player had a similar experience and told me
about it.

Dan Leeson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy Buckman" <nebuckman@-----.com>
To: "The Klarinet Mailing List" <klarinet@-----.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] clarinets in original key

> Oh my......"heads shaped properly"? I know what you mean, but it surely
> sounds odd, coming from Dan!
>
> To Martin....be careful when you start including basset horns in the mix
> of
> general purchases for the instrumentalist. Without really careful
> comparisons (and I mean actually playing the different models BEFORE
> purchase), one could make a VERY expensive mistake.
>
> As for Keith's remark, I think he hit the nail square on the head. I hate
> transposing, so I bought "transposing" instruments. I have been asked to
> leave many times because I refused to transpose. And it wasn't a pitch
> issue...the conductor simply wanted the music on a different clarinet,
> even
> when it wasn't what the composer called for. No probs...I left, happily!
> Sounds macho to me.
>
> Nancy
> --
> Nancy Buckman
> AACC Symphony
> Opera AACC
> Early Music Society of Northern MD
> nebuckman@-----.com
> _______________________________________________
> Klarinet mailing list
> Klarinet@-----.com
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