Klarinet Archive - Posting 000226.txt from 2011/03

From: corvo di bassetto <rab@-----.de>
Subj: Re: [kl] Basset Horn Question
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 05:56:55 -0400

Tom,

Thanks for clearing this up. You have a very different approach indeed.
And frankly your favourite combo sounds like my worst nightmare.
Vive la diff=E9rence!

Best wishes
danyel

Am 24.03.2011 um 15:28 schrieb Tom Bassett:

> =

> Danyel,
> =

> I understand what you are saying now. Basically, it seems that clarinet =
is something really important to you and you just want to see it done "righ=
t" as far as what you beleive to be right. I can understand that. =

> =

> Our opinions are much different though. I'm not opposed to you telling m=
e this at all becuase you might be speaking for a percentage of the populat=
ion but even if you aren't it's not something that would hurt to consider. =
I actually don't care much about individual timbres at all. What I mean b=
y that is, just what the overall sound is when you step back. So if its a =
piece with multiple instruments and solos I would think as I am writing .. =
"are there varied sounds there" NOT "what specific clarinet sound is there=
" I'm so unconcerned with a specific timbre that really the only reason I=
put different instruments in is just for variety and because if I write so=
mething orchestral I like to make it playable by any orchestra (if someone =
ever plays it). So I just put in the standard instrumentation. I guess wh=
at all this is trying to say is.. I only care about the notes not the instr=
uments. I write music for its melodies, harmonies, rythms, etc.. but not f=
or its timbres. The exception would be if I'm writing a concerto then I'd =
like to hear that 1 solo instrument. =

> =

> When I decided to write this clarinet quartet what I really decided was t=
o write a quartet. I just picked clarinets becuase I enjoy playing quartet=
s, I never wrote a clarinet quartet before, and because I think theres alwa=
ys room for some more clarinet quartets in the world. The sound played a s=
mall factor becuase I know what it sounds like and I am happy with that sou=
nd and feel comfortable writing for it, but beyond that I didn't consider i=
t. I varied the important parts throughout each clarinet to make it intere=
sting for the player and the listener but not becuase I wanted that certain=
timbre on a certain phrase. So I recognize there are different timbres an=
d will utilize them but it wouldn't matter if 1st clarinet or bass clarinet=
played any given phrase if someone wanted to switch something up, just as =
long as where I moved a part that it does get moved to somewhere different =
but I don't care how its different. =

> =

> I will say though, one timbre I am completely obsessed with is the combo =
of cello, bass, bassoon, and harpsichord. I think the bassoon and harpsich=
ord are my favorite instruments but I'm not positive yet. =

> =

> Tom
> =

>> From: rab@-----.de
>> Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:20:14 +0100
>> To: klarinet@-----.com
>> Subject: Re: [kl] Basset Horn Question
>> =

>> Hi Tom,
>> =

>> Sorry, of cause actually to play the clarinet is ideal. It just so happe=
ns that no great composer ever was a clarinetist, though I am rather fond o=
f some things C. Baermann wrote, and R. Starck, I. Mueller and even Lazarus=
, if it was for the virtue of clarinettistic writing alone. I am a composer=
-clarinetist myself and I dismiss all my early writing for the clarinet as =
incompetent. It is getting better but still a long way to go. I still feel =
(after almost 30 years) I am just entering the mysterious realm of the clar=
inet sound. How Brahms and Mendelssohn grasped that essence without playing=
themselves is beyond me, but they came closer to it than anybody else I kn=
ow (just an opinion though). It is like the clarinet plays itself, like a s=
trange and rare animal singing. That cannot be achieved by consulting some =
fingering charts and knowing the range of an instrument or any other superf=
icial knowledge. That is my experience. I played many an awful clarinet par=
t by some modern, ignorant composer and have piles of opera parts that are =
clearly conceived for something in between a flute and a violin with occasi=
onal hues of trumpet. Sadly, all these people had and still have no use for=
what Mozart established as the most accomplished and even somehow transcen=
dental wind instrument. Again, just an opinion, though based on experience =
and saturated with thought.
>> =

>> The basset horn proper has a very peculiar character in sound, quite dif=
ferent from any sort of regular clarinet. Hence I don't think knowing the f=
ingerings alone suffices to write a good basset part. To me, timbre and "ch=
aracter" is pivotal in the invention of music. I might be accused of being =
some sort of fundamentalist, I am afraid.
>> =

>> Best wishes
>> danyel
>> =

>> =

>> =

>> =

>> =

>> Am 22.03.2011 um 21:42 schrieb Tom Bassett:
>> =

>>> =

>>> =

>>> Danyel,
>>> =

>>> To my knowledge, (correct me if I'm wrong) the Bassett horn is the same=
fingerings as every other clarinet. Since I play clarinet I don't see how =
I would write incorrectly for the bassett horn. What I understood you to me=
an was... I would write better for clarinet if I had a friend that was a vi=
rtuoso but I wouldn't write well for it if I actually play it myself which =
is the case. I know there is a difference in timbre but I don't see how tha=
t could effect how well the notes lay on the instrument or how it could eff=
ect my ability to imagine how it would sound with the other clarinets. I co=
uld kind of see your point if you were talking to a brand new composition s=
tudent just writing their very first pieces and did not know anything about=
any clarinet in which case I would say stick with what you know to start. =
I'm not professional but I'm not a beginner either. I guess I just dont qui=
te understand your thinking on this subject.
>>> =

>>> Tom =

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>> =

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> =

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