Klarinet Archive - Posting 000272.txt from 2011/03

From: Simon Aldrich <simonaldrich@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Molter Clarinet Concerto in D
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:16:14 -0400

On 28 Mar 2011, at 20:12, Tom Bassett wrote:
>I've never heard of this composer or concerto before. I wanted to share it with the list and see if anyone had information on it.

For more information on Molter and his D clarinet concerti, see articles I wrote on the subject in The Clarinet (Vol. 26, No. 3, June 1999) and Continuo (February 1997).

When I was at Yale, I did my doctoral dissertation on Molter's concerti for D clarinet. I got the manuscript of Molter's 6th concerto from the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe and prepared a performance edition of the 6th Concerto, which did not exist at the time.

In the current volume of The Clarinet (March 2011) there is an article on performing Molter's A major D clarinet concerto on the A clarinet. (Note that this is not only a case of transposing the piece onto a different instrument, but transposing all the notes an octave lower.)

>For example, if someone played it before, how it is to play.

I played most of the Molter D clarinet concerti with orchestra when I was at Yale. They are wonderful pieces that lose most of their wonder when played on modern D clarinet (I played them on modern D clarinet). The difference between baroque clarinet and modern clarinet is striking. The difference between baroque D clarinet and modern D clarinet is even more pronounced. The baroque D clarinet can have an approachable, downy, pliant sonority. This is important since the soloist is playing constantly in the high register, regularly around high G. No matter how one tries to attenuate the modern instrument's high range, its intrinsic power, intensity and focus result in something hair-splitting (and at times ludicrous when employed as a primary range in a concerto).
I suggest listening to Molter D clarinet concerti recordings on modern instruments. Then comparing them to the recording by JC Veilhan on a Gueroult reproduction of a Scherer 3-keyed baroque D clarinet. In my opinion the inherent, indelible natures of a baroque D clarinet and a modern D clarinet are so different, even opposite, that the true nature of the Molter concerti is lost on modern instruments.
------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Aldrich

Clarinet Faculty - McGill University
Principal Clarinet - Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal
Principal Clarinet - Orchestre de l'Opera de Montreal
Artistic Director - Jeffery Summer Concerts
Clarinet - Nouvel Ensemble Moderne
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