Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2003-04-27 17:20
Some bass clarinetists wonder how frequently the notes below low E-flat are used in pieces for concert band. The answer is still "infrequently," for, before last Fall I only occasionally had seen a low D in bass clarinet music, but never anything lower than that and those Ds usually had an alternate (in parentheses) just-below-the-staff Ds written in.
Well, as I mentioned in a post last Fall I finally ran into a concert band piece that went down to low C--a medley from <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>. Now I've run into a piece that more obviously and more frequently uses the low C & D. It is "Variazioni Sinfoniche su 'Non Potho Reposare'" by Dutch composer Hardy Mertens. (Mr. Mertens is a clarinetist, by the way. He's also conducts four amateur orchestras. You can read about him at the Netherlands Police Orchestra Web site [http://www.politieorkest.nl]. Click on the English flag, unless you read Dutch.)
Let me tell you a little about this piece and try to make a long story long.
I wouldn't be playing this piece, except that a friend who normally plays bass clarinet in the Indiana Wind Symphony was not able to play in this month's concert and asked me to substitute, a request to which I obviously consented. This is, to my knowledge, the highest level wind ensemble outside of the university environment in the state of Indiana and most of its members have a lot more music education than I have had (I'm mostly self-taught.), so I consider it a priviledge to play with this group. The feature piece on tonight's (8:00 PM, St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Indy, free) is the Merten's piece. In fact, it is the American (North American?) premiere of this piece.
This music is fairly challenging and not for the faint-hearted. It uses more than a full complement of winds, including in important parts, b-flat contra bass clarinet, contra-bassoon, a saxophone septet (soprano, two altos, two tenors, baritone and bass) and a couple of obsolete brass horns (I don't recall precisely, but they look like alto horns to me). It also calls for a cello, but the important cello parts have been split among the bassoons and bass clarinets in our group. The saxophones, in fact, start the piece.
It is a modern composition and somewhat out of the ordinary. However, that is not to say that it is one of the non-melodic pieces that fall into this category. It is full of melodic lines throughout. In places it is quite intense, in others, quite delicate. Dynamic changes are frequent and dramatic. There are, for example, crescendos from p to ff that occur in spans as short as one beat. In places, the whole ensemble is booming forth; in others, a single flute is playing. At one point near the end, a bassoon and flute play while everyone else hums. At another, there are three piccolo soloists playing different solos simultaneously.
Back to the bass clarinet part. It has many sustained low Ds and several short ones. It also has a fair share of sustained low Cs. In fact, if I had not been substituting with my low-C bass, these notes would not be played, as the other bass clarinetist and the one I am substituting for have instruments that go down only to E-flat. The notes would have to have been played an octave higher.
Play this piece or listen to it if you ever get a chance.
Another piece of personal trivia--I'll also be playing today with the Indianapolis Municipal Band at ceremonies in Anderson, IN for the traveling version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This will take place at 2:30 if you're in the area (and even if you're not in the area). Both of today's concerts, coincidentally, contain the march, "Americans We." (There are a couple of others besides myself who will be playing in both concerts also.)
I'm somewhat hoping that the Wind Symphony asks me to continue on or, at least, keeps me as a substitute.
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