 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2004-03-30 22:43
The overture to Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld has a very important clarinet part, including a lenghty cadenza for the principal.
The piece starts in the key of G. Then, there's a section in E. Lastly, the can-can finale is in D.
What's the proper instrument for the overture, B-flat clarinet (the keys would be A, F#, E) or A clarinet (Bb, G, F).
Looking at the keys you'd be playing in, though playing it on the Bflat involves fingerings that are much more 'fun', an A definately seems much easier. However, watching my tape of this past New Year's Eve broadcast with the NY Philharmonic, Nuccio appears to be playing the piece on a Bflat. Also, we're playing the piece at school and I'm playing the Bflat clarinet.
And about the cadenza... what are the first notes of the solo, in concert pitch? The score I play from has it starting on E (con D) and holding it for a while before doing up the arpeggio. However, on the mid files i've dl'ed, it starts on E (con D), then goes down a half step to Eb (con C#, which of course would go out of range on a bflat clarinet) before going up the arpeggio.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-03-30 23:32
The cadenza to the Overture to Orpheus is for A clarinet.
The first note of the cadenza is a written low F (concert D) for the A clarinet...GBK
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-03-30 23:55
GBK's partly correct here ... the overture in Offenbach's original is scored for clarinet in C (he uses Bb and A clarinets). I just happen to know this because I'm working on an updated orchestration of this very work. In the original version vocal score (one of my sources) the instrumentation is (helpfully) indicated at the top of each page. Obviously the conductor in those days conducted from the vocal score.
For the overture: Clarinets in Ut et A. (in C and A)
It's the Durand edition
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-03-31 14:08
Both Nuccio and the 2nd player used C clarinets in the Offenbach. I remember seeing the short barrels.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: coasten1
Date: 2004-03-31 18:20
Which arrangement are you playing of this piece? I don't have the arrangers of the top of my head but we are playing one arrangement that is in a different key than the one I played with another group. Both groups were concert bands. The current one starts for Bb clarinet in the key of D and the other arrangement started in the key of F for Bb clarinet.
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-03-31 21:06
There is an horrendous version by Josef Weinberger (I think) which is simplified and scored for clarinets in A and Bb. I refer to the original Offenbach score ... not this arrangement.
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2004-04-01 00:16
my score has a bflat clarinet. It opens with 3 sharps in the clarinet score. My cadenza starts on low E, and stays there w/o going down a half step, before the arpeggio.
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