The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SlyAEPi
Date: 2004-06-05 00:41
Hey all. I'm looking for rep for a recital in the fall and found the Walter Skolnik Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in my big box of music. Does anyone know of any recordings of this piece? If not, has anyone played/heard it and what do you think of it? Thanks.
-Kevin
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2004-06-05 19:34
never heard of it... I checked arkivmusic.com for recordings, they usually have stuff. No luck though
DH
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2004-06-06 03:12
I picked up a copy of this sometime ago, probably on eBay. I haven't performed it but I've read through it and I pulled it out and read through it again, tonight.
A Google search on "Walter Skolnik" without the quotes will turn up a bit of biographical information about him.
FWIW, here's my impression. According to my copy, the piece was written in 1980 but I think it could have been written in the 1950's or 60's. As you have probably noticed, it's rather short -- I think Sonatina would be a more appropriate title. It is "modern" but not aggressively so. It doesn't use any extended techniques and it's range only extends to (one) F6. I would classify it as "American School" -- by that I don't mean jazzy but rather in the sense of Piston, Sowerby, Thomson or Skolnik's teacher, Bernard Heiden -- tonal but with occasional surprises.
From the biography, I have the impression that Skolnik has written alot of his music for high school ensembles and that level may have been his target for this work. IMO, the technical demands (of the clarinet part) are well within the capabilities of a good high school student. I can't comment on the piano part's level of difficulty.
I think it's fun to play and would recommend that you pull it out and read through it, yourself to see if you find it interesting enough. It might fit nicely as a "filler" on a recital.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2004-06-06 03:14)
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Author: senator1214
Date: 2004-06-06 16:36
I actually have met mr skolnik a couple of times and have played all of his peices that were written for clarinet and have sat down and had disscusions about his peices with him. If he still works there you may find him at the famous joseph patelson music house, right across from carnegie hall on 160W. 56 street NY,NY 10019 and the number to patelson's music house is 212-582-5840 you might be able to reach him there
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