 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ken
Date: 2005-04-17 02:24
As a personal special project, I have been studying and analyzing side-by-side the concerto forms of the Mozart and Copland Clarinet Concertos. In my research I discovered an unlikely, but common link between them I felt worthy of mention and sharing with BBoard readers and posters.
I believe an unexpected but clear parallel exist between the original versions of both concertos. When 20th-centruy historians/researchers discovered the Mozart was actually composed for the basset clarinet [invented by Stadler and Lotz], it was essential to reconstruct the original version. Interestingly, this original version of the Mozart contains a previously unknown tessitura. Both the Mozart and Copland Concerti have been (and will continue to be) performed in altered forms due to "technical limitations".
For the Mozart, and excluding the modern basset clarinet, they reside in the engineering and range in the design of the modern A and Bb Boehm-system clarinet. For the Copland, the technical limitations are those of the individual clarinetist (Benny Goodman and unless the orginal is restored and performed by more skilled performers) who it was composed, dedicated, premiered and first recorded (ref: Robert Adelson, "Too Difficult for Benny Goodman: The Original Version of the Copland Clarinet Concerto" -- The Clarinet 23.1 [1995] pp. 42-45.)
In conclusion, although a century-and-a-half of music history separates these works, each piece is an excellent example of the concerto form within its respective musical period. The Mozart is a classic example of elegant form and lyrical mastery, and the Copland, a venerable display of cutting-edge 20th-centruy harmony and style. v/r Ken
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