The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: sarah.mah
Date: 2009-10-07 05:39
Hello! Has anybody tried playing the Procession of the Sardar in Bb? It is in F# major when transposed from A - Bb. I currently don't have an A, but to my ears, it sounds better on the A. Would you play it in Bb?
Is it possible for me to play the clarinet solos written in A on a Bb instrument? After all it is a single solo ..
Post Edited (2009-10-07 05:48)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-10-07 14:11
It depends on how comfortable you are in G# (= Ab) major. If you can play the solo the with the necessary facility, there's no reason in the world to avoid it.
Relatively few clarinetist own C clarinets, and parts for C clarinet are routinely transposed, even though the difference in color between Bb and C instruments is considerably larger than between Bb and A.
You use the instrument that works best. For example, the cadenza in Tchaikovsky's Mozartiana, written for C clarinet (and merely difficult on the C), is truly ferocious on the Bb, but possible on the A. Most players who don't have a C play it on the A.
Read http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/Klarinet/1998/03/001402.txt and http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/Klarinet/1998/03/001413.txt for what one of the great players had to say. Also http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=298046&t=298020.
You should be able to get the appropriate tone color on any instrument. It's one of the skills advanced players work on. Look on it as a challenge rather than a problem.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
|