 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moolatte
Date: 2010-02-09 23:17
I'm bringing an A clarinet to state to audition. My question about this is, since they'll only let people with an A clarinet into the Symphony Orchestra, what happens if I don't score very good of a chair? Will the lower clarinet parts be boring? If so, I won't bother bringing it.
I generally don't like the orchestral setting as there's too little where you actually play (in my experience anyways)
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Author: Paul Miller
Date: 2010-02-09 23:42
Bring the A and take the audition. 2nd clarinet parts are often quite challenging and rewarding.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2010-02-10 02:15
Hope you are good. Seems to me you may be counting your chickens before they have been hatched. But nice to know that you own an A clarinet.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2010-02-10 16:39
moolatte wrote:
<<My question about this is, since they'll only let people with an A clarinet into the Symphony Orchestra, what happens if I don't score very good of a chair? Will the lower clarinet parts be boring?>>
No. I play 2nd in a symphony orchestra. It's a lot of fun. Probably most of the time your part is fairly similar to what 1st clarinet plays, just down a third or sixth or something. A lot of the time composers score the clarinets in pairs like that, so the clarinet section more or less functions as a unit. Other times you play in unison.
In an orchestra, the 2nd clarinet sometimes even gets solos or solo-like passages. Capriccio Espagnol (by Rimsky-Korsakoff) is like this--in mvt. 2 you have a lyrical solo and in mvt. 4 you have a big solo accompaniment part that basically functions as the glue that holds the whole orchestra together--it's a lot of fun to play. Also, in mvt. 1, when the 1st clarinet has his big solo, you jump in in the middle of it and play the same thing he does for a couple bars, just a 3rd lower, so the two of you together sound like "double stops" on a violin (where the violinist plays two strings at once).
In other pieces, such as Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (a.k.a. "Fingal's Cave"), the two clarinets play a beautiful duet.
In some ways it can be harder than playing 1st, because you've got to match what the 1st clarinet is doing and create a harmonious blend, which basically means you do everything the 1st clarinet does, plus more. I think it's fair to say that more often than not it's the 2nd player's job to see to it that whatever interval the clarinets are playing in (3rds, 6ths, 4ths, whatever...) rings true to pitch, particularly since you often find yourself, as 2nd clarinet, joining a 1st clarinet note already in progress (as is the case in Hebrides). A well-tuned clarinet interval is a beautiful thing.
Also since the 2nd clarinet generally plays lower than the 1st, you often find yourself playing some rather challenging parts in the throat range and over the break.
In short, playing 2nd in an orchestra is a lot of fun--more so than playing 2nd in band, I think.
So I say bring your A and go for it--you won't regret it.
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