 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-12-20 21:05
I find that the Eb clarinet is a really gorgeous instrument that is underappreciated! why is that? I mean why don't composers write Eb concertos that show off it's beautiful timbre? why doesn't anyone truly focus on developing the Eb player? why are the Eb clarinets, like the English horn and piccolo, not considered a seperate instrument to be studied individually? Can we major in Eb clarinet performance? seriously though... i think the reason it's so easy to find crap Eb rather than Bb is because there isn't a big outcry from the clarinet world demanding better Eb products!! I mean if all the Eb players in the world demanded new Eb prototypes and products and wanted to specialize in Effer than the aspiring Eb player wouldn't feel so cheap! i mean it's bad enough that the parts we get are crap!
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Author: Crystal Obrien
Date: 2000-12-20 22:05
Keil,
Sorry to sound basic but are you familiar with the wonderful orhcestral literature that contains the best things for Eb ever composed? I'm speaking of the famous tone poems of Strauss, the Symphonies of Shostakovich, Berlioz, Mahler, Stravinski and Ravel etc. To me, these composers made the Eb clarinet as important as it is today and I'm sure that wonderful Eb clarinetists such as Ted Johnson, (former Eb of Cleveland) and Peter Hadcock (former Eb of Boston) would be dissapointed with what you've said. These men made their carreers out of specializing in the Eb.
As for solo rep., look into early classical concertos by composers like Molter. What is the Eb crap that you refer to? I think that though the Eb clarinet is tempermental with pitch and some challeges concerning how to handle the immediacy to the response and tone, there are many good instruments out there as well as mouthpieces. Kaspar and Chedeville made Eb mouthpieces. - Crystal
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Author: Keil
Date: 2000-12-20 22:12
I totally have respect for the Eb so i don't see why the people you named would be dissappointed in me! I play Eb myself and i'm only saying that it doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. It has the rep as a squeaker and shrill cat... if anything i think they'd agree and totally want to increase the Eb repetoire and musical recoginition as being more than the high end of the clarinet family.
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Author: Robin
Date: 2000-12-21 03:05
Yes - I think I partly aggree with you, Keil. But from my own experience (maybe this is just me) many of the E flat solos portray the "witch's sabbath tone style" to such an extent that it can be easy for the player (ie. me - who only plays for a limited time each year) to not fully develop the great timbral possibilities of the instrument. For instance, to think of the solos I've done (Rite of Spr. Berlioz Symphonie Fant. Mahler 2. Till Eulenspiegel, Stravinsky Violin Concerto) most conductors I've had encourage a wild, perky tone, quite unlike that which they would expect on B flat.
I'm not trying to pin my E flat problems on the repertoire for the instrument, but I do think it's easy to see how the instrument gets its 'untamed', "out-of-tune" reputation from the way the player is supposed to render these solos.
I think the answer is to spend more time on the instrument. I, myself, need to learn how to play soft and allow my fingers move smoothly over the tiny keys! i don't believe that the actual instruments are usually to blame to intonation ploblems. Every instrument has its quirks. But more time on and E flat would iron out thos problems, just as it would on a b flat.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-21 15:58
Keil -
Eb is great. I played nothing but for a year in the University of Tennessee band and the Knoxville Symphony (just after I had gotten out of the West Point Band, where I played nothing but contrabass).
You're right that makers don't seem to care much about Eb. Tuning is always a problem, as is finding a good mouthpiece. When I played at UT, they gave me a Leblanc, which was horribly sharp. I had to get hose washers at a hardware store and file them to fit in the bottom and top of the barrel, which brought it almost in tune.
The problem with solo music for Eb is that there's relatively little of it, and a lot of what's played (e.g., Til Eulenspiegel) was written for clarinet in D. The Molter concertos are also for D clarinet.
The Eb, like the piccolo, is just too bright to be the principal instrument in an ensemble. When you play in a band, you're basically doubling the 1st clarinet part, and your function is not so much to lead as to add sparkle to the sound. You almost never get to play full out, except in special situations where you're imitating bird calls (Mahler) or being deliberately raunchy (Symphonie Fantastique, Til Eulenspiegel).
The top makers are turning out very good Eb clarinets these days. Also, old Selmers (from the 1950s) are excellent and go for high prices.
Eb is great fun. Just don't expect to be the soloist all the time.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-23 08:54
As a frequent piccolo player I detest scoring that has piccolo and Eb in unison. Theses instruments have enough problems without the perfect tuning required to sound right in unison at that pitch!
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