 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2011-02-24 02:31
I enjoy getting other people's opinions of possible recital programs, and I'm also in need of some assistance (or, at least haven't decided one the last piece anyway).
In no particular order:
Tricolor capers- Eric Mandat
Sonatina- Martinu
Reed Trio- Auric
That's roughly 30-32 minutes. Another piece is needed to get to 45-50 minutes of music total. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we are confined to only an hour long recital, so only one more piece is necessary.
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-02-24 02:46
I'd say you need something from the 18th or 19th centuries, for contrast.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2011-02-24 03:53
If it's not too much chamber music (if there are rules about that) then go for the Mozart Trio or Quintet. Or Shepherd on the Rock.
Otherwise, you could play a Bach Cello Suite (there are some nice transcriptions out there), the Church Sonatas (Mozart, arr Ettlinger), or Schumann Fantasiestucke, etc. etc.
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Author: HudsonAD
Date: 2011-02-24 06:01
Im enjoying the Schumann "3 Romances" and its a nice change from the fantasy pieces. Maybe?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-02-24 14:21
I agree that you need some 18th or 19th century music.
The Schumann Romances are perfect on (A clarinet), and the pianist doesn't have to transpose. Transcription is an old and honorable art, so don't worry that they were written for oboe. If cellists can steal the Fantasy Pieces and violists can play the Brahms Sonatas, you can do the same.
You might consider some early music - Leonin, Perotin, Hildegard of Bingen - for which you'll need at least a drone instrument to set the "universal bass" to work off of.
You also need something brilliant to leave your audience smiling. I suggest Erwin Fantaisie by Meister, which is my favorite operatic theme and variations finger-wiggler. These are an old and honorable part of the clarinet literature.
Another possibility is to play some jazz, or perhaps one of the Gershwin pieces Jascha Heifetz transcribed for his own use.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-02-24 16:22
I have the impression that Doctoral recitals are primarily to demonstrate the candidate's level of skill and depth of knowledge of the instrument's literature rather than entertain a crowd. (No reason you can't try to do both, though.) The Doctoral recital programs in the back of "The Clarinet" seem to support this impression. I note that the recitals from rigorous programs almost never include warhorses that frequently turn up on undergraduate recitals. Why play something a good senior should be able to sight read?
I think your other pieces are all strong (and they've all been on relatively recent DMA recitals at North Texas, which is where I suspect you are) but I think you should be looking at another virtuoso piece, something like Donatoni's "Clair" (if that doesn't take enough time, perhaps you could augment it with Cage's 4' 33" with cuts, if necessary ) or, perhaps, McAllister's "Black Dog" or the Denisov "Sonata," or Yoshimatsu"s "Four Pieces in Bird Shape." For something a little less aggressive, perhaps Francaix' "Tema con Variazioni" or Babin's "Hillandale Waltzes" (though both turn up on master's recitals). If you want to inject some variety, you might look for a jazz-inflected work.
If you are at North Texas, though, I would recommend you look at recent DMA recital programs and make sure you don't duplicate more than one piece from any single previous recital.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2011-02-24 16:24)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-24 16:35
"I have the impression that Doctoral recitals are primarily to demonstrate the candidate's level of skill and depth of knowledge of the instrument's literature rather than entertain a crowd."
Which may help explain so many of our doctoral graduates' inability to launch careers independent of the musical establishment...
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2011-02-24 17:24
Thanks all for your input.
Regarding length: the time is limited due to scheduling times for the halls at such a large institution. This is augmented by a large number of recitals required.
Three recitals for a masters program is more than I've ever heard of. Also, I love the clarinet and it's repertoire but wouldn't want to hear a 2 HOUR recital. Anything over an hour and a half for a solo recital is a bit much to me.
Indeed degree recitals are meant to showcase ability and comprehension of difficult repertoire as well as indicate progress through the time spent on the degree. Learning new repertoire and playing recitals can only be beneficial to a career in music.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-24 20:53
Two are required. I did an extra for fun, entirely of premieres I commissioned for contrabass clarinet. Not uncommon for people to do a third here, though it does strain the hall scheduling a bit.
Mine aren't so much solo recitals. The one I'm having in a couple weeks has two solo pieces on it (Grisey - Anubis/Nout, Jarvinen - Carbon), and a bunch for ensembles, most of which I wrote.
I'm in a performer/composer program (so my recitals are as much "can you put on a compelling musical evening"), but even among performance-only majors, recitals made up of entirely solo or solo+piano are pretty rare here, and any given recital is made up of maybe 40% "standard rep", and most feature at least one premiere. Tonight I'm playing electric contrabass clarinet in a quartet premiere on a trombone recital, and on Saturday I'm playing bass clarinet in a Zappa cover band on a guitar recital.
I think there's an important distinction to be made, which is the difference between a recital being a sort of "checklist" event to demonstrate that you're playing music appropriate to your skill level, and a recital being an event where you're presenting music that you think is great for the music's sake in a manner conducive to listening. I think many people put on recitals "because that's what we do" to get some mythical "I played pieces of X difficulty therefore I'm X good" street cred. Which might not be THAT out of place in the academic world, but I've seen LOTS of recitals like that in the real world, and they're often horrid to listen to. Well-played, but mind-numbingly dull. I don't want to listen to someone try to prove themselves, I want to listen to great music, played well, that offers something fun or deep or interesting or somehow engaging. Unfortunately, our musical "training" seems incredibly lax in that area the majority of the time, more often only posing questions like "have you played _____ yet?"
"Indeed degree recitals are meant to showcase ability and comprehension of difficult repertoire as well as indicate progress through the time spent on the degree. Learning new repertoire and playing recitals can only be beneficial to a career in music."
It can only be beneficial to your career, just as picking a few pennies off the street can only be beneficial to your financial standing.
The only careers recitals of that manner prepare you for are music professor and perhaps orchestral musician, which are limited in quantity and musical scope. That, and careers of playing solo clarinet recitals, which are likely to make you dozens, even hundreds of dollars per year and help you sell tens of records, and really seem to serve only to boost the legitimacy and appeal of one's private studio or resume. Audience engagement, or at the very least audience awareness, is critical for a career of making music that people will pay to see (i.e. a "career in music"). Unfortunately, the vast majority of very fine doctoral graduates seems pretty clueless in that regard, and end up with some fantastic skills that they have little to no idea how to utilize.
If you have a recital, and you see it primarily as an obligation or requirement, find yourself another field. You're already in the mindset of closing doors, of making the recital "look how much I'm doing" rather than "hear this music", and you're not seeing a recital as a thing of joy. A recital should be an opportunity to do as much great music as you can in the time allotted, and the judgments of a committee should be secondary. I hold that opinion for auditions as well, and for any time you're playing your instrument in front of people.
Quite frankly, and I hope I don't antagonize too much here, if you're getting a doctorate and can only come up with 30 minutes of worthwhile music, it means either the rep sucks or you're not looking hard enough.
Back to your original query, go for a commission, if you have the time. If you don't have at least a half dozen composers you could call today to ask about this that would be willing, schedule permitting, I'd be hesitant to grant you a doctorate.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-02-24 20:58
"Which may help explain so many of our doctoral graduates' inability to launch careers independent of the musical establishment..."
Why would they want to? The objective of a doctoral program is to prepare its graduates to launch a very specific kind of career within the musical establishment -- a college/university level faculty position.
jnk
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2011-02-24 21:06
Since Schumann and Romances are being mentioned, how about the Clara Schumann Romances, ostensibly for violin but premiered on oboe.
Simon
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-02-24 21:42
Clara's romances are very nice and especially appropriate for a DMA recital, since they're less well known. But I think Robert's are better music, though there's some scholarly speculation that she wrote them too.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2011-02-24 21:42)
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-02-24 23:15
"go for a commission, if you have the time" -- a good idea in theory, but how is it to be paid for? Doctorates are expensive enough already.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-24 23:28
Jack:
Point taken. As long as the DMA candidate realizes this, I don't have a huge problem with it. Many of them seem to think they're launching performing careers (or that a doctorate is a prerequisite for such a career). On the other hand, it would be nice if our professors were savvy enough to produce a concert that can draw an audience (outside of sympathetic friends and colleagues) and pass this knowhow to their students.
I'd say one of the biggest problems facing classical/instrumental/etc. music today is a lack of knowhow in performing in such a manner that a random unacquainted person might end up hearing it.
davyd:
Commissions, while in school, tend to be of the "hey Paul, want to write a piece for clarinet? I'll throw in some beers!" variety.
At least that's how they've worked all the times I've both written and commissioned them. Sometimes even without the beers. Composers of the 10 pieces I commissioned in December were pleasantly surprised to receive tokens of my appreciation.
If you don't have student-composer-friends who will write for you for free (keep in mind, while you're getting a "free piece by a good composer you like", they're getting a "free premiere by a good performer they like"), your doctorate is so expensive that a commissioning fee should be a drop in the bucket.
Don't discount the possibility before you've even asked around.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2011-02-24 23:44
Alex. You're making a great many assumptions. I would be more careful with my words if I were you. At the very least, you're being unfair in your comments.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-02-25 01:24
"Many of them seem to think they're launching performing careers (or that a doctorate is a prerequisite for such a career)."
Well, my first reaction is "this is an awfully presumptuous statement." But then I notice a troublesome hedge. You state that many prospective doctoral students "seem to think..." Now, this is not the sort of thing I would expect someone to "seem" to think about. They would either think it or they wouldn't. So, in your experience, do they think it or don't they? Or is the truth that you really don't know what they think?
And if you do believe you know, what is your experience in this matter? What is your basis for such a cynical position? Can you cite the findings of a published study that show many students entering into musical doctoral programs are clueless? I would like to read it. Have you interviewed sufficient numbers of applicants to doctoral programs (or other programs for that matter) to provide a solid basis for your position? Or, as Ned so tactfully suggests, is your conclusion really just an assumption? (Being less tactful than Ned, I might argue a careless unfounded assumption.) Do you really think people who make it to doctoral programs are this naive?
Alex, the problem I have with your arguments here and, frankly, in general is that I invariably find them to be founded on elaborate straw men. You assume people are clueless and then proceed to explain (in great detail) why they have become clueless or what will result from their cluelessness. Now I'm willing to concede that there are always a few clueless people around. But I don't believe they are the norm.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-25 01:56
Fair enough, and maybe I overstepped a bit. It's largely based on assumptions and observations, and probably a good bit based on my complaints about the classical music world and my strategies for avoiding what I see to be pitfalls.
Apologies for generalizations about other people whose motives I can't speak for.
I have my pretty firm opinions on a handful of musical-world topics, and they may tend to spill over into areas of various vaguely-related areas.
I do go to a lot of recitals, and I do get the impression that the recitals, especially once people leave school, are much more about "proving to themselves or the world that they can play X piece" than about making good music. Just my perception as an audience member. Good music is often made in the process, which is nice.
Heck, that's my complaint about lots of solo rep for all instruments... it's about showcasing the performer "oh, and here's some music to do it" rather than writing good music "oh, and there's a good bit for the performer." Some people like that, which is fine, but it's something I'll continue to complain about.
I don't think doctoral candidates are naive. I probably stated that poorly. What I do think, though, is that a good many music school graduates, who have an incredibly cool, versatile skillset, limit themselves to a very small subset of that, usually waiting for someone else to call with a job or to crowd their way into an overpopulated job market. Treating recitals as an obligation or rite of passage rather than as an opportunity, I see as a symptom of that. It is a degree in a performing art, after all.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2011-02-25 03:02
Thanks for backtracking\clarifying Alex. All I did was post a partial program looking for other people's opinions. I gave no information that would imply that I was doing the degree or recital "because I had to" or that I didn't care what went on it or why. You know nothing of my motivations and have no reasonable basis for your comments. It's also rather offensive.
Complain about the "establishment" or whatever else you find wrong with the system, but don't do it at my expense.
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-02-25 03:35
Alex:
One assumption you're making is that everyone has the same background that you do. I for one was an engineering major in college, playing in various ensembles for fun. I don't recall anyone commissioning anyone else to write (literally; it was still pencil-and-paper then) for them, and am delighted to hear that commissions can indeed happen inexpensively, at least in an academic setting. I am curious as to whether any of these new pieces will have future performances not involving you.
Returning to topic:
NBeaty:
Best wishes for your program, whatever you decide to perform. I trust that you've been able to find some good ideas among all the editorializing.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2011-02-25 05:49
Nbeaty: Sorry if I was a bit confrontational there... I tend to forget that a lot of tone gets lost in text, and that people who don't know me personally don't know that "Alex engages in hyperbole" is an understatement. I also tend to get on random soapboxy high-horse binges once in a while, and do appreciate when I'm held accountable for it. For the record, I meant to complain about the state of a system that treats a recital as a sort of exam... anything at your expense was either misinterpretation or unnecessary douchebaggery on my part.
My non-******* response to your original query might suggest the Miguel del Aguila concerto, if it's not too long. Great piece, challenging, and it won't murder your fingers (the counting may make your brain hurt until you get the hang of it).
davyd: Composers and performers are pretty open to these arrangements these days, at least in my academic circles. I actually had to turn one down due to time constraints (15 minute piece with tape submitted two weeks before the concert, will have to wait until next time). If anything, the biggest hurdle is establishing a culture where people think other people would be interested in such a thing. Usually, all it takes is for someone to ask, but often people don't think to. The composers appreciate the feedback on their writing and a champion for their work, and the performers appreciate giving input on how to write well for them and getting a piece to premiere.
I'm hoping to take the pieces I commissioned (the ones that don't require rare extras like interactive video or guitar pedals or a heavy metal drummer with double-kick) and, if the composers are interested, publish a collection of new music for contrabass clarinet. Might start compiling this as soon as April.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2011-02-25 17:12
Well, this thread took a turn I didn't expect.
I appreciated all your comments, Alex, and agree that many a "commission" could be had with little or no money changing hands. That's how it worked at my alma mater in many cases. A friend of mine had a concerto written for her by a graduate composition student gratis - this piece was recently mentioned on this board (since the start of the year if I recall correctly). All that was involved was an honest performance and a nice celebratory dinner. That piece, incidentally is now published.
As an aside, the other thread going around about the Paris Solos de Concours is an interesting prospect. How about one of the earlier pieces from that list? Almost all of them, if unpublished now, can be found at the UMD Clarinet Library and most of them are really, quite nice! I've been waiting for someone to publish the rest of the Klose and Berr contest pieces, of which relatively rare published versions are held in that library and simple (but legal!) copies exist in my own library.
If modern is what you're looking for, consider the Wachner Concerto, a seldom heard piece that really is a fun piece to play. Early music - maybe Crussell's Variations on a Swedish Air? Lovely piece, not hard, but hardly heard.
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