 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tylerharris
Date: 2013-07-28 22:18
A few of the schools that I'm auditioning for require that you play two pieces. I plan on playing Louis Spohr's 1st Clarinet Concerto first movement. What are your suggestions on the second piece? Thanks.
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Author: orangeclarinet
Date: 2013-08-01 02:18
Weber Concertos or Concertino, Mozart Concerto, Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie, Stravinsky 3 Pieces
These are common audition pieces so you could use these at other auditions as well. Good luck.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-08-01 03:18
Read the schools requirments where you intend to audition. Each school may have different selections. If you need a second contrasting piece you can choose Stravinsky, Copland, Debussy,or something else in that period or later for a contrast. Some schools also require orchestral excerpts. The requirments should be listed on their web pages.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: hgp_atx
Date: 2013-08-04 20:46
Colleges like the 1st movement of Mozart's Concerto a lot. Some even require you to play that particular piece. Also Debussy's Premiere Rhapsody isn't a bad choice either.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-08-05 03:41
Half the audition will be scales and arpeggios. Be prepared to play from memory all possible major and melodic and harmonic minor scales, straight and in thirds, whole tone scales, a fast chromatic scale, arpeggios straight and "saw-toothed," diminished sevenths and so on. Practice by opening Baermann III at random and choosing a single exercise at random, working it out very slowly until it's perfectly even and engraved in your muscle memory.
In both scales and solo works, what hurts your score the most is uneven rhythm. Always play a little slower than your best speed, concentrating on evenness and lyrical phrasing.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2013-08-05 23:02
I've had students, recently and successfully, audition for conservatories and other elite music schools (graduate and undergraduate programs). Never have they had to play scales and/or arpeggios in the auditions. This is NOT to tell you to not have them prepared in case they do ask you for them.
The auditions are usually short and you will most likely play very little of your prepared materials (contrasting pieces, etudes, excerpts, scales - and whatever else they may have in their listed requirements).
You should have everything prepared incredibly well, as you don't know what they will ask you to play.
Tom Piercy
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Author: Christopher Bush
Date: 2013-08-06 04:14
Hi Tyler,
The most important thing you can do is to make sure you know exactly what each school requires for their auditions. If they have suggested or required repertoire, then you should probably or definitely (respectively) choose from that list. Otherwise, you should pick a piece that you will play very well. Trying to pick a piece that is difficult just to impress the jury usually has the opposite effect. Most juries want to hear you play your best, so pick something that is within your abilities and make sure that you can play it in time and in tune. Then come to a musical decision about each note and every phrase and perform those decisions for the jury.
I would suggest bringing at least 2 copies of the score (full score, especially if you have accompaniment to the Spohr) to whatever you play. That will remove the problems of a jury member not knowing your piece. If they can't read a score for a new piece and they let it keep them from understanding your playing, you'll need to consider whether or not they're an appropriate teacher for you.
Although I'm sure it happens somewhere, I've never listened to scales in an audition and haven't run into it. If it is listed in the school's materials, be prepared to play it. If it isn't, you should know them, but don't worry too much about them for audition purposes. (If you're on the right track, you're likely doing technical exercises in a variety of keys as a part of your daily practice anyway.)
Finally (sorry for the delay), here are some pieces I think might be a good contrast for the Spohr:
Stravinsky: 3 Pieces
Messiaen: Abyss of the Birds (from his 4tet for the End of Time, 3 mvt)
William O Smith: 5 Pieces for Clarinet Alone
Donald Martino: A Set for Clarinet
Sutermeister: Capriccio
Berio: Lied
Elliot Carter: Gra
I've heard outstanding high school players play all of these pieces. However, they're not all for everyone at every stage of their development. In time, these pieces should all be within your reach by the end of your undergraduate years.
Have you asked your teacher for his/her recommendations? What was his/her response?
Christopher Bush
Prof. of Clarinet - NYU
Princ. Clarinet - Glens Falls Symphony, Metro Chamber Orchestra
Director - NYU Composers Ensemble
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2013-08-06 13:41
My only comments would be, as others have said, make sure, whatever you do, that you are ready for the published audition requirements i.e if there are set pieces do those. If you have any flexibility, it would make sense to choose something quite different to the Spohr to show that you can play in contrasting styles. Therefore I would not suggest doing Weber or Crusell with the Spohr - something 20th century would be much better. However do make sure that whatever you choose, you can do well.
Good luck
Vanessa.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-08-06 15:07
The first movement of Spohr #1 was the contest piece at the Clarinet Congress several years ago. The concerto has several sections where the orchestra [piano] has the theme and the clarinet responds to it, for example in the full score at http://imslp.org/wiki/Clarinet_Concerto_No.1,_Op.26_%28Spohr,_Louis%29, p. 5, second system and again at letter B. At letter D, the clarinetist is at most the lesser of two equals. And especially, the low-register noodling in the first two systems of p. 8 must be barely there, with the virtuoso flourishes emerging as decorations.
Without exception every contestant played noodling as the solo and treated the theme as the accompaniment -- exactly the opposite of what they should have done.
I'm sure that the audition judges continued the movement through that section to discover whether the contestants knew to pull back and let the melody take center stage.
That's why you can't learn a solo by practicing from the clarinet part. You need to know everything that's going on, and working from at least the piano reduction is essential.
Far too few players think about the difference between Hauptstimme and Nebenstimme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauptstimme. As I've written, my favorite example is in the last movement of the Mozart Quintet, the first variation, where you must weave a nearly inaudible "spider's web" around the melody in the two violins and then the viola and cello.
Ken Shaw
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