 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mpowe027
Date: 2014-06-01 03:46
My university is using this as the audition for its top ensemble. One or two semesters ago we played this piece and, like I have every time I've played it, take the 6/8 part in the Eb clarinet down an octave. Being a senior, I no longer take lessons as I'm not a performance major, and I can't afford lessons, or I'd deal with this with our clarinet professor. I don't want to embarrass myself at the audition, so my question to you guys and gals is, starting at measure 64-ish (or page 8 of the full score) how do you approach this passage? Not only do you have to play through it once but it repeats! By the end of the first go-around I'm running out of momentum. Worse than that, I can't seem to stay at a brisk tempo and play staccato all in the altisimo register for that long on E-flat clarinet. Do/can any of you know of any recordings of this excerpt, or (if you know the piece already) upload a quick video of you playing it. Truthfully, I've never met anyone that has played it as written. When I was in district band and we played this piece during our sectionals the instructor would not play it. He kept telling me to work on it, work on it, work on it, but when I asked to hear how it sounded he brushed it off (keep in mind, he had an Eb there with him) I know it can be done, I'm not saying otherwise, but I'd really like to hear it.
Here is the link to the score on IMSLP
http://petruccilibrary.ca/linkhandler.php?path=/imglnks/caimg/3/3b/IMSLP23820-PMLP54235-Vaughan-Williams_-_English_Folk_Song_Suite.pdf
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Author: kdk
Date: 2014-06-01 08:00
Performing it and playing it for an audition are, unfortunately, two different things. The good thing in performance is that if you get behind or out of breath and need to stop for a note or two (or half a dozen), all the upper woodwinds are playing it (and the snare drum is doubling the rhythm), so you'll never be missed. I don't think the range stays high (altissimo) for long enough to warrant playing down an octave, but I can understand maybe dropping the measures down an octave that go up to high F6.
Whether that would hurt you in an audition depends on who else is auditioning and who is listening.But, I'd say if you *can* play it as written, do it. The good thing in an audition is that you almost certainly will not be allowed to play the whole thing with the the repeat. It will be clear whether or not you have control of this passage after 16 bars.
They'll be listening very closely to the dotted rhythm. Make sure it stays dotted and doesn't smooth out into all eighth-notes.
Karl
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2014-06-01 08:10
It has been a long time since I played the Eb part. We used it as a tour piece when I was in college. As I recall, I played it as written. We played it recently in one of the community bands I am in and I was playing Bb. I found that my fingers were occasionally substituting the Eb part. I had worked on the Eb part enough that the muscle memory lasted a long time.
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Author: as9934
Date: 2014-06-01 22:32
Love that piece. We played it last year and I enjoyed it a lot. Never seen the Eb part but if its anything like the Bb part its a ton of fun to play.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-06-02 04:54
I played the Eb clarinet in this piece about 50 years back in a military band. It was a fun piece to play, but I don't recall it as being especially difficult.
Tony F.
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