 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Simone
Date: 2001-11-15 18:28
I have been asked to play at a birthday celebration on Sunday week. It's not an ordinary birthday celebration: a catholic priest (it's actually his birthday) and a rabbi from Jerusalem are going to discuss passages from the bible and after each passage I'm going to play a short piece of music (just me and my clarinet, no accompaniment). The music should be in the same mood as the passages from the bible and I'm now looking for suitable music. I'm going to play one or two Klezmer-pieces and a solo-piece from a Swiss composer but there are still two pieces missing. They should be rather gay, between 1 and 3 minutes long and no hymns. The melody can be simple but must be effective even when only played by one clarinet.
I'm very grateful for any suggestion.
Simone
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-11-15 18:43
Simone -
If you're playing some Klezmer, which is music from the Jewish tradition, you have to balance it with music from the Christian, Catholic tradition. After all, it's the priest's birthday.
Read the biblical passages that will be discussed and think about their mood. Then choose some music to go with them. Since we don't know what those passages are, we can't be of much help in suggesting music. There's plenty of up-tempo Christian religious music, if that's what you need. And don't rule out hymns. There's plenty of good music there. (Stay away from Bach though -- he wrote for the Lutheran Church, and as you remember, Luther didn't get along with the Catholic Church.)
Why not call up the priest and ask him what his favorite music is? You were asked to play, so you have credibility. It's no imposition at all to ask this perfectly natural follow-up question.
Break a leg. Let us know how it goes.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Simone
Date: 2001-11-15 20:54
Ken,
when the priest asked me whether I would play for his birthday he suggested that I could play some Klezmer (like Hewenu Shalom at the end of the discussion) but it doesn't have to be just Klezmer. I usually play in his church at Easter and he always liked the pieces I played which were mostly short "modern" solo pieces as for example "Klage" from "Stimmungen eines Fauns" by Ilse Fromm-Michaels or "Preamble" from "5 pieces for clarinet" by Gordon Jacob.
I can't explain but I don't feel like playing christian religious music. I even don't feel completely comfortable about playing Klezmer in front of this rabbi from Jerusalem as this is his traditional music and I'm coming from a quite different culture than he. For me it's like people in Jerusalem playing Swiss folk music...
Maybe it's the best thing to call the priest and ask him for advise but he might say that anything which goes with the passages will be fine and then I'm at the start again. Therefore: The biblical passages for which I need music are: Jesaja 7,10-17 and Psalm 118. Both rather joyful passages.
Simone
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2001-11-16 04:09
Part of the Psalm 118 was used (loosely) in the Honneger "King David" (Le Roi David) an Oratorio. If you have access to a GOOD music library, there is a beautiful melody in another portion of this work (the last chorus,) "The Death of David." (Remember that authorship of most of the Psalms is attributed to David, though scholars generally do not support that.) The melody begins with a solo soprano, and works its way down to the bass part. The text: "And God said one day shall dawn, bringing a flower newly born, ...each night and morn, and all his people shall adorn with breath of life bestowing." (Sorry its incomplete, its been years since I've sung it.) I never tried it on clarinet, but it ought to be beautiful.
Sorry, but most of the rest of what I know that would work is decidedly Christian.
Ken,
Fairly recently the Catholic Church "forgave" Martin Luther, though I'm not at all sure he forgives them!
PS The Honneger was written in French, there is at least one English version of the score.
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