 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Josh Schultze
Date: 2002-03-05 14:53
After perusing the Breitkopf & Härtel sheet music catalog I noticed alot of baroque music for trompet. Being a fan of Baroque music, particularly Telemann, I wondered two things:
is the range of the trumpet within the range of the clainet?
would any clarinetist dare play music that had originally been written for the trompet?
My fear in regards to the second question is that I wonder if a clarinet can ever truly match the sweet, mellow and placid sound of the trumpet, especially its subtle pianianissimo.
Because the trumpet is pitched in Bb, this could be a very easy way for clarinetists to extend their repertoire to the Baroque period without transposing.
Any comments?
Thanks
Josh
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Author: William
Date: 2002-03-05 15:18
Great observations about adding to our repretoir. The clarinet is capable of much more subtile tone colorings and articulations than the trumpet so that worry should not concern you. Range is not problem either as the clarinet can play lower and higher (practical range) than the trumpet. You may have to learn multiple tonguing skills, but other than that, I see no problems. One thing for certain, you will not have to worry about emptying your spit valve every five minutes. Good Clarineting!!!!! (even the "broken" way)
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-03-05 18:05
Josh -
The one of the baroque words for trumpet was "clarion." The word clarinet ("clarionette") means "little trumpet." And in fact, the keyless baroque trumpet is much softer than the modern instrument and has a tone not wildly different from the clarinet.
Baroque trumpets came in all sizes, and they had bits of tubing you could insert or remove to change the pitch. Thus you will see parts in all different keys. However, they were still limited in playing scale passages, so few genuine trumpet concertos exist. The Bach Brandenburg Concerto # 2 is one of them, and there are a number of Bach and Handel arias with trumpet obbligato. "The Trumpet Shall Sound" from Handel's "Messiah" is a well known example.
Most baroque "trumpet" concertos on recording were written for oboe (which, played loud, sounds very trumpet-like). The sound of the itsy-bitsy piccolo trumpet is pure 20th century. It never existed in the baroque period.
Concertos for trumpet became popular only when the keyed trumpet was invented. The Haydn concerto was written for that instrument, and I'm pretty sure the Hummel concerto was too.
Clarinet works quite well for trumpet music, though you tend to play louder than what's good for you. For a long time, there was an annual "Messiah" party in New York with an instrumental ensemble and a bunch of professional singers, and I played "The Clarinet Shall Sound" there any number of times. The part is in D, though.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2002-03-05 20:49
On the other hand, baroque clarinets which were give the name little trumpet were much harsher than modern ones, so a loud blaring tone is what you should aim for. I've heard of people using baroque clarinets for the trumpet parts in Bach's B Minor Mass without the audience noticing. But if the audience didn't notice, why bother?
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