 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Melissa
Date: 2003-01-14 21:46
I was wondering if anyone has any tips on playing the song Air On The G String (Suite No. 3, 2nd Movement) by Bach. I am performing this piece at the end of Fedruary.
Melissa
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Author: Jean
Date: 2003-01-15 02:29
I guess my question would be this? With the wonderful clarinet solos out there why are you playing what is obviously a transcription? Is this your choice or an instructor?
I don't wish to sound mean, but not every piece translates well to the clarinet.
Jean
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2003-01-15 14:00
Melissa -
Bach's Orchestral Suite # 3 in D, BWV 1068, contains a movement simply called "Air." It's wonderful music and has frequently been arranged for strings or a solo instrument. It's come to be known as the "Air on the G String," even though it's not played solely on the G string on the violin (although some arrangements call for it to be played that way).
It's almost always played too slowly and heavily, one note at a time. It has to flow gently, at heartbeat speed. Your long note at the beginning has to have "inclination." That is, it has to move forward and be part of a very long phrase, going all the way through to the end of the descending scale.
You do this by making a slight crescendo through the note, and also by keeping your breath support strong. The note has to "keep spinning" rather than just sitting there. To hear what this sounds like, listen to one of the truly great recordings, now about 85 years old, of John McCormack singing "Il Mio Tesoro" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Here's what I wrote about the long opening note in the Weber Concertino: "Your first entrance must be as soft as possible, but also intense. This long note (clarion Bb) calls for "messa di voce" (a crescendo and then decrescendo). It's your calling card. You let the audience know you're there. It's more than just a crescendo and decrescendo. In addition to getting louder, your sound must also get bigger, warmer and more colorful. Weber was primarily a composer of operas, and the effect he is looking for is like an opera singer starting a note softly and "closed in" and then opening the tone up like a flower, showing it to the audience, and then closing it back up. This isn't easy to imitate on clarinet, but you need to do something. Add some vibrato. Make the sound brighter as well as louder, by pointing the tip of your chin down and pulling your lower lip out from over your teeth, so that at least half of the red part is outside your teeth. An opera singer will face to one side and then swing slowly to the other, to give all parts of the audience the chance to hear his/her beautiful voice. Raise the bell up to get more sound out, and do the swing yourself with the instrument. You can't afford to be timid or embarrassed. This is your chance to shine."
The Air on the G String messa di voce is much smaller -- just enough to hold the audience's attention and maintain the momentum of the phrase. Also, you do only the swell part on the long note, arching the phrase over. Your target note in the first phrase is the third note from the end, and you then relax off to the resolution of the suspension on the last two notes.
Pick someone in the audience you have special feeling for -- your mother, your boy friend, the guy you have a crush on who won't give you the time of day -- and play your heart out. "Play" that person's heart. This is just the piece to do it on.
Let us know how you're progressing, and how it goes in performance.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Melissa
Date: 2003-01-15 17:33
Jean, my private instructor told me to play this piece.
Ken shaw, Thank-you very much that really helped I will try my best at doing that
Melissa.
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2003-01-16 12:48
Ken Shaw, I followed your advice while playing the Weber Concertino yesterday in an exam. Sure makes the entrance more interesting, giving it shape and life. We'll see in four weeks what the adjudicator wrote about it.
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