 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jez
Date: 2003-07-08 00:57
I think I may have been present, today, at a momentous occasion.
During rehearsals for James Macmillan's Symphony number 3, "Silence" the composer, who was conducting, became aware that the person playing B flat contra-bass has an instrument extended down to low B (sounding A0) and decided to rewrite some sections to include this note.
Is this the first time this note has been written in an orchestral part?
Could this be the lowest note ever written for a single reed instrument?
(are there any pieces for the sub-contra-bass?)
If this piece becomes a standard in the future, will instrument-makers have to accomodate it?
It can be heard at the 'prom' concerts in the RAH London in a couple of weeks and then in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in November.
Another oddity of the piece is the first example of gender bias I've come across in orchestration; the alto flute is instructed to sing while playing, with a request that the player should be female so she can sing at the same pitch!
Do you ever pine for the days when music-making was more straightforward and, maybe, less pretentious?
jez
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Author: Contrabasssax
Date: 2003-07-08 05:22
Yes there were peices written including the subcontrabass. I know not which ones but I do know there were a few peices written.
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Author: Emily
Date: 2003-07-08 14:07
That's not a gender bias. It makes sense, as long as the piece actually requires her to sing. If the alto flute player was a male countertenor, I'm sure the composer would find no problem with that, but how often does that happen?
If you long for the "good old days", there's heaps and heaps of music that has been written then. Just go play that instead.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-07-08 19:01
Javier -
Particularly with the current, narrower Leblanc mouthpiece, the lowest notes on the extended BBb contra are difficult to distinguish. However, my Korg tuner can tell the difference, and it'll make a difference in which notes it reinforces above it.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2003-07-08 22:30
jez, what make is the low B contra? I've never seen one.
Alphie
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Author: jez
Date: 2003-07-08 23:19
Alphie,
It's a rosewood Selmer, extended by the owner. He's actually lengthened it sufficiently to play B flat but not provided a key for the bottom hole, just using it to prevent the lowest note coming out of the bell, like the Buffet bass.
jez
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Author: Wes
Date: 2003-07-09 00:18
One famous conductor, when asked by the contrabassoonist whether a certain note was a B or a Bb, said in effect, "play either one, no one can tell the difference"!
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2003-07-09 02:49
I heard Evelyn Glennie play a piece by MacMillan with the Philadelphia Orchestra last summer. He came out and talked about it beforehand (but did not conduct it). It was a little bit too mystical for my tastes but had some quite interesting orchestration- of course with about a million different percussion instruments. There were some absolutely enormous chimes involved- the kind you have to climb up on a ladder to be able to reach the top. Maybe, as a composer, MacMillan has something about low notes.
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