 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Julia
Date: 1999-10-27 22:29
I am familiar with the two Rubank books of Clarinet and Flute duets. Is there a similar book that has Clarinet and Sax duets?
TIA
Julia
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Author: mary beth
Date: 1999-10-28 03:46
as far as i know, there are not too many sax/clarinet duets around. clarinet and flute go nicely together, as do most of the winds. Sax, however, is in its own little world.
your best bet would be to transpose one of the clarinet duets you have. A teacher did this for my friend and I at interlochen, and it turned out nicely....MB
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Author: Mario
Date: 1999-10-28 12:42
"Two by Two Duets for clarinet and alto saxophone," by Paul Harris, Faber Music. Luyben would have it.
Pretty, very easy little things, well suited for the differences between clarinet and saxophone sound, intonation and (most importantly) balance.
There are also quite a few duets books for soprano sax and also sax that are suitable for clarinets and alto. Stay away from duets for also and tenor. Unless you transpose downward the tenor part, the hamony is all wrong since the tenor part (played by the clarinet) ends up on top. Weird somethimes.
If you have access to good (meaning in tune) soprano sax players, there are tons out saxophone duets out there that you can use. Clarinet duets are trickier since saxes have a smaller usable range than the clarinet.
In general, the issue with this combination is lack of proper balance. The sax is a powerful instrument with volume more akin to brass instruments that to the other winds. While clarinet, flute, oboe, english horns, bassons, and even french horn blend beautifully because they have similar dynamic characteristics, sax overpowers them all and tend to bury its more intimate cousin (the clarinet).
In order for these pieces to sound good, you need a clarinetist who projects well (I did not say who plays loud), and you need a saxophonist who can maintain tone quality at softer dynamics. To add to the challenge, such duets tend to keep the saxophone under the clarinet hamony-wise. Junior saxophonists have difficulty controlling low notes at soft dynamics: either they miss the attack on the note, or they bury the clarinet with sound that explode. Beware. It is more difficult that it looks.
It is an interesting observation that playing even simple clarinet/saxophone duets require a better tone control that what would be expected at first sight.
These comments are from personal experience. I have been playing with saxophonists all my life. I am actually preparing a litte recital for amateur musicians on November 20 with a saxophonist friend of mine. We will play the Harris, and a soprano/alto duet (on the clarinet for the soprano part) by Savary - a very nice piece with some challenging moments.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 1999-10-29 02:50
Maybe not the type of music you are looking for, but the Kammen International Dance Folio No.1 has most tunes arranged with harmonies. I understand that only the Bb edition has these harmonies. Try playing them with a clarinet and tenor sax, or soprano sax.
Available from Tara Publications.
Steve
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