 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2003-09-23 08:24
I just got Spohr's second concerto today, and it doesn't look too difficult- does anyone have any tips on how to play it? Are there any specific things that I should and shouldn't be doing with it?
Thank you
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-09-23 22:54
I agree with donald, I think you'll find it a challenge. Sophr was instrumental in getting the design of the clarinet changed in order for his works to be playable. I'm guessing they were a lot harder on "romantic" 8 key clarinets.
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2003-09-24 09:30
I am terribly sorry for saying that it didn't look too difficult- I didn't realise it would upset people. I read through it today, and it is NOT overly difficult- I got most of it right straight away- so there!
I said that it wasn't TOO difficult. I didn't say that it was EASY, or that it wouldn't take some work to play well. The only things that are going to need any serious work are the demisemiquaver arpeggio stuff and some of the sextuplet passages in the last movement. If you have a decent technique I don't think the piece should be as difficult as the previous posters are making it out to be.
Now, does anyone have any HELPFUL advice?
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Author: Keil
Date: 2003-09-24 17:34
having performed this my junior year in high school I would recommend that you first listen to a good recording. Unfortunately for us there aren't many recordings out there of Spohr concerti so our selection is limited. Fortunately for us the recordings that are out there aren't too shabby. I have Karl Leister playing it and it's quite remarkable with a nice clear sweetness of tone and beautiful interpretation. Have a listen to it so you can get a feel for how the piece goes, moves, progresses, etc. It's important that you keep in mind that Spohr, being a wonderful violinist, wrote pieces that aren't too challenging for the violin to play but to execute with the same flair and panache on the clarinet takes little more than a miracle. Seriously though, it's not too bad... with the arpeggios i recommend breaking them down into groupings that maintain the flow of the piece and strictly adheres to and remains true to the rhythmical pattern. The high F's at the very beginning of the piece i played by fingering long F and going to a "Fake" D fingering which is simply an overblown throat G, the tempo goes so fast that descrepancies in pitch/tone aren't noticeable. If this is something you aren't comfortable with doing use the regular fingerings and practice slowly maintaing strict air flow that has direction. Remember you're a wind player, not an "air" player.
Wind= air with speed, direction, and intensity... let it move
I hope this helps good luck!
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2003-09-24 19:52
The Spohr concerto isn't really all that hard to play- the technique's all right out of Baermann. However, because so much of it's just arpeggios and scales, it's VERY difficult to make it sound like anything other than a lot of scales and arpeggios.
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2003-09-25 03:50
I have a fantastic recording of it which I've been listening to for months. It helps a lot with knowing how to play it.
Regarding the scales and arpeggios- I was always taught to play everything musically, no matter what it was.
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