 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LeWhite
Date: 2004-01-24 03:23
For upcoming youth orchestra auditions, one of the excerpts is Tchaik 4 - the Allegro Scherzo section and then the Presto section.
I can't play it... It's the 32nd and 16ths that trip me up. Sure I can do it very slowly, but not up to speed - and I have 4 days until the audition! HELP!
PS. Also, is ALL of Scheherezade for A Clarinet? it might be a problem because mine hasn't arrived yet!
Help much appreciated.
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Author: Brandon
Date: 2004-01-24 04:55
If we are talking about the same part, I am quite certain you play the first two 32nds in the A Scherzo as grace notes and the remaining ones as sixteenths. As far as the Scheherazade goes, the third mvt I believe is on Bb.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-24 05:16
Movements 1, 2 and 4 of Scheherazade are for A clarinet. Movement 3 is for Bb clarinet.
The Scherzo (3rd movement of Tchaikovsky Symphony #4) is also on A clarinet.
The problem rhythm in the Scherzo is based on an inverted mordent figure. (2 of the figures are actually written out inverted mordents). I would go back to Klosé (Part 1 - p.107), Rubank Advanced (Volume 1 - p.64) or any similar method books and review the rhythmic patterns until they feel comfortable.
Then, using a metronome, slowly train your fingers to play the correct notes and rhythm in the Tchaikovsky excerpt.
Gradually increase the speed as you feel more secure
By the way - The original Louis DeSantis studies for clarinet had a 4 page paraphrasic exercise based entirely on the very same excerpt from the Tchaikovsky Scherzo in Symphony #4. This book, long out of print, has now just been republished by Russell Harlow. When Russell was putting the new edition together I was happy to contribute my original copy of the DeSantis method for him to use as a reference. He was kind enough to mention my name in his written introduction to the new edition ...GBK
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Author: LeWhite
Date: 2004-01-24 06:25
Ohhh so it's like a written mordent? I never realised... This will definitely effect how I play it then. I was trying to have the 32nds very crisp and audible, but then I can't even PLAY them at tempo!!
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Author: donald
Date: 2004-01-24 18:40
the (helpful) solution that Brandon suggests is given at the end of the Bonade exerpt book, and is useful if you become finger/tongue tied. OR if you notice that the other wind players are doing this and you want to match them... OR if it's just going so fast that it sounds the same.
At reasonable tempo, however, it does sound different from the "correct" way, and i recomend following GBKs advice and learning the correct rhythm with utmost precision. When i last played this in an audition i actually learnt it both ways as the grace note way helped make the two staccato semiquavers (oops, sorry- 16th notes) more.... habitual.
donald
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2004-01-24 18:55
The "trick"-version of playing the first 32nd's as grace notes is widely used and somewhat accepted among principal clarinetists I've met all over the world. Especially if the tempo feels a bit rushed by a nervous conductor once you get there. However, it sounds more flashy to play it as written.
Alphie
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-24 19:00
Playing (and thinking) of the first two 32nd notes as grace notes (as Bonade illustrates) is fine as long as they start precisely on the downbeat and not early...GBK
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Author: Brandon
Date: 2004-01-25 00:19
Le, you might want to listen to a recording to see just how you might be able to work it in if you are still in doubt.
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2004-01-25 02:52
The clarinets have it lucky; the flute has to play this figure over and over. I played Tchaik 4 at music camp a few years ago and lived next door to the principal flutist. Every morning starting at 7:30, after her diligent 15 minutes of warming up, she would practice this one excerpt over and over and over, for at least half an hour a day. Needless to say, she could play it by the performance. After hearing her play it for that long, I think I could have too.
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