 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ted
Date: 2004-02-16 14:31
After decades of studying and playing in orchestras, I often wonder what are clarinet players favorite clarinet solos in an orchestral piece. I've thought of all my favorite symphonies , overtures, ballets, tone poems etc. and tried to feel what lingered on after all the dust settled, so to speak. There are those solos you practice over and over ( thank you "Orchestral Excerpts") and those that you whistle after a performance, but there are some that stay with you at the core of your being.
So , I put it out there - "what's your favorite clarinet solo in an orchesrtal piece"?
The one that keeps coming back to me is that beautiful , lyrical solo in
"The Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi - which BTW, took me years to get just right. Cheers - TD
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Author: Brandon
Date: 2004-02-16 15:08
I would have to say that one in my top 10 would have to be the Rachmaninov Symphony 2 mvt. 3. This is one of the most difficult solos IMHO. as it takes so much control to execute well.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-02-16 15:13
2nd mvt, Beethoven 6.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: FrankM
Date: 2004-02-16 15:17
the tenor sax part of Prokovief's "Lt. Kije"....I'm still a clarinet player, so this should count!!!
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Author: bkmorton
Date: 2004-02-16 15:57
Cappricio Espagnol
Scheherazade
are the best!!!
Rimsky knew how to write for clarinet
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-02-16 16:09
My favorite or at least one of my own personal favorite moments, is the clarinet solo in the Finale of Brahms 4...the slow one in the 2cd movement of Brahms 3 is also quite fine, but alot more taxing.
David Dow
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2004-02-16 17:13
I like the clarinet solo in Tschaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini
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Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2004-02-16 17:44
The solo at the end of the 1st movement of Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony.
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2004-02-16 17:56
Another vote for Rach 2 Symph Adagio - a test of keeping yourself quietly together - closely followed by big clar cadenza solo in Henry Wood Sea Songs as played at Prom concerts - a test of keeping yourself firmly in check with a touch of humour. Why are we always being tested ???
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2004-02-16 17:57
Tosca- the whole opera is great for the clarinet. And the solo in Act 3 is of course exquisite!
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2004-02-16 19:18
Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture definitely has to be up there for me. Also, the end of Appalachian Spring. Clarinets are just good at breaking through the orchestra and changing the mood....
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-02-16 20:11
Elgar Symphony No. 1 - the duet between solo clarinet and solo violin ... simply beautiful. Unfortunately the two Elgar symphonies seem to be very neglected by American orchestras, a shame.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2004-02-16 20:39
Der Freischutz (I got to do this with orch once)
Pelias and Melissande (ditto)
Would love to do:
Rhap in Blue
Rach 2
Overture Fortza del Delstino
Il Domineo
Tosca
R Espanol
solo at end of Night on Bald Mountain (already got the soft high E fingering ready to roll)
oops.....forgot :
Berlioz Symp. Fantastique
New World symph.
Fingals cave (Hebreides)
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
Post Edited (2004-02-16 22:01)
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2004-02-16 23:56
Chalk up another one for the overture to La Forza del Destino!!! It made an indelible impression on me when I was a kid and heard it, we played a band arrangement for contest. I was a freshman then and the gal who played the solo was a terrific player. She had great tone along with her technique.
Rimsky-Korsakov wrote wonderfully for all instruments. A real master of color IMHO
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2004-02-16 23:59
oh yeah....forgot again....WQED (NPR pittsburgh and audio stream) now broadcasting PSO doing Schubert unfinished...nice solo esp 2nd mvt. Hope audience stops coughing.
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Author: marcia
Date: 2004-02-17 00:19
Among the MANY the two that stand out are Beethoven 6, 2nd movement, and Night on Bald MOuntain.
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2004-02-17 01:26
To FrankM, my school orchestra is playing Liuetenent Kije, and since we have no tenor sax player, I get that to play that solo in Kije's Wedding!
The solo in Force of Destiny overture with the harp is one of my favorites.
And then there's Pines of Rome, of course.
That famous lyrical theme of the first movement in Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony appears several times and is played by a solo clarinet once. That solo is probably my favorite one in the rep.
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Author: FrankM
Date: 2004-02-17 15:15
to ALOMarvelous12...have fun with Kije....there just isn't much call for tenor in "classical" music. When I was called to play Kije years ago, I sat down next to the bassoons and an elderly cello player leaned over to me, looked me up and down and said..." so that's a saxophone, eh?"....
re: Night on Bald Mountain...that high e is a bear ....that's really one of the first times I realized the importance of alternate fingerings
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-02-17 20:25
Aussie Nick ... didn't you just play Pines of Rome with the AYO? or was that QYO - how did it go?
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Author: C.LeBell
Date: 2004-02-17 21:19
The wonderful solo in La Forza del Destino, act III, before the tenor aria--O tu che in seno agli angeli---right up there with the solo in Tosca
Great moments in Kodaly's Hary Janos and Sibelius 4
Also the opening of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-02-17 21:35
A few more of my favorites:
The "cat going up the tree" from Peter and the Wolf.
Some of the beautiful solo clarinet passages in the Artunian Trumpet Concerto...GBK
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2004-02-17 23:10
diz - QYS is doing Fountains of Rome at the moment, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and Daphnis and Chloe. I've unfortunately never done AYO, only the national music camp run by AYO.
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-02-18 03:11
Aussie Nick ... wow - three musical pieces all with the most brilliant (and difficult in the case of Daphnis) clarinet writting this century (er last).
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Author: larryb
Date: 2004-02-18 13:59
Luisa Miller (Verdi) overture is spectacular. I played it in January - anyone else familiar with it? It took my by surprise, especially since it doesn't appear in any orchestral excerpts that I'm aware of.
But my all time favorite would be the Trio from Mozart Symphony #40...
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Author: Anders
Date: 2004-02-18 15:17
The solo merging into duet toward the end of Shostakovich 10th is up there.
The solos in Mahler Das Lied - Abschied mvt.
I also love the endearing if clunky (in jazz terms) solos in Milhaud's La Creation du Monde. Oh to have had Sidney Bechet or Jimmy Hamilton play that! Come to think of it, it would have been wonderful if Ellington could have rewritten the piece for his band (rather than reinterpreting the Nutcracker...)!
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Author: Brad
Date: 2004-02-18 18:52
Gershwin - Cuban Overture - I just love the Bongos before the Clarinet Cadenza.
Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espangol, The Golden Cockeral, Scheherazade
Brahms - 3rd sym. 2nd Mvmt, 4th sym 2nd mvmt.
Beethoven - 4,6,&8
etc........
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2004-02-19 04:37
I must agree with GBK on the Galanta dances from Kodaly...but only because my understanding of Hungarian folk music has deepened over the years since first I heard the piece.
But, honestly, GBK...the CAT???? That's about as "scary" as it gets!
Hugs,
Katrina
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Author: jez
Date: 2004-02-19 14:24
Bartok Miraculous Mandarin on B flat
Shostakovitch Leningrad or Prokofiev Stone Flower on E flat
jez
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-02-19 16:03
Katrina said:
> But, honestly, GBK...the CAT????
> That's about as "scary" as it gets!
It's only my favorite after I'm finished playing it ...GBK
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2004-02-20 04:57
Beethoven 1st Piano Concerto, 2nd movement
Dvorak Cello Concerto
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Author: ClarinetPunk
Date: 2004-02-21 19:48
I have to totally agree with you on this one...i LOVE the Hebrides...and the clarinet solo makes it all the more better!
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Author: GilliganGirl
Date: 2004-02-22 03:42
Rach 2nd symphony, March to the Scaffold in Symp Fantastique (short, but gorgeous!), Rhapsody in Blue!!!!
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Author: larryb
Date: 2004-02-23 02:28
larry liberson:
maybe #38? you know the minuet movement - lovely and simple - anything wrong with that? do you ever walk down the street whistling Ravel or Rimsky...
OK - It's #39 (K whatever) - mea culpa... still a lovely solo.
Post Edited (2004-02-23 14:49)
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Author: craig
Date: 2004-02-24 08:20
Lately, I've come to love the opening solo of Sibelius 1. It's so ponderous and dramatic, in contrast to the great (but more triumphant) material immediately following it. Also, there's something cool about the fact that Sibelius, who had such great wind writing in all his symphonies, decided to open up his very first one with 1:30 of clarinet. =)
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Author: lyn
Date: 2004-02-24 14:11
Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis (slow movement)
Hebrides
Siegfried Idyll
En Saga - Very subtle and haunting, and unknown!
Any Copland - Rodeo is great, and the eefer part in El Salon Mexico - Viva Eefer!!!
Right now I'm doing the one in Church Windows, which is really neat, finally got the conductor to Rehearse it....@@
And Dvorak writes the best clarinet parts overall. 
~L
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Author: Axel
Date: 2004-02-26 18:52
What aobut Britten's "Young Person' Guide"? At least the best 2nd clarinet solo.
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Author: sömeone
Date: 2004-02-27 13:16
Britten's young person's guide is so truely awesome.
And yes Axel, it is the most astonishing 2nd clarinet solo i've ever heard.
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Author: VCMM
Date: 2004-03-02 07:46
Beethoven 8, 3rd mvt (or it may be 2nd...can't remember)? It's the one that interacts with the horn.
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Author: dpar
Date: 2004-03-03 22:12
Nielsen 5 (the cadenza at the end of the first movement), Fantasia on British Sea Songs (cadenza again :-) and the opening of Sibelius 1
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Author: ilian96
Date: 2015-05-15 01:59
For me the Best solo in clarinet are :
Long Solo :
Tchaikovsky
Symphony n°2 Mov 2 ( A very beautiful solo )
Symphony n°5 Mov 1 ( Dramatic in bass notes)
Symphony n°6 Mov 1 ( At the End , one of the most beautiful solos )
Concerto Violin Mov 2 ( Clarinet play with the violin solo during all time )
Swan Lake Pas de Trois Intrada ( The clarinet have a very long trill at the end)
Swan Lake Mazurka ( It's A Duo but it's very beautiful and vivo for me )
Swan Lake Danse of the little Swan ( Clarinet play , it's expressiv but sad )
Rachmaninov
Symphony n°1 Mov 3 ( At the beginning , the clarinet play beautiful notes )
Symphony n°2 Mov 3 ( One of the most beautiful and long solo in clarinet )
Concerto Piano n°2 Mov 2 ( Clarinet play with Piano and it's so expressiv ! )
Rimsky-Korsakov
Shéhérazade Mov 2 ( Hard Cadenze for clarinet but beautiful )
Shéhérazade Mov 3 ( Long chromatic gamm note and at the middle good solo)
Shéhérazade Mov 4 ( Very hard solo and very fast )
Dvorak
Symphony n°9 New World Mov 4 ( Very good solo )
Gershwin
Rhapsodie in Blue ( The most famous solo in the begining with glissando )
Verdi
La Forza Del Destino Overture (Sinfonia) ( Clarinet play after the theme )
Simon Boccanegra ( Awesome ! A beautiful solo with high notes of violin )
Quick Solo :
Tchaikovsky
Symphony n°1 Mov 1 ( I like this solo after the introduction of the violin ^^)
Symphony n°3 Mov 4 ( Clarinet play eight notes in down with violin , beautiful!
Symphony n°4 Mov 1 ( The solo sound like a music of a attraction park )
Symphony n°5 Mov 2 ( Epic dramatic solo of Clarinet , First time , I was heart)
Symphony n°5 Mov 3 ( The valse solo after oboe is cool )
Symphony Manfred Mov 2 ( A good solo like the symphony 1 )
Symphony Manfred Mov 3 ( A like so much this beautiful solo ^^ )
Concerto Piano n°1 Mov 1 ( Clarinet play a solo in 6:00 approximatively )
Swan Lake Pas de Trois - Variation - Allegro simplice - Presto ( Very quick ! )
Swan Lake Pas de deux - Tempo di Valse ( A Duo but beautiful ^^ )
Swan Lake Sujet ( only clarinet no another instrument at the beginning )
Swan Lake Grand Pas de Six , ( Clarinet play at the beginning and faster )
Swan Lake Additionnal Number , Pas de deux ( Clarinet play a Cadenza )
Nutcracker Ouverture ( Short but enjoying )
Nutcracker Valse of the Flower ( Clarinet play solo before the theme of violin )
Rachmaninov
Symphony n°1 Mov 1 ( At The beginning , the clarinet introduce the movment)
Bizet
Suite of Carmen n°1 Intermezzo ( Clarinet play a variation of the flute solo )
Suite of Carmen n°1 Les Dragons d'Alcala ( Clarinet play , enjoy )
Borodin
In the Steppe of central Asia ( Clarinet begin with the theme )
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-05-15 18:44
I played Night on Bald Mountain as my first BIG solo with the college orchestra at my first school and nailed it. . Nothing like it!
May be film music, but the clarinet theme of the Shire in The Lord of the Rings films (including The Hobbit) is my favorite of all time. Pleasant and beautiful.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2015-05-15 18:50
Mother Goose is another lovely one.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: fernie51296
Date: 2015-05-15 22:07
Beethoven 6th 2nd Mvt. will forever be my favorite. I really like the very short clarinet solo after the horn solo in Bruckner's 9th. The atmosphere created between clarinet and oboe gives me goosebumps every time.
Fernando
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Author: donald
Date: 2015-05-16 07:32
Just earlier this morning I was going through a pile of stuff and found.... Prokofieff 3rd piano concerto. In the last few months I've been pretty lucky solo wise- the cadenzas from Canteloube Songs of Avergne and Galanta have both been on my stand and performed... but thinking back
- Shostokovich 10th Symphony, 1st mvt solo
- Prokofieff Piano concert 3, 1st mvt
These two solos stand out in my memory from over the years as solos where the conductor allowed/trust my artistic input and the result was a really deep personal experience in concert.
John Adams "Son of Chamber symphony" had a great, and extended, solo passage at the end of the 1st mvt that required quite some dedication for me to master, and that was very satisfying to perform on a purely technical level... adrenal glands got a workout (then beautiful stuff in the next mvt!).
dn
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Author: Alex K.
Date: 2015-05-18 03:59
My favorite would be
-weber concertino
-prelude to larlesienne
the prelude is a piece by Bizet.
if you are curious, the clarinet is in d minor in the prelude and the solo(soli) goes a bit like this: (middle)d a D ef ef d high a
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Author: Wisco99
Date: 2015-05-18 08:08
My favorite orchestral clarinet solo is the inimitable 2 man clarinet solo from the Spike Jones Tchaikovsky Medley. The sawed in half clarinet played head to head is a first in orchestral solos. Hard to follow a solo like that.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7O9g2sphw
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Author: avins
Date: 2015-05-20 09:31
I appologise for digressing , but it seems that all those beautiful solos have already been mentioned so far , I love one great Clarinet solo which is not orchestral but chamber and that of Schubert's
' Der Hirt auf dem Felsen"
especially this recording : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPpII4xTVrc
The dialogue with the voice is unsurpassable , in this particular recording the clarinet and the voice are just about the same in tone and texture
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Author: emmahillier
Date: 2016-11-24 22:19
I can't see why more people haven't mentioned Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin! Obviously the most famous, but I honestly think it's absolutely incredible.
Another favourite would be the Hebrides. It's so beautiful, especially with the harmony coming in with the 2nd clarinet.
la forza del destino is also amazing. I first started playing the tune when I was young, and it still brings back nostalgia, so I'm slightly biased, but it's truly beautiful.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-11-25 04:38
This is such a loaded question! Everyone listed so far is on my favorites list!
Elgar Variations has a pile of fun clarinet solos. If you have a really good sound you can shine on the slow movements. The faster movements aren't that hard. It's kind of that perfect piece for the clarinet!
But there are just so many beautiful pieces written. For whatever reason Russian composers get my complete attention for clarinet solos.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2016-11-26 11:40)
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Author: faltpihl ★2017
Date: 2016-11-25 12:28
My favorite right now:
John Williams "The People's House" from the movie Lincoln.
The intro is so amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sECETqjbCi0
Regards
Peter
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Author: Michael S.
Date: 2016-11-26 13:12
A piece not mentioned yet is Sarka (Number 3 of Smetana's Ma Vlast). I played it in a concert some days ago. It contains 2 long solos that are very expressive and dramatical with extreme dynamics.
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2016-11-26 17:15
Glazunov's Four Seasons has a really nice clarinet solo.
I think there's also one, if memory serves me, in William Fry's Christmas Symphony.
I wouldn't necessarily put them in the "quality" category, but they definitely are fun solos.
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