The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: si bemol
Date: 2005-02-05 17:14
Which instrument is the Prokofieff Classical Symphony *really* written for?
The Bonade excerpt book shows it for Bb clarinet and I have a Kalmus part that shows it for Bb, too. However, someone just sent me an photocopy of the first movement but it's for A clarinet.
Thanks
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2005-02-05 17:31
The Classical Symphony is written for 2 clarinets in Bb in all 4 movements.
The clarinets spend the majority of the piece playing in the sharp key signatures of E, B, A, and D.
It's possible you have a transposed part (?), but I've never seen one for this work.
Is your part handwritten or typeset? Is the name of the publisher on your copy? ...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: si bemol
Date: 2005-02-05 19:47
It's definitely an orchestral part, typeset with rehearsal numbers (as opposed to my Kalmus part, which has letters). But they sent me just the excerpt -- the tutti from the middle of the 1st movement -- with the sections before and after whited out, and there's no publisher name. Strange.
I've always played this on Bb but I'm wondering if they are going to ask me to play it on A.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2005-02-05 21:38
The score of the Classical Symphony, like all of Prokofiev's work that I know, is written entirely for C (non transposing) instruments (including French Horns and Trumpets). The composer left it to the copyist to decide what key to write the transposing instuments in. Considering that much of his early work was written when the USSR was not a party to the copyright convention, there exist "unauthorized" editions of several works (including the Classical Symph. and Peter and the Wolf) with questionable practices, including an early edition of Peter entirely for Bb clarinet, with low E-flats in some of the solos!
Version of the Classical in the NSO's library is for A clarinets, although we've taken the liberty of playing some of it on the Bb to facilitate technique.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
|