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Francaix Tema and Variazioni questions

Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2005-11-12 23:24

Hello,

I'm performing this piece on an upcoming recital. I have a few questions about discrepancies between the score and some recordings...

The first issue in the trill vs. flutter tongue in the last variation. The clarinet part say "rr", but the piano part says "tr"... I have two recordings... Victoria Soames trills and Julian Bliss flutters... I prefer the way it sounds fluttered, but I want to be as true to the score as possible... any ideas on how it should be played?

Second... In the cadenza, in the first measure of the 4th line, there is a Bb (above the staff). It is marked Bb, but Julian Bliss plays what sounds like a Bnat in his recording. Is there perhaps another edition (I have the Max Eschig) with this note different, or is it possibly a mistake or an artistic change? I actually think it sounds cooler with the Bnat, but I don't want to change it if all the physical evidence (beyond Bliss's recording) points to a Bb....

Any insights would be helpful. Thanks!

DH
theclarinetist@yahoo.com

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Re: Francaix Tema and Variazioni questions

Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-11-12 23:47

I can't help with the note discrepancies, but Francaix wrote in a tonal style, and if one possibility sounds wrong and one right, I'd go with the "right" one. If two respected performers vary in articulation, you can hardly go wrong with either one.

From Charles Neidich's master class:

This is a very fine piece, and a finger-buster. The interpretive problem, as Neidich pointed out, is that there is no identifiable "theme" to make variations on. The key is in the dedication, which is to Francaix's nephew Olivier. The piece is held together, not by a theme, but by a three-note pattern, low, high, middle, corresponding to the syllables of the name Olivier (oh-liv-ier).

Finally, Francaix wrote that his family was Flemish, not Waloonish, and that they pronounced the final X. However, he spent most of his life in France and accepted either pronunciation.

Ken Shaw

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