 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-09 07:25
kia ora
how common is it for the Moz Req to be performed on sop clarinet instead of Basset Horn, and are the transposed parts easily available? i played it some years ago with transposed parts, and had always thought that the orchestral parts usually came with a pair of transposed parts in case Basset horns weren't available....
An orchestra i will perform this with has just sent me Basset Horn parts, after telling me that i am to play it on the "normal" clarinet as the NZSO won't rent us their basset horns..... hmmmm it seems that "normal" clarinet parts weren't included when they rented the music.
how commonly is this performed on soprano clarinet?
donald
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Author: graham
Date: 2006-02-09 07:39
This reminds me of the time I turned up with a basset horn and they handed me a clarinet part. Fortunately they found the basset horn part in a box somewhere.
I would have thought the clarinet parts would be common.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2006-02-09 07:58
Please don't do it on clarinet. It sounds wrong. I had this experience and it left me feeling rather strange. Get a basset horn at all costs. I'm sure you wouldn't do the Gran Partita with 3rd and 4th clts? why is the Req any different?
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 2006-02-09 08:06
Hello,
I just looked at Carus Verlag, Germany <www.carus-verlag.com>. Both variants (Richard Maunder vs. Robert D. Levin) have only two basset horns but no clarinets listed in the harmony parts set.
Perhaps, it's more easy to find basset hornists in Germany than im America?
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-09 08:54
thanks guys- i am NOT in the USA or Germany, and here in NZ there are currently only two working Basset horns- these belong to the NZSO. The NZSO have ordered new ones from Steven Fox and have decided not to lend/rent out the others until these new ones arrive.
Last year we used the NZSO horns for a Gran Partita performance on an Auckland Chamber Orchestra program, and having performed this in Cincinnati with 3rd and 4th clarinets, i can only agree with Peter that the Basset horns sound considerably better. Unfortunately "beggars can't be choosers", and given that rehearsals start in a months time, it looks most likely that Clarinets will have to be used. Sorry Peter.
Soooo, Graham thinks the clarinet parts are common- that's reasuring.
donald
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-02-09 09:10
The basset horn parts are within the range of Bb/A clarinets, but the whole sound of bassets (being more sombre) is what's needed in this piece.
But more often than not it's performed using Bb/A clarinets, and copies of both basset horn as well as the transposed parts for Bb/A clarinets shoud be included in the set.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-02-09 15:15
can't you borrow basset horns from Australia? Try harder!
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-09 17:51
i'll "try" exactly in proportion to the amount of money i'm being paid, thanks to those who have responded in a helpful manner (including those who emailed me directly)
donald
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2006-02-09 19:35
donald wrote:
>> i'll "try" exactly in proportion to the amount of money i'm being paid>>
I'm sure you don't really mean that. It's not a good philosophy.
After all, Mozart didn't "try" in proportion to the amount of money he was being paid, otherwise we'd all be much worse off.
Tony
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2006-02-09 20:21
To sympathize with Donald, it is very difficult for anyone to locate basset horns, especially if he lives in a small community, has limited contacts and time is pressing. If the orchestra wanted to use bassets, I would think it’s the orchestra’s obligation/responsibilities to find them and/or give the player sufficient time and notice so he could do the same. In any case, providing soprano parts is just a prudent thing to do.
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Author: William Hughes ★2017
Date: 2006-02-09 20:26
I'll risk sticking my nose in here and displaying my woeful ignorance for all to see: Are basset horn parts ever played on an alto clarinet? No, seriously, a really good one?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-02-09 20:43
No reason why they can't - just transpose the basset horn parts up a whole tone as you'd do when reading from a concert pitch part on Bb.
And Leblanc bassets and altos have the same 18mm bore and alto clarinet mouthpiece anyway (only the alto clarinet is a semitone shorter at the bottom than a basset), so I can't see any harm there.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-02-10 00:12
I've even heard of French horns playing the basset horn parts. Surely there must be some extra French horns in New Zealand.
You know, it's even hard to find basset horn players in big cities (at least in the USA). Apparently, Toronto is a basset horn hot spot.
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-10 01:15
Mr Pay- yes, of course i was a little harsh there, but you must understand that i have many contacts who could lend me a Basset horn IF i lived in the same country as them, but the complication/expense etc involved in flying a basset horn to NZ for a gig that will pay me about $150 US$ would only be something i'd undertake if i were certain the musical experience was to be of the highest quality.....
this posting was an enquiry about availabilitiy of parts
i would love to play the parts on Basset horns, but i have a lot of other projects/gigs that require my TIME and attention.... and TIME is something i don't have nearly enough of.
thanks for your input, i apologise if my mercinary attitude to this issue seems to fly against a genuine love of music/Mozart (not intended to sound petulant or sarcastic). Even more thanks to the people who actually helped with what i was asking about (clarinet parts)
keep playing the good tunes
donald
ps- thanks Basset horn
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Author: graham
Date: 2006-02-10 07:41
For what its worth (and I speak as an ardent fan of the basset horn) Mozart's Requiem is not a case where they were used to great effect. I can imagine clarinets sounding just as good. Mozart did not live to complete it. We do not know if he might have changed his mind and switched to clarinets at the end of the compositional process.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-02-10 11:16
graham,
that's not worth much. As Dan Leeson would say, your point has about as much merit as saying that if he had lived long enough, Mozart would have scored the Requiem for tenor saxes, therefore, you might just as well play it with saxes (come to think of it, Lester Young and Herschel Evans playing the Requiem would have been fine with me).
The only thing we know for certain is that Mozart scored the Requiem for basset horns - some very beautiful and characteristic writing in his own hand.
But I'm still waiting to discover Triebensee's wind octet version of the Requiem.
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Author: graham
Date: 2006-02-10 16:49
larryb: the problem with the Mozart Requiem is that it does not sit well for basset horns and there is nothing particularly characteristic of basset horns in the parts. It was not written at a time in Mozart's career when he made common use of them. The fact is that he died before he finished the piece, so drawing comparisons with the possibility of him taking a different decision had he lived in a wholly different era is beside the point. He did not finish the piece and might not have scored it for basset horns had he lived. You cannot say that for any other Mozart work.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-02-10 19:35
graham,
what about the Requiem (that Mozart, not Suessmeyr wrote) doesn't sit well for basset horn? Some extraordinarily beautiful and characteristic writing for the basset horn in the Introit and Recordare especially, as well as elsewhere.
I played the Requiem last year. The only parts that didn't fit well were clearly not written by Mozart. I'd be interested in knowing what you think doesn't sit well.
- Larry
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-10 19:43
ok
i've seen (admitedly, not in about 20 years) Horn parts played on Alto Saxophone, so in fact we could play the Basset Horn parts on Saxophone, that could sound interesting.
Mr Pay and others might be relieved to know that i'm also playing the Moz Req with another group (Bach Musica) in June, and i promise (for that gig) to play it on Basset Horns... in fact, if anyone has a period instrument that they'd lend me..... no, i thought not.
enjoy your weekend all
donald
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-11 01:52
yes David Adlam bought them as toys for some millionaire in Tauranga who can buy his own orchestra- they are doing the Mozart Requiem on the same day as the performance i'm involved in. For all i know, you are he= posting under an assumed name.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-02-11 02:07
donald wrote:
> For all i know, you are he posting under an assumed name.
Not unless Luton's had a geography transplant ...
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Author: charlie_star_uk
Date: 2006-02-11 09:55
no, i am not he.. i would need a sex transplant as well as a geography transplant!!
it is unfortunate that the performance is on the same date...
charlie
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Author: donald
Date: 2006-02-11 10:32
actually, it's completely deliberate that the concert is on the same date- but nothing to do with me, i just play the clarinet.
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Author: graham
Date: 2006-02-13 15:03
Larry
Much of it is higher than need be particularly in the first part and this includes the Mozart parts of the piece. It noticeably does not use the lower range. I realsie that the basset horn has a huge effective range and can be used for high lying parts, but the clarinet would cover the compass easily and with less strain.
That's why I think it does not matter too much if it is played on clarinets.
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