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 Schumann for Clarinet
Author: wjk 
Date:   2006-06-22 17:50

There are some great clarinet recordings of Schumann pieces that were originally for another instrument (such as oboe, violin or cello). Martin Frost's CD is an example---would one get sheet music written for the original instument and then "adapt it" for the clarinet?



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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Ken Shaw 2017
Date:   2006-06-22 21:26

The Schumann Three Pieces for Oboe work beautifully on the A clarinet. I think they're even better music than the Fantasy Pieces. The inexpensive Schirmer edition includes a clarinet transposition.

Clara Schumann wrote another set of three pieces for oboe, which have recently been republished. I'm not sure whether they work on clarinet, but it would certainly be worth a try.

Ken Shaw

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Tony Pay 2017
Date:   2006-06-22 21:43

Ken Shaw wrote:

>> The Schumann Three Pieces for Oboe work beautifully on the A clarinet.>>

...contra Schumann's opinion, you should know. He refused to allow them to be published in a version for clarinet, saying that if he had wanted them to be played on the clarinet, he would have written them "quite differently".

His publishers took no notice of his letter. (After all, what did HE know?)

You might find this consideration influencing your performance.

Tony



Post Edited (2006-06-22 21:46)

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Ken Shaw 2017
Date:   2006-06-23 21:14

Nah -- I play them regardless. If the violists and cellists can steal our Schumann, let alone our Brahms, I can certainly borrow the oboe pieces.

Seriously, though, Tony, have you ever performed the oboe pieces? If not, is it because of your consideration of Schumann's wishes? If you have, can you tell us how this consideration influenced your performance?

Ken Shaw

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Tony Pay 2017
Date:   2006-06-24 01:44

Ken Shaw wrote:

>> Seriously, though, Tony, have you ever performed the oboe pieces? If not, is it because of your consideration of Schumann's wishes?>>

Well, I haven't played them, but I agree with you that they can be played. (I've certainly responded to students who have produced them at lessons or classes.)

I don't do a great deal of recital work, so I don't have to ring the changes on the repertoire as much as others. (On the other hand, I'm doing a recital in Italy in the summer in which I'm going to interleave the movements of the Schumann Fantasiestueke and the Stravinsky Three Pieces, as well as the movements of the Saint-Saens Sonata and the John Cage Sonata. So I'm not such a purist:-)

>> If you have, can you tell us how this consideration influenced your performance?>>

I think you can partially get round the problem by considering how it might have been possible to play them to Schumann in a way that would have convinced him that they COULD be played on the clarinet, but LIKE THAT.

The most important difference between the clarinet and the oboe lies in the character of the upper register. You CAN do oboe-like things on the clarinet in this register, but people often don't, preferring a broader style.

Interestingly, the first performance was on the violin, to which Schumann took no exception.

A student once played these pieces after input from me, on a course in Spain. The local teacher wasn't impressed. "Very thin sound in the upper register," he said.

But I thought it was excellent.

Tony

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Katrina 
Date:   2006-06-24 15:42

wjk:

To answer one of your questions, yes, one would get the original sheet music and adapt it. I've been working off-and-on with one of the Brahms violin sonatas, and I think it's beautiful on the clarinet. Double stops are tricky, though! ;)

Tony:

My folks were just in Siena and showed me a photo they took of some upcoming series where you were listed! I couldn't read the poster very well due to some glare from the glass, but it sounds like a wonderful summer program they have there.

Katrina

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: diz 
Date:   2006-06-24 23:03

Actually, Brahms authorised two versions of both sonatas firstly for clarinet and then for viola (with some double stopping and some slight alterations in note placement).

Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.

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 Re: Schumann for Clarinet
Author: Tony Pay 2017
Date:   2006-06-26 17:11

diz wrote:

>> Actually, Brahms authorised two versions of both sonatas...>>

I should visit this Board more often. Who knows what I might learn?-)

Tony

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