 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: thegreatestmusician
Date: 2006-07-14 12:27
Well, I'm trying to put together a good 25 minute recital for my senior minor recital next year. Its hard to put together a good program, are there any suggestions of music that I can wow my audience? What is your favorite recital piece besides the usual Weber and Mozart? I need suggestions for only clarinet and piano works.
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Author: Clarinetcola
Date: 2006-07-14 12:45
I really had fun with Arthur Benjamin's Le Tombeau de Ravel, it is a very interesting piece, but it only lasts for about 15 mins... my little thoughts~
Nathan
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Author: ClariTone
Date: 2006-07-14 12:52
The Finzi 5 Bagatelles are fairly simple, easy to put together, and fun to play (I liked the 1st and 5th movements).
Best of Luck!!!
Clayton
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-07-14 14:25
Well, the Crusell #2 is starting to get recognition. Its three movements take Emma Johnson just over 25-minutes. Its neat because of the unusual rhythms and articulations --although my teacher points out that a couple, played without strong authority, can sound like mistakes --they are that unusual.
Bob Phillips
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Author: thechosenone
Date: 2006-07-14 14:27
Prokofiev Sonata which was originally for flute, that was transcribed for clarinet. Truly awesome and cool piece, and very fresh. Also consider the Piazzolla Tango Etudes (everyone seems to like Piazzolla these days)
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Author: Lynn
Date: 2006-07-14 14:35
The St. Saens Sonata is always a good choice. It shows off the clarinet, from top to bottom, and is, I think, a very fun piece to perform. A good pianist can help the effort immensely.
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Author: am0032
Date: 2006-07-14 15:48
Lutoslawski's Dance Preludes are a nice change of pace to the usual recital pieces. Great character in this piece. Fun and quick to learn.
Adam
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Author: TonkaToy
Date: 2006-07-14 17:36
I'll second the Piazzola Tango Etudes. Great pieces, not especially "clarinetty", but that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
My vote is for Etude #3.
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Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-07-14 17:56
I really like the John Ireland Fantasy Sonata. It's about 15 minutes and is very beautiful. It's a very different sounding piece. The Francaix Theme and Variations is also a very fun piece......hard but fun. It's a great opener!
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Author: Bigno16
Date: 2006-07-14 18:41
If you're looking for something different, perhaps a quick crowd pleaser, then try Paquito D'Rivera's "Contradanza" for clarinet and piano. You can hear a recording for free at Jonathan Cohler's website.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-07-14 18:57
I did Finzi 1 and 5 for my University audition along with some Mozart.
I realy like the Debussy Premiere Rhapsody... not sure why. I studied it this year and plan to play it at my senior recital.
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2006-07-14 18:59
Most of the stuff posted so far is good but a lot of it is HARD. I put my vote in for the Phantasy Suite by Thomas Dunhill. It is fairly simple with 6 short movements and to my surprise audiences seem to really take to it. I programmed it years ago as a filler to my recital with more substancial works and the piece most well received was the Dunhill. I have played it many times since and it always is a winner.
You might also want to consider the many unaccompanied works. The Hommage to DeFalla from Bella Kovac's book is really fun and nice to hear, as is Elliot Carter's "Gra".
FWIW, I heard that Brahms also wrote a couple of sonatas that seem to work well.......
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Author: thechosenone
Date: 2006-07-15 00:59
I second the Hommage to De Falla by Bela Kovacs. I performed this in a concert and received many compliments regarding the effectiveness of the composition.
Also, I forgot, you might want to try to get the sheet music for "The Terminal," which will surely be recognized by many in the audience. It sounds very light and is sure to be a crowd pleaser, no doubt. Nothing beats a fresh tune everyone knows.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-07-15 02:24
I second the Lutoslawski Dance Preludes. Five short movements, fun and easy to learn. First and Fifth movements are good.
Berstein Sonata. Two movements, crowd pleaser and not too difficult. Second movement starts off slow but finishes brilliantly for surprising your audience.
All three Crusell Concertos. Very hard but awesome if you can do them. Listen to decent recordings and youll love them. They are similar to the Weber concertos only harder!
Debussy Premiere Rhapsody. I like this piece but just think its been done too much. Tricky technically, once again - a good recording would help. Hard piano part though, check it out.
If you wanted something REALLY hard - try the Copland Concerto. Slow start but awesome finish, crowd pleasing as it shows off the clarinet high register along with other techniques. A decent recording would be essential, I have one of Benny Goodman playing it (supposedly).
Just my 2 cents, 2E.
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-07-15 08:21
I'm constantly surprised by the amount of suggestions made here and elsewhere to play concertos in recitals. I don't understand why you would do this...when did you last go to a professional recital and see someone do a concerto with piano?
It's not interesting for an audience to see a soloist being literally accompanied by a pianist bashing out a reduction. An audience wants to see a team effort between soloist and pianist.
It's not like we're short of repertoire...
Brahms, Schumann, Weber, Debussy, Poulenc, Ireland, Finzi and so on and so on and so on...all wrote works for piano and clarinet as a team effort.
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Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2006-07-15 08:50
Do you seriously mean to say that you should only play concertos with a symphony orchestra at your back? I'm one of the lucky ones - I've been a concerto soloist with symphony orchestras on five separate occasions, but there is still a whole lot of incredible concerto literature that I will never get to perform unless I work with a pianist.
A good musician can do quite a lot with a piano reduction. Franz Liszt used to perform Beethoven symphonies on the piano, and I don't think anyone in the audience was complaining.
To the original poster - there have been a lot of wonderful suggestions for clarinet and piano, but I just love recitals with small chamber pieces. Add a cellist and you can do the Brahms trio. There are the duets for clarinet and bassoon by both Beethoven and Poulenc. Having a soprano and performing Shepherd on the Rock is always a crowd pleaser. I did a recital once with a mezzo soprano - our perfomance of "Parto, parto" by Mozart went very well. Since you have a year, maybe you can find some friends to assist you.
Post Edited (2006-07-15 10:03)
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-07-15 10:11
With very few exceptions, I wouldn't put a concerto in a recital programme.
Comparing an orchestral piano reduction for concertos to Liszt performing Beethoven symphonies is pretty empty as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I understand that that is still a piano reduction, but Liszt would have been able to do far more with a Beethoven symphony than he would as an accompanist playing Weber 2.
Ask your average audience member, do you prefer a 25 minute recital of a single concerto, or a varied programme of as you have said...chamber music.
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Author: Bigno16
Date: 2006-07-15 13:28
I second Danny Boy.
Concertos generally should not be on recital programs. The piano reductions are often extremely difficult for the pianists because of so many notes. Think about it--the pianist is trying to make up for the entire orchestra. It is something that is not easily accomplished both technically and musically, and they often lose the power/intensity/emotion of the piece.
Having played (not performed in a recital) the Mozart Concerto and Weber No. 1 with piano, the emotional atmosphere is simply not the same.
To the best of my knowledge, my teacher at UMASS Amherst does not allow us to perform concerti on our recitals. In studio class, then it's fine, for a learning aspect.
It just doesn't seem appropriate to play concerti with piano. In a sense, it's also to honor what the composer wanted. They wrote it for orchestra instead of piano for a reason.
Post Edited (2006-07-15 13:30)
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-07-15 16:12
Because the most important part of a recital, believe it or not, is the audience.
'Denying someone the opportunity to play'? Well, if you don't care how the audience enjoys a recital, you may as well not perform to one, and just learnt the concertos in your back room.
There are plenty of opportunities to perform concertos with piano...competitions, auditions and so on. They simply do not make appropriate recital material. If nothing else, they take up a huge chunk of the recital alone.
As for the composer 'knowing' that everyone will use reductions, you'd be nuts to play something like the Nielsen concerto without first trying it with piano (and in that case, snare drum). Ever put a pianist through playing that reduction? They sure as hell won't want to perform it with you.
Oh and finally, concerto opportunities with orchestra do exist and can be had...I've 'got in front of a symphony' on many occasions.
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Author: rbell96
Date: 2006-07-15 21:09
Schumann Romances! Danny Boy i am sure will second me on this suggestion. Originally for oboe, but work beautifully on the clarinet.
Rob
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2006-07-15 22:18
A true story told to me by one of my former teachers: On his senior recital at Julliard he programmed the Copland Concerto. At the performance Aaron Copland was in attendance and after the concert Copland made the comment to my teacher "Nice job on my concerto, but I never intended for it ever to be played in public with piano..."
I agree that recitals should not include concerti. There is so much literature available. FWIW, I have never seen a professional recital with a concerto on the program.
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-07-15 22:38
Love it...and that's from a composer that even did his OWN reduction...
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2006-07-15 22:54
"As for the composer 'knowing' that everyone will use reductions, you'd be nuts to play something like the Nielsen concerto without first trying it with piano (and in that case, snare drum). Ever put a pianist through playing that reduction? They sure as hell won't want to perform it with you."
I'm with you Danny Boy. I've done the Nielsen for a concerto competition and it was a BEAST to learn with the piano. I didn't even make it past the first round cause I freaked and couldn't tune to the piano...Dumb, eh?
I don't think there's anything wrong with practicing a concerto with the piano part, but I really wouldn't want to hear the whole thing performed.
Many of my students play concerto movements for their solo & ensemble contests with piano accompaniment. I think this is the best use for those reduction parts!
Katrina
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Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2006-07-16 00:45
Wow - it looks like nobody agrees with me that it's OK to do concertos on recitals! I guess I'll start going to vocal recitals and boo everytime an aira is sung - heck, just Schubert wrote more songs (over 600) than the entire literature for clarinet, so why would a singer ruin a concert with an aria?
I was recently listening to my Jussi Bjorling Carnegie Hall recital from 1955. He did 25 pieces - 16 of them are songs for voice and piano, and the other 9 were arias! What an idiot! I'm shocked that the audience even applauded those horrible arias, accompanied by a mere pianist! I'm guessing they weren't entertained and were just being poilte.
When I was in high school, I went to a Philip Farkas recital, and he had the nerve to perform a Mozart concerto - silly man! Jascha Heifetz regularly programmed the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos on his recitals - what a waste! I'm sure the audiences didn't want to hear him play those without an orchestra, either.
/s
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Author: libera_clarinet
Date: 2006-07-16 01:56
OK, so a concerto without an orchestra is perhaps a bit...well...lackluster -- IF you make it that way. I agree with JessKateDD on this one. I personally can't see myself being asked to play a concerto with an orchestra anytime soon. Does that mean I shouldn't perform them? A good portion of the clarinet repertoire is made up of concerti, and a good portion of clarinetists in the world will never get the chance to perform with an orchestra.
I agree that the music is harder on the pianists. However, with an orchestral reduction, the pianist has more freedom. Leave out a note here and there to get the overall flow better - nobody is going to notice. With a quality pianist, I believe you can pull off any concerto out there. It would be a shame to never perform a piece like the Copland or the Nielsen simply because it wasn't "written for" the clarinet and piano.
And really, if the pianist is a good player, and is musical enough to support the soloist, there is plenty of opportunity for good music-making. And don't forget what a concerto is at heart - melody with accompaniment. It is a different genre than a sonata or a duo by nature, no matter who or what is the accompaniment. I see no reason to exclude this genre on a recital just because the soloist can't provide a full orchestra.
Again, not enough of us are fortunate enough to get to play with an orchestra. Bottom line: it's still music - if the performers play with dedication and passion, it'll be great.
Now, as for the answer to this thread's actual question:
I enjoy the Lutoslawski and the Bernstein mentioned above. I'd also look into Cahuzac's "Arlequin" as a good (challenging, but good) solo piece.
-- M
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2006-07-16 10:53
"16 of them are songs for voice and piano, and the other 9 were arias"
Ever been to a clarinet recital where someone performed 16 chamber works and 9 concertos? I think not. One of the main problems I have with concertos being performed in recitals is how much space they take up in the recital. If you perform a concerto, 25-30 minutes of recital disappears. This is not the case with an aria.
16 songs and 9 arias is a balanced programme, a concerto and two or three other pieces is, in my opinion, not.
Plus, I don't think the comparison of arias with concertos is entirely fair in the first place. The role of the singer when compared to the concerto soloist is different, it's not a virtuosic display with backing...but a team effort with orchestra (or piano) to give meaning to a text.
Still Jess, can't beat a little sarcasm eh?
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-07-16 11:07
In re: Nielsen concerto piano reduction: it's not so hard. The only reason pianists whine about it is because they are intimidated by having to tap out the snare drum part with a pair of pencils. Granted, Nielsen might have been more specific - #2 pencils?
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Author: DareWreck8402
Date: 2006-07-18 20:40
Hello,
Solo de Concours by Andre Messager is a crowd pleaser, it's very flashy and fun to listen to. I played it on my recital and no one complained, or atleast not to my face, haha.
-Derek
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2006-10-29 03:32
I would reccomend Gade's Fantasypieces very lyrical and helps to produce a stabel and firm embouchure.It's a piece I would reccomend every 4-5th maybe 6th grade students to play. Also try to play some or all the moments by memory. Then when you learned some more Schumann's Fantasy pieces would be the next step.
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Author: 2E
Date: 2006-10-29 05:30
Muscynski Time Pieces another great crowd pleaser :p
2E
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Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-10-30 04:33
Poulenc is fun, and the last movement has enough fireworks to leave a great impression with the audience. It's also not too terribly difficult.
-Randy
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-10-30 06:00
I can only say that for a piece to "wow" me (as the first poster wrote) it probably has to be a piece I never heard before.
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