 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2007-05-14 09:14
Next year I’m going to have my final Bb clarinet exam at the Belgium music school . This week I’ve talked to my teacher and we decided the pieces for my graduation program.
Personally I like to know the background of the pieces that I play. The only problem is that I really don’t know where to start the search for info on the piece/composer? Are there some good internet site that I can visit for info and are there some books in the library that you can recommend?
Also, can you recommend some good recording of these pieces?
My graduation program contains the following pieces:
Premiere Rhapsodie - Claude Debussy
Clarinet Sonata In E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2 - Johannes Brahms
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano - Leonard Bernstein
Thanks,
Eddy
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-05-14 11:28
There are many resources here, all available using Mark's excellent Search function. Click on Search, check the Woodwind.org, Klarinet and Keepers boxes as well as the one for the Clarinet board, and look for each composition.
The material on the Bernstein you can just read, but there's too much on the Debussy and the Brahms to just plow through. A couple of hints on restricting the searches on these two:
Charles Neidich is an expert on the Debussy. Begin by restricting your search to postings with his name in them.
There is a Ph.D. dissertation on the Brahms Sonatas, which your music librarian can get, or you can borrow through the International Clarinet Association by becoming a member. The author is mentioned here and is easy to find if you add the word dissertation to your search.
Now, go forth and do your research.
Ken Shaw
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Author: donald
Date: 2007-05-14 11:34
I'm sorry mate, but there's a wealth of information on these pieces- and a gazillion recordings. You don't need our help, you just need to get your shoulder against the wheel!
It's all great music, i hope you enjoy the next few months of study, practice and rehearsal
donald
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2007-05-14 11:53
Thanks Ken,
I've already used the search function... but found more "trash" than useful items. By restricting my search to "Charles Neidich debussy" I've already found very useful articles :D
Donald,
It’s not a problem to find recordings… I just wanted to know which recordings are recommended..
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Author: grifffinity
Date: 2007-05-14 14:45
OpusII wrote:
>
> It’s not a problem to find recordings… I just wanted to
> know which recordings are recommended..
Upon Tom Martin's (BSO) recommendation, I looked up the Kell's Debussy recording. This recording is now easily available on the Kell Compilation CD that came out a year or so ago. You can even download the Kell Debussy via iTunes.
Anyway, I was not a fan of Kell, but have to agree that his rendition of the Debussy is unique - and his style of playing adds new insight into this piece. On this recording, his tone passes between flute to Clarinet to Sax - and his odd use of vibrato I found very effective in this work.
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Author: bahamutofskycon
Date: 2007-05-14 16:02
The best place to start for research on composers/pieces is always Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. In addition to comprehensive articles on composers each article includes an extensive bibliography to use for further research. At least in the U.S., Grove's is carried standard in music libraries.
My favorite recording of the Brahms sonatas is by David Shifrin called "Brahms/Schumann Soiree."
My only recording of the Debussy Premiere Rhapsoday is by Paul Meyer on his "French Clarinet Art" CD. This recording is excellent, but is done with the piano reduction which may be helpful to get in your ear for your recital. However the nature of the piece is definitely directed towards orchestra accompaniment so you should be sure to find a recording with clarinet and orchestra also.
Steve Ballas
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Author: D
Date: 2007-05-14 20:40
I am really not trying to be nasty here so please don't be offended....but what is your teacher being paid to do, if you are about to finish music school and still need to ask those sorts of questions?
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2007-05-14 20:52
I'm not offended, my teacher has given me already much information about the pieces. He gives me a very good inside of the intention from the composer. But I just wanted to know as much as possible. I really love those pieces and figured that you can never know enough….
By the way, the music school is in our country just a education school for amateur musicians. I've got a half hour lesson every week... so we don't have that much time to look at the history of the pieces (and most students don't)
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Author: Bubalooy
Date: 2007-05-14 20:59
Regarding the Paul Meyer recording:
"This recording is excellent but is done with the piano reduction..."
My understanding is that the piano version was the original, so it isn't really a piano "reduction" at all. Rather, the more common form of the piece is an orchestrated version "an orchestral augmentation" much the same way that the Schönberg "Verklärt Nacht" is an orchestration of the original sextet rather than the sextet being a reduction of the orchestral work.
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Author: bahamutofskycon
Date: 2007-05-15 02:29
Oops, my bad . I guess I just assumed it was orchestral and then piano reduction. You learn something new every day.
Regardless, it would be beneficial to be familiar with both the piano and the orchestral accompaniments - both versions are wonderful.
Steve Ballas
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-05-15 04:42
As far as recordings, from the ones I've heard (only a few), I really love Stanley Drucker's recorders of the bernstein and of the Debussy Rhapsodie. Haven't really found a GREAT recording of the brahms. I have one, but I don't listen to it that much cause it just doesn't seem to move me as much as I think it should. I think it' s a recording with karl Leister, and he plays beautifully, but I don't know. Just not my favorite.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: pabstboy
Date: 2007-05-15 06:23
Alexi,
You might like the recording of Mitchell Lurie doing both Brahms. They are unfortunately out of print but if you could find a copy... He is a wonderful player.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-05-15 14:58
The Lurie recording of the Brahms Sonatas is amazing, but atypical. Tempos are very fast and the excitement level is through the roof. It's a scandal that Crystal hasn't reissued them on CD, but it's probably due to the dreadful sound quality, which seems as if it was made inside a rain barrel.
Excellent recordings include those by Harold Wright with Peter Serkin (which I like more than the older one with Goldsmith), Reginald Kell, Thea King, Kálmán Berkes and Bela Kovacs.
Ken Shaw
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Author: MichaelR
Date: 2007-05-15 16:37
> It’s not a problem to find recordings…
> I just wanted to know which recordings are recommended..
You would do well to get good, mediocre and bad recordings. Listen to all three varieties until you _know_ for yourself which are the best and why they're the best. After doing that intense, critical listening you'll have a solid grounding for interpreting the music in your own style.
--
Michael of Portland, OR
Be Appropriate and Follow Your Curiosity
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Author: Bubalooy
Date: 2007-05-15 20:54
You could use lots of recordings and listening to determine your own interpretation, but how about doing an analysis of the piece? Have you analyzed these pieces harmonically and thematically. Knowing what's in the score is a great place to start making decisions about how the music should be played.
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Author: OpusII
Date: 2007-05-18 08:47
Bubalooy,
I've done this together with my teacher, so that part is already covered.
To all the others that replied,
I guest that I’ve got to admit that’s best to listen to all recordings that I can encounter. It does make sense to me, bad recordings can indeed also be educational.
So I’m going to order some cd’s know and lock myself in my room to listen to them all
Thanks all for the advice, especially Ken with the link to the Debussy advice from Charles Neidich! (great article)
Best Regards,
Eddy
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