 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2008-10-17 20:15
My daughter has been practicing the Copland sonata, and is thinking of doing it for solo and ensemble festival. If she performs it, she'll do the first movement. Here's the problem: This movement is eight to nine minutes long (I timed it once, and don't remember the exact length), but the festival time limit is five minutes. Has anyone performed it for a solo and ensemble festival, or has anyone prepared a student who has performed it? Does anyone have any thoughts as to where cuts can be made?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-10-17 20:19
I think you probably mean the Copland Concerto.
The Copland "Sonata" is a more obscure work which is a 1986 recomposition for clarinet and piano of his Violin Sonata (1943)
...GBK
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-10-17 20:54
Why not cut the entire piece, and play something that's five minutes long? Much less likely to upset the judges.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-10-17 21:49
NorbertTheParrot wrote:
> Why not cut the entire piece, and play something that's five
> minutes long? Much less likely to upset the judges.
I have to agree with that, especially if we're talking about the Concerto. Much of the beauty of the Copland Concerto (especially the first part) is the way it flows along seamlessly from one idea to the next. There aren't even breaks between movements. I really don't know how you could cut it without ruining it (not to say it's impossible, but I'd be surprised).
With only five minutes, that rules out a lot of good standard repertoire pieces, and with what you have left, you're still going to be cutting it close with a lot of works.
If it were me, I'd play the last movement of the Poulenc sonata. You can easily get in the whole movement in under 5 minutes. It's a completely different style (it's fast, for one thing), but it's got plenty of altissimo notes in it like the Copland Concerto and by some people's measures it's comparable in difficulty to the Copland Concerto (in other words, a junior-level music major might play either piece). Plus, it's a virtuosic crowd pleaser, which is nice if you're performing for an audience at a festival. (Especially important if she will be judged by non-wind-players, because they might not appreciate just how difficult Copland is--I say that because I had that problem once when I entered a competition judged by string players: on my critique sheet they only cared about the virtuosic stuff.)
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2008-10-18 19:17
The Copland Sonata is a transcription he made of his violin sonata. I have two recordings: Larry Combs and Victoria Soames (how poetic). They bring in the first movement at 7:35 and 7:31, respectively. Cutting 2:30 from a 7:30 work is a pretty drastic cut, IMO and I'd probably just look for another piece if I were doing it. One possibility might be to cut about the first 2:40 of the sonata and begin with the clarinet's peaceful entry after the end of the first agitated section. That almost sounds like a logical beginning. If the piano started right after the clarinet's last note (the fade-out in the agitated section), it would provide an introduction of sorts or, if the "key" is right perhaps she could use the piano's introduction to the piece, cutting to the clarinet entrance for the second "peaceful" section. I don't have the music so I can't tell if that will work or give bar numbers. (I never much cared for the clarinet version of this sonata but that probably says more about me than the music.)
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Beppe
Date: 2008-10-19 08:56
Here original copland's letters about this sonata. =)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/copland/acworksS.html#work0050
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