 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-04-19 15:29
One of my favorite bass clarinet solos is in "On The Trail" from Grofe's The Grand Canyon Suite. I heard it used in a commercial for Phillip Morris cigarettes years ago when I was much younger and wasn't even playing the bass clarinet yet. Was I surprised when I learned that solo and realized that I heard it years before in that commercial. NOW, I went to the Grand Canyon last week, wow what an experience, a life time dream come true. Everyone should go there in their life time, it's magnificat. Anyway, when I saw the donkeys they use to take people down the trail, no I didn't ride one, all I could think of was that solo portraying the donkey falling down the trail (They told me a donkey has never fallen in all the years they've been doing to rides). It's an all day ride down and up the canyon. 6/8, da da da / da da da etc. all the way down, something like that. I would have played the solo there but I forgot to bring my bass clarinet with me on vacation, good thing, I might have scared the donkey's and made them fall for the first time. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: marcia
Date: 2010-04-19 20:58
>Everyone should go there in their life time,
I agree and thought that when I visited it many years ago. And, just to be picky, it is (or was when I was there) mules that are used for riding the trail. They have the strength of the horse, but the temperamant of the donkey. However "Mule Serenade" is not as appealing a name as "Donkey Serenade". 
Marcia
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2010-04-19 21:16
Ah, YES, been there twice, summer and winter! Majestic!! When the Natl parks series is on PBS I rec. seeing it again. Having heard the Suite a number of times. only playing a band [dis]arrangement of Ferde's Trail and Mississippi melodies, I "finger" it each time. Congrats, Ed, GREAT. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-04-19 23:01
The Grand Canyon is beyond belief. I stayed in a hotel where the entire wall was a huge window overlooking the north rim. The first day, there was fog, and the entire canyon seemed to be filled with whipped cream. Then it cleared slowly and the vista slowly came into view. Amazing.
The solo is on every bass clarinet audition, but I wonder how often it appears on an actual regular season orchestral program.
Ed - how many times have you played it in performance?
Ken Shaw
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-04-19 23:45
Ken, we've only done the entire suite a few times in all the years I've been in the BSO but we did do On The Trail at a series of youth concerts a number of years ago so I've probably played that a few dozen times that year alone. ESP
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2010-04-20 00:05
I find it impossible to hear On The Trail without also hearing a booming voice announce "... through the Grand Canyon and Primeval world ..."
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-04-20 03:55
I just put some pics on my website, http://eddiesclarinet.com. Look under My Albums if you're interested. ESP
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-04-20 11:36
"Call for Philip Morris".....was as popular as "Hi Yo Silver, Awayyyy" when I was a kid. Was the program "Mr. First Nighter"?
Bob Draznik
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-04-20 15:05
Ed, I always thought that the downward passage you mention represents some stones/rocks that the donkey has dislodged, not the donkey, itself. Quite a different image. 
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2010-04-20 17:28
An interesting thot, Jack, I always thot it was a donkey's "bray" . We viewed the So Rim from the No rim once also, [hard to get to] but not as spectacular and lesser developed [20 years ago !!] I recall hearing a bass cl story, attributed to Toscannini, about his auditioning b c players, none satisfactory on the Trail, until one player figured out that T was some what deaf, so played it very loudly, got the job. True?? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-04-21 02:24
Could have been the rocks falling, that's better than the donkey falling. Since the solo returns three times that would make sense. I have no idea where or when or who told me it was the donkey but I believed it. I like the rock idea better. So maybe it is the donkey knocking the rocks down the trail. What the hell, it's still a great solo and almost as scary to play as falling down the trail. ESP
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