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Barber Violin Concerto

Author: suavkue
Date: 2010-05-24 21:36

So I'm a high school senior who just recently had to play the 1st Clarinet part of this piece. Some of you who have played this piece may recall the two repeating sixteenth note call-and-response parts with the soloist and the 1st clarinet, one of which is in Db major.

To be blunt, it was impossible for me to play this on (the school's) A clarinet at tempo. What I had to do was transpose the part to a Bb clarinet (making it C major - significantly easier) in order to get the part performed at tempo. Since this experience, I've had two questions:

1) Why would one write an A clarinet part in (concert) Bb major? The timbre of the A clarinet is not an extreme difference in comparison to the Bb's, so I don't see that to be a good reason (even though the A sounds "darker").

2) How does one manage to be able to keep the air flowing through the A clarinet in order to play such a passage? This year is the first year at which I started playing an A clarinet, and, despite my changes in equipment and embouchure, I still struggle with performing fast tonguing passages on the A clarinet (another example: March from The Nutcracker, with the flute on the sixteenth notes). I have, however, noticed an improvement in my Bb playing, but I still struggle with trying to achieve the same level of control on the A clarinet. (The A clarinet is a Selmer 10S, and the Bb is a Leblanc Soloist, if brands matter...)

I thought I might ask these, since I plan on majoring in music in college, and will probably run into this situation again. Thanks for any help.

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My current equipment:
Ridenour Lyrique 576BC, Rico Reserve 4, Ridenour Hand Finished Mouthpiece, Luyben Ligature

Post Edited (2010-05-24 21:39)

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