 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Marco
Date: 2000-12-19 21:36
I'm playing the second movement Mozart's Clarinet Concerto transcribed for Bb clarinet and piano (Ed. Eric Simon, Published by G. Schirmer, Inc.) in a couple of weeks and there is a cadenza in measure 59. It goes like this: fermata on a dotted half note above-the staff Bb tied to another Bb that starts a group of 8 sixteenths:Bb to A, high C run down to E. There is another group of twelve sixteenths immediately following the group just mentioned: above-the-staff G, F#, above-the-staff A run down to B (natural) on the staff, with the previous F# being changed to a natural [9 notes so far] C, D, C. it then resumes the melody heard at the beginning. Any suggestions on a general way to play it (speeding up and slowing down, maybe holding some notes) that would really fit the style of the piece?. Another consideration is whether to play it at all, as cadenzas are not traditionally played in the first movement of a classical concerto. I wanted to get some opinions on this because it's for a music (history, theory, performance) class at my high school and I picked this song because it exemplifies one's expressive capability. I'm just not sure what to do with that cadenza. Oh yeah, asking my clarinet teacher is not an option because he took a holiday break and my next lesson will be on January 8th.
Thanks in advance,
Marco
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Author: Marco
Date: 2000-12-19 21:48
Oh yeah, in Mozart works do the trills start above the note written? for example is a written G trill an A to G trill instead of a G to A trill? It's been written in here (a grace note) by the person that played (I got it from school). That's all (I think )
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-12-19 22:09
Another thing to keep in mind when playing this movement is that the "grace notes" shown in the piece are actually appogiatura. They start ON the beat, not before the beat. In general, they are played as half the length of the note that they precede.
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Author: Amanda Rose
Date: 2000-12-20 00:03
In the Robert Marcellus recording he takes a little tiny (as I call it) "baby" cadenza. It's super short but nice. I've heard longer too.
Amanda Rose
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Author: Pat
Date: 2000-12-20 11:58
If you are playing the second movement, you should play the cadenza no matter what. That cadenza is just a transition to the begining theme that is restated after the cadenza. I am not trying to to tear you apart or anything but you said "as cadenzas are not traditionally played in the first movement of a classical concerto". There are quite a few examples of cadenzas played in the first movements, especially in the mozart piano concerti. I know Beethoven's first piano concerto has a long cadenza in the first movement. Now Beethoven can be considered late classical or comonly know was a transitional composer. I just wanted to clear up a few things. Good luck with your performance.
pat
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-12-20 13:11
A little technical note:
There shouldn't be a cadenza in K.622, but an eingang. There's a lot of difference between the two. Search the Klarinet Archives for eingang for information.
There are a number of editions that do have a cadenza published -see http://www.clarinet.org/Research/koons98.htm, <i>A Guide to Published Editions of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, KV 622, for Clarinet and Piano</i> by Keith Koons for a comparison of the editions.
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Author: Brent
Date: 2000-12-20 13:23
What Marco is describing fits the description of an eingang, i think (except that it's written out and not improvised). It's taken from the slow movement of the Mozart quintet, and is in fact the same as that played by Marcellus in his recording with the Cleveland.
The old Carl Fischer edition, on the other hand, reprints a Baermann cadenza which is musically, shall we say, inconsistent with the rest of the piece. How's that for diplomatic?
Marco, look for that recording of Marcellus. It's been reissued on CD, and is worth listening to as one example of how the Mozart can be played.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-20 18:07
Marco -
Mozart wrote no cadenza/eingang for the slow movement of the Clarinet Concerto, but simply gave the standard "cadenza" cadence and wrote a fermata over the clarion Bb, both of which are unmistakable signals. While it's unusual to find this in the slow movement of a concerto, you absolutely have to play something.
99% of recordings and live performances use the cadenza/eingang you describe, which is taken note for note from the slow movement of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet.
This works very well in the Concerto, since it incorporates some of the melodic material in the Concerto. For example, the pattern of the first 4 notes (Bb, A, C, Bb) is used over and over in the first movement of the Concerto. The same figure (G, F#, A, B) comes at notes 9-12. The falling scales at notes 5-8 (A, G, F, E) and 13-16 (F, E, D, C) also come from the first movement.
You should bring out these familiar figures. Thus, you begin on the Bb, hold it for 4 beats, and then continue it for 1 time unit, with the next 3 notes (A, C, Bb) being units 2, 3 and 4. The following notes also fall into groups of 4, with the fifth group 4 notes (B, C, D, C) being a variation on the first and third groups plus a cadence and transition back into the rest of the movement.
Be particularly careful not to push too hard on the top C (the third note) or lengthen it much. Just because it's the highest note doesn't mean it's the most important. It's the third note in a group of 4 and so gets only secondary emphasis. The same goes for the A in the third group.
Since you're playing alone, you don't have to worry about the orchestra/piano playing along and can take a little freedom. In fact, you are expected to do so. Thus, you can hold the top C (note 3) a tiny bit longer, and accelerate a bit down the scale figure in the second group (notes 5-8), and, similarly, take a little more time on the third group and drive along the fourth group. Then you relax on the final (fifth) group. All of these are very small nuances. They have to "breath" naturally, so that they don't seem to be painted on, but emerge inevitably from the phrases.
When you get to the end, you have to re-establish the pulse so the conductor and the orchestra/pianist know where to come back in. The final note has to be exactly in tempo with what follows. To help the conductor/pianist, you should make eye contact and raise the bell a little as you begin the next-to-last note, then make a downbeat with the bell as you play the downbeat note.
This is your chance to say a little something of your own. Use it in good health.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Marco
Date: 2000-12-21 01:02
Thanks, guys! I really appreciate the input and wisdom put forth by all of you. Just to clear something up, I meant to say that cadenzas are not usually played in the *second* movement; I know that they were often used in the first movement.
Thanks again,
Marco
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