 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2011-06-30 12:14
As I've mentioned several times on this board I hate transcriptions. Nothing makes me cringe more than hearing the Brahms Sonatas played on viola or, conversely, some orchestra playing Stars and Stripes Forever (particularly that dreadful arrangement that seems to pervade most youth orchestra libraries).
BUT, I've been so enamored with the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto in C that I'm very seriously considering arranging this piece for clarinet and either orchestra or wind ensemble.
With the disdain for what I've mentioned above aside, if you were going to go to a concert to hear a performance of transcribed literature would you find it important to have the piece played in concert pitch or a pitch of the arranger's choosing?
The reason I ask is because, as it is, the solo part to this piece has some pretty high stuff in it, but nothing too crazy (double stops aside, it's really quite a playable piece). Taking it up a second, though, to keep it in the right pitch, might make it very, very difficult at the breakneck speeds some of the parts are played at, particularly in the first movement. I'm torn on this because as an audience member I would, knowing the keys, want it to be in the same concert pitch but as someone without perfect pitch, I'm not sure I'd notice the difference. If I leave the solo part in C on the clarinet, obviously the rest of the score would have to be transposed down a second, which isn't that big of a deal if I end up arranging this for a wind ensemble as opposed to an orchestra.
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!
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Author: davyd
Date: 2011-06-30 14:44
As a wind band player, I appreciate it when a transcriber/arranger/defiler/etc puts material in keys that are appropriate for wind band instruments. The Capriccios Italien and Espagnol are hard enough in Bb concert, as opposed to the original A.
I'm informed that Stars & Stripes Forever is easier for the piccolo player(s) in the orchestral key of G than in the band key of Ab. Yes, a Db piccolo would probably help, but I have yet to see one in action.
I can't imagine that transposition makes that much of a difference to listeners. Those with perfect pitch are probably savvy enough to understand why a transposition was made. Those without it won't notice that the key is different anyway.
That said, I like TTT's idea of using a C clarinet, if you have one and are comfortable playing it.
I can live with the Brahms sonatas being played on viola. It's not like there are dozens of other high-quality pieces for the Middle Fiddle that violists could be playing instead.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2011-06-30 15:09
In an average audience, it is unlikely that there will be more than one or two people who both have perfect pitch and know the literature well enough to recognize that the transcription is in a different key. I would go for the key that lays well on the solo instrument.
One thing I have noticed about violin parts transcribed for clarinet is that, if you have not mastered circular breathing, you can have significant problems if the differences in the instruments are not taken into account. A violinist can breathe with the music both on the out breath and on the in breath. You need to allow for the clarinetist to breathe in. It would probably need a bit of arranging in addition to a straight transcription.
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Author: srattle
Date: 2011-06-30 15:10
I don't know this piece,
but I would suggest thinking first about the orchestra, and second about the soloist. You will have as much time as you want/need to learn the piece (most likely) while the orchestra or band will have much less time. If you make it all but unplayable for them it will sound bad, no matter what happens.
However, I don't know how the orchestra parts are, maybe it's a very simple affair and can be held at any key. But think about them first, and start working on your Bb or A major scales
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-06-30 15:24
The Brahms Sonatas were not "transcribed" for viola, Brahms scored them for viola as well since he favored the viola when playing chamber music. When a composer writes something for one instrument and then scores it for another themselves, which was a very common practice in the 18th and 19th centuries in order to have them performed more often, they are not considered "transcriptions. I even read someplace the Brahms wrote them for viola first and then the clarinet but I think that writer was wrong. There's no doubt in my mind that they were first written for the clarinet. ESP eddiesclarinet.com.
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2011-06-30 16:20
Thanks for the background, Ed. Now that you say that I recall hearing that somewhere (probably right here on this board).
Thank you for the feedback. My inclination is to do this with wind ensemble as opposed to orchestra but the piece has some parts where the string "luster" is somewhat critical but that's the fun in being an arranger - getting creative to figure out how to represent the original intentions of the composer with a different medium.
The most famous recording if this is David Oistrakh as the soloist playing with, I believe, the USSR State Symphony (recorded in 1949, written in 1948). He plays it at a blistering pace, a bit faster than Kabalevsky even calls for but he can do it really effectively without losing too much musicality in my opinion.
I'm not worried about the technical side as a soloist. A, Bb, C, F# (tongue-in-cheek) whatever it turns out to be isn't that big of a deal to me. But some of the violin effects, such as harmonics, would be a lot harder to make work in some keys than others.
Your advice is greatly appreciated. I don't perform a lot of transcriptions in my own ensemble but I don't think, looking at the score, that moving the ensemble from the concert keys of C to Bb would be detrimental especially if going to wind ensemble. Or I could invest in a C clarinet....
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