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Weber 2 Polacca

Author: gregbaker112@gmail.com
Date: 2014-04-11 18:08

Greetings from Minnesota!

I missed the cutoff date for Bloomington (MN) Symphony auditions last summer but here is the list they used:

Polovetsian Dances
Mendelssohn 3, mvt. 2
Fingal's Cave ov.
Symphonie Fantastique
Mvt. 2 (Larghetto) from Mozart K. 581 Quintet

Plus a 3 minute solo of my choice.

It is a somewhat odd list in that there are two Mendelssohn selections and neither is the MSND scherzo. That is not the point though I did not want to play the Mozart concerto as my solo piece since Mozart is already on the list. Furthermore I have come to the conclusion that in a semi-pro audition setting (maybe even for college), if you are asked for a piece that demonstrates your ability to get around on the clarinet competently, unless you have a really good reason otherwise, that piece ought to have been written by either Mozart or Weber (thoughts on this?).

That said I could have pulled out the Concertino and been done with it. However, it had been a while since I had played Weber's Second concerto, and it is kind of a fun piece.

I found out through listening to recordings that the polacca (3rd movement) divides rather nicely into two 3-minute segments [beginning to measure 118 and measure 135 to the end].

Which of the two halves would work better for this situation? The beginning section states the theme, but is somewhat repetitious, where the other half contains less thematic material, but the last page is really cool!

The list for this summer is not out yet. If it does not contain standard solo repertoire, am I okay playing the polacca, or should I stick with the Concertino or Mozart Concerto?

Thanks.

Greg Baker

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