 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: James S
Date: 2014-11-08 10:57
I know this is a fairly dumb question, but what is the most fun thing you're working on right now? I've been working on a solo piece and teetering on the fence about commissioning a sonata! That will certainly be a blast
James
Owner, James' Clarinet Shop
Www.jamesclarinetshop.com
Post Edited (2014-11-08 11:00)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-08 18:16
I HIGHLY encourage your desire to commission a work. Beside the obvious credit on the manuscript, you would be 'giving' to the clarinet community in perpetuity much like Elsa Ludewig Verdehr and her great trio!
............Paul Aviles
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Author: James S
Date: 2014-11-09 00:23
Hey Paul!
I think I will pair up with Michael Markowski. He's in NYC and is mostly known for his wind band work. He wrote a cool short piece for clarinet and wind ensemble (of all possible combinations). Here's a link to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-jkePIG2I
James S
Owner, James' Clarinet Shop
www.jamesclarinetshop.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-09 01:26
A very accessible piece!
That should be a very productive collaboration.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: LaurieBell
Date: 2014-11-09 15:26
As a returning clarinetist (after 30 some years), my preferences have changed. I no longer have a strong desire to play the old chestnuts of my youth; I want to play semi-lightweight melodic music that I can play for my friends (or for a small appreciative musical audience) and they might actually enjoy.
About 6 months ago I started playing with my husband’s piano teacher once a week! That in itself has been a blast, so before I put the old chestnuts to bed I had to play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Quintet (arranged for piano and clarinet), and the two Brahms Sonatas. I had played those “back in the day” but playing them with an excellent pianist brings a rainbow of color to the music.
As for the semi-lightweight melodic music, here are the pieces I’ve played in the last few months that have been a lot of fun:
Solos for Worship, by Brant Adams
Talk about fun! This is a collection of hymns arranged for clarinet and piano, plus it comes with a CD with the full version and with only the accompaniment. Each piece actually has two hymns, with the middle one typically played in a jazz style. Admittedly some of the pieces are a little too stylized but they still make me smile. My favorite is “This is My Father’s World/He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” I’m playing that at a Methodist church this morning so we’ll see how that goes.
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, by Leonard Bernstein
I love this one and would like to perform it for my musician friends. The second movement has some 5/4 meter that’s a little out of my comfort zone, but I love the challenge of playing it with the piano.
Trio in B minor for oboe, A-Clarinet, and piano, by Eduard Destenay
I’ve only played the first movement so far, but it was so incredibly juicy. All three of us in the ensemble had great parts and it was so satisfying we could have all had a smoke afterwards.
Five Bagatells, Op. 23, by Gerald Finzi.
This is at the top of my definition of “fun to play,” especially with a decent pianist, and it’s one of the rare pieces where I like all of the movements. I played this for an audience of primarily pianists at SummerKeys in Maine and they seemed to enjoy it (as much as I did.) I’m playing the 4th movement in church today.
Victorian Kitchen Garden, by Paul Reade
Very melodic and my small appreciative audience of non-musical friends seemed to enjoy it. The extra plus on this one was the piano part was in reach of my husband’s capabilities as a returning musician, so we got to play it together.
Trio Sonata in C minor, by Johann Joachim Quantz
The version I played was arranged for oboe and flute so I played the flute part on Recorder. I love Baroque music and this one is a beauty, but the demure Recorder can’t hold its own next to the boisterous oboe, so I might see if I can arrange it for clarinet.
I can't wait to see what music others are having fun with.
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Author: Filettofish
Date: 2014-11-09 23:54
Michael Markowski is a fantastic up-and-coming composer. I had the pleasure of meeting him and working with him on one of his pieces at my local all-area festival for high school band students. I believe the piece was "Walden." I recall it being reminiscent of Grainger's work. Fantastic piece, and great composer, nice guy. James, that would be very cool! I'd love to see something else like "Unfamiliar Territory."
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Author: James S
Date: 2014-11-10 00:49
Hello!
Unfortunately Mike is is the middle of two very large commission works so him and I won't be able to start collaborating until the spring :( I'll try bard to keep everyone on the board updated as we move forward. I'm hoping to premier it at clarinetfest 2016 (which I'm 99% sure will be in Kansas). I'm beyond excited!
James
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Author: MSK
Date: 2014-11-10 03:40
LaurieBell: I just played Brant Adams' "This is My Father's World / He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" Labor Day weekend in my (somewhat stuffy) Presbyterian church. I knew the melodic unaccompanied beginning would be well received, but thought the jazzy part might be a risk. Still my accompanist and I had a great time preparing and it was a holiday weekend after all. Well, it was so well received that there were multiple requests for a repeat. I repeated it by popular request about a month later. We usually wait a year or two before repeating something so distinctive. I've been going through the rest of Brant Adams work looking for another piece that will be as well received.
As for what I've been doing fun lately. Since I have very little training with jazz, I am playing with jazz for fun: Pink Panther, arrangements of jazz standards such as "in the Mood" and "Begin the Beguine", & some of Benny Goodman's classics. I'll probably never play them in public.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2014-11-10 06:05
I'm kinda in this mode of learning stuff by ear just by playing a recording and learning it a few seconds at a time.
So right now my BIG hurdle is a song called E-Z Pass by the nyc klezmer all stars. So hard to figure out the ornamentations that are his and what's the other instruments. And that 9/8 time signature! AHHHH!!!!
And in about four weeks (after veterans day and Christmas craziness), I've got a dual bass guitar jazz piece with victor Wooten and Steve Bailey where I'll learn one part on alto sax with another bass guitarist, drummer, and maybe a guitar or piano for extra chords, and open it up for some solos. I can't solo for much, but I won't get better by NOT attempting to!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: LaurieBell
Date: 2014-11-10 13:59
MSK: I had your same concerns about playing Brant Adams' "This is My Father's World / He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" in church, and like you when I did, it was very well received.
I've also wanted to learn jazz but have always been intimidated by it. I bought a couple of Benny Goodman books but the written out improvisation just looks scary.
Playing the Brant Adams' book was a good introduction for me, as it offered just a little jazz on familiar melodies. The posts from James and Paul about commissioning music inspired me so I thought, "what the heck." I wrote to Brant Adams and asked if he accepts commissions, and if so would he write or arrange a light piece for woodwind quintet. I don't know if I'll get a reply -- it looks like he's a busy college professor -- but if not, I noticed that he's a smart guy. Most of the stuff he's written, he's done for multiple arrangements of either voice or instruments, so I made see if one of his other pieces might work.
At any rate, I think I'll add learning and performing a jazz piece to my goals for 2015.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2014-11-12 17:22
Lauriebell,
Send me an email regarding the jazz. Not sure if I can link it in this forum, but I found a trumpet forum where a professional jazz player took time to write a VERY large series of online posts (as lessons) to take someone into the world of jazz. He links each lesson with Aebersold books (meaning each lesson he expects you to go purchase and have it to play) and it looks like a really well organized, realistic way to approach learning jazz as a beginner. If it seems to work, I'll see if I can post it here.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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