 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-04-18 03:57
Again, with me having only 2 hours of sleep ideas and question pop into my head... When if ever do you guys think there will be a day when Professional Wind Ensembles get the recognition and Orchestral status of orchestras, for example... there would be not only the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops but also the Boston Wind Ensemble, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.... or someone of considerable merit.... hehe... it would be cool to see the principal clarinets of the BSO sit as principal in the BWE... or get really creative and continue having the principal clarinet of the BSO remain as principal and chamber musician, keep the Assistant Princ. as Principal in the BPops and then place the 2nd desk clarinet as Principal of the BWE... ooooh, that WOULD be something, that way they would carry over the legacy and reputation of the BSO and BPops but also provide winds with more jobs and really give the Wind Ensemble literature the recognition it deserves, as a true ensemble in it's own right rather than a mere organization that plays orchestral transcriptions! Give Band directors and Wind Ensemble conductors something to be proud of!!!
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-04-18 15:16
Wind ensembles certainly have the capability to match top orchestras in quality. However, I'm afraid they will never be as popular, since they lack the classical repertoire and don't have the variety of color that comes from adding strings.
We can always hope. Certainly it would be a lot more openings for clarinetists.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: William
Date: 2001-04-18 15:23
Good thoughts, Keil, but it kind of reminds me of that "when cows fly" saying....but we can all hope. How about cloning Seiji, Freddie (Fennel), Gene (Corporan). James (Smith) and H. Robert (Reynolds), because there are a lot of wind ensembles already in existance and a shortage of truely talented and gifted directors who have vision and focus. Too bad we can't play "Jurassic Park" and bring back Revelli, Bainum, and Sousa to help out. They certainly laid a great foundation for us to build a future on. Another thought, and then I'll sign off, perhaps if we all kept envolved in adult performance groups and not just put our horns away after high school, the "future" would take care of itself!!!! Good clarineting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (forever!!)
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Author: joseph o'kelly
Date: 2001-04-18 16:13
It is true that there is not as many classical peices out there for wind ensembles as there is for symphony orchestras. How many times can one hear The Holst Suites?(Don't get me wrong as I love those pieces)
I do think though they have potential of much popularity. There are many new pieces out there for bands and don't neglect popular tunes such as those from movies. These could just be the ticket to gaining popularity of a young audiece. How nice would it be for school students to listen to pieces played by the the BWE because they are playing pieces like Jurrasic Park that they enjoy listening to. Perhaps if we catch the childrens attention at an early age we can get them hooked on this music rather than music by such peole like Emenem.
Look at the success of the Canadian Brass. They play a variety of music which could be the goals of future wind ensembles. If we can get students to listen to professional groups they will hear how ensemble precision should be and aim towards that.
I think that proffesional wind ensembles could benifit many people.
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2001-04-19 03:33
It's a literature problem. Band has a so-so symphony by Hindemith. Orchestra has 41 Mozart Symphonies, 9 by Beethoven, Mahler, Bruckner, Schubert and Dvorak, 6 from Tchaikovsky, 5 from Mendelssohn, and four from Brahms and Schumann. It's not even close. However, if you want to hear top flight musicians under a legendary conductor play band literature, I have an old LP called "Prussia's Glory". It is all Prussian marches performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Winds and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. That's about as good as you can get since the musicians include Karl Leister, James Galway, Lothar Koch, and Gerd Seifert.
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Author: Bino
Date: 2001-04-19 04:05
What about the Symphonies of Alfred Reed, David Maslanka, Persichetti...the names you are throwing out (Mozart, Haydn, etc.) created the classical orchestal Symphony and helped bring woodwinds into the symphony orchestra (clarinet included)...Reed, Maslanka, etc. are expounding on wind music the way the greats did during their time...String timbre is great do not get me wrong, but I just don't see why a full clarinet choir (sopranoes, alto, bass, contra, and an occasional Eb) can not express just as much emotion, without vibrato. Orchestra is a relic of older times, I mean Beethoven never had the chance to write for the sax quartet that would sit in a Wind Ensemble...And lets not forget percussion...The old cats wrote for xylo and tympani, now thanks to Wind Ensemble literature a composer can write for a piece of pipe dunked in a bucket of water and make music...or use a violin bow and bow a vibraphone...The timbres that can be created with the Wind Ensemble or Wind Symphony are relativaly new to the world...Orchestras have been around for centuries, anything that can be done has been done, and if it hasn't been done it was better when Beethoven or Mahler did it anyway...Wind Ensemble is a new medium of sound, a newly created instrument taking all that winds, brass and percussion can put forth into a hall...All we need are people to appreciate this new medium and realize that Orchestras are great, but times have changed and something new has come forth to help propell classical music into the next century...i just hope everyone supports their local Wind Ensembles or Wind Symphonies as much as they support their local Orchestras...
Bino
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2001-04-19 04:36
Um...OK Bino. Whatever you say. Those old "cats" Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart need to move over for the true collosal talents of Reed, Persechetti, and Maslanka. I'm sure in 200 hundred more years people will be saying "Wolfgang who???" Actually in the US millions of people attend band concerts every weekend during the fall. True, these concerts are bookended by silly football games, but we know why people really come!
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Author: Lindy
Date: 2001-04-19 11:24
I hope it will happen.
If Tokyo Kosei can do it then it's only a matter of time before it happens in other countries too.
I would very much like to be playing Eb clarinet in the first professional British Wind Orchestra. Anyone want to sponsor it?
The repertoire is getting there and being written at an ever increasing rate - there's no need to play Holst or Grainger if you don't want to but that would be limiting surely? And in schools (certainly in my experience) there are more kids wanting to play wind than string instruments.
I have my fingers crossed.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-04-19 13:53
Handel's <i>Music for the Royal Fireworks</i> was originally written for winds. To quote Frederick Fennell, "The musical ideas contained in Handel's score were so attractive, and the organized wind bands of Handel's day were probably so inferior to the orchestras, the <i>The Music</i> in the form of this <i>Suite</i> was adapted for orchestra. It has been most frequently played in this setting ever since. Handel's original idea, however, remains superior - one of the best pieces ever written for winds."
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-04-19 20:04
Is the original arrangement of <i>Music for the Royal Fireworks</i> extant? If so, why haven't I seen it as part of the normal band repitoire? Is there a good arrangement of it available? (Thinking forward to July 4th stuff.)
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Author: Kim
Date: 2001-04-19 22:11
There is an arrangement of this piece on www.jwpepper.com. The music is by Handel and the arranger is Hindsley. It is Grade 5.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2001-04-20 19:43
The arrangement that Fennell used with his recording with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds was edited by Anthony Baines and Charles Mackerras. I don't know if it is available. I also don't know that this would be a good arrangement to use because the complement of players used on the recording was somewhat unusual and included 8 oboes, 7 bassoons and a contrabassoon (no clarinets or saxophones); although Fennell states that it can be effectively played with less of everything.
I don't know that you would want to use the original arrangement either, because, at its premier, <i>Fireworks</i> was played with "40 trumpets, 20 horns, 16 oboes, 16 bassoons, 8 pair of kettledrums, 12 side drums, fifes, flutes, and serpents <i>assisted</i> by 101 brass cannon and 18 pieces of small ordnance."
It is recorded on the Telarc CD <i>Holst / Handel / Bach</i> (CD-80038).
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