 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SonicManEXE
Date: 2017-03-14 05:19
Hi all,
So in my band we are playing Al Fresco in remembrance of Husa (as are tons of other college and community bands across the country). Anyone who has played it before must be familiar with the chromatic eighth notes that go from altissimo Ab down to low Gb over two segments. The kicker, though, is that you are asked to trill up a half-step from each note. So Ab goes to A, G goes to Ab, and so on. I am just kind of dumbfounded. I'm confused how to go about this, and that's never really happened before. Does anyone have any tips or experience playing this?
Thank you.
Jared
Ft. Lauderdale & Tampa, FL
Post Edited (2017-03-14 05:20)
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Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2017-03-14 18:59
Jared:
Can you scan a copy and post it? Seems like something we'd have to physically look at in order to make a reasonable suggestion.
~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-03-15 04:52
What's the tempo?
In general, my attitude, admittedly musically irresponsible, is that when composers write unplayable things, they deserve whatever the player manages, however bizarre. If the tempo were slow enough, the passage looks barely do-able if hugely ungraceful. At a faster tempo, you might have to ignore the 1/2-step instruction and find keys that will produce some kind of trill for a block of notes at a time. If the whole ensemble is doing this, it may qualify as an effect that doesn't depend on literal reading.
But I don't know the piece, so have no concrete idea about how to do the passage.
Karl
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2017-03-15 07:35
Nice piece, I just listened to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK1MQuWKh-4
Uh, I didn't for sure spot the passage you posted; is it at 3:50 in the above?
Tempo sounds around 104 or 112. It's not THAT bad, sort of an exercise in chromatic minor-second triplets. Find the right fingerings to use, most of them are obvious, and then just practice until you get it.
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Author: SonicManEXE
Date: 2017-03-15 07:35
The piece is somewhere in the quarter = 112 range. The clarinets are the only section playing it (the flutes may have something similar, but I don't believe they have exactly this). I haven't found a recording where this section comes out well yet. The piece has these smooth gliss effects and quarter tone trills all throughout it, but I think this selection is more rigid (unless the players in the recording can't do it either).
Whoops, we posted at the same time, Phillip. Yes, that's the section where it happens. It's definitely not "that" bad, but I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with the piece.
Jared
Ft. Lauderdale & Tampa, FL
Post Edited (2017-03-15 07:37)
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Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2017-03-15 15:04
The first two beats do take some head scratching. I'd need to experiment to come up with something. I'll goof around later today.
After that it's a standard fare with chromatic minor seconds triplets. I'd 'scrunch' the first two notes together to achieve the trill effect.
Just be clever and use your chromatic fingers on the last note of the (inverted?) mordents (fork, side keys) for smooth transitions.
~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-03-15 17:22
Individually, altissimo fingerings can vary with different setups, so the players need to work out themselves something that comes close. Collectively, from the recording, it seems to be a gesture where, if you have enough people really trying to play it, the average that comes out is a shimmering chromatic scale. Sometimes, composers write unplayable stuff because they really want the effect that results when people try to play it. I've read that Ravel was surprised when the winds accurately played the opening of the Daphnis Second Suite, but I don't know if that's true. Mahler does things with the strings where the point really isn't each player playing it exactly right and together. It's important not to stick out or be the last one to stop at the end, though.
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