Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2017-08-16 18:19
I remember recording some of the Rossini overtures with the Academy of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields in the mid-70s. At the time, it was considered unusual to use a C clarinet, and when I did, Marriner mentioned it in an interview about the project. You can still buy the CDs, and I think it's often a strikingly appropriate tone-colour for the music.
If you play the complete operas, it becomes clear that Rossini was thinking quite carefully about which clarinet he would use at any given moment. And I can also report that the difference between say, Bb and C on the old instruments carries over to their modern counterparts. (I find I tend to 'look for' the same sort of sound on my modern instrument that I find on my old instruments in that sort of music, anyway.)
Of course, it makes as much (or as little) sense to talk about THE sound of a C clarinet as it does to talk about THE sound of a Bb clarinet. Different players make different sounds on both, and there are differences between different C clarinet setups just as there are differences between different Bb and A setups.
Perhaps think of it as another possible way into what you imagine the music can be – endorsed by the composer.
Tony
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The Clarinet BBoard
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