 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Titus
Date: 2018-09-29 10:30
Hi,
So preparing a recital program and I want to play the Finzi Bagatelle. To fit in with the time requirement, I need to take off a movement.
I'm leaning towards the Romance or the Carol. Bboarders, which of the 5 makes most sense to remove?
Thanks
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2018-09-29 20:11
None, it doesn’t really work as a suite if you cut a movement in my opinion. What is your allotted time? There are shorter works in a similar vain if you want to play something British. The work complete is around 14 mins.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: gavalanche20
Date: 2018-09-29 22:29
I would say, if you must cut a movement at all, cut the Carol. Partially because it’s the “easiest” and partially because the Romance is my favourite movement of the five :P
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2018-09-29 22:53
I agree with gavalanche20 in that the Romance is also my favourite, and indeed I think it's one of the most wonderful things ever written for clarinet and piano. You can't really be thinking of leaving it out. But I'm not going to suggest an alternative movement to cut from such a special piece. If you really need to save time and can't find it elsewhere in your programme, it's better to play the Romance alone and pick something else to go with it than create an unbalanced version of the suite. It sounds like you have 10 minutes to fill, and the Romance will take 4:30 of that. If you want another English piece to partner it of about 5 minutes length, you could consider Edward German's Romance.
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2018-09-30 04:02
Agree with the others. One way or another, play the "Romance". It's just a beautiful piece of music!
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2018-09-30 19:09
If you decide to play the Forlana, don't be misled by the thought that it's is some sense, 'sad' – as I was when young.
Originally, the Forlana was an Italian courtship dance, executed by a couple.
Above all, it's a dance – and not slow.
Tony
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2018-09-30 20:13
I'd go with what Tony Pay recommends. His opinion and thoughts are among the most valuable things on this board. Even for something as nominally trivial as this.
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2018-10-01 00:45
That's very nice of you, Katrina:-)
I suppose we'd have done better by the original poster to 'unask the question'. I confess that I can't imagine in a recital agreeing to satisfy a time constraint of the sort he laid out.
Still, it engaged me to consider the possible result of leaving out the Prelude. You'd start by playing the Romance more passionately – which could work well, setting off the innocence of the Carol. Then the Forlana could dance even more than usual.
Tony
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2018-10-01 02:21
Take off something in the middle that's on the boring side for the audience.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2018-10-01 14:19
Tony: I'm interested in digging a little more into what you mean when you say the Forlana isn't sad. The appealing feature of Finzi's music (for me) is that so much of it has an intense sense of nostaligia, coupled with a purity and innocence. The strength of these factors varies, but they're rarely absent entirely. So while the Forlana is hardly a funeral elegy, it still seems to have at least an element of wistfulness - perhaps recalling a happy occasion rather than actually living it. Or would you say even that's too strong?
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2018-10-01 15:08
When I first encountered this piece, I was very young – around 12, I suppose – and I rather naively made the verbal association between 'Forlana' and the word 'forlorn'. The result was that I underlined the 'sad' aspects of the piece. That's not to say that I don't agree that those aspects are there; but they're not in the title.
I'd say it quite often happens that there's a tension between two or more aspects of a piece of music, or a piece of poetry, say. (In the case of poetry in verse, two obvious ones are metre and meaning.) Overcommitment to one of those aspects unbalances the situation.
I'd say I did this in my youth. I was trying to correct a possible performer imbalance (probably not yours) by pointing out the sense of the title in this case.
The sadness is in the harmony, isn't it? You don't need to add to it.
Tony
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