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Repertoire With High Squeals (Ab/Eb Clarinets)

Author: cdgibbs
Date: 2019-10-17 08:18

Hello,

I have been curious about the extreme upper limit of several instruments' playing capabilities. Like clarinet, the "top" individual note of many instruments will come down to individual player ability à la altissimo. This is in contrast to "highest note most people can/should be able to play." The highest individual pitch I have heard is from a YouTube recording of a player squeaking out arpeggios and producing a concert Bb7 on a Bb clarinet and sustaining it barely long enough for it to be recognizable as an actual pitch. I would personally count this as "achieving a reference highest pitch on clarinet," but we would all agree this doesn't serve to inform the musical range or possibility of the instrument in any way. A squeak is a squeak, right?

To play higher notes on smaller instruments will be more difficult. So I cannot imagine an Ab or Eb clarinet having an easier time squeaking in the [concert] 7th octave if it it's barely acceptable for a Bb clarinet. Therefore, instead of trying to find the "world record clarinet note" (to dramatize), I was wondering: are there any pieces of repertoire that demonstrate a perceived highest note on Ab or Eb clarinets? (Obviously the latter is more commonplace than the former.)

For example, I've read that there is an Eb part in a musical theatre score [which I can't recall right now] that has a written high C, which would sound concert Eb7. I tracked down a recording and couldn't isolate the clarinet as it was in duet with piccolo if I remember correctly. A separate chamber trio piece had shown the Eb to play a little bit lower than this "goal" note of a top C. Can any of you refer me to a piece which shows off the highest capabilities of the Eb, or again maybe even the Ab? I know of a YouTube recording that shows concert C7 on an Ab, but I imagine the tiny devil can do a little bit more if anyone's ever bothered to record its squeaks.

I'd really appreciate any insight about this topic. Probably not super interesting or musically appealing, but a curiosity nonetheless. Thank you if you can help!

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Re: Repertoire With High Squeals (Ab/Eb Clarinets)

Author: DougR
Date: 2019-10-18 16:30

Here's a thread from 2003 on the Ab clarinet. In it, I referenced a webpage for an LA scoring musician and jazzer named Marty Krystall, in which he talked about acquiring an Ab clarinet as a curiosity from the local music store out there, and mentioning the instrument to one of the film composers he was working for, only to have the composer write him a part on Ab clarinet for the movie he was scoring--101 Dalmatians, the animated feature. Supposedly the Cruella DeVille theme "Pup-pup-puppEEEES" featured an octave jump on the Ab, from high G to altissimo G (I haven't seen the movie so I can't comment on that).

Marty was one of the top studio guys at the time (since retired, perhaps?) so he made it work, and work in tune.

Marty's webpage has disappeared, so you'll have to rely on my memory as to the details (sorry about that).

http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=118801&t=117641

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