 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2020-03-14 16:46
I've just picked up the sheet Music,
There's no doubt this is a delightful Piece
Quick question, what is the best way to " Learn" this piece?
I'm a Adult learner and am not taking Lessons
Obviously not looking to play at Carnegie Hall, but would like to play the Piece reasonable well
Post Edited (2020-03-14 17:03)
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2020-03-14 18:55
Best way? Listen!
Here is a fine recording. As was the norm in Mozart's time, there is a long intro before the clarinet plays, which is at 1:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hrfo9QgRWc
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2020-03-14 19:56
Listen?
Well that does make sense!
I've listened to the piece numerous times, but not intently and not having picked up the Clarinet in many Years
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-03-14 20:09
Ken's post triggers an old memory. When I started the clarinet (and for some years afterwards) I could not reed music. The first solo I learned (and that was completely by ear) was the Mozart in my sophomore year of high school. I was playing for my teacher (second chair with the Chicago Symphony) and he pointed to certain spot on the third page and wanted me to start there. I insisted on starting at a break point just prior; he refused my request. Finally I had to tell him that I did not know exactly what I was supposed to play. In that moment he realized that I could not read music and was as caught off guard as he was frustrated with me.
Additionally I know a blind clarinet player (has been from birth) who is one of the principal players of a local concert band. He plays the parts better than everyone else after about a rehearsal and a half.
Suffice to say that you do really learn by really listening. However, if you are a good reader (of music) one of many methods of developing flawless technique is to move through trickier passages slowly to train your fingers to be even more coodinated with regard to what you are hearing.
..............Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2020-03-14 23:18)
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2020-03-14 20:48
Hey Paul,
Good advice.
I am a pretty good reader and the Concerto I think is much easier to read and play than many other Pieces I've come across.
That said this Piece is pretty easy to play badly and hard to play well!
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-03-14 23:20
I like your quote about easy to play badly. Technically, it's a piece of cake. But, it is one of the most difficult pieces to play evenly. Probably because there is a lot of just moving fingers on & off holes in order and not a lot of odd fingerings with side keys. It seems to be on all the audition piece lists for symphonies.
My best advice is to practice in pieces, slowly, and use a lot of "beat to beat" practicing (ie. group of four 16ths and end on the next note. Next, group of eight 16ths, end on nxt note, etc.). Then practice the end of the run more since you've done that less with the beat to beat.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book--
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Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
Post Edited (2020-03-14 23:22)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-03-15 14:40
Once you master the notes and rhythms, start to listen more deeply to how great players (as in Ken's example) color the sound in different ways, shape phrases, use dynamics, articulations and a variety of nuance to make the music come alive.
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2020-03-15 18:44
Re: "Amazing Slow Downer" for $50.
There are several audio editing programs that do the same thing, but are FREE.
One of them is the audio editor program at AVS4You.com.
B.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2020-03-15 19:38
"How best to learn this piece" is a very interesting question and there is no simple answer. Jazz players have been learning by listening and copying pretty much since the beginning. In most styles of jazz music, the performer is to a greater or lesser extent the composer of the music as well. Even if they didn't compose the tunes themselves, they are still making up their very personalised improvisations and "re-interpretations" of the original written-down material. This original written-down material is also usually only an incomplete sketch of the final played version and a creative "completion" of the composition by the performer is expected by the composer.
To a much lesser extent, this is also true in Mozart: he would have expected a range of articulations, accentuations, shapings, ornaments, embellishments and other expressive devices to have been added by Stadler, so in that sense his notation is also deliberately "incomplete".
For this reason, I don't consider copying the above-mentioned Harold Wright version to be remotely the best way to learn this piece. Wright doesn't add nearly anything like the amount nuance which Mozart would have expected. And worse, Wright doesn't even follow some of the few specific indications that Mozart did bother to give, which were clearly important enough for to him to feel necessary to write into the score. So even if your goal is just to use an audio recording to learn the notes properly (never mind questions of interpretation) the Wright version is definitely the Wrong one :-)
Unfortunately we don't have copies of recordings of players from 1791, and Stadler didn't have a recording either when he got the piece. But Stadler understood Mozart's musical language just as well as Charlie Parker understood Bebop, so he had a big advantage over us. If all that we had left of Parker were his written scores, we would have some pretty terrible versions of Donna Lee if musicians thought that simply reproducing the notes of the score was sufficient.
What can we do? We have the "Winterthur Fragment" with a complete clarinet part (basset horn actually) of the first 199 bars. This at least gives us the notations that Mozart did write. There are many other sources from the time period that we can consult, including tutors explaining how this music should be performed, and lots has been written about 18th century performance practice in the last 50 years or so. Much of this research for late 18th century music was notably done after the Wright recording was made.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-03-15 23:56
Liquorice,
The least a player today can do today to comprehend the style of the Mozart concerto is to use a printed edition that makes judicious use of the best textual and historical evidence. Which editions do you prefer, the 2003 Henle edition by Henrick Wiese, the newest (2018) edition by Charles Neidish (Keiser/Hal Leonard), or something else?
Ben,
Any recording you chose to listen to will be subject to musicological criticism.
I doubt any consensus will emerge to call a given recording definitive, especially any not performed on a basset-clarinet that attempts to replicate Stadler's original instrument. But if you want to listen to how a clarinetist who is also a composer, as well as being historically-informed, plays it in our time period, I suggest the 2015 CD (Orfeo label) recording by Jorg Widmann with Peter Rizicka conducting. Another choice would be Anthony Pay's recording with Christopher Hogwood conducting (available in reissue on CD). Pay plays the concerto on an instrument intended to approximate Stadler's. The result is very satisfying to listen to and will give you additional perspective on the Mozart, even though it was done decades ago.
Post Edited (2020-03-16 06:36)
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Author: claricolin
Date: 2020-03-16 05:38
I recently started learning the first movement with a view to playing it for an upcoming exam. I was vaguely aware of some of the issues Liquorice discusses above, so decided to do some reading before I started working on it. Some good sources I read, that others might find useful, are:
From “The Clarinet”:
Keith Koons “A Guide to Published Editions of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, KV 622, for Clarinet and Piano”, 25(3);34-43 (and an update on more recent editions at 35(3); 34-37)
-Super valuable comparison of the editions
Carmine Campione “Master Class - Concerto in A, K. 622, Movement I, Allegro (Exposition) by Wolfgang A. Mozart”. 31(3); 6-10
-Great article on phrasing
Also:
Linda Davenport “Slurring Versus Tonguing: Questionable Articulation Practices in the Mozart Clarinet Concerto” The Quarterly, 2(4); 38-41 (PDF available online if you search for it).
In this last article on articulation, Linda argues that if no slur is indicated, the notes should be articulated. This would include most of the sixteenth note passages throughout the movement. She also says:
“of the dozen or so recorded performances of the Mozart clarinet concerto which I have listened to, the soloist who comes the closest to articulating the solo part the way I think Mozart intended is Antony Pay (accompanied by the Academy of Ancient Music, directed by Christopher Hogwood)”
Well I listened to a bunch of recordings, including Tony’s, which I like very much (I think this articulated style suits the movement well, and sets up a wonderful contrast with the lyrical second movement) and decided that I would start practicing in this highly articulated style (I also thought it would help me work on my fast articulation). I learned the exposition and played it for my teacher. She was slightly horrified and said that it was so far removed from how she has taught it over several decades, and she also thought that examiners would not react well to this interpretation. But left it up to me to decide how to play it.
I’ve decided to go with a more “conventional” style using the Boosey & Hawkes edition edited by Roth / Thurston, at least to get me through the exam. Then I’ll work out what I really want to do…accepting that it’s always going to be a work-in-progress.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2020-03-16 06:14
"what is the best way to " Learn" this piece? "
Take lessons.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: n
Date: 2020-03-16 09:20
The best piece of advice I can give is to just practice it slow, at a tempo you are initially comfortable with but simultaneously pushing your limits. You need to slowly play through the whole piece at first JUST so you have a feel of what it sounds like. Of course this means it is also in your best interest to listen to a recording of the concerto; maybe even play along to the recording. You need to learn how the piece goes to start off with.
The concerto is quite a beautiful and elegant piece. Make sure you are also playing your scales and arpeggios every day (It helps!)
-N
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-03-16 15:48
Given that the original question is from an adult learner who does not take lessons, I think it important not to overwhelm. While I understand all of the concerns about accurate period performance, that opens up a whole other dimension of issues. Even a player of reasonable sklll and knowledge would need a very deep understanding to be able to play appropriate improvisational elements or ornaments. (look up postings over the years from the late Dan Lesson for some information) I would rather a player learn the basics of the piece through the sheet music using a standard recording such as those by Wright, Marcellus or many others and play it well.That foundation would help the player learn the basic foundation before attempting to embellish.
To me, it would be like someone asking to learn the tune Body and Soul. I would prefer they start with the Benny Goodman trio to learn the basics and harmonic structure before they try to attempt Coleman Hawkin's version.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2020-03-16 18:22
Listen to some recordings so you'll know how the piece goes. Then have fun. It is indeed fun to play. Practice it any way you want and play it any way you feel like. You won't hurt anything by doing it "wrong."
The music will reward you and continue to reward you as you grow and learn as a musician - it is great music. Your understanding and interpretation of the piece will gradually change over time, no matter how well informed you are now or become later.
Knowledge of modern scholarship and the different styles of performance can enrich your playing of and delight in this piece, but those things have changed steadily over the years, while people's pure enjoyment of the music has continued. If you eventually want to perform it, at least keep your audience's expectations in mind.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-03-17 05:06
Philip- great points which just cut through to what is really important- music and fun. Bravo!
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