 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-12 01:52
I’ve just received the part for this piece by Peter Maxwell Davies. There’s a solo passage where the two clarinets, in octaves, are like Scottish bagpipes. The first clarinet it’s largely in the altissimo and there’s some tricky ornamentation. I would post an image of the relevant section, but as it’s a copyright piece I’m not sure about the legality of doing that. So I’ll describe the series of notes.
There are Altissimo grace notes/ornamentation A6, E6, F#6 leading main melody note B5.
Another awkward interval is A6 grace note down to melody note F#6.
The A6 and F#6 aren’t the best of notes on my Bb either, even trying a few alternative fingerings, and with not the best of reeds (I really don’t want to flog my good reeds on this, just at the moment). Can anyone suggest some alternative ways to approach these passages?
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-01-12 02:29
Maybe overblowing Bb (Bb6? 2 spaces above the staff) for the F#s? One of my favourite fingerings. My grandfather was born on Sanday, Orkney.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book-- Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
Post Edited (2026-01-12 02:31)
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-19 15:28
TomH - Thanks.
F# isn't the real problem. It's going from the A6 down to the E6. Lipping can't make it quickly or cleanly enough. I think I really need fingerings for the two notes that allow the tube to contribute to a quicker response. Obviously, there isn't time for a lot of finger movement between fingerings that use very different fingers/keys. I've been through the alternative fingering sources I have and there isn't anything that works. It's easier on a C Clarinet, but I'd rather not swop clarinets.
I'll try to provide an image of the passage.
Post Edited (2026-01-19 15:44)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-01-19 20:30
I'm not sure how idiomatic this register is for a bagpipe chanter.
My first thought would be to play it, not on a C, but on an Eb clarinet.
Second thought would be to find other grace notes that would be more graceful on a Bb clarinet but still within the bagpipe idiom.
If you're playing A6 with the RH Eb key, it might slip down a harmonic to E more easily if you use RH C# instead - TRK OXX | OOO C#. My experience is that the jump between harmonics is cleaner in both directions with the C# key than with the Eb.
Karl
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-01-19 23:56
For the A to E you may try using RH C#/F# pinky for the A then release it for the E?
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book-- Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2026-01-20 04:42
Wow, what a delightful piece. Listening to a vid that follows the score reveals that the depicted section is not the only agility challenge for the clarinet. The part you asked about is quite exposed, so good luck.
Btw, at 278 (if I recall) the clarinet and bass cl parts specify "close tone (con vibr.)" What's that about?
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-20 14:27
Karl, thanks for your helpful response.
I'm not an Eb player.
My thought on alternatives is to play an F# instead of the high A in both the ornaments with multiple notes. The other high A grace notes aren't an issue. It is really about the A down to E. I've tried the C#, and use it, but it seems to work more quickly if moving from E to A. Down A to E isn't quite as responsive. A to E needs something to push it that bit, hence my feeling a change of fingering would help.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-20 14:39
Philip, yes, it's a great piece.
It seems to me flute, oboe have ornaments well in their comfortable registers, but clarinets and trumpets, perhaps horns, have a harder time in a bit more extreme registers.
Regarding 'close tone', I'm not sure what that's about. At the moment, one rehearsal in, I'm thinking it's the texture of the relevant instrumentation at that point. It's not a marking I've come across before. I believe the composer was often very familiar with the players and ensembles, so wrote with them in mind. So this might well be something particular he'd heard and thought he'd use. Bit of an 'in' joke perhaps, but if anyone knows I'd certainly like to hear about it.
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-01-20 15:45
I've got an idea, but I need to try it out on a clarinet and it's the middle of the night (12.38am) and I'm surrounded by sleeping people. Alan Hacker would have been my go-to to ask about this but he left us in 2012 (seems like only a few years ago, so sad). Btw this was written for Boston Pops, not Fires of London I seem to recall, and make sure you check the tuning of the pipes well in advance... (ie, don't wait until a few days before the concert to get the piper along to play, make sure he/she is at 440 well in advance).
I'll get back to you about my fingering solution after I've had a chance to try it out
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-20 15:58
Thanks Donald.
Our leader/concertmaster did the piece a while ago and we're using the same piper. I assume he's 440.
The score for this piece has a warning about ensuring you know the piper's abilities before engaging him/her. There's also a bit advising the piper to fill the airbag in advance of a particular point, before walking on from offstage. I'm surprised that advice should be necessary to any piper. But it shows the depth of understanding the composer had of the requirements for a piper, and perhaps the disasters he'd witnessed or heard of.
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-01-21 05:26
Haven't got to a clarinet yet... but in bar 156 I'd use the Left hand index finger for the C# and then to slur from A to F# I'd use this for the F#....
TR XXO XXX + Eb/G# key
I'd actually use that index finger for all the C# grace notes
more later...
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-21 13:46
Thanks Donald.
I'm using Index C# for the grace notes, and that F# fingering for the longer notes.
For the moment, I'm also using F# for the high A in the multi note ornaments. Maybe a A5 is a possibility, but I haven't tried that. The F# substitute is probably more in idiom/ character though, given its register, tone.
Never would have thought A to E would have been a problem. The clarinet is full of tricks.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2026-01-21 20:15
About the A-E-F#6 grace note triplet, I would overblow the A from the normal E fingering and use the normal E fingering for E as well. The transition is done with a small change in middle of the tongue and seems quick, clean and repeatable.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-21 20:25
Thanks Philip,
I've not found A-E quick enough using standard fingerings in this context. Could just be me, perculiarities of each instrument may play a part.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2026-01-21 23:01
Do you know anyone with a D clarinet you could borrow?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-01-22 02:42
Sorry it took so long....
A - Alt A using normal fingering TR OXX OOO E/B key (left little finger)
E - Overblow throat A to high E (so, nothing down except A key)
F# - Keep the A key down, and add the top two Right hand trill keys
B - Finger B normally
This works fine for me on R13 and buffet Festival, was able to get it reliable and fast easily and quickly.
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