 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Linus Travelli
Date: 2002-05-14 00:29
I'm going to play at my graduation and i need to pick something that wouldn't be boring for non classical music people. somethign that everything can enjoy, including kids.
any suggestions?
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Author: Linus Travelli
Date: 2002-05-14 00:31
how about the finzi bagatelles?
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Author: Fred
Date: 2002-05-14 00:34
How about some Scott Joplin tunes from "The Sting"?
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Author: ken
Date: 2002-05-14 01:35
Humphrey Searle's Cat Variations (based on the Peter & The Wolf 'cat' theme) is a lot of fun.
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Author: ken
Date: 2002-05-14 04:10
Yes Jack,
I've played through, but not performed the Searle Variations. I heard part of this piece (clar. and piano) on a doco about Searle; a friend who has the music gave me the clarinet part to look at.
K.
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Author: William
Date: 2002-05-14 14:53
It has always been my experiance that it is not necessarily "what" you play but rather, "how well" you play, that is most important. If what you play "sounds nice" people will accept your performance even though they do not really understand what they are hearing. The average listener's perspective may have been best summed up by Duke Ellington--"If it sounds good, it is good." So, pick a selection that you are comfortable with and make it sound "nice and easy" (play in tune with effortless technic and impeccable musical taste). Also, good posture and an occassional smile will help win your audiances approval. If the ceremony is a long one, you might also consider the length of your selection (cuts are OK). Congradulations on graduation and being asked to be a memorable part of it. Good Clarineting!!!!!!!!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2002-05-14 15:36
Ken, It's nice to find someone else who's looked at it. "A lot of fun" is not exactly how I would describe it, though -- well, maybe for the audience if it's done right. Based on Jack Brymer's description (Six minutes of pleasant fun, not so difficult as the original, and immediately intelligible to the audience." -- not exactly my impression of Searle's symphonies, BTW) I thought it might be a nice little recital filler and set out to find this music several years ago. It took me about two years to track down a copy (at the time, it was apparently out-of-print but I believe it has been reprinted).
On an earlier thread, I remember someone's commenting that they wondered if Brymer had actually ever looked at all of the works he described because some of the descriptions seemed extremely inaccurate. I would like to submit "Cat Variations" as an exhibit if that poster ever wants to build a case to support his/her assertion. For those who only know the piece from Jack Brymer's description, be aware that it requires an A clarinet and (optional) tape. One movement (#5) is apparently designed to imitate a cat's "serenade" and consists of a series of slow continuous glissandos up and down starting on f3 and eventually ending (as high as) poss(ible). (Actually, that could be fun and sounds more like the Searle, I know.) The following movement ends with a trill from c7 to db7 resolving itself on d7 (I won't tell you what comes right before). The final movement at "120+" includes among other pleasant licks, a 16th note arpeggio to c7, a chromatic run up to c7, some b6's thrown in at other places to keep it interesting, and 16th note passagework leaps from d6 to bb6 and b5 to ab7.
I know there are some of you out there who could toss this off as a warm-up. I'm not one of you, though, and, as difficult as the original may be, I think this is more difficult. That said, I would love to hear a first rate performance of it. Robert Spring, ... Jonathan Cohler..., Charles Neidich... -- anyone listening out there? HAT, a possibility for your CD? Linus?
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2002-05-15 02:28
Pick something melodic and accessible. I played the Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie for my school orchestra today (mostly non-musicians, I'm sorry to say) and it didn't really catch them. I never thought of it as musically inaccessible but some people thought that it was "weird," "random," and "boring." The musicians liked it, though.
Do you know the Weber Concertino? It has a lot of variety in tempo and mood. Clarinetists might be tired of it but most of your audience will never have heard it before. If you have time to learn something new, what about the Three Etudes on Themes of Gershwin?
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-05-17 04:26
Thanks to TV and the movies, many non-musicians have heard musc more classical music (though often is short snipets) than they actually realize. This goes beyond the obvious ie. the Barber adagio, Pachebel Canon in D, Bolero etc. Much of this comes in TV comercials and promo spots where I guess the pieces are used as much because they are in the public domain as for any other reason. Listen closely and see if you can recognize pieces such as the Intermetzo from Cavalria Rusticana, Lacrymosa from the Mozart Requiem, the Dies Irae from the Verdi Requiem, the first chorus from the Carmina Burana etc. Occasionally, one might even hear the Adagio (second movement) of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto.
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Author: David Dow
Date: 2002-05-19 21:57
How about the theme music from Cinema Paridiso by Ennio Morricone? This is beautiful legato melodic stuff which could put tears to a glass eye/eyes.
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