 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2003-01-05 21:53
I just got my first copy of Mozart's K.622 about a week or two ago and am really excited to start this exploration that which im sure many of you people have experienced. It is the G. Shirmer edition along with a piano reduction in the key of B-Flat Major by Eric Simon. I've pretty much mastered the second movement and could play it as well as I have ever dreamt of playing it. I've learned the beginning and the main theme of the third movement but its very uneven and I'll work on it more after I finish the opening movement. The opening movement is one of my personal favs and its moving quickly. I've pretty much learned the first two pages and if you don't own the Schirmer, thats right before the part with all those runs of Mozart's "Alberti Basses". I've also listened to several recordings/performances and I've decided that my favorites are the clarinetist Miltos Mumulides accompained by the Cologne New Philharmonic and clarinetis Sabine Meyer along with the Berlin Philharmonic. I especially liked the balance Mumulides and the Cologne New Philharmonic had in their first movement.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-01-05 22:52
My favorite recording is by Robert Marcellus and the Cleveland Orchestra, for which, I believe, he basically used the edition that you have. Remember that "mastering" the Concerto does not mean just playing all the correct notes and rhythums--it is the musical style that is the real challenge provided by Mr. Mozart. Glad you enjoy this work (a few of us "old regulars" like it too).
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2003-01-05 23:03
Oh i definately understand how much it takes to really "master" this piece and i am nowhere near it. Hopefully, I will stay interested in this work for the rest of my life and spend countless hours working on it during my lifetime so that I could interpret it as well as I possibly can. Meanwhile, I've been satisfied with my progress and am loving this piece.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2003-01-05 23:17
If you haven't heard the Marcellus recording, go get it (available from Sony at essentialclassics.com). Every other recording I've heard sounds a bit too flashy for my taste, and the soloist sounds like s/he's laboring a bit on some parts. Marcullus, on the other hand, made it sound easy. His sound was so smooth, so relaxed, so sweet. If his Adagio doesn't make you cry, then I've got a broken refrigerator I'd like to fix with the frozen stuff running through your veins. :-)
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Author: Ken
Date: 2003-01-05 23:46
I go to great lengths to discourage my "serious" students from listening to ANY recording of the Mozart; even my own. The piece (a paradox of clarinet literature) has been so over played, abused and dissected to death, any attempt at an original, pure, un-affected interpretation of it is next to impossible.
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2003-01-05 23:55
Please note, ALOMARvelous12:
The Mozart Concerto should be practiced and performed on the "A" clarinet. Your "Bb" edition should not be used for a performance, as Mozart intended the Concerto to be played on an "A" pitched instrument.
I have heard, all too often, this marvelous Concerto played on the wrong clarinet. IMHO, it just sounds BAD.
Try to beg, borrow, or steal (just kidding) an "A" clarinet for practice and performance, you'll really enjoy the difference.
Good luck,
JJM
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2003-01-06 00:33
Yeah, I know that the concerto was origionally written in A Major for an "A" pitched solo instrument. I'm pretty well fed in terms of backgrounds of this piece since I've read every analysis of it I could find on the internet.
But I've never heard it performed on a B-flat clarinet, only MIDI files, so I can't really understand why playing a piece in a different key has that bad an effect, but I'm sure you're right.
Meanwhile though, I'm not worrying or thinking about performing this piece or using it as an audition piece (although maybe that opportunity may come in a few years) so the B-Flat is fine for now.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2003-01-06 00:38
Aside from the different key, the A clarinet is more mellow than the Bb. Even transposing it to A on a Bb clarinet sounds too bright. It simply belongs on the A.
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Author: Ken
Date: 2003-01-06 01:31
And what about the modern basset clarinet?
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2003-01-06 02:13
Very simply:
Basset clarinet in "A" is fine.
The point is, Mozart intended it to be played on an "A" instrument.
JJM
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Author: Francesca
Date: 2003-01-06 02:44
This may make some people cringe, but I'm going to perform the clarinet concerto on my bass clarinet. Granted you lose some of the sweetness of the piece by having it sound and octave lower, but I think you gain more in the power of the low notes. Just my two cents. Feel free to fire away!
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2003-01-06 02:48
Nice idea!
I assume you will perform it in the original key?
Transposing the solo part on a Bb Bass Clarinet should offer a real challenge.
Good luck,
JJM
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2003-01-06 10:23
If you're playing it with an orchestra, then of course the only sensible option is to play it in A on an A clarinet, either an ordinary one or a basset.
But if you're playing it with a piano, then I really can't accept the argument that you must play it in A on an A instrument, and playing it in Bb on a Bb instrument is all wrong. For four reasons:
(1) The difference in sound between a piano and an orchestra far outweighs any possible difference between clarinets.
(2) There is a very clear difference between the sound of the classical clarinet and that of a modern one.
(3) There is a noticeable difference in sound between an ordinary A clarinet and a basset, but very little between an ordinary A and a Bb. A clarinettist might hear the difference, but very few non-experts would.
(4) In Mozart's day, pitch was around A=420 to 430. So, using a modern instrument, even the A is a quartertone sharp.
As for playing it in A on a Bb clarinet - that's just showing off.
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Author: d dow
Date: 2003-01-06 14:10
I would like to note the excellent record made by Harold Wright on DG with Ozawa of the Mozart Clarinet concerto. I find it every bit as good as Marcellus and in some ways I think the high point of this record is the incredible breath control in the slow movement by Mr. Wright!
As to the Marcellus disc it is fine, but he puts in quite a few slurs and it is nice to hear different articulations once in a while. this is no slight to Mr. Marcellus but there are many very fine recordings of this work, among them Alfred Prinz with Bohm who Marcellus was in awe of!
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Author: William
Date: 2003-01-06 15:15
Francesca--I have also thought that playing the Concerto on a bass would be good, especially a low C instrument. But, how about using an A bass clarinet? I once noticed that Charles Bay had one for sale in the Classifieds. (also a bass in B--now would THAT be a technical challenge???) In all seriousness, however, good idea, good luck and let me know where I can purchase your CD.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-01-07 06:18
A reminder: the author did *not* intend it to be played at A=440.
Regards,
John
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2003-01-07 14:30
The (author?) composer was Mozart!
I believe we all know of Mozart's greatness and serious interest in the development and exposure of the Clarinet. He knew well what he was writing for, and wrote for the clarinet in many different keys. I believe the Concerto, one of his last works, was written with an "A" pitched instrument in mind, whether that is "low or high" pitch is not the issue. Mozart did specify, Concert in A for an "A" pitched instrument.
I have heard the Concerto played on the "Bb" clarinet, and also Bass, Alto Sax, and even Bassoon. There are numerous MIDI versions available, along with an unusual EWI version.
All of these "versions" are interesting, but don't do justice to perhaps our greatest Concerto for Clarinet. Why not learn it and perform it in the correct key, and on an "A" Clarinet or Basset Clainet, which is closer to what Mozart might have liked?
JJM
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2003-01-07 16:42
John J. Moses writes:
written with an "A" pitched instrument in mind, whether that is "low or high" pitch is not the issue
Sorry, John, but that makes no sense at all. If that were the case, it would be "better" to play it on an A instrument at the old high pitch, than on a Bb instrument at Mozart's pitch.
These two instruments would, however, be at pretty much exactly the same pitch!
If you were talking about a violin concerto, I might agree, because a violinist playing in A will have the option of playing on open strings where a violinist playing in Bb will not, and these differences remain regardless of whether you are tuned at A=420 or A=452. But for a clarinet piece, this argument does not apply.
If you are playing with an orchestra, of course it should be in A. If you are playing with piano, or just learning the solo part for its own sake, play it on whatever clarinet you like. Okay, maybe not an Eb or a contra!
Anyway, Mozart's early drafts were for an instrument in G. I strongly suspect he ended up writing for an A instrument because that's what Stadler preferred. I doubt he would have written it significantly differently if Stadler had wanted it in Bb. Mozart's flute concerto in D and his oboe concerto in C are the same piece. He used the key that was practical for the soloist in question.
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Author: d dow
Date: 2003-01-09 00:31
I wonder what Anthony Pay would have to say here in this factor. Check his discussion on GMN classical plus site1
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