 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MaDxClArInAtOr
Date: 2008-07-06 17:40
I started looking at the Jean Francaix Concerto just over a week ago, and I can't get enough of the work! Of course it's absolutely brutal, but I certainly think it's worth every bit of effort.
However, my jaw can't help but drop at the sight of the original tempo markings:
Movement 1 - quarter note=132
Movement 2 - dotted-quarter note = 84
Movement 4 - dotted-quarter note = 138
Has anyone heard/performed this work at the indicated tempi? It seems to me that the music would just go by as a blur if it were performed in this manner.
Also, has anyone heard/performed the work with piano accompaniment as written?
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-07-06 20:48
I agree, it is a bit ridiculous. When I heard it played in or near tempo it was like listening to an exercise, not music. Impressive perhaps but as you say, just a blur. I think a few notches down won’t hurt, perhaps even enhance the musical experience. I’ve always said to my students that I wish I could play as fast as some of these guys play but I won’t. I would prefer to err on the side of playing musically. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2011-03-16 21:18)
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Author: smross
Date: 2008-07-10 01:00
I have copied an article by Phillipe Cuper on the concerto --
"Francaix told me that when he composed this Concerto, he had an old metronome that had not worked correctly, but he did not know this at the time of publication. Some years later when he bought a new electronic Japanese metronome, he was very surprised!"
He gives the written tempos and then those "proposed by the composer" --
1st mvmt suggested tempo: quarter note at 120-126
2nd mvmt suggested tempo: dotted quarter at 68-72
3rd mvmt suggested tempo: quarter at 68-72 (like 2nd mvmt)
4th mvmt suggested tempo: dotted quarter at 126-132.
Hope this helps!
The article was in the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone publication from March 1998. There is a lot of other helpful information in the article on the concerto in general.
Happy practicing!
Sam
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2010-06-01 00:16
Sorry to bring this thread back up, but could anyone tell me where to get the solo part, the piano reduciton, and the orchestra score and parts?
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Author: 2E
Date: 2011-03-16 05:15
smross said "The article was in the Australian Clarinet and Saxophone publication from March 1998. There is a lot of other helpful information in the article on the concerto in general."
I have been searching EVERWHERE for this information! Thank you so much! I knew the article was in the Australian society magazine, but just needed to know March 1998 specifically! Thanks again haha.
2E.
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Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2011-03-16 17:03
The mention of Francaix's inaccurate tempo indications reminds me of the stories of Hindemith I heard when I was at Yale. Hindemith taught at Yale and whenever musicians played music by Hindemith they were fastidious about adhering to tempos that Hindemith had marked, lest he hear them through a door playing the "wrong" tempi. As recounted to me, often Hindemith would barge into the rehearsal room, red-faced with rage, saying things to the effect that "any fool can hear your are playing that movement much to slowly!" Hindemith would go on to sing or conduct the movement and players would furtively check their metronomes, finding that Hindemith's tempo markings were far from what he currently wanted.
>>"its a circus piece"
>Not my quote
But perhaps close in nature to a quote from Francaix himself.
Francaix wrote that the slow movement of his clarinet concerto was "a bit like the pilot turning the engines off and gliding till the plane is on the brink of plummeting down, then casually flicking the switches back on and swapping his pilot’s helmet for a circus clown’s rotating wig”.
Or an alternate translation from Cuper's cd liner notes, "Finally, the pilot starts his noisy engines again, but remains carefree to the point of swapping his airforce cap for the revolving wig of a clown."
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Author: Andy
Date: 2011-03-17 10:33
P Cuper recorded the Francaix on a disc with the Nielsen and Copland a few years back, for a real idea of the corrections it is well worth investing in it.
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Author: oliver sudden
Date: 2011-09-08 08:44
Maurice Gabai for me.
But does anyone here have (or have they heard) the Lancelot recording from 1971?
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Author: 2E
Date: 2011-09-10 00:37
I had the chance to workshop Francaix with Philippe Cuper earlier this year He indeed stands by the corrections he made in the 1998 article, passed down from Francaix himself who could argue?
Also, I've been trying to get a copy of Cuper's Francaix/Copland/Nielsen cd but he said its not distributed anymore :( Anyone have any idea where I might be able to source it from? The Lancelot recording would also be awesome but I've got no idea how to go about finding these old historic recordings :( I've tried searching through naxos but can't seem to find anything, just a recording by John Finucane which is also really good.
Any ideas?
2E.
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Author: claaaaaarinet!!!!
Date: 2011-09-10 01:58
Just curious if those discussing the Francaix here plan to enter the Lancelot competion coming up next March. Francaix Concerto will be played with orchestra in the finals, and they require the first movement for the CD round:
http://www.concours-jacques-lancelot.org/accueil-en.html
I'm thinking of applying, but it's tough to find a pianist willing to learn the impossible piano reduction in order to make the CD. Anyone else thinking of sending the application CD with the Francaix unaccompanied?
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Author: oliver sudden
Date: 2011-10-27 19:51
If anyone's interested there are a few LPs of the Lancelot still out there - I've just bought one from a French seller and there's one at a site called goingthruvinyl (easier to google that than to post the link and I'm not sure exactly whether that would be on the right side of the rules here anyway - I have no connection with the site FWIW). It's listed as 'display only' at the moment but I'm fairly sure that's going to change.
The Gabai still tops the list for me though. Stupendous playing.
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