 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ebonite
Date: 2009-11-11 20:52
I have a dilemma about the triplets in the piano part of the Schumann
Fantasiestuecke.
For quite a lot of the piece, the right hand in the piano part is written in two voices, (usually with note tails pointing up for the upper voice, and pointing down for the lower voice, like soprano and alto in a vocal score). In many cases, the upper voice is written with two equal quavers, while the lower voice has triplet quavers in the same beat. This is all fine, but sometimes the two voices share one of the notes; most often, the third quaver of the (lower voice) triplet is the same note as the second quaver of the (upper voice) duplet. There are many examples of this---the first one is on the last beat of bar 3 in the piano right hand. Strictly speaking, this is rhythmically impossible, because the last quaver of the triplet should have a duration of a third of a beat, while the second quaver of the duplet should be half a beat.
There are at least two possible solutions:
1. "swing" the duplets, so that the triplet movement is maintained throughout in the lower voice, and the duplets in the upper voice actually correspond to a 2+1 pattern. In other words, the piano part sounds as if it's written in 12/8, with patterns of a crotchet followed by quaver in the upper voice.
2. Play the duplets as written, and also play the first two quavers of the triplet as written, but play the third quaver of the triplet early, so that it coincides with the second quaver of the duplet. In this case, the triplet will sound uneven, with the first two quavers being shorter than the third one.
I think I can remember hearing examples of both 1 and 2 in performance, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of 1 is that it maintains the triplet movement, which is obviously meant to be an important feature of the piece; maybe even the most important feature. The advantage of 2 is that the upper voice in the piano often either anticipates or imitates a motive in the clarinet part, which (when it appears for the clarinet) is clearly meant to be in equal duplets. For example, bars 2 and 3 of the piano part in movement 1 anticipate one of the main motives of movement 2. So you would think that the motive should be played in duplets in the piano, to match the clarinet. I think I prefer it this way, but the
disadvantage is that the flow of the triplets is uneven.
I'm sure that many of the people on this board have performed this work. If so, you must have grappled with the problem of the piano triplets (or at least your pianist must have grappled with the problem privately). What solution did your accompanist come up with, and why?
Ebonite
Glossary:
quaver = 1/8 note
crotchet = 1/4 note
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2009-11-11 22:18
This has been discussed on the Klarinet listserve - in fact I think I brought it up once, though a very quick search didn't turn up the particular thread. I did find another couple of posts over there. I don't remember that the question ever got fully discussed or settled. My post cited several recordings of the piece that I own. I forget now without going back and listening all over again who did what, but there was not unanimity among several recordings done by major clarinetists. I don't remember any of the clarinetists "swinging" the eighths (quavers), but some pianists did and some didn't. Those who didn't seemed to fit the second note of each accompaniment (stems down) triplet somewhere before the melody note, aided frequently by the general blur of the pedal added to less than clear recording fidelity.
My own opinion, undocumented with any historical evidence, is that the piano should follow the melody (duplets) *throughout the movement*, not just when playing with the clarinetist. Duplet melody against triplet accompaniment is too generally ubiquitous in Schumann for this movement to be different despite whatever technical headache it causes the pianist to do it within one hand. In fact, the same thing happens in the first movement - the piano answering the clarinet, which plays in duplets. If the pattern were split between the two hands it would be a Romantic commonplace. The only reason it's even a question, in my opinion, is that Schumann writes the whole cross-rhythm in the right hand.
I'll be interested as well to see if anyone has any firm and documentable convictions about this.
Karl
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-11-12 12:32
I studied piano with Arthur Eisler in the 1950s and 1960s. He taught me that, whenever two voices land on the same note, I should leave a finger on the note with the longest duration for its full duration, while dedicating a different finger to continuing the other voice as it proceeds to a different note. That way, the damper (this is the automatic damper, nothing to do with damper pedals) doesn't come down immediately on the strings sounding the longer note and those strings continue to let the note resound and fade naturally as the other voice moves away from it.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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