 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-12-06 17:00
Hello all! You may have sen previous threads similar to these, but I would like to take this to a somewhat higher level. Four students of my 500 members music department at my school have the opportunity to audition to play a concerto with our school's symphony orchestra I would like to audition but I would like some opinions on concertos.
I am able to play the Jean Francaix clarinet concerto, so I think it is safe to say that as long as I practice hard, I would be able to learn any within a year and a half.
Please, describe your favorite clarinet concertos and movements with short descriptions!
(I have played the Mozart, Weber concertino, jean francaix, and weber 1)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-12-06 19:31
Yes X, if you can actually play the Francaix correctly you can probably play anything in the repertoire technically but at a competition you also have to play musically, actually that goes anytime of course. You didn't say if you where a college or HS student so much would depend of the quality and ability of the orchestra that you would play with if you win. Some of my favorites are the Debussy Rhapsodie, Copland Concerto, Nielsen Concerto and the Weber Second concerto for "standard" rep. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-12-07 00:49
I am a sophomore in high school. I listened to the Nielsen and it satisfies the difficulty I want yet it has the "emotions" I like also. And it would be a high school symphony orchestra, so hte level would not be very good, but I would like to say that our school's is one of the better in the country.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-12-07 02:43
xpedx, you have my admiration. Francaix's a hard piece--I just borrowed a copy to look at myself for the first time, and it's hard to find a spot in it that doesn't require real practice. It's like one big finger exercise.
I'm a big fan of Copland, but if you're playing with a high school group, it might not be so great--the string parts are supposed to be really hard. It's played in one continuous movement.
I played Weber 2 when I was high school--not with an orchestra, though. It may have the easiest accompaniment parts of the ones Ed mentioned. The best movement of this one to do for a competition is the last one--very virtuosic.
If you like modern stuff and have an A clarinet, Hindemith wrote a nice concerto that's worth looking into. Then, of course, there's also Nielsen--you need an A clarinet for that, too.
The Finzi concerto is very pretty, but also makes free use of strong dissonance, so it's rather modern sounding. Great lyrical melodies and exciting emotional moments make the Finzi a great piece. (it's also seriously underplayed on this side of the Atlantic)
I recently became acquainted with a Concertino by Busoni. It's very interesting because it blends a lot of styles together--sort of modern and classical at the same time (but not neoclassical like Stravinsky or Hindemith). Sort of like a musical time machine. Very interesting.
If you'd like to play an early 19th century concerto with great melodies, you might look into playing one of the Spohr Concerti. Spohr was a guy who knew how to write a great tune. These concertos have a reputation for beng hard because Spohr was a violinist and wrote like he was writing for a violin--no places to breathe, and the runs just keep coming. If you're up to learning a piece that tests your endurance like Francaix, Spohr might be right up your alley. If memory serves, Spohr wrote 4 of them, some more difficult than others. I think No. 1 is supposed to be the easiest of the 4. I've never played these, but I've listened to them before, and they're quite nice. I think at least one of them is for A clarinet, but the rest are for Bb. Spohr is seriously underplayed, too, IMHO.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-12-07 03:45
I agree with mrn about the Copland, the first violin part is a bear, even professional orchestra have problems with it, though they can do it. The Nielsen requires a fantastic snare drum player, not just a good one. Being a HS orchestra I'd do a standard piece like the Debussy, if you have two harp players, if not go with one of the two Weber concerto's, the Mozart, maybe the Rossini Intoduction, Theme and Variation, good show piece, or perhaps the Spohr 1st concerto. You have to consider the standard of the orchestra for your performance. Also, you need to find out if some orchestra parts are even available to purchase or have to be rented for some of the pieces like the Hindemith, which I would not recommend and the Finzi, which is a very beautiful piece but probably not a good audition piece. Good luck, ESP
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-12-07 21:28
Ed Palanker wrote:
> like the Hindemith, which I would not recommend
Why wouldn't you recommend the Hindemith, Ed?
(Don't mean to debate you--I just wanted to know what your thoughts were.)
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Author: Frightful
Date: 2009-12-07 21:35
I basically grew up with Mozart's clarinet concerto, but it's a pretty common piece, so I would suggest something else.
Weber's first is a beautiful piece, but if you can play it, Weber's second conerto is amazing. The Finzi is also a pretty fun piece, both to play and musically analyze.
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