 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mark Cookson
Date: 2014-07-06 15:38
I'm playing Stravinsky's "Chant du Rossignol" next month. The final pages call for low Ds from the A clarinet, obtained by putting a cardboard cone in the bell.
I've seen bassoon and cor anglais players called on to this in a few pieces, but this is a first for me on clarinet.
I'm idly wondering which other works require the clarinet to play with a low note extension?
Mark
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Author: donald
Date: 2014-07-06 16:15
There's a piece that calls for "slides" to be inserted.... Babbit? I recall it was a birthday present for the composer Babbit on his birthday, can't remember the composer- Donald Martino?, the score is in C?, I recall Richard Hawkins telling me that he'd made slides out of pvc pipe though the score suggests making them out of cardboard... sorry not to be more helpful...
ps- Hi Mark!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2014-07-06 17:28
The (highly tonal) Schoenberg Theme and Variations for Band calls for low Eb.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jeff Chan
Date: 2014-07-06 21:12
Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldate (trio version) also has low E-flats.
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2014-07-06 21:30
Also Sprach Zarathustra has a low D in the E-flat part.
Brahms 4 has a low E-flat in the third movement (C Clarinet)
Several Mahler Symphonies have an E-flat.
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2014-07-07 00:02
I use the cardboard tube from the center of a toilet tissue roll in my Eb bass clarinet. Gives an excellent D.
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: donald
Date: 2014-07-07 00:37
look what i found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCoJyoULHv0
dn
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Author: concertmaster3
Date: 2014-07-07 07:25
I made an extension for my English horn out of a PVC elbow pipe for the low Bb in Mahler 1. Worked great, but I had to point it under my chair (My EH is LOUD). It went between the bell and lower joint.
I'd imagine that the same idea could work for Clarinet.
http://home.comcast.net/~pstlarry/EHExten.htm
Ron Ford
Woodwind Specialist
Performer/Teacher/Arranger
http://www.RonFordMusic.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-07 13:21
Attachment: corlowbflatbarrel 001.JPG (611k)
I've got a low Bb barrel made by Marigaux for my cor with a key fitted so it can be linked up with the bell vent link to play low Bb or turned round a bit to unlink it for low B natural (see attachment). I'm considering doing a similar thing to add a low A to my oboe which will be operated a la bari sax fashion by a left thumb key.
A similar but much larger extension barrel can be made to turn a low Eb bass clarinet to a low D bass clarinet (and adding a right thumb key). Jupiter and Buffet low Eb basses have all the keywork on the body, so converting them to a low D bass is much easier by adding a bell key to close off the bell vent and a key for the right thumb.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2014-07-07 20:53)
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Author: Jeff Chan
Date: 2014-07-07 20:01
Chris - I have seen many photos of your repair work and keywork additions, and now the photo of the cor extension. I am in awe of the level of your artistry and workmanship. If you were located nearer to me, I'd relish the possibility of having you do some alterations to my instruments!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-07 20:54
Jeff - Marigaux made this barrel for me last year to fit my 930 cor and it's come in very useful indeed!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Mark Cookson
Date: 2014-07-09 06:19
Hi Donald,
The link you posted to B,a,b,b,it,t by Donald Martino made me smile. There's something appealing about the way it starts with cardboard tubes neatly lined up on the table, and ends with the clarinettist having to kick the discarded ones away to make space for his feet!
I think my favourite piece of additional plumbing on a woodwind has to be the bassoon's low A at the end of the Nielsen wind quintet. It's incredibly satisfying when the bassoonist reaches that final chord.
Thanks for that list of other pieces everyone - I'm guessing most of the low Ebs assume a full-Boehm instrument, but the low Eb for C clarinet in Brahms 4 has puzzled me when I've played it. I wonder if Brahms only realised that he needed that note after he was well into writing the movement, and thought "I'll leave that for the players to sort out"...
Mark
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-09 16:35
Maybe Brahms wrote the score out in Concert Pitch for everyone and the parts were then later written out by the publisher and transposed (or not) depending on what they thought was best.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: TJTG
Date: 2014-07-09 18:21
I highly doubt Brahms ever wrote out entirely in concert pitch. His command of key signatures and theory is unworldly. There are several moments in his Clarinet Sonatas which he enters into theoretical key signatures like Bbb or B#, but it is transposed into more a more simple key signature for both piano and clarinet... only uncovered under deeper scrutiny. I am looking for my analysis of the 2nd sonata, movement ii. There was a prime example of this in there.
There is also the anecdote of Brahms changing the clarinet part in Symphony No. 3 on the principal clarinet's recommendation. The first movement starts out on Bb, goes to A for the solo, they goes right back to Bb. He had written it for Bb originally, but had that section changed because he enjoyed the change of timbre.
He was also rather touchy when it came to simply publishing a piece of music, so I doubt he would let a publisher do anything other than what he wanted.
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The Clarinet Pages
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