 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Wookie001
Date: 2024-02-22 05:03
I'd love to play this solo from the second Symphony on Bb clarinet. Does somebody know a good transposed version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf1ZChhsl3E
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Author: jim sclater
Date: 2024-02-24 02:28
I have to wonder how many clarinetists could tell the difference in a live performance of this solo on A clarinet and one transposed on Bb clarinet. Or for that matter, how many conductors?
I have to agree with lmliberson, though. There's probably a good reason it was scored for A clarinet.
jsclater@comcast.net
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Author: donald
Date: 2024-02-24 16:09
I'd quite enjoy the challenge of playing it on Bb, though in a concert would undoubtedly use the A....
In the old vein of "give with one hand, take with the other" of course the problem of eliminating the "bump" going from high C to D is solved- you can go B to C# using side keys and not having to jump register...
Of course you now have a NEW problem- Throat A#-B-C# becomes your new legato challenge...
If I were teaching at University (College) level I'd consider getting my students to learn it on both clarinets as a legato challenge.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2024-02-24 23:50
I'm always surprised how many pro players accept the C to D bump in legato phrases. It just sounds so awful. I'd prefer a slight variation in pitch on the D with the smoothness the alternatives bring. It's comparable to the awful sound you hear on classical guitar as the player slides up the wound strings, or the huge gaps as they change chords. Those things may be 'necessary', but I really don't want to hear them.
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2024-02-25 00:36
Backless D all day on the one!
R (no thumb) XXX | XOX Eb
I like the idea of working it on both clarinets. I have a student starting to prep this for an audition now. We'll try it! Thanks.
Anders
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-02-25 00:54
Just raise the pitch of your recording of it by a semitone and play the written solo on Bb.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: donald
Date: 2024-02-25 01:12
nellsonic - I've used and taught that fingering for 27 years, and find my students still only get a 50% success rate with it. Your results may vary.
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Author: lmliberson
Date: 2024-02-25 06:07
JTJC said “ I'm always surprised how many pro players accept the C to D bump in legato phrases. It just sounds so awful. I'd prefer a slight variation in pitch on the D with the smoothness the alternatives bring.”
Really?
The players with whom I have worked for decades in major orchestras (including me, btw) haven’t used so-called alternative fingerings (is “a slight variation of pitch” some sort of euphemism for playing out of tune?) as their legato exhibited (and still exhibits) no such “bump”.
If you were to play a D that does not match the C in color and pitch, I’d give you little chance to go anywhere in an audition, let alone keep a job. If you can match them using other fingerings, terrific, but most have their liabilities
Nobody I know has “accepted” a C to D bump due to the fact they have the control of their instrument. True, it’s quite difficult but it’s doable. As they say, there are ways…
That’s what a “pro” does.
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2024-02-25 13:47
donald wrote:
> nellsonic - I've used and taught that fingering for 27 years,
> and find my students still only get a 50% success rate with it.
> Your results may vary.
That surprises me. I've also taught it for many years and nobody's ever had issues with it. What problems have your students had?
Sometimes we use it in performance, sometimes just as an exploration of tone color and response.
Anders
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2024-02-25 14:03
Imliberson. There are many recordings of the Rach by top pro players where the bump is clearly audible. Similarly, you hear many instances of bad intonation on the D in similar groups. They've kept their jobs. IF, it's necesary to compromise between smoothness and a slight pitch difference then I'd go for the former, but that doesn't mean it can't be done at correct pitch. Again, there are famous recordings of the Rach where famous players appear to have made that same choice.
In this particular solo, the time spent on the D isn't always that long, depending on how much the conductor flexes the phrase or allows the player to flex it. I've heard cases where going over the bump had formed a large amount of the time that should have been spent on the D. It just doesn't sound good, yet the player and conductor have accepted it. Perhaps their ears/minds fill in the missing time on the D.
My real point here is, I think it's easy for us to accept or get used to the way things are on our instrument, as with my guitar examples. Yet with a little thought, and perhaps compromise, we can get around them for a better musical outcome. We may disagree.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2024-02-25 19:33
Register breaks are difficult for vocalists too, and for the same reason: to get the same response in both notes requires a change in the position or shape of the tongue.
As indicated earlier, technical compromises happen in music performance at every level. On piano, there are examples so ingrained into normal performance practice that familiar ears almost cease to notice that they stray from the score; guitar also; violin too - a great example would be the "unplayable" chording in Bach's solo vln masterpieces. If musical expression is remains clear and working, then listeners tend to forgive compromises.
On clarinet, another example often heard in recordings is the clarinet entrance in Weber's Quintet, slurring from c-c#5 - there's often a slight, audible discontinuity between the notes, sounding less smooth then non-break intervals.
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Author: JamesOrlandoGarcia
Date: 2024-02-27 03:11
For the high D. TR G# sliver c#/ side key, sliver, Eb. No bump and it’s pretty comfortable to voice under pressure.
James Garcia
Bass Clarinet/Clarinet III, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra
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