 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Erez Katz
Date: 2026-05-23 02:28
Hi all.
So the part is written for an A clarinet (and it is now available on imslp!).
Looking at the solos of in the first movement - there is a lot of throat Bb which is the Achilles' heel of the clarinet.
Which brings the question between play as written or consider using a Bb clarinet which would make it sound a lot better. While there is a difference in timbre, no one knows if the Shostakovich was indeed aware about that note, and had he been aware would he had approved the switch.
There are 2 recordings on youtube with the Bavarian Rudfunk Orchestra. One from 1992 with Sir Georg Solti (incredible) and a more recent one with Krzysztof Urbánski (also excellent).
Though I am not an expert on German instruments, I could squint at it and say that by the size of it looks like a Bb and not an A clarinet.
Thoughts?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk
Date: 2026-05-23 03:11
Erez Katz wrote:
> Though I am not an expert on German instruments, I could squint
> at it and say that by the size of it looks like a Bb and not an
> A clarinet.
>
For starters, if you can see the clarinetist's fingers in the opening, you should be able to tell more reliably what clarinet he's using by seeing what notes he plays than by trying to judge the instrument's size.
>
> Looking at the solos of in the first movement - there is a lot
> of throat Bb which is the Achilles' heel of the clarinet.
> Which brings the question between play as written or consider
> using a Bb clarinet which would make it sound a lot better.
> While there is a difference in timbre, no one knows if the
> Shostakovich was indeed aware about that note, and had he been
> aware would he had approved the switch.
>
I've played this a number of times, always on an A clarinet. On first thought, G minor (concert E minor) seems easier to manage than F# minor, but, as I now work through the first movement, it doesn't seem as if it's any more awkward on the Bb. I just never thought about it before.
Throat Bb on my particular A (Selmer 10G) clarinet is really not so bad - in fact it's better in tune than the side Bb, which is slightly flat. So I don't have much of a preference on that score. I'd say, if you're not a purist about honoring the composer's requested instrument, you could use whichever clarinet seems easier. The question becomes moot when the part changes to Bb clarinet for the 2nd movement. That might be a selling point for playing the 1st movement on Bb - your instrument is already warm for movement 2.
Prokofiev supposedly wrote in concert pitch and the choice between A and Bb clarinet was made by others (editors, copyists, etc.). I've never read whether Shostakovich did the same or not.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Erez Katz
Date: 2026-05-23 03:46
Hi Karl.
Thank you for your input on this.
It is not that the part is easier or harder on Bb, it is that D->Bb-C-D on (at least) most French Clarinets sounds worse than C#->A->B->C#.
The Bb never rings as uniformly as the rest. It could be that selmers are better than other makes on this.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk
Date: 2026-05-23 04:37
Erez Katz wrote:
> It is not that the part is easier or harder on Bb, it is that
> D->Bb-C-D on (at least) most French Clarinets sounds worse than
> C#->A->B->C#.
> The Bb never rings as uniformly as the rest. It could be that
> selmers are better than other makes on this.
Well, the original Selmer 10G stopped being made 40 years ago. I don't know how newer Selmer models behave.
I did at first miss the low E's 5 and 4 bars before #31, but they're doubled by the 2nd clarinet part.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
