Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-11-18 02:44
Well, I've got a little insight on this one, courtesy of my piano player. He taught theory to the composer of the music of the piece, and he reports that the musical was written as a project more than anything else. From my two recent production of this "masterpiece", I got the same general feeling.
From the way that several of the numbers were set, you got the feeling that she didn't have too good of an idea as to what "worked" well on a bass clarinet. The salient examples are Spanish Panic and the long group numbers at the end of each "scene" (even though there are just acts, no scenes, in the piece).
The Spanish Panic can be just that if your horn is not in 100%, A-1 condition. Line the neck up a bit wrong so that the double register key system doesn't work just so, and it's Squeaksville from the get-go.
While the choral numbers aren't done at as snappy a tempo, they do have huge arching half and whole note figures that sound weak and vapid compared to the same notes when played on a soprano clarinet.
WHen teaching a youngster at one school production that I did, I finally gave up on getting him to play the Spanish Panic on the bass, and suggested that he essay it on the soprano at the correct octave, which he did with little problem.
Story-wise, it ranks right up there with Carousel in my distaste pantheon. Well, maybe not quite bad, but still pretty bad. It takes a broad female comedic talent to make it "funny", and college and high school productions usually don't have that sort of person to hand.
It could be worse. Floyd Collins is lurking out there in the MTI catalog...
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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