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Several months ago my orchestra performed Britten's "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." This is a great piece, whether you're young or not, that gives an introduction to the orchestra and its members.
The piece has a part for narrator, who talks briefly about the different families of instruments, and introduces a short section for each instrument of the orchestra. This clip is the clarinet variation, situated between the oboe and bassoon variations. It might be hard to tell, but these variations are all played by two players with interwoven parts. It's a very well-written piece of music. Enjoy!
My sweetheart,
FlippantMoniker was there to hear this concert as well. :)
When you hear the clarinet, that's ME. This recording is not professionally released and was given to me for FREE. It's my recording of me. 100% mine.
Instrumentation:
Full orchestra. I'm playing principal clarinet.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten.
Clarinet solos performed by ME.
Sound clips were editted by ME.
The piece has a part for narrator, who talks briefly about the different families of instruments, and introduces a short section for each instrument of the orchestra. This clip is the clarinet variation, situated between the oboe and bassoon variations. It might be hard to tell, but these variations are all played by two players with interwoven parts. It's a very well-written piece of music. Enjoy!
My sweetheart,
FlippantMoniker was there to hear this concert as well. :)When you hear the clarinet, that's ME. This recording is not professionally released and was given to me for FREE. It's my recording of me. 100% mine.
Instrumentation:
Full orchestra. I'm playing principal clarinet.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten.
Clarinet solos performed by ME.
Sound clips were editted by ME.
Category Music / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 107 x 120px
File Size 6.08 MB
*nods* Pieces with narrator are all right. Usually they're full of fermatas where you just wait for the person to speak before moving on. Sometimes (in the case of Copland's "Lincoln Portrait") the music is supposed to sync up with the narration, and that's always annoying to rehearse (narrators are rarely good enough musicians to listen while they speak).
It was my first time playing this piece, so it was fun to do. As for classical/romantic period orchestras, usually a large, present-day symphony orchestra just performs such pieces without the extra musicians onstage. :) I'm always happy to see you've enjoyed these submissions, and hopefully you'll get the chance to play a lot of the things you've enjoyed! Many of these are very popular pieces.
It was my first time playing this piece, so it was fun to do. As for classical/romantic period orchestras, usually a large, present-day symphony orchestra just performs such pieces without the extra musicians onstage. :) I'm always happy to see you've enjoyed these submissions, and hopefully you'll get the chance to play a lot of the things you've enjoyed! Many of these are very popular pieces.
I always though that they'd hire singers to be narrators (for the timing).
There are two clarinets, as you said, I'm assuming you're the first one that entered, you really make it have a beautiful sound!
I have a question, how hard is it to play wide leaps (of a tenth) on the clarinet?
The orchestra you work with is really something, and the, nah, everything is executed exquisitely. I always thought that contra-bassoons were the lowest standard members of the wind family, though I doubt they're very good at solo passages!
There are two clarinets, as you said, I'm assuming you're the first one that entered, you really make it have a beautiful sound!
I have a question, how hard is it to play wide leaps (of a tenth) on the clarinet?
The orchestra you work with is really something, and the, nah, everything is executed exquisitely. I always thought that contra-bassoons were the lowest standard members of the wind family, though I doubt they're very good at solo passages!
Occasionally they hire singers, but usually you end up with some local television or radio celebrity. That's a crap shoot as far as whether they have any musical timing. Other times you get actors, but they often are trying so hard to make the performance "their own" that they can't stay with the orchestra.
It's hard to remember who's playing what. I think initially I came in second, but it wasn't an exact one-for-one alternation, so sometimes I played several things in a row. When the two of us are together, obviously I'm playing the top part, and when the big arpeggios start, I played most of those.
As far as wide leaps go, the clarinet is very agile. Leaping up is easier than down, but we can do either. Leaping up, it's pretty easy to huge intervals (almost 4 octaves). Leaping down is harder to control, but still possible to do huge leaps. So, a tenth is easy to manage.
Well, my orchestra has a wide range of ability, actually. The core players are all top-notch, but some of the extras we get to fill out the string section, for example, are not up to par. Hence my omission of the string variations, hehe!
Yes, contrabassoons are the lowest woodwinds, and they actually do a pretty good job playing solos when required. But this piece features only the most standard members of an orchestra, so things like contrabassoon, bass clarinet, piccolo trumpet, etc. are left out.
I wrote such a long post! >o<
It's hard to remember who's playing what. I think initially I came in second, but it wasn't an exact one-for-one alternation, so sometimes I played several things in a row. When the two of us are together, obviously I'm playing the top part, and when the big arpeggios start, I played most of those.
As far as wide leaps go, the clarinet is very agile. Leaping up is easier than down, but we can do either. Leaping up, it's pretty easy to huge intervals (almost 4 octaves). Leaping down is harder to control, but still possible to do huge leaps. So, a tenth is easy to manage.
Well, my orchestra has a wide range of ability, actually. The core players are all top-notch, but some of the extras we get to fill out the string section, for example, are not up to par. Hence my omission of the string variations, hehe!
Yes, contrabassoons are the lowest woodwinds, and they actually do a pretty good job playing solos when required. But this piece features only the most standard members of an orchestra, so things like contrabassoon, bass clarinet, piccolo trumpet, etc. are left out.
I wrote such a long post! >o<
Well, luckily I can read fairly quickly, plus it's all good when you learn!
Man that must be annoying to rehearse, Schoenberg's "A Survivor for Warsaw" will probably not have that problem in timing (or could it, nah, it has to be timed very well)
Though so! They were played wonderfully smoothly! And so the clarinet, wow, it's not easy to leap that wide an interval with a piano (using one hand of course!). I love writing for the clarinet (again I can't say it's better than any instruments, but it certainly has many more possible timbres, with it's beautiful chalumeau register and all the others really!) of course, I can never be sure if what I write is playable!
Thanks for explaining those things, I though contra-bassoons were pretty standard, as every woodwind quintet I've gone to see (listen to) had one!
Man that must be annoying to rehearse, Schoenberg's "A Survivor for Warsaw" will probably not have that problem in timing (or could it, nah, it has to be timed very well)
Though so! They were played wonderfully smoothly! And so the clarinet, wow, it's not easy to leap that wide an interval with a piano (using one hand of course!). I love writing for the clarinet (again I can't say it's better than any instruments, but it certainly has many more possible timbres, with it's beautiful chalumeau register and all the others really!) of course, I can never be sure if what I write is playable!
Thanks for explaining those things, I though contra-bassoons were pretty standard, as every woodwind quintet I've gone to see (listen to) had one!
^o^ The clarinet is a pretty forgiving instrument; you can write almost anything and we can play it. Some things are very difficult, but in general it's a versatile enough instrument that you really have to write something ridiculous for it to be unplayable.
Hmm... I've not heard of contrabassoon in a woodwind quintet, though I guess somebody's probably written one. :)
Yeah, the Britten piece only focuses on the most standard instruments- it even omits english horn. So it's kind of surprising I guess that he left so much out, but it's probably for the best interest of time etc.
Hmm... I've not heard of contrabassoon in a woodwind quintet, though I guess somebody's probably written one. :)
Yeah, the Britten piece only focuses on the most standard instruments- it even omits english horn. So it's kind of surprising I guess that he left so much out, but it's probably for the best interest of time etc.
Must be a pretty exploited one then!
Maybe it's because the quintet was playing transcriptions and not pieces written for their five part woodwind ensemble (if you get what I mean).
Oh, I understood that, and I think he can't really make a nice piece and showcase every instrument, but did he have to lie :c
Oh, I have another question (more of a slight favour to ask of you, it's not that important), could I give you a score for a clarinet thing I wrote? I want to give it as an example of my work to a conservatory, I know that the flute part is playable, but I really don't know if the clarinet part is at all possible. Could you please appraise it for me? (Only need to know if it's possible to play!)
Maybe it's because the quintet was playing transcriptions and not pieces written for their five part woodwind ensemble (if you get what I mean).
Oh, I understood that, and I think he can't really make a nice piece and showcase every instrument, but did he have to lie :c
Oh, I have another question (more of a slight favour to ask of you, it's not that important), could I give you a score for a clarinet thing I wrote? I want to give it as an example of my work to a conservatory, I know that the flute part is playable, but I really don't know if the clarinet part is at all possible. Could you please appraise it for me? (Only need to know if it's possible to play!)
Thanks! I sent them to you, hopefully they're okay, they're actually two dances, but they're supposed to be played one after another.
Well, I can't say that I wouldn't love to hear it being played, that would be a terrible lie, but it's really not important, knowing that it's (technically they're) playable from a clarinettist is plenty already!
Well, I can't say that I wouldn't love to hear it being played, that would be a terrible lie, but it's really not important, knowing that it's (technically they're) playable from a clarinettist is plenty already!
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