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Volume 36 * Number 3
June 2009

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The new Buffet Crampon Ell FRANCE Clarinet

A new instrument. A new production. A new design.

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claRnoet

Volume 36, Number 3

ABOUT THE COVER... FEATURES

Casa da Musica, Oporto, Portugal - IN MEMORIAM — KALMAN BLOCK by David Gilman 26
Site of the 20091.C.A. ClarinetFest®
CLARINETFEST® — OPORTO, PORTUGAL 28

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS THE CONCURSO INTERNATIONAL DE CLARINETE "CIUDAD DE

Ben Armato 7 DOS HERMANAS" — A RETROSPECTIVE by James Gillespie 30
Backun Musical Services IBC INSIGHTS FROM EDISON DENISOV by Vladislav Gorbich 34
Behn Mouthpieces International 9, 15
Kristin Bertrand Woodwind Repair 16 ANTON STADLER'S MUSIC PLAN:
Brannen Woodwinds 65 A TRANSLATION WITH INTRODUCTION by Pamela L. Poulin 36
Buffet Crampon USA. Inc IFC
ULTRASONOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF CLARINET
Linda A. Cionitti 40
MULTIPLE ARTICULATION by Josh Gardner 46
Clarinet Classics 13
Classical Collection Inc 78 PEDAGOGY OF MASTER CLARINET AND SAXOPHONE TEACHER,
Crystal Records 19 JOE ALLARD: A PANEL DISCUSSION — I.C.A. CLARINETFEST® 2008,
Expert Woodwind Service, Inc IB KANSAS CITY transcribed and edited by John Cipolla 50
Interlochen Center for the Arts 35
THE REFORM BOHM SYSTEM — THE RIGHT COMPROMISE
Dan Johnston 17
BETWEEN FRENCH AND GERMAN SYSTEMS? by Luigi Magistrelli 54
Legere Reeds Ltd 77
Lisa's Clarinet Shop 39
Lomax Classic Mouthpieces 45, 61
Luyben Music Co 53
nwvaumww
Muncy Winds 14
Naylor's Custom Wind Repair 71 LETTERS 5
Richard Nunemaker 21 TEACHING CLARINET by Michael Webster 6
Olivieri Reeds 28
AUDIO NOTES by William Nichols 12
Ongaku Records, Inc 5
Sean Osbom 78 CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS 16
Patricola Brothers 57
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING... by Deborah Check Reeves 18
Quodlibet. Inc 63
RedwineJazz 23 LETTER FROM THE U.K. by Paul Harris 20
Rico 4
CLARINET CACHE by Kellie Quijano and Rachel Yoder 22
Luis Rossi 2
Sayre Woodwinds 25 CLARINETISTS IN UNIFORM by Cynthia Wolverton 24
Tap Music Sales 74 CLARINET TRIOS, QUARTETS AND QUINTETS by Jorge Montilla 58
Taplin-Weir 42
UHLTechnik 59 THE AMATEUR CLARINETIST by Susan Steele 60
University of Missouri-Kansas City NEWS FROM FRANCE by Jean-Marie Paul 62
Conservatory of Music and Dance 29
Van Cott Information Services 80 MUSICAL CHAIRS 64
Vandoren SAS 41, 79 REVIEWS 65
Wichita Band Instrument Co 78
RECITALS AND CONCERTS 78
Woodwindiana, Inc 63
Yamaha Corporation of America OBC THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by Gary Whitman 80
June 2009 1
 ^ND M/\og.

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Yevgeny Yehudin Ron Selka

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Principal clarinetists

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

56>. ffiossl Coquimbo 1033 # 1, Santiago, Chile. Fax ( 562 ) 222 0162 www.rossiclarinet.com
 INTERNATIONAL CLARINET ASSOCIATION
President: Gary Whitman. School of Music. Texas Christian University. P.O. Box 297500. Ed Landreth Hal!. Fort Worth. New Zealand: Andrew Uren. 26 Appleyard Crescent. Meadowbank. Auckland 5. New Zealand. 64 9 521 2663 (phone and fax).
TX 76129.817/257-6622 (office), 817/257-7640 (fax). E-mail: G.Whitman@tcu.edu Norway: Hakon Stodle. Fogd Dreyersgt. 21.9008 Tromso. Norway 47/77 68 63 76 (home phone),
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E-mail: oane.nancv@casema.nl Views expressed by the writers and reviewers in Jits Clsmtm not necessarily ttiose of the staff of the journal or ol the International Clarinet Association
June 2009 3
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LETTERS
Bravo on the last issue of The Clari¬
net (Dec. 2008). Three famous
American players are discussed
(Gallodoro, Montanaro and Voxman), plus
plenty of coverage about competitions for
young players, articles about history, ped¬
agogy, news from the U.K. and France,
The
Clarinet
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
The magazine is usually mailed
during the last week of February,
May, August and November. De¬
livery time within North America
is normally 10-14 days, while
airmail delivery time outside of
North America is 7-10 days.
Jonathan Cohler
"an absolute master of the clarinet" —The Clarinet
Quartet for the End of Time
Ongaku 024-119
Ilya Kaler, violin • Andrew Mark, cello
• Janice Weber, piano
Messiaen Quartet for [he End of Time •
Theme and Variations (violin & piano)
"absolutely incredible"
—Rebecca Rischin
Author of "For the End of Time"
The Clarinet Alone
Ongaku 024-105
Martino A Set for Clarinet •
Messiaen Abime des oiseaux;
Osborne Rhapsody • Paganini Moto
Perpetuo • PERSICHETTI Parable for
Solo Clarinet • Smith 5 Pieces for
Clarinet Alone • KOCH Mono/og 3 •
Wellesz Suite for Clarinet Solo
Cohler on Clarinet
Ongaku 024-101
Judith Gordon, piano
BRAHMS Sonata in F Minor
• Weber Grand Duo
Concertant • BARMANN
Adagio • Sargon Deep
Ellum Nights
reviews, plus an index for the year! Add to
all this the indexed ads and clear photos,
and this issue becomes a cornucopia for
anybody interested in the clarinet, and for
less than half the price of a box of reeds,
per issue. I have written a few items about
the clarinet and know how time consum¬
ing it is, much less to publish quarterly in
such a thorough and scholarly way. Keep
it coming!
Sincerely,
-John R. Snyder
clarionb@netzero.net
I have been a member of I.C.A. for
nine years and look forward to each
new issue of the journal. It provides
a treasure trove of information, especially
Michael Webster's column, which is a
virtual lesson. I also read each edition for
information that may enhance my clarinet
life, as 1 see this as a primary function of
www.ongaku-records.com
New Releases
R&as&is
I know of no finer
recording of the
Beethoven, and this
one stands with the
best classic versions
of the Brahms.
Fanfare
among the loveliest
clarinet sounds I've ever
heard...a transcendent
technique...This is
required listening for
anyone interested in
the clarinet!
Fanfare
Moonflowers, Baby"
Crystal Records CD733
Judith Gordon, piano
Hindemith Sonata • Honegger
Sonatina • Francaix Theme and
Variations • VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Six Studies in English Folksong •
MlLHAUD Duo Concertant •
Caprice • Bozza Pulcinella *
Kb'PFERMAN Moon/Iou'ers, Baby!
June 2009
the journal. Thus, I have been able to add
pieces to my repertory that have been well
received in performance. However, my lo¬
cal supplier of music, a rather large ser¬
vice that caters to the northwest region, is
usually not successful in locating pieces
not in the standard clarinet literature.
Recently I have requested the follow¬
ing three pieces: Albumleafby Reger; Four
German Songs by Spohr and 3 Legende
by Pascal. I found these pieces in your CD
reviews. Recitals and Concerts, and Clari¬
net Symposiums. Initial attempts to find
the publishers have not borne fruit and the
comment I got was, "You always come up
with music we cannot easily extract from
our regular sources." I was once directed to
contact the performer/author as the best way
to get this information, but this approach is
not as simple as it sounds. May I suggest
that all contributors provide the main office
with their e-mail address so individuals can
get in contact with the sources. Better yet,
have all contributors provide their e-mail
address as part of the document.
I appreciate any help you can provide.
- Jules M. Elias
verdi lovers @ comcast. net
Otiya&it
Jonathan Cohler &
Claremont Trio
Ongaku 024-122
James Sommerville, horn •
Mai Motohuchi, viola
Brahms Trio, Op. 114 •
Beethoven Trio, Op. II •
Dohnanyi Sextet
Rhapsodie Franqaise
Ongaku 024-121
Rasa Vitkauskaite, piano
Saint-Saens Sonata • Messager Solo
de Concours • WlLXiR Introduction et
Rondo • Chausson Andante et
Allegro • Rabaud Solo de Concours •
DEBUSSY Premiere Rhapsodie • Bozza
Bucolique • Cahuzac Cantilene
jEOHLERSSQ1 More Cohler on Clarinet
f Ongaku 024-102
Randall Hodgkinson, piano
Brahms Sonata in E-flat Major •
Poulenc Sonata • Schumann
Fantasy Pieces • MlLHAUD Sonatine
FW • Stravinsky Three Pieces
5

by Michael Webster
Michael Webster
When Should You Lose
Your Temper?
(A sequel to Go Ahead.
Lose Your Temper!)
Forty-fifth in a series of articles using
excerpts from a teaching method in prog¬
ress by the Professor of Clarinet at Rice
University's Shepherd School of Music.
There are many jokes about intona¬
tion: "Tuned at the factory," "Don't
tune; play in tune," "It is better to
be sharp than out of tune," "If in doubt,
vibrate," and so on. It is good to keep jok¬
ing, because friendships have been lost
arguing about intonation in an "I'm right;
you're wrong" fashion. Why should into¬
6 The Clarinet
Symphony No. 2
nation stir up such intense arguments and
strong emotions?
I think the answer is that many musi¬
cians don't understand that tuning is not cut
and dried, that there are different ways to
solve tuning problems, and that some prob¬
lems are insolvable. Is there room for opin¬
ion about how to tune a given passage? Yes
or no, depending upon the circumstances.
"Go Ahead. Lose Your Temper!" (The
Clarinet, March 2009) explained the dif¬
ference between just and equal tempera¬
ment and gives important background to
this article, in which we turn our atten¬
tion to intonational situations that affect
the clarinet specifically. Tuning to the
harmonic series is called just intonation.
We'll start with a relatively easy example
from Beethoven's Second Symphony (Ex.
1). Here the two A clarinets lead a choir in
concert A major. For simplicity we'll refer
to clarinet pitch: C major.
In March, we discussed how the major
third needs to be made 13.7 cents narrower
and the minor third 13.7 cents wider than
equal temperament in order to conform
with the harmonic series and create differ¬
ence tones that are in tune. Well-tuned dif¬
ference tones are crucial for good blending
in string and wind instruments. Therefore,
in C major, the E of the tonic triad and the
B of the dominant triad need to be lowered
by 13.7 cents.
I have good news and bad news! In Ex¬
ample 1, the natural intonational tenden¬
cies of the clarinet make it easier to play
the first phrase of this passage with just
intonation. The E on the downbeat of m.
9 in the second clarinet and the E on the
downbeat of m. 11 in the first clarinet tend
to be low, thereby helping the two players
to widen the minor third and narrow the
major third.
The perfect fourths on the second beat
of those two bars indeed need to be perfect,
so the first clarinetist must lower the C be¬
cause of its tendency to be high, whereas
the D-G tunes fairly easily. The perfect
fourths need to be only two cents wider
than equal temperament compared with
the 13.7 cent treatment the thirds receive.
For students who are tuning in this manner
for the first time, it must be emphasized
that subtlety is important and overdoing is
worse than doing nothing at all.
In m. 12, the downward arrow indi¬
cates that the player needs to lower the B
fairly dramatically to achieve the desired
13.7-cent adjustment, because the natural
intonation of the instrument doesn't help
the way it does in mm. 9 and 11. Tuning
B is easy, however, because the pitch can
be lowered by nestling the bell lovingly
between the knees. The same is true of
the downbeat of m. 15 in the first clarinet.
Meanwhile, the octave Gs, the G-D per¬
fect fifth and the G unison must all be per¬
fect ratios with the harmonic series: 2-1,
3-2, and 1-1.
The second phrase offers three new
challenges, which are really one in the
same. M. 26 and m. 28 have secondary
dominants earmarked by Dt and C#, the
thirds respectively of major triads on B
and A; the subdominant of C major finally
appears in mm. 29 and 30, the F major
triad with A as the major third. In each of
these cases, a fair amount of work has to
be done to make the major third narrower,
especially F-A, as indicated by the arrows.
Here the natural tendency of the clarinet is
for this major third to be wide, so the F
needs to be raised and the A lowered.
Here is a quick reference guide for ma¬
jor keys, using C major as an example.
Since the I, IV, and V triads are so preva¬
lent, suspect that E, A, and B (the third,
sixth, and seventh scale steps) may have to
be lowered. Of course it is not always true
 because these notes may be other members
of other chords. In an E minor triad, the G
may have to be raised rather than lowering
THE REED WIZARD
the E or the B. But a III chord in C major
is fairly rare. Most importantly, none of
this tuning is possible if the players can't PERFECTAREED
recognize what chord they are playing, so
good ear training is essential. Sharps (or
naturalization of flats) are often the thirds
of secondary dominants, so suspect that
they may have to be lowered. THE REED WIZARD, a sophisticated
Some may have heard the phrase, "raise high-tech device which quickly redesigns
the leading tone." I certainly had for years, commercially manufactured reeds.
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ing its illustrious lifetime. String quartet adjustments. Designed to measure the
musicians have to make difficult tuning entire area of single reeds.
choices all the time and will confirm that
tuning is not always cut and dried. "PerfectaReed is great!"
- Andrew Simon, Prin. Hong Kong Phil.
String quartets and vocal choruses are
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justments that string instruments are ca¬ and More
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But when the tempo is slow enough, the
leading tone can and should be lowered by the
the requisite 13.7 cents. Opera LLLLlL
Is the Beethoven excerpt slow enough (Clarinetist
for such adjustments? Certainly. Can dif¬ THE OPERA CLARINETIST
Excerpts
ference tones be used to help tune it? In from the From the original Metropolitan Opera parts and
Operatic should be in every clarinetist's repertoire.
the full orchestral context, no, because Literature
lower instruments are sounding the same Price $25.00
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and noting the underlying chords, one can
June 2009 7
 Ex 2: cated and many difficult choices have to
Overture "Fingal's Cave"
be made. Three examples from the Mozart
F. Mendelssohn, Op. 36
(1809-1847) Piano Wind Quintet, KV 452 offer some
[■ T f pr r i rf r rr of the most difficult tuning challenges in
Clarinet in A 1
the repertoire. The horn and clarinet parts
pp tranquillo issai cresc.
have been transposed from the original E1,
Clarinet in A 2 horn and B^ clarinet into concert C for the
purpose of identifying chord structures.
Example 3 starts with a dense E^ ma¬
ACI. I jor triad in the piano. Forget difference
tones! The winds must match unisons
with the piano. Yes, there is an out-of-
A Cl. 2 tune difference tone rattling around one
octave below the lowest e'' in the piano,
but being out of tune with a unison is far
worse. Look at the last three eighth notes
of the bar, however. No piano here — so
just tuning must be accessed. I say must.
If equal temperament were used (as often
is the case with musicians who haven't
learned about just tuning), audience mem¬
anticipate necessary adjustments and ar¬ first clarinetist provided, and the first clar¬ bers wouldn't throw up their arms and run
rive at each interval in tune, rather than inetist must find a D that is placed in such shrieking to the exits. But an opportunity
adjusting after the fact. a way that the difference tone stays steady for a truly beautiful blend will have been
In the chordal texture of the Beethoven, on low G. In this case, the difference tone lost. In the first chord, the horn and clarinet
small intonational discrepancies may pass is audible with the very light accompani¬ raise their B'' two cents above the bassoon
unnoticed, but if the difference tones tune ment. The octave in m. 8 is difficult to find, E'7, which tunes perfectly with the piano.
exactly with the lower voices, then a won¬ a moment when previous practice and an¬ Then the oboe lowers the G by 13.7 cents.
derful blend and resonance occurs. Ironi¬ ticipation are crucial. Then the C#-E in Wow! What an incredibly rich resonance
cally, it doesn't improve the clarinet voices mm. 9, 10, 11, and 13 must be widened is achieved. Even if the group cannot at¬
nearly as much as it improves the sound against the natural tendency of the clari¬ tain the perfect precision that I have de¬
of the lower voices! To prove it, play the net. This excerpt should be mandatory for scribed, any movement toward just tuning
first, fifth and sixth partials of a harmonic will improve the blend.
any second clarinet audition, with the first
series on three wind instruments and ad¬
clarinetist right there, playing along. The clarinet B'' is the root of the next
just the minor third of the fifth and sixth
What if multiple winds play with pi¬ chord. Rule: The root tunes to the equally
partials from tempered to just. The instru¬
ano? Then the situation gets really compli¬ tempered scale and the other chord tones
ment playing the first partial goes through
a striking metamorphosis from sounding
bad to good without changing anything!
Let's move to an example which is both
more difficult and more exposed, Men¬
delssohn's Overture to the Hebrides (Fin-
gal 's Cave) in Ex. 2. Notice what the shift in
tonality from A major to E major achieves.
E major places the A clarinets in G major,
and in m. 6, we are confronted with a B that
is one of the highest notes on most clari¬
nets. Both first and second clarinets have to
work hard to narrow the major third, G-B.
Stanley Hasty taught his students how to
lower the B by shading the next hole with
the middle finger, a technique that his stu¬
dents have used successfully for half of a
century. That way the embouchure can
stay firm, the tone centered, and undertone
(grunt) more easily avoided.
The biggest challenge comes in the
second half of the bar because the second
clarinetist must find the same B that the
8 The Clarinet
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tune justly to the root, NOT to the bass!
In our ideal world, the clarinetist actually
lowers the b'' two cents from the previous
one, the bassoon and oboe raise their Fs
two cents and the horn lowers the A^, which
is the 7th partial of the b'' harmonic series
24 cents! This will almost never happen in
practice, so the best thing is to be sure that
the perfect fifths and fourths create a nice
B'' difference tone and if the a'' combines
with the F to produce a D1* in the D1, har¬
monic series, the net effect is all right.
Then on the last eighth, the oboe takes
over the root, tunes it to the piano, the
clarinet finds a perfect fourth by raising
two cents and the unison Gs in horn and
bassoon are both 13.7 cents lowered. It is
really interesting that the three B^s in the
clarinet must be altered from one to the
10
next for perfect tuning — but not a whole
lot! Don't overdo. The same is true of the
three B^s in the oboe in m. 2. These three
chords are tuned the same way we tuned
the first measure: Find the root and make
the appropriate adjustments of the fifth
and the third, in that order. The downbeats
of mm. 2 and 3 are tuned the same as m. 1:
equally tempered unisons with the piano.
M. 4 could bring some controversy.
Should the clarinet D tune justly with the
horn b'' or in equal temperament with the
piano D? Different ensembles might have
different solutions. The horn and clarinet
are so widely spaced that the difference
tone will be between them, not below! Re¬
member the rule: subtract the lower partial
from the upper to achieve the difference
tone. Here b'' is the second partial and D
The Clarinet
is the fifth partial of low b'' (second line
bass clef), so the difference tone is third
partial F between the b'' and the D. Such
a difference tone will not generally be as
strong as a lower difference tone, but my
inclination would be that tuning the dif¬
ference tone is still more important than
tuning to the very short D in the piano.
Try both options, take a vote, and be glad
that there are five members, so that there is
sure to be a majority! How string quartets
ever stay together for more than a month
or two, I'll never know!
In Example 4, m. 56, with the winds
alone, is justly tuned. M. 57, with piano,
is tuned in equal temperament, except for
the Ds in the bassoon, which do not con¬
flict with a D in the piano. By now I'm
sure that you can see why I consider this
work to be the most difficult piece to tune
in the entire standard repertoire. Again I
must stress that a decent performance can
be given with little thought to just tuning,
but just tuning enhances the performance
immeasurably.
The middle of m. 58 contains the most
dramatic example of an exposed difference
tone: the b'' below the treble clef produced
by B-D in the oboe and the clarinet. An¬
other axiom: The higher the difference tone,
the stronger it will sound, and this one is
powerful. Just intonation sounds so much
better than equal temperament that there is
no contest. Then on the fourth quarter of
the bar the oboe and clarinet reverse roles.
The low D in the oboe gives way to a low A
in the clarinet to achieve a good difference
tone on F, which is much more important
than the fleeting A unison with the piano
scale. M. 59 is probably best left to equal
temperament, and m. 60 surely is.
Example 5 continues to alternate be¬
tween just (mm. 1 and 2) and equal (mm.
3 and 4) with the interesting wrinkle that
when the piano plays only the bass in mm.
5-8, just intonation works best. So the an¬
swer to the riddle posed in March, "When
can you play in tune and out of tune at the
same time?" is answered by these Mozart
excerpts: "When just and equal tempera¬
ment clash."
One very difficult situation arises in
orchestras when equally-tempered instru¬
ments, such as piano, celesta, harp, ma¬
rimba, and xylophone become involved.
The rule of unison requires the other in¬
struments to match unisons with the key¬
boards, but that will create poor differ-
 ence tones. It is also well known that high
strings and sometimes flute and piccolo
tend to be sharp, a tendency which is not
crucial until a keyboard is thrown into the
mix. Sometimes the clarinets get caught
in the middle of conflicting tendencies in
other instruments and have to try to stay
in the middle of the road. Another help¬
ful axiom of tuning is that the resonant
acoustics of a good hall tend to even out
the rough edges in impossible situations.
One other problem is unique for clari¬
netists, especially in orchestral playing.
Switching between A and B1, clarinets in
the middle of a piece has the inherent dan¬
ger of the second instrument being cold
and flat, so an effort must be made to keep
both instruments warm. It is also a good
idea to have the second instrument pushed
in a little farther than usual to compensate
for being cold, and then to pull out the bar¬
rel a bit as it warms up. Wearing a jacket,
whether it be tails, tux, or suit, allows for
cradling the second instrument in the right
armpit while playing. It balances nicely
there, and stays cozy and warm. And with
that image, we'll leave the subject of into¬
nation with all of its vagaries, knowing that
we won't ever be perfect, but we can actu¬
ally enjoy the challenge of trying to be.
Webster's Web
Your feedback and input are valuable to
our readership. Please send comments
and questions to Webster's Web at mweb
ster@rice.edu or Michael Webster, Shep¬
Ex 5:
Mozart: Quintet, K. 452, mvt. 2 m. 1-8
Larghetto
herd School of Music, MS-532, P.O.
Box 1892, Houston TX 77251-1892; fax
713-348-5317; Web site www.ruf.rice.
edu/~mwebster.
The I.C.A. board has made a wonder¬
ful decision to start Pedagogy Corner as
a forum for other writers to share their
favorite ideas about teaching, especially
younger students. Please look for the an¬
nouncement elsewhere in this issue. The
board could not have chosen a better per¬
son than Larry Guy to host the Corner, for
he is well-known as being the author of
several important and well-written hand¬
books about various aspects of clarinet-
playing technique.
Larry visited the Shepherd School at
Rice a few years ago and gave our students
wonderful presentations on the legacy of
Daniel Bonade and on reed making and
adjusting. The only problem was that we
wanted him to stay for a week and he had
to move on to other venues! He is a superb
teacher and a very nice person. I encour¬
age everyone to send material to him to
get this new venture off to a good start.
As for me, I'll continue writing these
articles as I have for more than 11 years
now. It is hard to believe that time passes
so quickly. Since my articles have been
semi-sequential, it has been a long time
since I addressed teaching beginners and
elementary students, so the Pedagogy
Corner will fill a welcome need in The
Clarinet magazine.
John Snyder (UMich 1971) comments:
June 2009
In your 43rd installment in the
most recent The Clarinet, you say
on page 7 "There is no way to lower
it (3rd-space C) by fingering ".
However, I have a way of doing so.
To wit, play C with the RH pinkie,
then just droop the pinkie a bit and
allow the middle part of the finger to
depress the B touchpiece just under
the C touchpiece. This assumes you
have a long enough pinkie to do this,
but most people would, I suspect. I
have played many sessions with am-
ateur/civic/community/rec (wreck?)
bands, and the tuning note is invari¬
ably concert b'', or our C. It is sharp,
and pulling out throws other regis¬
ters awry, so I just happened on this
solution one day.
He suggests that I write a book called
Clarinet for Partially Odd Players and de¬
clares that intonation problems can make
one angry enough to raise cane!
My response:
I tried your suggestion and found it dif¬
ficult to control (i.e. to get a subtle enough
lowering of pitch), but I'll keep at it. I once
gave three or four lessons to a self-taught
clarinetist who fingered B exactly as you
describe, but pushing the key all the way
down. He was either unable or unwilling to
change — never used the left pinky for B!
John gave me permission to include his
remarks by saying:
You can use any of my scrib-
blings at any time. They are copied
right, but not Copyright. You men¬
tion a student using only RH B. I
once had a kid who "learned" pieces
by playing all notes without acci¬
dentals, and then adding them later.
It sounded awful and took forever.
Another student would write the
sharp & flat signs after the note, the
same way you say it verbally. That
didn't work too well either. Another
time I had a student who practiced
so much that his father scolded him
because he neglected to do chores.
The father said: "Shall you mow?"
Visit the International
Clarinet Association on
the World Wide Web:
| WWWCLARINET.ORG
11
 by William Nichols
Since its founding in 1972, the Ver-
dehr Trio has established itself as an
internationally-known and highly
regarded chamber ensemble which has
quite literally been responsible for the
existence of its own repertoire. From ap¬
proximately 250 works for violin, clarinet
and piano in existence, astonishingly about
200 were composed for this trio. The Ver-
dehr Trio has been in residence at Michi¬
gan State University since its beginnings
with violinist Walter Verdehr and clarinet¬
ist Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. There have been
two pianists with long-standing tenures
with the ensemble, first Gary Kirkpatrick,
and in recent years Silvia Roederer, who
is the very fine pianist on the recordings
discussed below (except where noted), and
who is on the faculty of Western Michigan
University. During the earliest existence
of the trio the Verdehr's performed with
celebrated pianist Ralph Votapek. Guest
pianists Kathryn Brown and Kim Schmidt
have also appeared in a few pieces of the
trio's recorded repertoire.
In addition to the trio's many concert
appearances world wide, the Verdehrs are
engaged in three archival projects which
are directed at disseminating their reper¬
toire to a wide audience and potential per¬
formers. One of those projects is familiar
to many of our readers, that being The
Making of a Medium CD series. This is a
long-standing and continuing audio record¬
ing project of the trio with Crystal Records
and its president Peter Christ. The series
(as of winter 2009) includes 18 volumes
with #19 on the way, and more to come.
Included in this series currently are some
78 works, including a few transcriptions
and a few duo pieces (sonatas and double
concertos). The vast majority of the series
are original works for the trio ensemble
and come from 20th century and indeed 21st
century composers from around the world.
Reviews of many of these productions
12
have appeared in the pages of this journal
over the last almost 20 years.
Another more recently inaugurated
project of the trio is The Making of a Me¬
dium Publishing Series. This is an effort
in cooperation with the Michigan State
University Press to make available to the
public performing editions of many (if
not most or all) of the Verdehr Trio com¬
missioned works which are not available
through commercial publishers. This effort
will certainly broaden the life of deserving
new music which too often doesn't have
any life after a premiere and perhaps a few
other early performances.
The Verdehr Trio has also been actively
producing video releases centered around
their repertoire and its composers. I have
recently received four DVD productions,
one from the Making of a Medium Video
Series and the remainder from the Com¬
posers' Series. The Making of a Me¬
dium Video Series is for the most part a
collection of half-hour programs which
work successfully as musical and educa¬
tional experiences. These releases were
designed and produced for television, and
I think aired by some Public Television
broadcasters and educational channels.
The Making of a Medium Video Se¬
ries, Part I is hosted by the familiar Mar¬
tin Bookspan and includes six TV pro¬
grams with works by Leslie Bassett, Alan
Hovhaness, Karel Husa, Thea Musgrave,
Ned Rorem and Gunther Schuller. The re¬
lease at hand is Part II of the series, which
is hosted by the inimitable Peter Schick-
ele, and contains on two discs, music and
interviews of Libby Larsen, Joan Tower
and Gian Carlo Menotti.
One disc features the two significant
American composers and initially focuses
on Libby Larsen's 1989 piece. Slang. In¬
terviewed by Walter Verdehr, the composer
discusses the truncated American lan¬
guage rhythmic style which is prominent
in Slang. This piece exhibits distinct ele¬
ments of blues and represents somewhat
The Clarinet
a style shift at that time in the composer's
career. A few points made in the inter¬
view are effectively illustrated with short
inserts from the recorded performance of
Larsen's piece. In a follow-up interview
the composer discusses some thoughts
about the nature of art music. Slang is per¬
formed with complete vitality and control
by the trio. It is an engaging piece full of
rhythmic drive.
The second half of this disc presents
the distinguished Joan Tower and a per¬
formance of her 1997 trio Rain Waves.
This piece presents the listener with sound
images of fluid wave forms. It progresses
through the dramatic angularity of the
opening to a somewhat mysterious lyri¬
cism, and later from delicate droplets to
sheets of sound. The virtuosity of these
three players is demanded and convinc¬
ingly displayed in this performance. Clari¬
netists are greatly indebted to Ms. Tower
for her significant contributions to the rep¬
ertoire — this is yet another. In the inter¬
view portions of this production, the com¬
poser speaks about the piece at hand, and
later about the healthy diversity of styles
of contemporary music, and the need for
musical organizations to vigorously add
new music to their repertoire.
The Tower and Larsen works were re¬
corded in the Eastman School's Kilbourn
Hall by Intramedia Technologies. The
production is first-rate and exhibits well-
conceived visual elements. Videography is
always lively, imaginative, obviously di¬
rected by a person who knows the "score."
There is very effective use of camera an¬
gles, fade-ins/outs, split images, etc. This
production is certainly not a static record¬
ing of classical artists. The same can be
said of other DVDs at hand, although the
production teams of course vary with the
wide-ranging locations represented on
these discs.
The remaining disc in this release is de¬
voted to the Italian/American Gian Carlo
Menotti. It consists of two 30-minute pro-
grams presenting in one program his 1996
Trio for violin, clarinet, and piano, and
discussion regarding the piece. Guest pia¬
nist Kathryn Brown of the Cleveland In¬
stitute of Music faculty joins the Verdehrs.
This trio and interviews were recorded in
Menotti's expansive Yester House (more
appropriately, castle) in Gifford, Scot¬
land. The beauty and resonant sound of
the music room are apparent. The three-
movement trio is most appealing. In a
melodic style consistent with Menotti's
other works, it is clearly Italian in its con¬
trasting character, exhibiting lighthearted
elements and beautiful lyricism. The core
of this piece is found in its emotionally-
longing second movement, "Romanza." It
is touchingly delivered by the ensemble.
The piece in its entirety is impeccably
played and very well recorded — a listen¬
ing and viewing treat.
The disc also presents an extended
interview with the composer. In the in¬
terview portions Mr. Menotti comments
about various aspects of his career, and is
coaxed by Walter Verdehr into relating an¬
ecdotal stories of Toscanini and other leg¬
endary figures. Even though the 13-min-
ute trio contained on this 60-minute disc
is but a fraction of the whole, the disc is
one of the most appealing and important
of the video series. The interview portions
give the viewer an inkling of personal ac¬
quaintance with this eloquent gentleman,
and I am grateful to have this experience
and archival document in my library. Mr.
Menotti died in 2007 at age 95.
Three releases in the Composer's Se¬
ries present American composers David
Diamond (1915-2005), Robert Mann,
James Niblock and Peter Schickele, and
Australian Peter Sculthorpe. A single DVD
(68 minutes) is devoted to Diamond and is
paired with another disc devoted to Mann
(75 minutes). Niblock and Schickele are
paired on a single disc (55 and 30 minutes
respectively), and the Sculthorpe material
is presented on one disc of ca. 82 minutes.
As with the above Menotti disc, the
David Diamond material is a significant
document, adding to our understanding of
one of America's leading composers. He
was among that group of talented young
Americans, now household names in the
development of American classical music,
who found their way to Paris in the 1920s
and 1930s, and who studied with Nadia
Boulanger. His Trio for violin, clarinet and
piano of 1994 is a four-movement work sicians, world-wide, as the first violinist
which was commissioned by the Library of of the Juilliard String Quartet. He was
Congress, and was premiered there by the the founding first violinist in 1946 and
Verdehr Trio. The version recorded here remained in that position for an aston¬
is from January 2002 in the Hart Recital ishing 51 years, performing more than
Hall of Michigan State University. This is 5,000 concerts and recording around 100
a large and difficult work, and by the com¬ works. In addition to recording solo lit¬
poser's admission, conceived for virtuoso erature, teaching and coaching violin
performers. It displays a high degree of students and quartets, and in more recent
craftsmanship, exciting contrapuntal writ¬ times orchestral conducting, Mr. Mann
ing, lyricism, and includes a light and very is a composer. He doesn't come to com¬
nimble scherzo. The performance leaves posing late. He had formal compositional
nothing on the table. The recording both training at Juilliard as a young man, and
sonically and visually is first-rate. has composed more than 70 works in var¬
Interview portions are dispersed ied mediums, some of which have been
throughout this disc, giving some insight performed by world-class orchestras and
into Diamond's creative process. Ad¬ chamber ensembles.
ditionally there is a tour of several areas In 2002 he completed a work for the
of the composer's Rochester, NY home, Verdehr Trio entitled Katchi-Katchi. It is
viewing the astonishing art work, photos, inspired by a Japanese folk tale, somewhat
letters, notes, and awards — a treasure of along the lines of Little Red Riding Hood.
memorabilia from talented friends and Lucy Rowan, actress and wife of Robert
personal influences, including the likes of Mann, reads the tale prior to the recording
Ravel, Schonberg, Stravinsky, Mitropou- of the piece. Mann conceives the clarinet
los, Hermann Scherchen, Bernstein, et al. to be the narrative voice. Katchi-Katchi
This segment is a high point for this writer is a 10-minute work which is at times
of all the discs at hand. Pierrot-like in its whimsical changes. It
Robert Mann is a name familiar to le¬ is non-tonal, angular, and pointillistic in
gions of chamber-music lovers and mu¬ pitch style. The pianist is kept busy in
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June 2009 13
 I and out of the instrument. In addition to
plucked and strummed strings, there is a
recurring lightly-hammered ostinato used
very effectively. The piano effects bring
this Western ensemble somewhat into the
sound world of Japanese traditional instru¬
ments. The piece is quite successful.
The conversations recorded here are
engaging and lively, as might be expected
from the gregarious Mann, who has moved
among the top musical circles of New York
for more than 60 years. He, of course, has
lots of good stories. This recording was
made in Robert Mann's and Lucy Row¬
an's New York apartment, and is the only
venue among the DVDs examined here
which is not a concert hall. The recorded
sound is, however, well balanced, spa¬
cious and quite natural, no doubt achieved
through some very good digital process¬
ing — Kudos to the engineer. The sound
here equals and betters some of the other
discs in this series.
James Niblock is a long-time col¬
league of the Verdehrs at Michigan State
University where he served as chairman
of the (now) College of Music. An active
composer, educator, and violinist, he has
composed some 10 or 11 works for the
Verdehrs. This Composers Series pro¬
duction presents two of his works from
a concert celebration of his 90th birthday:
Medieval Suite and the Double Concerto
No. 2 for violin, clarinet and orchestra.
These performances were recorded in
2007 at the Blue Lake Arts Camp, with
the resident orchestra, conducted by the
composer, joining the Verdehrs in the
concerto. The Medieval Suite is a four-
movement trio which utilizes 13th" and
15Ih-century material and techniques. It
is a well-conceived and skillfully-written
charming piece, beautifully performed.
The Double Concerto was completed in
2007, and I believe is premiered on this
live performance recording.
The last half-hour of this disc presents
the Verdehr Trio with RD.Q. Bach's alter-
ego Peter Schickele, and a performance
(and much more) of Schickele's Serenade
for Three (1993).
The pianist in this segment is Gary
Kirkpatrick. This video program was mas¬
terfully written, produced and directed
for television by Bob Jacobs in 1995 in
Peoria, Illinois, at Bradley University and
muncywinds. com virtually all over town. The editing of the
production is superb and rich in detail.
14 The Clarinet
Peter Schickele is the perfect host for the
show and his music, and the trio provides
the perfect music. This poignant and often
zany music, and the wonderfully effective
wealth of scenes of the people and places
of this heartland city are indeed touching
and entertaining. We see the Verdehr Trio
as never before (or since). If the Peoria
Chamber of Commerce and city agen¬
cies haven't used this video for promo¬
tion, they've missed the proverbial boat.
The Verdehrs "played very well in Peoria,
thank you." Like the finale of Schickele's
piece, (in local vernacular), it's a hoot!
Peter Schulthorpe is generally regarded
as Australia's preeminent living com¬
poser. This disc in the Composers Series
is presented in two parts. First, interview
material recorded at South Carolina Edu¬
cational Television, and a performance of
Dreamtracks (1992). This is not the per¬
formance recorded and released in the
mid-'90s by Crystal Records, but a con¬
siderably later one. The piece is a single
movement spanning about 14 minutes
and is spiritual in nature. It has an ancient
mystical quality which seems to suspend
time, slowly growing to an enormous and
uplifting ending. The viewer of this DVD
is also treated to a preview of Schulthor-
pe's Baltimore Songlines, which was com¬
missioned in 2006 and is part of a recent
recording project involving Australian
composers, and may be available as this
article reaches our readers. The second
part of this disc originates from the com¬
poser's home in Sydney and includes vari¬
ous interview subjects with the Verdehrs
regarding Schulthorpe's past, musical in¬
fluences, relationship with Asian cultures,
and it also includes some personal stories.
The Verdehr Trio video productions are
notable accomplishments artistically and
technically. These DVDs are a valuable
record of music making from ideas to real¬
ity, and an enduring resource of knowledge
and entertainment. Thanks are due these
artists, featured composers, and array of
technical and production help assembled
for this project, as well as organizations
and institutions that have given of their
support. These DVD video productions
are available from the Instructional Media
Center at Michigan State University in co¬
operation with the Michigan State Univer¬
sity Press. Strongly recommended.
Good Listening! (and Viewing)
Look forwdrcl...

...to the future.

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Oakland Clarinet
and Saxophone Day
A Report by Arthur Orme

The first annual Clarinet and Saxo¬

phone Solo & Ensembles Day
was held at Oakland University on
Saturday, January 17, 2009. In spite of a
snowstorm slowing traffic, the workshops
attracted middle school, high school and
college students, as well as teachers and
hobbyists. The workshop faculty respon¬
sible for the success of the event were:
George Stoffan, assistant professor of
clarinet at Oakland University; Shannon
Ford, adjunct instructor of saxophone at
Oakland University; Joe Shively, Oak¬
land's assistant professor of music educa¬
tion; and Mark Kieme, saxophonist and
regular member of the Paul Keller Orches¬
tra, The Johnny Trundell Big Band, The
Craig Strain Orchestra and the Motor City
Jazz Orchestra.
The day began with registration at
8:45-9:00 a.m. in the Varner Recital Hall
Lobby. This was followed by host recitals.
Professor Stoffan performed two works for
comparison of styles with pianist Minjung
Kim. The first was Selenka {Pastoral), Op
16, for clarinet and piano, by Czech com¬
poser Zdenek Fibich—an energetic work
with a distinctive Eastern European fla¬
vor. This was followed by Carl Nielsen's
Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano. Shannon
Ford entertained next with a superb rendi¬
tion of Eugene Bozza's Improvisation et
Caprice for Saxophone, characterized by
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16
George Stoffan in his clinic session
long, quick arpeggios for which circular
breathing is required.
After the introduction and recitals. Dr.
Stoffan and Ms. Ford conducted one-hour
clinics with students to help them develop
good fundamentals in playing saxophone
and clarinet. Master classes followed from
10:30-11:30, conducted by Dr. Stoffan,
clarinet, and Mark Kieme, saxophone.
Lunch followed and the snowstorm con¬
tinued but participants returned at 1:00 p.m.
to be treated to an instructional performance
by the Oakland University Clarinet Ensem¬
ble. Using Bach's Fugue from the motet
The Spirit Helpeth, the ensemble stressed
the importance of clearly defined entrances.
REPAIR
(646) 670-6565
The Clarinet
tuning unisons and emphasizing the faster
moving parts for harmonic texture. Students
were then invited to sit in with the ensemble
for some hands-on learning.
A panel discussion followed this in
which the faculty was joined by Greg Cun¬
ningham, associate professor of music and
director of bands, and music students from
Oakland University. The topic of discus¬
sion was "College Auditions and Music in
Your Life Beyond High School." This was
followed by a question and answer session
from 4:00^4:30 p.m.
After dinner, participants were treated
to a high-energy performance by Sax 4th
Avenue, a saxophone quartet consisting
of Shannon Ford, Stanley George, Kevin
Heidbreder and Jason Yost. The music
was a combination of jazz-fusion and pro¬
gressive rock that included some chore¬
ography. After a long day of clinics and
instruction, a concert by Sax 4th Avenue
concluded the night on a high note.
It was a great day filled with music, fun
and learning for all of those who braved
the elements to attend. Oakland Univer¬
sity's Music Department looks forward to
a repeat performance next year, hopefully
with better weather. For information con¬
tact: George Stoffan at Stoffan ©Oakland,
edu, or www.oakland.edu.mtd.
This is the first time I have written a recommendation. I do this because of
my long association with Dan Johnston, and playing his mouthpieces
exclusively for the last 20 years of my playing career. I can recommend
them without qualification, as I have done for my students during my tenure
at the Eastman School of Music. The Johnston mouthpiece allowed me to
produce a rich, dark sound throughout the registers. The extreme high
register produced as full and as rich a sound as the rest of the registers.
Articulation is crisp and clear and more easily produced than with any other
mouthpiece of which I am aware. A great feature of buying a mouthpiece
from Dan Johnston is his unique way of fitting the mouthpiece to the
physical and artistic features of each individual. Buying a Johnston is a
wonderful experience, and the resulting mouthpiece will be a real joy to own
and play.
For information call 1-716-633-5573.
- Stanley Hasty
 In 1808 Ivan Miiller initiated several under this name is associated with Paris,
improvements to the clarinet. At this the clarinet most likely was made at the
time the five and six-key Classical Thibouville factory in La Couture.
style clarinet was still popular. But many This clarinet is made from boxwood
msroKicxLty
additional keys were being added to the with ivory ferrules. It has 13 keys made
clarinet to help overcome perceived short¬ from nickel-silver. The keys are mounted
SKAKWg... comings in fingering, tuning and tone on pillars which are screwed into the
quality. Much of this work was done in a wood. (Photo 2) The keys are made in a
somewhat custom manner. For example, salt spoon shape and have stuffed pads.
even though several clarinets may have of¬ (Miiller is credited with inventing stuffed
fered 10 keys, those 10 keys may have dif¬ pads.) All the
by
fered from maker to maker, and perhaps keys have flat
Deborah from clarinet to clarinet from the same springs. From
Check Reeves maker. Miiller systemized the number and the top of the
location of the keys settling on a 13-key barrel to the bot¬
design. Composed in 1810, Louis Spohr's tom of the bell,
First Concerto required a clarinet with 13 the clarinet is
keys. In 1822 Miiller wrote his tutor for 502 mm. The
a 13-key clarinet. Soon the 13-key clari¬ inner bore di¬
"Historically Speaking" is a feature net, or "Simple System" clarinet, and im¬ ameter measures
of The Clarinet offered in response to nu¬ provements and derivations of it, became 14.0 mm.
merous inquiries received by the editorial the instrument of choice for most clarinet¬ Although the
staff about clarinets. Most of the informa¬ ists until the early 20th century. instrument does
tion will be based on sources available at One such Simple System clarinet was not display any
the National Music Museum, located on donated by the late Mitchell Lurie to the innovations or
The University of South Dakota campus National Music Museum. This clarinet, unusual devices,
in Vermillion. Please send your e-mail NMM 6201, was made by Buthod and it is an outstand¬
inquiries to Deborah Check Reeves at Thibouville between 1857-1867 and is ing example of
dreeves@usd.edu. pitched in C. (Photo 1) Although the firm a typical 13-
key Miiller-type
Simple System
clarinet. It sur¬
vives in remark¬
(Oincent ffiprlneiii ably good con¬
(
(Expert Woocf\vind Service— dition.
"Jor experts and amateurs afifcc "
urvcyor of ^inc ^ujjet, gefmer
and tjcfifaric C(arincts. 3:^utcs'
9 and ^Kdhvertfi Saxopftoncs

an
afes and (Repairs ^ ^mportecf Cascs
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I iscountccf ^Prices, §cfcctccf (\c\v Qarincts
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^Wilmington, Delaware 19810
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^or appointments - 302.479.0375

tpfione Or^crs - 800.396.1585 Photo 1: Clarinet Photo 2: Buthod
^Xpnduy tfirougfi ^riday, 9 to 5 in C by Buthod & & Thibouville
Saturday, 10 to 2 Thibouville top joint
(Photos by Bill Will roth. Sr.)
18 The Clarinet
 I.C.A. HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

NOMINATION PROCEDURE

In accordance with the International Clarinet Association By-Laws (Article V, Section 6), a special category of Honorary Mem¬
bership has been created for persons of "unusual distinction.'The International Clarinet Association Board of Directors invites
the general membership to nominate individuals for Honorary Memberships from the areas of professional service, teaching,
performance, and/or lifetime achievements. Nominators should include a brief biographical sketch of the candidate along with
further information as specified below. There is a limit of one nomination per person. Nominations must be postmarked no later
than July 1,2009, and sent to:

Dr. John Cipolla

Secretary, International Clarinet Association
Associate Professor of Music
Department of Music, Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd.
Bowling Green, KY 42101 USA
E-mail: ICAsecretary@clarinet.org

Nominations for Honorary Memberships should include the following information:

Name of nominee: Nominee's address, phone and e-mail address;
Biographical sketch of nominee and supportive documentation of the nominee's qualifications
Printed name of the nominator; Nominator's address, phone and e-mail address

Clarinet Compact Discs

THE VERDEHR TRIO. (Elsa Ludewig-Ver- TRIO INDIANA: James Campbell, Eli Eban,
dehr, Clarinet). The Making of a Medium (Violin, Howard Klug, Clarinets (clarinet faculty Indiana
Clarinet, Piano). 17 CDs of mostly newly-commis¬ University). CD734: Defaye, Pieces D'Audition;
sioned works. A small sample: CD741: Bartok; Schickele, Dances; Kulesha, Political Implications
Hovhaness; Pasatieri; Mozart; etc. CD742: Rorem; (with David Shea, clarinet, guest); Kibbe, Ebony
Musgrave; David; Vanhal; Liszt. CD743: Schuller; Suite; Fox, Time Weaving. CD736: (with Alfred Prinz,
Averitt; Currier. CD744: Husa; Dickinson; Freund; Niblock. CD746: Diamond; Scult- Mitchell Lurie, & Min-Ho Yeh, guests). Prinz, Bloomington Quartet & Trio; Heiden,
horpe; Corigliano. CD941: Menotti, Bruch; Constantinides; Deak. CD942: Chihara, Clarinet Trio; Uhl, Divertimento; Weill, Pieces from The Threepenny Opera. "A marvel¬
Diamond, Satterwhite, Kramer, Biggs, Erb. CD943: Currier, Tower, Gershwin/Brohn, ous group. Skillful musicians...a lovely ensemble of ravishing sounds." American
Welcher, Biggs, Hoag. CD946: Higdon, Sheng, Wolfgang, Chatman, Rihm. Record Guide. "Expert and highly musical" Fanfare Magazine.
LARRY COMBS: CD731. Principal THE WEBSTER TRIO Michael JONATHAN COHLER: CD733.
Clarinet 30 years, Chicago Symphony. Webster, clarinet, Leone Buyse, Flute; Hindemith, Sonata; Honegger, Sonatina
Rosza, Sonata & Sonatina for Clarinet Robert Moeling, Piano. CD357: World Francaix, Theme & Variations; Vaughan
Solo; Rochberg & Schuller Trios for Wide Webster. Delightful transcrip¬ Williams, 6 Studies English Folksong
Clarinet, Horn, & Piano, "impressive tions of the Slavonic & Hungarian Milhaud, Duo Concertant & Caprice;
virtuosity" Fanfare. Dances by Dvorak & Brahms; plus Bozza, Pulcinella; Kupferman, Moon-
MITCHELL LURIE: CD737. Halsey Stevens, Clari¬ Debussy & Gottschalk. CD356. Tour de France: Music flowers, Baby! "playing of real distinction" BBC Music
net Concerto; Lesemann, Sonata for Clarinet & Percus¬ by Debussy, Saint-Saens, Bizet, and Faure. "Delightful; ENSEMBLE ISOLA (principals Gran Canaria
sion; Muczynski, Time Pieces. Lurie was principal in exquisitely played." Fanfare Magazine. Philharmonic). Radovan Cavallin, clarinet. CD771: Trios:
Chicago & Pittsburgh Symphonies., "one of the world's MELVIN WARNER: CD332. Weber, Fantasia & Brahms, Reinecke, Duvernoy. CD772: Czerny; Jenner;
most famous clarinetists" Fanfare Magazine. Rondo, Grand Duo Concertante; Stravinsky, 3 Songs Duvernoy. "Delightfulrelease...virtuosic." Gramophone.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: CD735. Clarinet Sonatas from Shakespeare; Penderecki, 3 Miniature; Martino, LAWRENCE SOBOL: CD808. Hovhaness, Saturn,
by Saint-Saens, Ladmirault, & Bjelinski. Martinu Sona¬ Set for Clarinet; Spohr, Six German Songs; Wm. 0. for Clarinet, Soprano, & Piano. Also Hovhaness Magni¬
tina; Rabaud Solo de Concours. "Clarinet fanciers will ficat for Chorus, & Orch. "Saturn is a beguiling hymnal...
Smith, Five Pieces. "One of the finest clarinet record¬
find a treat here." Fanfare Magazine. ings I have yet to hear." Audio Magazine. freshness and vitality." Classic CD Magazine.
CDs $16.95. Add $2.00 per order US shipping; $10. foreign (mention this ad). FREE CD or cassette with each purchase of three:
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, US check. Order by phone, fax, mail, email, or website for each four ordered, omit payment for lowest-priced one.
CRYSTAL® RECORDS, 28818 NE Hancock, Camas, WA 98607 USA, phone 360-834-7022, fax (24 hrs) 360-834-9680
email: order@crystalrecords.com • web site: www.crystalrecords.conn • Many more woodwind recordings; send for free catalog.
June 2009 19
A Forgotten
Partnership
So much of the clarinet repertoire
has been born of the collaboration
between performer and composer:
Stadler and Mozart, Baermann and We¬
ber, Muhlfeld and Brahms are of course
the most renowned. But there is a much
less well-known relationship that blos¬
somed during the second half of the 20th
century and produced an important corpus
of significant clarinet works.
To discover the composer in this part¬
nership we need to travel north — to bon-
nie Scotland and find a Scottish composer
who in fact spent a good deal of his life
living in the United States. A composer
whose considerable body of clarinet music
richly deserves re-discovery. I am speak¬
ing of Iain Ellis Hamilton (1922-2000).
And the clarinetist in the partnership was
fellow student and close friend, John Da-
vies. The two young musicians met at the
Royal Academy of Music in 1947. At first
they formed a clarinet/piano duo, working
their way through most of the repertoire.
But Iain was there primarily as a composer
(a student of William Alwyn, who himself
wrote a very effective clarinet sonata) and
soon began writing a series of important
works for John. Works that are now almost
completely — and unjustly — forgotten.
John Davies remembers, "He was a
tremendously serious and energetic man;
worked 48 hours a day. I don't think he
ever went to bed — he couldn't stop!"
The violinist Nona Liddell found him, "a
little nervy, but very warm-hearted — a
true Scot!" He and John gave recitals all
over Europe. Brahms, Ireland, Hindemith,
Bax and Weber's Silvana Variations were
among their favorites. I now have the well-
annotated copies they used in my own li¬
brary. A year after their meeting, Iain com¬
posed his first work for John — a clarinet
quintet. John gave the first performance
with the Liddell Quartet (led by Nona Lid¬
dell. "And a jolly good work too!" she told
me enthusiastically at a recent meeting).
John later broadcast it on BBC radio with
the Aeolian Quartet in 1950. Though very
interested in the latest serial composers,
Iain's own style at this time was more an
amalgam of Bartok, Berg, Hindemith and
Stravinsky, giving his music both rhyth¬
mic drive and a vivid harmonic color. Next
came his Tlvve Nocturnes for clarinet and
piano — perhaps his best-known work.
20
by Paul Harris
Iain Hamilton
John gave the first performance in 1950
with Iain accompanying, on BBC Scot¬
tish radio. The first London performance
was given by Jack Thurston in 1951. They
challenge a little, but are enormously wor¬
thy of study and performance: atmospheric
and audience friendly.
In fact John and Iain were regularly
giving recitals in Scotland — at the cen¬
tral library in Edinburgh. These concerts
were organized by Edith McVay, a pas¬
sionate cat lover. One evening, however,
the concert series came to a sudden and
abrupt end. Not only did Edith arrange
the concerts, she also reviewed them for
The Scotsman, under a pseudonym, Zara
Boyd (her cat's name). One concert eve¬
ning she and Iain were in a taxi making for
the venue — they were late and John was
waiting uneasily. On the way Edith spot¬
ted a cat in distress by the roadside. "Stop
the taxi!" she screamed, the cat's rescue
now taking unquestionable priority over
the concert. Iain was unhappy about this
The Clarinet
Letter
From
The U.K.
serious delay and in his anxiety somewhat
maliciously announced that, "John had
eaten cats you know, when he was a pris¬
oner of war." It was to be their last engage¬
ment at the Edinburgh library.
Later in 1951, back in London with cats
now forgotten, Iain composed his virtuosic
Clarinet Concerto which won the presti¬
gious Royal Philharmonic Prize. Though
written for, and dedicated to John, it was
Thurston who gave the first performance
with the RPO. Jack Brymer gave the first
broadcast performance. A Divertimento for
clarinet and piano came next in 1953 fol¬
lowed by the Clarinet Sonata once again
dedicated to John who gave the first perfor¬
mance in Paris in 1954. In 1955 came both
a Serenata for clarinet and violin, written
for John and Frederick Grinke (displaying
a move to a more severe serial style) and
the Three Carols for six clarinets, which
Iain wrote for a group of John's students
at the Academy. Fascinating, imaginative
and useful arrangements (and published
by Queen's Temple Publications).
In 1961 Iain moved to America where
he became Mary Duke Biddle Professor
of Music at Duke University in Durham,
North Carolina. He was also composer-in-
residence at the Berkshire Music Center at
Tanglewood, Massachusetts (in the sum¬
mer of 1962). He was to remain in the U.S.
for 20 years writing many wind chamber
works among his large output.
There was a long break before Iain
turned once again, and for the last time, to
the clarinet. In 1974 his opera, The Catiline
Conspiracy, was receiving its first run at
the Scottish Opera and, in the pit, playing
principal clarinet was the young Janet Hil¬
ton. She was enjoying the work so much
that she personally commissioned Iain to
write a new work. He wrote her his second
quintet, evocatively entitled Sea Music. Ja-
net gave the first performance at the Bath Looking through the Iain Hamilton
Festival with the Lindsay Quartet. Like all manuscripts, in preparing this article, I
Iain's clarinet music the work provides a found something amongst them that sent a
: T! EffortLess
certain challenge for the performer, but it real shiver of excitement tingling down my
is more lyrical and rhapsodic, and more spine! I'm working on the Mozart concerto Clairinef
tonal than some of his earlier works. Ja¬ for a performance soon and had been giv¬
; g/,. ooo\§
net remembers that the composer took a ing quite a bit of thought to the whole busi¬ 00 0 00
§\ /§
lot of interest in the rehearsals and seemed ness of cadenzas. What I found, most prov¬
particularly pleased with the performance. identially, was a single sheet of manuscript Richard Nunemaker's
Clarinet Principles
The London Observer called it, "an attrac¬ paper on which Iain had composed three
tive score, full of brilliance and light..." intriguing cadenzas for the Mozart, two for
Most of these works are available from the first movement and a beautiful third for Develop a solid, resonant and
Theodore Presser Company — so there's the slow movement. I now know exactly powerful tone.
no excuse! what I shall be doing for cadenzas!
A clean, rapid staccato.
Accurate intonation.
\ Tj is} £3,
A smooth and effortless technique.
izr: Cvihapter Headings
1. How to Hold the Clarinet
=
2. Breathing
3. Embouchure
1 1 1
^ •j
»' "T' "'*'
tj . = '=
„ 't- 4. Long Tones
5. Overtone Exercises
6. Mouthpiece Exercise
7. Scales and Chords (Cycle of 4ths)
8. Reeds
9. Tonguing/Staccato
£—1 1 1 1 1 —i— . . ■ 1 1—L. f 1
I 1 " r 10. Intonation
^—* * * , t ' - ^i-i——1 ^ -=i= I I. Sight-Reading
12. How to Practice
13. Preparing for a Lesson, Audition
1 p * b ; 1 J L ! 1 "" '
L? —- * f*' ' * b ' v . ' ■■ 9' * - 1 * '" *
bJ -M
* i
- or Performance
■ *
To order your copy please send a
check for $ 14.95 (orders of 5 or
more, $ 12.00 each) to:
Richard Nunemaker
4114 Leeshire Dr.
Houston, TX 77025
Or you may place your order online
at www.RichardNunemaker.com.

"Music is a healing art form

J ' *1L ,3,1
/<> _ 1 1 \ L, f h 1 ^ for listener and performer.
£.
A source of joy, ecstasy and
freedom."
—Richard Nunemaker

Richard Nunemaker has been a

member of the Houston Symphony
Orchestra since 1967. For information
concerning private lessons, master
classes/recitals and recordings please
visit www.RichardNunemaker.com
or contact:
Lyn-Rich Management
713-665-8877
The first manuscript page of the second Nocturne. Those who know the work will notice Lynrichmgt@aol.com
a significant adjustment of metronome mark and various other interesting alterations (in¬
cluding the deletion of three bars).
June 2009 21
 U-Larmet.
oooaoooaooQaA
by Kellie Quijano and Rachel Yoder
In this column, we decided to explore
resources on the Internet dealing with
clarinet equipment. With a seemingly
insurmountable number of Web sites sell¬
ing every type of mouthpiece, barrel, and
clarinet imaginable, it can be hard to find
honest information that will help you
to make an informed decision. We have
compiled a list of sites that offer more than
just a selection of merchandise. Specific
Web addresses can be found at the end of
this column.
Finding the right mouthpiece to match
your setup can be quite challenging. The
mouthpiece alone greatly affects sound
quality and effort needed to produce opti¬
mal results. Some of us look for a mouth¬
piece that lends flexibility while retaining
resonance, while another player searches
for the one that will let the sound soar over
the orchestra. Choosing the right mouth¬
piece is not a simple process, and several
Web sites can help you understand which
make and model best suit your needs.
Although we do not wish to endorse
any particular manufacturer, several ex¬
pert craftsmen have gone above and be¬
yond by using their Web sites to share
knowledge about mouthpiece acoustics
and design. Brad Behn's site discusses
mouthpiece nomenclature and selection,
the manufacturing process, and the spe¬
cific qualities which made Chedeville and
Kaspar models so highly sought after. In¬
formation on Clark Fobes' site includes
articles on Frank Kaspar, intonation, and
mouthpiece nomenclature. For a com¬
parison of Chedeville-style mouthpieces,
visit Terry Sterkel's personal site, and for
an extensive list of links to tip opening
charts, check out the "Keepers" thread at
Woodwind.org listed below.
Several sites deal with the selection of a
clarinet and its subsequent care and main-
Visit the International
Clarinet Association on
the World Wide Web:
WWW.CLARINET.ORG
22
uacne
tenance. Woodwind.org's "Equipment"
section, accessible from the homepage, is
a great starting point for advice about care
and maintenance, with information about
cleaning clarinets, oiling the bore, and ba¬
sic repair. The "How old is my..." section
contains lists from a variety of sources
that can help to determine the manufacture
date and other information about a clarinet
using the serial number (particularly use¬
ful when buying used instruments). Click¬
ing on "Has anyone heard of..." takes you
to an extensive listing of trade names that
may be found on clarinets, matching them
with their parent companies. "What to
buy a Beginner?" is a section devoted to
answering that very question, with input
from several professional clarinetists.
Several other sites provide informa¬
tion about older clarinets. Nophachai
Cholthitchanta, professor of clarinet at
the University of Arkansas, is a collector
and researcher of 18th and 19th-century
clarinets and has a Web site detailing the
contents of his collection. There you will
also find links to replica period clarinet
makers and major clarinet collection mu¬
seums. Sherman Friedland frequently an¬
swers questions on his blog from readers
looking for answers about a clarinet they
have found. And on the personal pages of
Bill Fogle, you can find excellent photos
of vintage clarinet advertising artwork and
manufacturing marks.
Repair technician Steve Sklar's Clari-
netPerfection.com is a wide-ranging, de¬
tailed site that encompasses nearly every
subject related to clarinet equipment. The
site has pages about serial number iden¬
tification, mouthpiece specifications, care
and maintenance, and much more.
Tom Ridenour is another expert who
has contributed articles and videos about
clarinet equipment. His articles include
"How to Select a New Clarinet" (a fantastic
article for first-time buyers), "The Grena-
dilla Myth" (about the advantages and
disadvantages of various woods and hard
rubber clarinets), and "You Picked it. You
Play It" (about the importance of having
The Clarinet
■
the right equipment in combination with
the right playing techniques). His YouTube
channel features videos about clarinet lu¬
brication, noise reduction, mouthpieces,
and standards for testing clarinet equip¬
ment. Ridenour's quirky and informative
videos are especially relevant for anyone
who does work on their own clarinet, or
wants to learn repair basics.
This list of equipment resources is just
a beginning. If you know of a site that
should be included in this list, please let
us know at clarinetcache@gmail.com as
we will be continuing to add to this work
in progress. Visit our blog at http://www.
clarinetcache.com for easy access to all
the links below.
Brad Behn
http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com
Nophachai Cholthitchanta's
Clarinet Collection
http://www.uark.edu/ua/nc/
NCclarinetcollections.htm
Clark Fobes Articles Page
http://www.clarkwfobes.com/
Articles.htm
Bill Fogle's Clarinet Pages
http://www.williepee.com/clarinets.
html
Sherman Friedland's Clarinet Corner
http://clarinetcorner.wordpress.com
Tom Ridenour Articles Page
http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.
com/articleindex.html
Tom Ridenour YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/
billyboy647
Steve Sklar
http://clarinetperfection.com
Terry Sterkel
http: // sterke 1. org/c 1 ari ne t/
chedeville_mouthpiece .htm
Woodwind.org Equipment Page
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/
Equipment/
Woodwind.org Keepers Thread
on Tip Openings
http://www. woodwind.
org/clarinet/BBoard/read.
html?f=20&i=838&t=838
 Call for Proposals:

ClarinetFest® 2010

Austin, Texas, USA

July 21-25,2010

ClarinetFest® 2010 will take place on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Co-sponsored by the
Butler School of Music, the conference takes place in the heart of Austin, the live music capital of the world
and internationarfoodie" destination. Boasting beautiful state of the art facilities, the Butler School of Mu¬
sic provides an ideal location for this event.
If you are interested in sending in a presentation proposal, please download and complete the Call-for-
Proposals Application Form from www.clarinet.org and send to the address below. Recordings and written
requests will be accepted through September 15,2009, and will be reviewed by the committee.

Richard MacDowell and Nathan Williams, Artistic Directors

ClarinetFest® 2010
Butler School of Music
University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, E 3100
Austin, Texas 78712
r.macdowell@mail.utexas.edu
nathanclarinet@aol.conn

;See you in
Oklahoma
and
Oporto!

4 for 10 is great for baseball

Demand 10 for 10 from your reeds

iima
Jyes Xilema Available at

REDWjNE.
Reeds for the big league

June 2009 23
As you can probably imagine, Jan¬
uary 2009 was an extremely busy
and exciting time to be a military
musician in the Washington, D.C. area.
Preparations for the 56th Presidential In¬
auguration began months in advance and
music was an integral part of this historic
event. Several clarinetists were assigned
to an Armed Forces Joint Orchestra,
which played for the "We Are One" Open¬
ing Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln
Memorial. Considered the kickoff of the
official inaugural activities, this concert
was broadcast on the Internet, public ra¬
dio, and HBO. Although the U.S. Marine
Band was the only group to perform at the
Inauguration Ceremony itself, all of the
"special bands" took part in the Inaugu¬
ral Parade, including the U.S. Army Band,
the U.S. Army Field Band, the U.S. Ma¬
rine Band, the U.S. Navy Band, the U.S.
Air Force Band and the U.S. Coast Guard
Band. This parade is a massive undertak¬
ing involving 13,000 participants. Several
weeks before the inauguration, early on a
Sunday morning, the city shuts down all
the affected streets and conducts a parade
"rehearsal." Every aspect of the event's
complicated logistics must be simulated,
including going through security. Military
musicians, even those of us with White
House security clearance, are not exempt
from this.
Everyone in the military knows the
phrase "Hurry up and wait," and January
20, 2009, was certainly no exception. Due
to heightened security and traffic con¬
cerns, the District of Columbia closed just
about every bridge and road into the city
the night before the Inauguration. Armed
with cots, air mattresses, and sleeping
bags, band members living in Maryland
or Virginia had no choice but to spend
the night at work! The next day began
early anyway. After all personnel were ac¬
counted for and uniforms were inspected,
we boarded our busses and headed to the
security checkpoint. We waited on the bus
for several hours, then it was our turn to go
through the metal detector, have our gig
bags searched, pick up a box lunch, and
wait for the empty bus to be inspected.
Then it was off to our "holding area"
on the Ellipse, which consisted of sev¬
eral large warming tents with tables and
chairs, and several televisions on which
we could watch some of the swearing-in
ceremony. After a few hours in our tent,
24
by Musician First Class Cynthia Wolverton
U.S. Navy Band, Washington, D.C.
it was time to line up for the parade. After
all the waiting around, and then a fairly
long march just to get to the parade start,
we were definitely ready to perform. But,
you guessed it: more delays! Almost two
hours, in fact, of standing on Constitution
Avenue waiting for the parade to start.
It was a frigid day and despite the long
underwear, hand warmers, bridgecoats,
scarves, gloves, earmuffs, and even bat¬
tery-powered heated socks, everyone was
miserable. Eventually we started moving
and before long were approaching the re¬
viewing stand, where we were able to get
a peek at our new Commander-in-Chief,
who gave us an enthusiastic salute as we
marched past. Although most band mem¬
bers were done at the conclusion of the
parade, for others the day was not over
yet. There were 10 Inaugural Balls that
took place that evening, each requiring a
small ceremonial band to render honors
and play "Hail to the Chief when the new
president arrived.
During the inaugural events, the Air
Force Band was visited by several mem¬
bers of the media. Chief Master Sergeant
Elizabeth Schouten was featured in over
a dozen interviews by local and foreign
television and radio stations because she
is the Air Force Band member with the
most inaugural parades under her belt-
seven! Also interviewed was the youngest
member of the Air Force Band participat¬
ing in his first inaugural parade, clarinet¬
ist Technical Sergeant Benjamin Bowers.
Although it was a long exhausting day, it
really was exciting to have a front row seat
to such a historic event.
Two clarinetists were featured on the
Air Force Band's Fall 2008 concert tour-
Master Sergeant Julianna Arnold and
Technical Sergeant Blake Arrington per¬
formed the Mendelssohn Concertpiece
No. 2. Technical Sergeant Arrington also
The Clarinet
performed a recital as part of the Air Force
Band's Chamber Players Series. His pro¬
gram included Rossini's Introduction,
Theme and Variations, Solo de Contours
by Messager, Three Preludes by Gershwin
and Cinco Bocetos by Roberto Sierra.
The Air Force Band Clarinet Quartet
has also recently performed on the Cham¬
ber Players stage. This group is made up
of Master Sergeant John Romano, Master
Sergeant Brian McCurdy, Technical Ser¬
geant Darrin Thiriot, and Technical Ser¬
geant Brooke Emery. Interesting music for
clarinet quartet is sometimes hard to come
by, so their program contained arrange¬
ments by Master Sergeant Romano and
Technical Sergeant Thiriot of works by
Dvorak, Strauss and Liszt. The quartet also
performed a clinic for the Clarinet Reper¬
tory Class at Louisiana State University,
and has done multiple clinics for a variety
of middle and high school students.
Technical Sergeant Darrin Thiriot has
been the Air Force Band's busiest recital
clarinetist as of late. In addition to giving
recitals at the University of Southern Mis¬
sissippi, Louisiana State University and the
University of Central Arkansas, he has also
visited many local high schools to perform
a fully memorized program for the stu¬
dents. This program includes Concerto No.
1 by Weber, Chromatic Fantasia by Bach,
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Saint-
Saens and Solo de Concours by Messager.
Senior Master Sergeant David Stump
has finally returned to the Concert Band
clarinet section after spending 5 Vi years as
a substitute tenor saxophonist with the Air
Force jazz band, the Airmen of Note. They
are happy to have him back! He can be
heard on the jazz band's recently released
compact disc recording entitled Airmen
of Note Live! He is featured on Under the
Wire by Gordon Goodwin, a piece origi¬
nally composed for Eddie Daniels. The

Back row: Stephen Freeman, SGM David Hydock (former bass clarinetists, now retired),
SSG Kristen Mather, Pascual Martinez Forteza, SGM Chris Jones, SSG(p) Jennifer Tibbs,
SFC Diana Cassar-Uhl, SSG(p) Sam Kaestner. Front row: SSG Jeff Geller, SSG Erin Bub-
alo, MSG Rachel Grasso (former E-flat clarinetist, now retired), SFC Shawn Herndon,
Stanley Dnicker, and SFC John Parrette.
Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants
traveled to San Antonio, Texas, in Febru¬
ary to perform for the annual convention
of the Texas Music Educators Associa¬
tion. On the program was Blue Shades by
Frank Ticheli, which contains an extended
and jazzy clarinet solo which was expertly
performed by their concertmaster, Senior
Master Sergeant Carl Long.
Chief Musician Laura Snavely per¬
formed the final movement of Weber's
Concerto No. 1 in F Minor with the U.S.
Navy Band and again with the Fayette
County High School Wind Ensemble as
part of the Georgia Music Educators As¬
sociation Convention. The Navy Band's
Clarinet Quartet was featured at the Sec¬
ond Annual Maryland Clarinet Seminar
held at Towson University. Their recital
included Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
by Handel, Paul Harvey's Quartet, Three
Preludes by Gershwin, Sonate en Sol
Mineur by Albinoni, Dave Brubeck's Blue
Rondo a la Turk, Six Audition Pieces by
Jean-Michel Defaye, Piazzolla's History
of the Tango, A Klezmer Wedding by Mike
Curtis, and an arrangement of Bernstein's
America. Members of the quartet are Se¬
nior Chief Musician Jim Logan, Chief
Musician Mike Shelbume, Chief Musi¬
cian Laura Snavely and Musician First
Class Jeff Snavely.
The clarinet section of the U.S. Mili¬
tary Academy Band has a new member.
Specialist Timothy Sutfin from Chicago.
Before joining the Army, he studied at
Northwestern University.
In other West Point news, Staff Ser¬
geant Kristen Mather presented a very
interesting recital featuring the Quintette
music of Raymond Scott. The program
also included a presentation by the Ray¬
mond Scott Society's Historical Director,
Irwin Chusid, who briefly put Raymond
Scott into historical context, screened a
six-minute trailer for "On to Something," a
documentary-in-progress by Stan Warnow
(Raymond Scott's son), and showed a clip
from the 1938 film Happy Landing which
features the Raymond Scott Quintette per¬
forming War Dance for Wooden Indians.
Sergeant First Class Shawn Herndon pre¬
sented a recital of the Prokofiev Sonata,
the Reinecke Trio for clarinet, viola, and
piano, and Benny's Gig by Morton Gould.
Staff Sergeant Sam Kaestner performed
a concerto "suite" consisting of the first
movement of the Mozart Clarinet Con¬
certo, movement II of the Spohr Concerto
No. 2 in E-flat (on bass clarinet), and the
first movement of the Weber Concerto No.
1. His recital also included SchiZm by
Derek Beimel, Little Suite of Four Dances
by William Bolcom, and Preludio and
Merengue by Paquito D'Rivera. Sergeant
Major Chris Jones performed the Cop¬
land Concerto with the Northern Dutchess
Symphony Orchestra, and Sergeant First
Class John Parette also played the Copland
Concerto with the Newburgh Symphony.
June 2009
On July 3rd and 4th, the West Point
Band had the unique opportunity to join
the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher
Hall in New York City. The Philharmonic
performed the world premiere of Bramwell
Tovey's Urban Runway and Four Dance
Episodes from Rodeo. The Academy Band
featured its Staff Arranger, Master Ser¬
geant Douglas Richard, performing his
composition Celebration for a New Era.
The concert also showcased The Official
West Point March and Donald Grantham's
Farewell to Gray, a piece commissioned
by the West Point Band in honor of the
U.S. Military Academy's bicentennial
celebration. The concert concluded with
both the Philharmonic and the West Point
Band performing Sousa's Liberty Bell and
Stars and Stripes Forever as well as the
service songs of the Armed Forces. After
the performance, both clarinet sections got
together to pose for a photo.
As always, I welcome any contribu¬
tions from my fellow clarinetists in uni¬
form. My address is Musician First Class
Cynthia Wolverton, U.S. Navy Band, 617
Warrington Ave, SE, Washington, D.C.
20374-5054. I can also be reached by e-
mail at cynthia.wolverton@navy.mil.
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25

'Menmriam
Ar'-Cnf" /
W3-2009
by David Gilman
Kalman Bloch, principal clarinet¬
ist with the Los Angeles Phil¬
harmonic Orchestra from 1937
to 1981, passed away at his home in Los
Angeles on March 12 at the age of 95.
He was the last surviving contract player
from the time when Otto Klemperer was
the music director, and he played under
many of the world's greatest conductors,
including Mr. Klemperer, Bruno Walter,
Leopold Stokowski, Sir John Barbirolli,
Eduard van Beinum, Zubin Mehta, and
Carlo Maria Giulini. Of all the luminaries
he played under, Mr. Bloch said that Mr.
Klemperer was the greatest.
Born in New York City in 1913, Mr.
Bloch studied science in preparation for
dental school while playing clarinet in
various orchestras. His teacher and men¬
tor, Simeon Bellison, solo clarinetist of
the New York Philharmonic from 1920
to 1948, encouraged him to pursue his art
over science. He played in Mr. Bellison's
clarinet ensemble while in high school and
in college at New York University and,
with his mentor's encouragement, sent out
resumes to orchestras around the coun¬
try, asking whether they needed a first or
second clarinetist. He auditioned for Otto
Klemperer and was hired as first clarinet¬
ist in early 1937.
In addition to his work in the Los Ange¬
les Philharmonic, Mr. Bloch recorded with
the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, often
under Igor Stravinsky and Bruno Walter.
While in the Philharmonic, he developed a
working relationship with Arnold Schoe-
26
Mr. Bloch married Frances Heifetz, a
cousin of the renowned violinist, Jascha
Heifetz, in 1942. She was the mother of
his daughter, Michele, and his son, Greg¬
ory, also a violinist. Mrs. Bloch intro¬
duced him to the worlds of visual art and
progressive politics. He became an activ¬
ist and was called before the House UnA-
merican Activities Committee in the early
1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy asked
Mr. Bloch whether he was or ever had
been a member of the Communist Party.
Mr. Bloch replied, "Senator, I have always
believed in humanity." He refused to name
names. He was not indicted and remained
with the Philharmonic until his retirement
some 30 years later.
In his later years, Mr. Bloch continued
to teach and play with an informal clarinet
ensemble in Los Angeles. His son, Greg¬
ory, passed away in 1989, followed by his
wife, Frances, in 2000. He is survived by
his daughter, Michele, and his grandson,
nberg. Consequently, he performed in Stefano Bloch, as well as hundreds of
the American premiere of Schoenberg's friends, colleagues, and former students.
Pierrot Lunairt. He also played the west Mr. Bloch leaves a rich legacy of music
coast premiere of Aaron Copland's Con¬ and friendship to all who had the good for¬
certo for Clarinet in 1948. Mr. Bloch can tune to know him.
also be heard in many movie soundtracks, [See also Stephen M. Rochford's cover
including For Whom the Bell Tolls, North article, "Kalman Bloch: A Tribute," in the
by Northwest, Sunset Boulevard, The March 2004 issue of The Clarinet. Ed.l
Wizard of Oz, and Gone
with the Wind. After his
tenure with the Philhar¬
monic, Mr. Bloch became
a founding member of the
Pacific Symphony Or¬
chestra. Over the years,
he taught hundreds of stu¬
dents, including Michele
Zukovsky, Richard Lesser,
Richard Waller, Joaqufn
Valdepenas, Tim Paradise
and Chris Schubert. Dr.
Stephen Rochford, Instru¬
mental Music Instructor
at Irvine Valley College,
wrote a doctoral disserta¬
tion on the life and career
of Mr. Bloch.
In 1961 Mr. Bloch's
daughter, Michele Zuk¬
ovsky, was hired by the
Philharmonic. The two
played together for 20
years. Mrs. Zukovsky then
assumed the position of
co-principal clarinetist,
which she currently holds
with distinction.
The Clarinet
 INTERNATIONAL CLARINET ASSOCIATION

2010 COMPOSITION COMPETITION

CLARINET AND PIANO

Eligibility: The competition is open to composers, clarinetists, and musicians who desire to further the repertoire of the clarinet
with an original composition.
Application: Send materials postmarked no later than October 15,2009 to:

20101.C.A. Composition Competition

Eric Mandat, Coordinator
School of Music, Mailcode 4302
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
1000 S. Normal Ave., Carbondale, II62901
Studio (618) 453-5828; Fax (618) 453-5808; E-mail: emandat@siu.edu

CONTEST RULES

I. Application fee: $50 U.S. Make amount payable to the I.C.A. in U.S. currency by bank check, money order, or credit card
only. The application fee is non-refundable.
II. The 2010 Composition Competition call is a piece for clarinet and piano between 8 and 25 minutes in length.The submit¬
ted work must have no prior performances. A score and clarinet part must be provided. A MIDI realization of the work is
optional.
III. A permanent address, telephone number and e-mail address should be provided.

JUDGING

A committee having no knowledge of the contestant will conduct the judging of scores and parts. Do not include any identifi¬
cation on the scores and parts or the optional MIDI realization. E-mail or a letter of notification by January 15,2010 will announce
the winner. The winning composition will receive a world premiere performance during ClarinetFest® 2010, July 21-25, 2010 at
The University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Travel expenses will be the responsibility of the winner. Free registration at ClarinetFest
2010 will be provided. If the winner is a clarinetist, they must be a member of the I.C.A.
Past first-prize winners are not eligible to compete. All contestants will accept the decision of the judges as final. The I.C.A. will
provide the performers for the premiere performance.
All scores and parts will become the property of the I.C.A. Research Center at the University of Maryland Performing Arts
Library and will not be returned.

For a complete list of rules and guidelines,

please visit the I.C.A. Competitions link: www.clarinet.org/competitions

PRIZE

$1,000 U.S.

The I.C.A. assumes no tax liability that competition winners may incur through receiving prize money. Individuals are
responsible for investigating applicable tax laws and reporting prize winnings to requisite government agencies.

June 2009 27
 lflfllN€Tf€Sr OPCFTC.PCfiTllGfU
:

Dear Brothers and Sisters

in clarinet,
We welcome you to Oporto, Por¬
tugal! It is a city filled with tra¬
dition, one that offers interest¬
ing historical, touristic and sociological
opportunities, and is situated 100 kilome¬
tres from the Spanish border. It is our wish
that you enjoy the hospitality of our coun¬
try throughout the conference, as well as
before and/or after ClarinetFest® so you
may thoroughly discover our region's nat¬
ural beauty and many cultural offerings. In
the Douro Valley you can discover one of
the most splendorous landscape treasures
where one of the best wines in the world
clarinet choirs, wind bands, string orches¬ Diane Barger
is produced, Porto, along with some other
tras and jazz ensembles. ClarinetFest® Paolo Beltramini
world-renowned wines.
2009 will also feature I.C.A. sponsored David Campbell
Casa da Musica, home of all events of
competitions, master classes and lectures. Jane Carl
the 2009 ClarinetFest®, is one of the most
Best regards, and welcome to Portugal! Stephan Chausse
symbolic buildings in Oporto, receiving
John Cipolla
an international architectural award for its ClarinetFest® 2009 Preliminary Steve Cohen
magnificence. Described by the New York Artist Roster Jonathan Cohler
Times architecture critic Nicolai Ourous-
Clarinet Ensembles: Nicholas Cox
soff as "the most attractive project that the Philippe Cuper
Ad Libitum Clarinet Quartet
architect Rem Koolhaas has ever built" Claude Faucomprez
Ensemble Clarinesque
and as a "building whose intellectual ardor Francisco Garcia
Invicta All Stars
is matched by its sensual beauty," the Casa David Gresham
Lisbon Clarinet Quartet
da Musica will delight all of its visitors. Jan Guns
Madrid Clarinet Choir
One of the primary goals for this year's Mexico National Quartet Julia Heinen
conference is to feature clarinet soloists Mexico Clarinetissimo Keith Koons
with wind band, a southern European and Quarteto Vintage David Krakauer
Latin tradition in which Portugal plays a Show Do Vento Keith Lemmons
predominant role. We are thrilled to of¬ Stark Quartet Marguerite Levin
fer a diverse repertoire for this particular Lee Livengood
genre, and are pleased to present an artist Clarinet Artists: Pascual Martinez-Forteza
roster that features local and international Arkadiusz Adamski John Masserini
soloists, chamber music, clarinet quartets, Erika Bakum Gabriele Mirabassi
Ricardo Morales
Mauricio Murcia
Enrique Perez Piquer
Valdemar Rodriguez
Aleksander Romanski
Justo Sanz
Marek Schiller
Fernando Silveira
0(fowL Robert Spring
Eddie Vanoosthuyse
A Division of MW Enterprises, Inc. Stephan Vermeersch
PO Box 422, Sugar Grove, NC 28679 Dominique Vidal
Tele: (828) 963-6487 Fax: (828) 963-8990 Michael Webster
Distributed Gary Whitman
Every Reed is A Masterpiece Conn-Selmer Roman Wydaszek
Guy Yehuda
28 The Clarinet
^UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance

Study at the Conservatory

Located in the heart of Kansas City, UMKC's Conservatory

of Music and Dance has earned a national and international
reputation for its world-class faculty and exceptional
education. In addition to the extraordinary educational
experience offered at the Conservatory, Kansas City is an
ideal place to grow, learn, play and call home. The City of
Fountains offers a variety of entertainment, culture,
restaurants, attractions and artistic venues.

Jane Carl
Associate Professor of Clarinet

Former Acting Assistant Principal

Clarinet, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Artistic Chair and Host, 2008 International
Clarinet Association ClarinetFest

To find out more about clarinet at the Conservatory of

Music and Dance, including audition dates and admissions
information, visit conservatory.umkc.edu.
Scholarships may include remission of out-of-state tuition.

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 (ZmcmAa IvttenttaXicM&l clc (Zlanutete

(tyudad de *Do&

A Retrospective
by James Gillespie

The Seville, Spain, suburb of Dos
Hermanas has hosted a clarinet
competition annually from 1991
until 2002 and then in alternate years
2004-2008.
The competition was organized in 1991
to commemorate the centenary of Mo¬
zart's death, and the clarinet was chosen
both because of his famous Concerto and
because of the popularity of the clarinet
in Spain, especially in the many bands
throughout the country. The organizing
committee consisted of the Belgian clari¬
netist Marcel Ancion and two local Span¬
ish musicians, Pepe Gonzalez and Juan
Rodrfguez Romero.
The following overview will review the
works composed for the competition and
a summary of each year's jury and prize
winners. An attempt has been made to fol¬
low up on the careers of some of the win¬
ners where the information was available
— a sort of "where are they now?"
ducted by Juan Rodriguez Romero (Pe-
dido HCCC 2008 003). It was published
in 2008 in a piano reduction by Wolfgang
G. Haas-Musikverlag Koln.
Solo para Clarinete,
Carmelo Alonso Bernaola
Carmelo Bernaola (1929-2002) was con¬
sidered one of the leading Spanish com¬
posers of his generation. He was also an
outstanding clarinetist and a member of
the Banda Municipal de Madrid for many
years and served on the jury for the com¬
petition in 1994, 1998 and 2000. "It was
in 1964 that Bernaola - while continuing
to experiment in his concert works, with
collage, block scoring, aleatory - began to
write the music that was to make him a
household name in Spain: more than 100
film scores (covering a range of genres, in¬
cluding comedy and horror) and incidental
music for television, stage and radio. His
soundtrack for one of Spain's most popu¬
lar TV series of the 1980s, Verano Azul, is
a tune that almost any Spaniard over the
age of 30 will whistle without hesitation.
He wouldn't have been able to produce the
sheer quantity of music required without
the craftsmanship he had learned the hard
way. And, if that weren't enough to prove
that, despite his modernist enthusiasms,
he was no ivory-tower abstractionist, his
Polivalentes (1978) would have done so:
it united his own mature orchestral style

Works Composed for the

Competition
Orippo, Recitativo y Allegro para
Clarinete y Orchesta de Cuerda,
Manuel Castillo
Manuel Castillo (1931-2005) was born in
Sevilla in 1930 and studied with Conrado
del Campo and Lucas Moreno in Madrid
and Nadia Boulenger in Paris. He was af¬
filiated with the Conservatorio Superior
de Musica de Sevilla from 1964 to 1978.
His Orippo, Recitativo y Allegro para
Clarinete y Orchesta de Cuerda was com¬
posed for the first competition in 1991,
and its name, Orippo, comes from a Ro¬ "CIUDAD DE DOS IIERM VVVS" Sevilla . Espafia
man settlement whose ruins were discov¬
ered in Dos Hermanas. 22 al 27 de septiembre de 2008
Scored for B''clarinet and string orches¬
tra, the work is 10 minutes in length and
has been recorded by the late Belgian clar¬ nrMUMnfai canuuMlt k J*»Kvrt» v cultuia - AYtanvumvi* bk bm mmANAft gkyhja)
Tit: <S4) 95 <ni M M . (3-1) SS 4*1 95 7» . Van (X4) S5 IS I M 71 . r ■Hal nTiirt i —
inetist Marcel Ancion (a frequent member www.dosherniaRas.es
of the competition jury over the years) and
the Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburg) con-
30 The Clarinet
with the sound of the banda of his youth.
He returned to his own Basque country in
the early 1980s when he was appointed
director of the Conservatorio de Vitoria,
where he established the electro-acoustic
laboratory and continued his much-es¬
teemed teaching - many of Spain's most
promising young composers were stu¬
dents of his."1
His Solo para Clarinete for unaccom¬
panied clarinet was composed for the 1995
competition and was a required work for
all contestants. It is about four minutes in
length, dedicated to Guy Deplus and has
been published by Editorial de Mmica
Espanola Contempordnea (EMEC).
Valme (Tres piezas para clarinete in
si bemol), Tomas Marco Aragon
Tomas Marco Aragon was born in Madrid
in 1942. In addition to the effect of his pro¬
digious compositional output, he has had
a strong influence on Spanish musical life
through his work as a critic, broadcaster,
writer, editor, educator, and administrator.
After five years working as a music critic
for various newspapers and magazines, in
1967 he founded, together with Ramon
Barce, the magazine Sonda, dedicated to
the subject of contemporary music. For
11 years he worked in the music division
of the Radio Nacional de Espana, and for
three years was professor of music history
at the Universidad Nacional de Educacion
a Distancia (UNED) and professor of com¬
position at the Conservatorio Real in Ma¬
drid. He has served as technical director of
the Spanish National Orchestra (1981-85)
and the Center for the Promotion of Con¬
temporary Music (1985-95), and founded
the Alicante International Contemporary
Music Festival which he directed for 11
seasons. In 1996 he became Director Gen¬
eral of the Instituto Nacional de las Artes
Escenicas v la Musica (National Institute
for Music and the Performing Arts), a post
he held until 1999.
The composer served on the competi-
ton's jury in 2001 and wrote Valme the fol¬
lowing year. The title refers to one of the
advocations of the Holy Virgin Mary and
means "help me," as remembered in the
prayer of King Fernando III El Santo in the
13th century. He was with his army near
Dos Hermanas before fighting against the
Moors in Sevilla. The work is dedicated to
Pedro Sanchez Nunez, the secretary of the
competition, and Juan Rodriguez Romero,
director of the competition, and is cur¬
rently unpublished. The first movement
(Allegro giusto e ben marcato) features
short, energetic rhythmic motives and
multimeters; the second (Calmo) exploits
the sustaining qualities and wide dynamic
range of the clarinet; the third movement
(Presto scorrevole) requires rapid tongu-
ing and an agile technique.
The Franco-Belgian
Orchestra of Brussels
Beginning with the first year of the com¬
petition in 1991, Prof. Marcel Ancion,
professor of clarinet at the Royal Conser¬
vatory of Music in Brussels, coordinated
the formation of a "resident" orchestra for
the competition which evolved from the
Orchestre de la Commiinaate Erancaise
de Belgique. Comprised of young prize
winners from Belgian conservatories and
members of other Belgian orchestras, it
has been conducted by Juan Rodriguez
Romero, director of the competition, and
given the name Franco-Belgian Orchestra
of Bruselles.
1991 (August)
The first year's competition was a national
one limited to citizens of Spain.
Jury: Marcel Ancion, Maximo Mu-
noz Pavon, Antonio Garcia Herrera,
Fulgencio Moron Rodenas and Juan
Rodriguez Romero
First prize: Enrique Perez Piquer
Second prize: Miguel Vicente Espejo Pla.
Third prize: Alberto Ferrer Martinez
Enrique Perez Piquer is currently the
principal clarinetist of the National Or¬
chestra of Spain in Madrid.
1992 (August 3-10)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Robert
Walzel, David Campbell, Heinz Kra-
schl, Marcel Ancion and Enrique Perez
Piquer
First prize: Ronald Van Spaendonck
(Belgium)
Second prize: Jerome Hilaire (France)
Third prize: Odilo Ettelt (Germany)
Ronald Van Spaendonck is currently
a professor of clarinet at the Royal Con¬
servatory of Music in Brussels.
Jerome Hilaire has been the soloist
of the National Police Band since 1991,
plays in the Quatuor Edison clarinet quar¬
June 2009
tet and conducts the Symphony Orchestra
of the Evry Conservatory near Paris.
1993 (November 2-7)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Kazuko
Ninomiya Hamanaka, Peter Simenau-
er, Anatoly Strezev and Marcel Ancion
First prize: Alberto Ferrer Martinez
(Spain)
Second prize: Jean-Philippe Vivier
(France)
Third prize: Mark Treinen
(Luxembourg)
Alberto Ferrer has been a professor
of clarinet since 1993 teaching in the con¬
servatories at Uxo Valley, Valencia and
now at the Conservatorio Profesional de
Musica de Catarroja.. He has taught mas¬
ter classes and workshops in different cit¬
ies in Spain and at the Fourth International
Clarinet Lisbon (Portugal) and served as
a juror in several competitions ieunesses
Musicales in Spain and the 10th European
Union Contest for young clarinetist in Lis¬
bon (1994).
He has performed with the Sinfonica
de Valencia, Eilarmonica de Valencia
and Sinfonica del Mediterrdneo and has
collaborated with the Grup Instrumental
de Valencia, Grup Instrumental Mil.leni
Nou, and with principals of the Orquesta
Sinfonica del Mediterrani with whom he
served in the regular season at the Palau de
la Musica de Valencia, Dedalo Ensemble
and the Duo Dedale (Clarinet and Piano)
with Renata Casero.
In 2000 he recorded the duets by Ber-
hard Crussell and Sonata for two clarinets
by Francis Poulenc, and in 2002 his first
CD was released, DEDALO, Musica Es¬
panola para clarinetete y piano.
Jean-Philippe Vivier has won prizes in
eight international competitions, includ¬
ing Prague twice (in 1991 and 1996). He
is currently the soloist of the Luxembourg
Phlharmonic Orchestra. He is a member
of the Quatuor de clarinettes d'Alsace.
1994 (November 1-6)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Carmelo
Alonso Bernaola, Guy Deplus, James
Gillespie, Ramon Kireilis and Manuel
Castillo Navarro-Aguilera
First prize: not awarded
Second prize: Romain Gross (Belgium)
Third prize: Carlos Lacruz Martinez
(Spain)
31
1995 (October 2-8)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Kazuko
Ninomiya Hamanaka, Marcel Ancion,
Jesus Villa Rojo, Guy Dangain and
Klaus Demmler
First prize: Mate Bekavac (Slovenia)
Second prize: Radovan Cavallin
(Croatia)
Third prize: Naoko Yoshimura (Japan)
Radovan Cavallin is currently the solo
clarinetist with the Grand Canary Islands
Philharmonic Orchestra and has recorded
many concertos with them.
1996 (September 29-
October 6)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Alois
Brandhofer, Jacques Lancelot, Vicente
Penarrocha Agusti, Jose Maria Puyana
Guerrero, Salvatore Quaresima and
Marcel Ancion
First prize: Attila Balogh (Hungary)
Second prize: Charles Michiels
(Belgium)
Third prize: Vicente Lopez Puig (Spain)
Attila Balogh is currently a member
of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig,
Germany.
Charles Michiels presently teaches
clarinet and transposition at the Tournai
(Belgium) municipal conservatory of mu-
Contacts for The Clarinet
Send all articles, recital programs, orders for
back issues, announcements and any
other non-commercial items intended for
publication in The Clarinet to:
James Gillespie, Editor/Publisher
University of North Texas, College of Music
1155 Union Circle #311367
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
E-mail: editor@clarinet.org or
jgillesp@music.unt.edu
Send all printed materials (music, books, etc.)
intended for review in The Clarinet to:
Gregory Barrett, Editor of Reviews
School of Music, Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115, 815/753-8004
E-mail: gregbarrett@niu.edu
32
sic where he also conducts the part song
classes. At the Brussels Royal Conserva¬
tory of Music he teaches choir conducting,
and composes music for wind band and
educational pieces for the music publish¬
ing firm TIEROLFF Muziekcentrale in
Roosendaal (The Netherlands).
1997 (September 28-
October 5)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Heinz
Kraschl, James Gillespie, Robert Walzel,
Guy Dangain, Ramon Barce and Marcel
Ancion
First prize: Not awarded
Second prize: Nicolas Fargeix (France)
Third prize: Karel Dohnal (Czech Re¬
public)
Fourth prize: Beatrice Berne (France)
Nicolas Fargeix won third prize at the
Geneva Competition in 1997, has played
with most of the major Paris orchestras
and is an active jazz performer.
Karel Dohnal won First Prize in the
I.C.A. Young Artist Competition in Os-
tende (1999), Second Prize in the Pacem
In Terris international music competition
in Bayreuth (2001), Third Prize at the
Prague Spring International Clarinet Com¬
petition (2002) and First Prize at the Pre-
mio Valentino Bucchi in Rome (2004). He
finished his master's and doctorate stud¬
ies (Ph.D.) at the Academy of Perform-
Send all recordings intended for review
in The Clarinet to:
William Nichols, Audio Review Editor
1033 Fawn Hollow
Bossier City, Louisiana 71111
E-mail: wrnichols@bellsouth.net
Send all inquiries about advertising, notices
of change of address, inquiries about I.C.A.
membership, missing issues, etc., to:
So Rhee, Executive Director
P.O. Box 1310
Lyons, Colorado 80540
E-mail: execdirector@clarinet.org
The Clarinet
ing Arts in Prague and during that time
studied for a short time at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in London, at
the Hochshule fiir Musik in Berlin and at
the Rimsky Korsakov State Conservatory
in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1998 (September 27-
October 4)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Carmelo
Bernaola, David Campbell, Miguel
Quiros, Emil Rieder, Antonio Saiote
and Marcel Ancion
First prize: Antonio A. Salguero Mon-
tesinos (Spain)
Second prize: Tindaro Capoano (Italy)
Third prize: Jose Miquel Mico Bori
(Spain)
Antonio A. Salguero Montesinos cur¬
rently collaborates with the Real Orquesta
Sinfonica de Sevilla, Ensemble Solistas
de Sevilla, Orquesta Manuel de Falla de
Cadiz, Orquesta Arsian and Orquesta Ciu-
dad de Almeria. He has also recorded for
television and radio and judged interna¬
tional competitions. In addition to teach¬
ing at the Royal Northern College of Mu¬
sic, he is professor at the Superior School
of Music Manuel Castillo, Seville.
1999 (September 26-
October 3)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Klaus Di¬
eter Demmler, Michel Arrignon, Eddy
Vanoosthuyse, James Gillespie, Jose
Luis Turina de Santos and Marcel An¬
cion
First prize: Nicolas Baldeyrou (France)
Second prize: Jose Miquel Mico Bori
(Spain)
Third prize: Sebastien Batut (France)
Nicolas Baldeyrou was also a prize
winner in the following competitions: Bu¬
charest, Nielsen, Munich, and the I.C.A.
Young Artist competition (2001). He was
a member of the Mahler Chamber Or¬
chestra, the Garde Republicaine Band and
served as co-principal clarinet in the Or-
chestre National. Since 2007 he has been
the professor of clarinet at the Lyon Na¬
tional Superior Conservatory.
Sebastien Batut won prizes in the Tou¬
lon (1997) and Nielsen (2001) competi¬
tions and played in the European Commu-
nity Youth Orchehstra 1997-2001. In 1999
he joined the Garde Republicaine Band and
since 2001 has been the soloist of the Bor-
deaux-Aquitaine National Orchestra.
2000 (October 1-8)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Walter
Boeykens, Michel Letiec, Michel Ar-
rignon, Tamas Benedek, Heinz Kraschl
and Anton Garcia Abril
First prize: Tamako Asai (Japan)
Second prize: Gilad Harel (Israel)
Third prize: Mathieu Steffanus (France)
Gilad Harel is currently co-artistic di¬
rector of Fountain Chamber Music Soci¬
ety, New York; and the clarinetist of the
Fountain and the Proteus Ensembles. He
was a guest performer with the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ameri¬
ca's Dream Chamber Artists, the Zephy-
ros Wind Ensemble, the Solstice Ensem¬
ble, and he is on the faculty at the Apple
Hill Center for Chamber Music in New
Hampshire.
Mathieu Steffanus has been the bass
clarinetist of the Rouen (France) Opera
Orchestra since 2005.
2001 (September 30-
October 7)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Walter Bo¬
eykens, Sylvie Hue, Kazuko Hamana-
ka-Ninomiya, Tamas Benedek, Pascual
Martinez Forteza and Tomas Marco
First prize: Gabor Varga (Hungary)
Second prize: Maguy Giraud (France)
Third prize: Matej Drlicka (Slovakia)
Maguy Giraud joined the Orchestre
National des Pays de Loire (Nantes-An¬
gers) as the e'' clarinetist in 2007 and is
a member of the Trio Aumage (clarinet,
violin and piano).
2002 (September 28-
October 5)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Guy
Deplus, Heinz Kraschl, Michele Incenzo,
Tamas Benedek, Enrique Perez Piquer and
Justo Sanz Hermida
First prize: Not awarded
Second prize: Nerea Meyer Arias (Spain)
Third prize: Jonathan Rives Beneite
(Spain)
Nerea Meyer Arias is currently prin¬
cipal clarinet of the ORCAM {Orquesta
de la Comunidad de Madrid) which has
made recordings with Deutsche Gramo-
phon (Placido Domingo), Naxos and oth¬
ers. She teaches in the Young Orchestra of
Madrid and plays in a woodwind quintet
that has premiered many new works.
2004 (September 28-
October 3)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Walter
Boeykens, Tamas Benedek, Karl Leis¬
ter, Jose Luis Estelles, Antonio Saiote
and Antonio Garcia Herrera
First prize: Not awarded
Second prize: Not awarded
Third prize: Stephane Fontaine (Canada)
and Laura Ruiz Ferreres
Stephane Fontaine has been solo clari¬
net of the Quebec (Canada) Symphony
Orchestra since 2004.
2006 (September 26-30)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, Guy Dan-
gain, Heinz Kraschl, Karl Leister, Clau-
dio Prieto, Antonio Salguero Montesi-
nos and Ronald Van Spaendonck
First prize: Not awarded
Second prize: Antonio Duca (Italy)
Third prize: Christelle Pochet (France)
Honorable mention: Bryan A. Crumpler
(U.S.A.)
Today Antonio Duca plays frequetly
with the Orchestra Regionale Toscana in
Florence.
Christelle Pochet has been a member
of the Garde Republicaine Band since
2006 and joined the Orchestre Philharm-
nique de Radio France in 2008 as the bass
clarinetist.
2008 (September 23-27)
Jury: Juan Rodriguez Romero, James
Gillespie, Heinz Kraschl, Guy Deplus,
Ramon Barona Burgos, Luis de Pablo
and Dominique Vidal
First prize: Jerry Chae (Korea)
Second prize: Romy Bischoff (France)
Jerry Chae, a native of Korea, com¬
pleted the B.M. and M.M. from The Juil-
liard School where he studied with Ricardo
Morales and now performs with the Seoul
June 2009
Philharmonic. He also won third prize in
the I.C.A. Young Artist Competition at the
2004 ClarinetFest® at the University of
Maryland.
Romy Bischoff was born in 1983 and
has been studying since 2006 at the Paris
Conservatory (third year in Mchele Arri-
gnon/Arnaud Leroy class, plus chamber
music class) and at Sorbonne Univer¬
sity (graduated in musicology in 2006).
She has been invited as solo clarinet by
many French orchestras (Orchestre Pas-
deloup in Paris, Toulon Opera, Orches¬
tre de Bretagne, Orchestre d'Auvergne,
I 'Orchestre des Jelines de la Mediter-
ranee, etc) and plays chamber music and
recitals (with strings, clarinet quartet,
wind quintet).
Endnotes
1
Martin Anderson, The Independent, 13
July 2002,
Bibiography
Campbell, David. "International Clarinet
Competition-Town of Dos Hermanas,
Spain," The Clarinet, Vol. 20, No. 2, p.
27
"Clarinotes," The Clarinet, Vol. 36, No.
1, pp. 11-12 (Report on the Fifteeenth
Dos Hermanas International Clarinet
Competition, September 22-27, 2008)
Gillespie, James. "The Fifth Annual Inter¬
national Clarinet Competition of Dos
Hermanas (Seville) Spain," The Clari¬
net, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 32-33
. "The Sixth Annual International
Clarinet Competition of Dos Hermanas
(Seville) Spain," The Clarinet, Vol. 24,
No. 2, pp. 28-29
. "The Seventh Annual International
Clarinet Competition of Dos Hermanas
(Seville) Spain," The Clarinet, Vol. 25,
No. 2, pp. 62-63
. "The Eighth Annual Concurso In¬
ternational de Clarinete — Ciudad de
Dos Hermanas," The Clarinet, Vol. 26,
No. 2, pp. 52-53, 55
. "The Ninth Annual Concurso In¬
ternational de Clarinete Ciudad de
Dos Hermanas," The Clarinet, Vol. 27,
No. 2, pp. 28-29
jjs >}: sjc
The assistance of Jean-Marie Paul and
Pedro Sanchez Nunez in the preparation
of this article is gratefully acknowledged.
33

INSIGHTS
by Vladislav Gorbich
2lite often, preparing a new, unfa-
niliar piece of music starts with a
:areful search for information on
oser's life and the circumstances
leading to the creation of the piece. The
composer's personal notes, diary or jour¬
nal, correspondence, and interviews are
extremely helpful sources for gathering
this information. Exploring this data can
reveal hidden details and nuances that will
help the performer uncover the musical
essence of the work.
The following interview with Edison
Denisov (1929-1996)', one of the leading
Russian composers of the last century, is
of particular interest to a performer who
is about to learn his Sonata for Solo Clari¬
Back Issues
■i Th& CluYitict
Back-issue order forms for The Clarinet may now be
downloaded from the I.C.A. Web site: www.clarinet.
org. Copies may also be requested by contacting:
James Gillespie
University of North Texas, College of Music
1155 Union Circle #311367, Denton, Texas 76203-5017
E-mail: jgillesp@music.unt.edu
34
FROM
net. The interview was published in 1998
in the book of dialogues called Insights
from Edison Denisov compiled by Dmitry
Shulgin, a Russian expert in the field of
modern harmony and composition. A Pro¬
fessor of Musicology, Shulgin serves on
the faculty of the State Institute of Music
Education in Moscow, which is named af¬
ter Ippolitov-Ivanov.
Interview
Edison Denisov: I have three compositions
written at the request of Lev Mikhailov.2
The first is Oda for Clarinet, Piano, and
Percussion; the second is Sonata for Solo
Clarinet, and the third is titled Two Pieces
for Saxophone and Piano. The second
and the third compositions are dedicated
of
j ally sticks from the beginning of the second
The Clarinet
to Mikhailov, though actually I don't like
dedications.
There is a type of two-movement form
in this composition [Sonata for Solo Clar¬
inet] that was later reproduced in several
other compositions that I wrote. The most
recent examples of it are in Octet and in
my last composition, Sonata for Clarinet
and Piano.
Dmitry Shulgin: What are the character¬
istics of this type of two-movement form?
E. D. The idea is that both movements of
the diptych are based on a common theme.
The first movement is a kind of prelude. Its
nature is purely improvisational, but not ad
libitum. The difference is in the character
of the material itself, in its harmony and
its rhythmic interpretation: there are no
bar lines, not even the smallest element of
rhythmic ostinato, no two 16ths, or even
two eighths, in a row. The musical texture
changes continuously and freely. Because
these rhythmic structures are very compli¬
cated, there is a feeling of free improvisa¬
tion on the part of the clarinet.
D. S. The Sonata begins, as you usually do
it, with the pitch D4.3
E. D. Yes. The entire range of the clarinet
is actively used in the first movement. The
gradual development is directed upward
toward the climax, which is written in
the highest, most painfully tense register
of the clarinet. After that, everything de¬
scends and finishes at the lowest pitch of
the clarinet, again D3.4
The second movement is in complete
opposition to the first. The main principle
here is the one of developmental variation.
The texture of the music is continuously
changing and the meter shifts as well. In
addition, the rhythmic patterns are very
complex.
But there is another force that with¬
stands variation — the pitch which liter¬
movement and tries to stop or slow down
the overall motion. As a result you have the
illusion that two musicians — two clarinet¬
ists — are playing this composition, not
one. All this is a conflict of two structures:
the first one always renews itself, it works
constantly and without any reiteration; the
second — always ostinato, fighting for ex¬
pansion of its space in the music.
Also, each of these structures has mo¬
ments of climax. For the first structure the
climax is represented by spots of maximum
freedom, of free improvisational writing.
The second structure's climax is repre¬
sented by frequent repetition in different
rhythms of the pitch A , which somewhere
at the edges of its reiterations is mirrored
by G of the lower octave.
D. S. When I listened to the second move¬
ment, I occasionally experienced the feel¬
ing of humor.
E. D. That is good that you felt that. I sel¬
dom have a chance in my music to create
humor. But in this movement there is a
smile, I think.
D. S. Is this work being performed now?
E. D. Very much. I have not yet met a clar¬
inetist who hasn't played this sonata.
D. S. What would you like to see in the
performance of this composition?
E. D. First, there should be a stark contrast
between the first and the second move¬
ments. The second movement should be
played with perfect rhythm. Everything
should feel like a stretched spring: if this
tension drops, then all sense of movement
is lost. The choice of tempo, therefore, is
quite important here. I don't like to indi¬
cate metronome marks, because it limits
a performer and doesn't allow him to give
his personal interpretation of the music.
But the tempo should be selected in such
a way that the movement will not "sit on
the ground" — it should "fly" on staccato,
even on staccatissimo — "sharp pricks of
an incredibly sharp needle."
Furthermore, you may find other con¬
nections, some similarity to my Sonata for
Saxophone and Piano. There is a less im¬
portant connection, namely the work with
quarter-tones in the second movement of
each of the compositions.5
D. S. Finally, what is the most important
thing for you in a performance?
E. D. Character! The tempo may be
changed slightly, but if a player doesn't
perform the piece with true feeling, the
composition fails.
Shulgin's book. Insights from Edison
Denisov, contains several other interviews
in which Denisov explains his thinking
and the ideas that came to be realized in
his music. Many of them would be valu¬
able sources for performers of modern
Russian musical style.
End Notes
1
Denisov's father, a radiophysicist, named his son
after Thomas Edison, the famous American in¬
ventor. Dmitry Shostakovich had a strong influ¬
ence on Denisov's early work, but gradually he
found his own style. In fact, over time he chose
to distance himself from the neo-classical writing
of Shostakovich. Denisov's innovative approach
to twelve-tone technique could be described as
the "magic tool" that led him to new ways of re¬
vealing a greater expressiveness, deep emotional
feelings, and a lyricism that became key elements
in his compositional style.
2
Lev Mikhailov (1936-2003) was a well-known
Russian clarinetist and saxophonist; a professor
at the Moscow Conservatory; and an enthusias¬
tic commissioner and performer of new Russian
music.
3
Concert pitch.
4
In fact, the first movement of the sonata ends
with E3.
5
In fact, the quarter-tones are used in the first
movement of Sonata for Clarinet Solo, not in the
second.
About the Writer...
Born and raised in Russia, Vladislav Gor-
bich holds degrees from Sverdlovsk Mu¬
sical College and the Ural State Conserva¬
tory. He is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in
Clarinet Performance at the Arizona State
University, studying with Robert Spring.

INterlocheN
Arts Academy

Prior to returning to teach at Interlochen, Deborah Chodacki,
instructor of clarinet at Interlochen Arts Academy, was a
professor of clarinet at the University of Michigan for fifteen
years. She has taught and performed at festivals, music
academies and schools on four continents, including the
Montreux Festival in Switzerland, the Spoleto Festival of Two
Worlds in Italy, the Banff Center for the Arts, the Skaneateles
Chamber Music Festival and the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Orchestras she has performed with include: the Colorado Phil¬
harmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony,
the Toledo Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony, among
Interlochen Arts Academy is a fine arts
boarding high school that engages students
artistically and academically. A balance of
rehearsal, performance and college-preparatory
academics foster cross-disciplinary thinking,
preparing students for any professional endeavor.
Academy clarinet students have gone on to the finest
conservatories and schools of music and have
earned positions in such organizations as the Boston

Deborah Chodacki
Instructor of Clarinet
Interlochen Arts Academy
others. Deborah earned a bachelor of music in performance Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco
with distinction from the Eastman School of Music, study¬ Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and more.
ing with Stanley Hasty and a master of music in performance
from Northwestern University School of Music, studying with
Robert Marcellus.

www.interlochen.org

June 2009 35
 Anton Stapler's
A Translation
In the fall of 1799, Count Georg Fes-
tetics (1754-1819) sent Mozart's
clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812)
a letter consisting of 16 questions regard¬
ing the establishment of a music school on
his estate in Kesthely at the foot of Lake
Balaton (Plattensee). Stadler answered
these questions in a document he entitled
the Musick Plan, dated 10 July 1800, us¬
ing a different order for the questions.
The manuscript today is preserved at the
National-Bibliothek Zechenyi in Budapest
(Fol. Germ. 1434). Although the Count's
original letter is today lost, it is possible
to deduce the original 16 questions which
are as follows:
• Into how many classes, rooms, masters
is the school to be divided?
• For how many years and in which steps
shall the instruction be given?
• What text books are advised for lec¬
tures?
• Of what does musical aesthetics con¬
sist?
• What is the main style and what are the
names of the greatest masters in church
music?
• What are the names of the greatest
masters in theater and chamber music?
• How might one make as good musi¬
cians as the pupils of the school in Vi¬
enna, which one might use at the same
time on the estate for other occupations
such as in the office, etc.?
• How should chamber music be set up
and how much personnel is needed for
church music?
• With what kind of music must one
begin the students in order to prepare
them for good music and make them
capable of performing it?
• How is a small music library to be set
up?
It was for Anton Stadler, first clari¬
36
Music
With Introduction
by Pamela L. Poulin
Peabody Conservatory of Music
Johns Hopkins University
netist in the Royal and Imperial Orches¬
tra in Vienna, that Mozart composed his
Clarinet Concerto and Quintet. Stadler
was the preeminent clarinetist of his time
and shows his knowledge of fine musical
training in the document appearing below.
In 1791, he embarked on a tour of north¬
ern Europe showcasing Mozart's concerto
that took him to such cities at Prague, Ber¬
lin, Warsaw, Riga and as far away as St.
Petersburg, returning in 1796.a
Georg Festetics, a relative of the Es-
terhazy family, was a humanist of the en¬
lightenment who believed in improving
the lives of those living on his estate and
in the surrounding community and fol¬
lowing the reform ideas of Joseph II, who
abolished serfdom and torture and guar¬
anteed religious freedom. The Empress
Maria Theresa had bestowed an earldom
on his father, Paul Festetic, for his out¬
standing services in the improvement of
fruit tree cultivation and silkworm breed¬
ing. In 1790, Georg, after leaving military
service as a lieutenant colonel of the Hus¬
sars, took over the management of the ex¬
tensive estates inherited from his father.b
He established a professional agricultural
school called the "Georgikon" that is still
in operation.0
According to Constantin von Wurz-
bach, Biographisches Lex ikon des Kaiser-
thnms Osterreich, "In 1802, he [Georg]
joined with this institution ['Georgikon']
a three-year Franciscan cloister, a Latin
school and the subsequent five-class
secondary school, with which he then
connected a religious training school
for nobility, which he moved in 1809 to
Odenburg; also an elementary school, a
school for middle-class citizens, a draw¬
ing and music school, a seminary for vil¬
lage school masters, a hospital for free
care of indigent sick people and a spa,
which got its water from the tributary
The Clarinet
Plan:
of the natural warm spring of the Heviz
brook. The Count offered the Parliament
of 1802 40,000 florins for the erection of
a military academy in Hungary. In 1803,
he founded a cloister in Pesth and in 1814,
an institute for vaccination of sheep-pox
in Keszthely."d
The music school was set up in the
former Franciscan cloister and opened in
November 1800. Stadler hoped for the po¬
sition of head of the new school, but it was
given to another, Peter Stark, who taught
voice and piano at the school, creating
compositions from 1800-1810 for special
functions of the school. For example, a
cantata, Freudenschall, was performed by
the pupils for a visit by Archduke Joseph
and subsequently published by Chr. Gottl.
Taubel in Vienna with the following dedi¬
cation: "To his royal majesty the Arch¬
duke Joseph Palatin of Hungary, as the
All Highest, himself with most gracious
condescension viewed the music school
at Keszthely on the 23rd of August 1801,
set to music by Peter Stark, teacher at the
music school of Kesthely."e Additional
compositions by Stark (and male and fe¬
male members of the Festetics family) are
preserved at the Festetics palace.
The school is rarely mentioned from
1817 on, but mention is made in 1833 in
Thiele's Dad Konigreich Ungarn: "A clois¬
ter school for nobility, music and drawing
school founded by Count Festetics."
A translation of Stadler's Musick Plan
appears below.
Sfc ^ 5jC
"Since in these stormy times for suffer¬
ing music Your Most Gracious Highness
finds it worthwhile to offer such a rare and
noble plan for founding a music school on
our hereditary lands with all its require¬
ments, posterity must by rights one day be
grateful to you. For in this useful institution
not only will young artists be educated, but
worthwhile human beings will also be de¬
veloped. In music, more than any other art,
it is necessary that the aspiring students be
guided with wisdom in their studies, for
as the oldest philosophers say: Assentior
Platoni nihil tam facile in animos teneros,
atque molles influere quam varios canendi
sonos, quorum dici vix potest quanta sit
vis in utramque partem. Namque et incitat
languentes, et languefacit excitatos et turn
remitcit animos et turn contrahit. Cicero
de legibus L. IIdof. The students must be
guided with wisdom, for the general goal
is to attain well-trained minds through ed¬
ucation. Therefore, I am so bold (although
I am only a simple instrumentalist, neither
Kapellmeister nor Doctor of Music) to re¬
veal my thoughts to Your Most Gracious
Highness concerning this matter so far as I
am able according to my insight and expe¬
rience. I have the honor to answer the six¬
teen questions which Your Gracious High¬
ness wrote to me, and indeed the sixth,
seventh and eighth, into basically how
many classes, rooms, and masters a music
school should be divided and arranged.
Firstly, a proper music school and one
which conforms to its true purpose can, in
my opinion, be divided into five classes.
The first would be for singing and the sec¬
ond, for piano. The third class, for those
who have had at least a year of instruction
in piano together with voice, would be in
an organ school. The fourth would be for
violin and the fifth, a school for wind in¬
struments, so that before continuing on to
whatever instrument, whether their voices
be good or bad, each of these individuals
must have sung at least one year. The art
of singing teaches secure intonation and
correct tempi. Through the endless giv¬
ing of the beat, the division of the tempos
becomes habit. Singing stimulates feeling
and expression as well and leads to true
melody. Keyboard playing teaches both
melody and harmony which agrees with
the melody already produced. Thus, gradu¬
ally, through repeated hearing and practic¬
ing, keyboard playing gives guidance and
charm to one's own easy and customary
harmony. Then comes the so-called thor¬
ough-bass or organ playing, which teaches
recognition of every quality of musical in¬
terval together with the harmony pertain¬
ing thereto according to nature and makes
the student capable of finding and setting
the usual or altered chord for each of these
intervals of the figured bass. Herewith the
fifteenth question, "By what kind of music
must one begin the students in order to pre¬
pare them for good music and make them
capable of performing it?" is answered.
Thirdly [sic: secondly], how many
"rooms" are required in which to teach
music depends on the nature and space of
the building but most of all on the gener¬
osity of the Exalted Patron and what shall
be expended on it. To be sure, it would be
best if the singers, the pianists, the organ¬
ists (because they need a Positiv for the
holding of the tones), the violinists and the
wind instrumentalists each had their own
room. This also would be useful because
of the space (taken up) and the arrange¬
ment of many instruments themselves.
A further gain would arise, that all the
students would have the convenience to
practice [have lessons, rehearsals] in the
same hours, because the literary instruc¬
tion perhaps would be at the same hour for
all. However, if the building should not be
large enough, then teaching would have to
be done alternately in a large hall. All this
depends on the inner arrangement of the
institute, on the time which the students
have to use for other subjects, as well as
on the distribution of the teachers and
their other duties. It would always be pos¬
sible in actual practice to make changes
according to discretion.
Thirdly, in my opinion there should be
five teachers. Firstly, a good expert "sing¬
ing master" who can instruct the children
in ut, od, do, re, mi, fa, as well as in letters
and the correct text. In addition to Latin,
the teacher should also at least read and
write the Italian language and at the same
time have style in delivery. He should also
be able to teach the so-called master orna¬
ments, "Fioretti da maestro di majiiera,"
to those students who already can sing a
solo, a motet or an aria. He should also
be able to call the pupil's attention to the
sense and sensitive expression of the words
in addition to clear and pure diction. If one
does not understand the words of a singer,
then one can not judge either the worth of
the composition or the correct feeling in
expression and delivery of the singer.
Secondly, a piano teacher who plays
well and plays a great deal is needed.
One who has studied with the best teach¬
ers and has performed the best works of
these masters for his students as his favor¬
ite pieces, when such pupils, after being
June 2009
tested in theoretical knowledge, have pro¬
gressed so far as to study and to undertake
such works, themselves finding pleasure
in them. For, one must already be quite
advanced if one plays the works of Bach,
which break head and fingers and which
even the unforgettable Mozart always
played over. The student should also mas¬
ter Handel's, Mozart's, van Beethoven's,
Woelfl's and other composers' works.
It would also be recommended that the
pianists tune their instrument themselves
and be taught as well to string them and to
understand stringing according to number.
The organ players as well should be able to
adjust some pipes, which, more frequently
by chance or coldness, are out of tune. It is
particularly necessary to be able to do this
in the country for two reasons: for one's
own pleasure, as well as by necessity. This
is useful, pleasant, and necessary because
often an out-of-tune instrument is the rea¬
son that prevents many from pleasure in
entertaining or in studying, since one of¬
ten has to perform necessary chamber and
church music on out-of-tune instruments,
or even postpone the performance. It is a
slight effort to learn to do this oneself (i.e.,
tuning) and takes very little practice. See
on that point: Instruction on tuning [me¬
chanically] pianos, clavecins and organs in
all twelve tones so that all are equally pure,
so all such, major as well as minor, can
be played resonantly. In addition, see the
appended instruction on how one should
treat pianos properly and maintain them
well, by Berthold Frizen, piano instrument
maker in Braunschweig, Vienna, 1799.
Thirdly, a violin master is needed who
also understands the theory of his instru¬
ment, is capable of performing it, able to
conduct music and is able to teach an al¬
ready rather well-schooled pupil of violin
the rudiments of the violoncello. He should
also be able to teach the clef of the altviola
with which, to be sure, every singer and
piano player, together with the bass clef,
becomes acquainted anyhow. Moreover,
the alh'iola has everything in common
with the violin school and the school in
this way also attains the aim of saving a
master (i.e., one needs one less teacher).
As text, however, the New, Complete
Theoretical and Practical Violin School,
for teachers and students, published by
Leopold Mozart, father, J. Pierlinger, is
appropriate. First part/ with engravings
and many note examples. Vienna/ by
Christian Gottlob Taubel.
37
 Fourthly, a master on wind instruments
is needed. He would have to be a good
oboist or clarinetist, who should also un¬
derstand the bassoon, the English horn and
the basset horn. There would remain the
trumpet and French horn, which a master
can teach easily and on which a skilled
singer, once he has learned the so-called
tongue attack, can easily find his way.
Of the woodwind instruments, one must
also add that the masters should know how
to make the very necessary and customary
reeds themselves and as soon as possible
should instruct their pupils to make good
reeds, because a performer will seldom
progress very far on his instrument if he
cannot make reeds himself. He should be
able to repair his instrument with his own
hand, that is "leather" and also "feather,"
for which the necessary tools such as good
carving knives, small knives, files, screw¬
drivers, grind stone, small tongs, sealing
wax, leather, string and the like are nec¬
essary. The woodwind instruments should
also be cleaned frequently and well oiled
because they respond more easily, es¬
pecially in the summer and, at the same
time, must be guarded against early dete¬
rioration. Because, if a wind instrument
is not always in proper condition, so that
all parts (pins, pegs) are well wrapped, all
key covers secure and the reed responding
correctly, then the player can not feel sure.
His tone is uncertain, the bass whistles
and the high notes scream. Even if the art¬
ist has a great deal of talent, taste and good
delivery, his tone will nevertheless be bad
to the ear of the attentive music lover. To
the connoisseur it will be just as disagree¬
able as an attractive and artistically styl¬
ized, learned and entirely orthographi-
cally written composition which has been
scrawled with poor ink on coarse paper
and a miserable pen is to the reader ac¬
customed to calligraphy.
"For how many years and in what
stages should instruction be given?"
It is difficult to determine for how
many years music instruction should be
given, because it depends as much on the
kind of comprehensible delivery of the
teacher as on the desire and talent of the
learner. Still, I believe that one can assume
approximately six years, which is indeed
not much for the learning of the theoreti¬
cal and for, the time being, practical mu¬
sic, together with musical composition.
I figure two years for singing and piano
38
playing. After these two years the student
must be able to sight read most of the mu¬
sic, consequently he is already quite solid,
which is the main thing.
The third year is devoted to another
instrument, besides figured bass [thor¬
ough-bass]. The instrument, chosen by the
student himself, can be violin or a wind in¬
strument. Attention must be paid to the fact
that he pursues his studies with active ap¬
plication and that he is able to because he
has already had theory and tempo. Many,
however, should begin the second year [on
another instrument] and the younger and
smaller ones, the third year, because in
church music as well as chamber music,
it is necessary to augment the violins and
chorus, so that there would soon be space
enough in both places for accompanists.
In this way, all learners would always have
practice and none would be idle in a larger
work to be performed. Further, more prac¬
tical violin playing is also necessary for
musical composition. This is necessary so
that the student, when he composes mu¬
sic himself, should not write ineptly and
impractically for the violin. This is often
the case with great masters, who perhaps
in their youth did not have the instruction
and opportunity to learn the violin. I know
in Vienna a great conductor and also a fa¬
mous composer, who not until their thir¬
tieth year learned to play violin in order
to avoid the eternal questioning for each
work that they delivered. They learned to
play the violin as well as possible in order
to be able to compose for the instrument
works that were performable and to make
the execution easier for the performer.
The fourth year would be practi¬
cal practice of the figured bass for vocal
pieces at the piano or organ playing. For
those who do not wish to be organists,
however, there would be practice on their
chosen instrument. During these two years
each one can learn, first of all, thorough¬
bass in depth and also have made progress
on his chosen instrument.
There would also be those who, when
they enter the institute, were already musi¬
cal and nevertheless had attended theoreti¬
cal and practical instruction in this order, as
well as on the organ, as also on every other
instrument. During this time they would
have developed so far that they not only
could perform every musical service to the
general satisfaction, but also could already
function as correpitor [sic] and assistant for
the new group of developing beginners.
The Clarinet
The hours in all events could be ar¬
ranged thusly: Every morning a theoretical
discussion for beginners in general would
have to be introduced with question and
answers. Considering that we receive all
our knowledge through the outer senses,
certain symbols are necessary, which with
the help of our eyesight determine our will
to produce certain tones according to the
difference of the signs.
The first symbols of music are the old
and the new musical letters and notes, as
all the musical theorists call them, the now
customary lines and music keys, the tem¬
pos, the duration and value of the notes,
rests, dots and other musical signs and
technical terms of which a teacher himself
would have to prepare a compendium for a
lecture. These would be delivered in stages
that are relatively suited to the progress of
the students. Then the tone types, with
their various designations, as #, |>, ^ in major
and minor song, with their accidentals 1, |>,
ii, as also the customary modulations, the
customary transition into the Dominante
and the so-called Note sensible at the tran¬
sition. For, no pupil shall begin to sing or
play a piece before he has been quizzed
about the tempos, the division of the time
and the key, as well as the marking, be¬
cause he can only, in this way, have his
attention drawn to everything. The certain
theoretical knowledge would make him
banish all doubts during the performance
and make him able to perform correctly
and without shyness. This guards the per¬
forming artist from any mistakes, because
he can concentrate his whole effort on the
musical signatures before him and then is
able to think easily of taste and delivery.
After the theoretical instruction, a
practical hour should be held during the
same forenoon. The student could begin
his lesson after he has given the time, has
divided the first tempos, determined the
key with its symbols, has tuned his instru¬
ment properly and taken the proper posi¬
tion himself.
During this practical hour each teacher
must patiently and diligently remind the
pupil of the above noted theoretical rules,
demonstrate them to him during the per¬
formance and so unite theory and practice.
At the same time, he should hold strictly
to the expounded precepts and neither
overlook nor yield any point, be attentive
to correct intonation and allow no care¬
lessness or bungling to become a habit.
For the afternoon, there would be another
such practical hour.
Then, every week a general rehearsal
at least once of the assigned pieces. This
general hour of rehearsal could take place
on days when there was little or nothing to
do in the schools.
Presuming that the pupils were already
so advanced that they had actually stud¬
ied a piece to be performed, it would be
my opinion that, first of all, each one learn
his part correctly by himself and rehearse
it with his teacher. Then, let one take, if
it were, for example, a four-voiced mass:
all four parts together and repeat it with
the pupils as long as until the tempo and
the correct intonation are attained. Fi¬
nally, teach each to perceive where he has
the dominant part or where he is simply
ripienist and determine for him the rules
for his performance, the so-called piano,
forte, crescendo, decrescendo, rallentardo,
etc. Finally, if the opportunity permits,
lead him first to simple well-sounding
ornamentations for whose harmony and
prompt arrangement one has likewise to
give him comprehension and insight. All
this applies also to a symphony, quartet or
quintet, etc., as also to many-voiced pieces
and wind instrument compositions.
In a short time, a chorus, trained uni¬
formly and thoroughly will have made
good progress, because the young people
grow together in a certain intimacy and
friendship and with the music. The inner
harmony along with habit adds a great
deal towards a good performance. Lis¬
ten to an orchestra of average dilettantes
trained together in a friendly circle and
another one of so-called virtuosi hurriedly
gathered together.
if a certain type of music has not been es¬
pecially ordered, he himself can choose,
what and how he wishes, for whatever
instruments and can set them together as
he pleases. Thus, he is justified to set be¬
fore his public, under any name, serious
or frivolous pieces such as quartet, quin¬
tet, sextet, septet, octet, Parthie, serenade,
trio, duo, solo, etc.
The theater style is in every respect
the most difficult undertaking in regard to
aesthetics as well as to artistry and taste.
It is the touchstone of fame or the way to
banishment out of the musical Parnassus,
which is viewed as instantaneous, musical
martial law. Because the composer who
writes for the theater is generally judged
adversely forever at the first performance
and seldom after the public's first verdict
does a recall take place. Still less, after de¬
cided pronouncement of judgment, is an
appeal to be thought of to the implacable
listener who is rarely without prejudice or
who listens with distracted attention. To be
sure, the gracious higher, middle and gen¬
eral public also has its peculiar moods with
all kinds of attributes, pretensions and af¬
fectations and who [these segments of so¬
ciety] must present the strongest contrast to
the often unprejudiced unfamiliar listener,
who has not studied the theater humors. He
can not know that for this lady, for exam¬
ple, the cards were unfavorable yesterday.
The young gentleman has been jilted by his
sweetheart. The official has been passed
over in advancement. The probationer has
not yet received his pay. The author has re¬
ceived no advance subscription. The usurer
has won only 99 percent interest and the
cadet who has served only twenty-four
hours is not already F.Z.M [a higher rank].
In such a mood, in large part, the public
condemns the author, composer, actor, per¬
forming artists and his final judgment is
spoken. And the result of such a reception
of an artist can easily be understood.
Moreover, each theater has its own
clique, its Benjamins, its sweethearts, who
seek favors and often one can not or may
not refuse for many reasons, according
to whether they are in good repute with
various families or well-received by them.
Also, there often are at a first performance
of an opera paid claques for and against,
who make use of everything: either clap
their leathery hands until they are sore for
the good reception of the performance, or,
for the opposite side, to yell numberless
boo's and whistle themselves hoarse.

What is the Main Style?

First, to be sure, the main style in music
is threefold, because we assume three dif¬
ferent classes of music: namely, church,
theater and chamber music. The church
style remains the main style or the basis,
because it is the first regularly bound and
circumscribed manner of composition
which has to be observed most strictly,
absolutely and without exception, particu¬
larly in the alle Capella style, where only
four-voiced or many-voiced is sung. Only
then does church music come to the so-
called florid style, with accompaniment of
the organ and other instruments.
Second. In the style of chamber music,
the composer is absolute master, because.
June 2009 39
 From which it is plainly evident that the
artist not only must be certain of his sub¬
ject, but also must conduct himself calmly,
so that he, by his good manners and his
modesty, has the public as his friend. He
would also have all artists and particularly
his colleagues on his side, which points to
the more detailed manner of conduct of
the artist and the necessary training which
follows below.
The text books for elocution [delivery]
as well as for most instruments, such as
singing, piano, violin, flute and figured
bass and organ school, together with
instruction for composition and a few
learned treatises about music in general
will appear in the appendix, as also ques¬
tion ten, the greatest, most famous masters
of every kind.
How should chamber
music should be set up,
according to its type?
Should it be vocal or
instrumental or both?
Every great instrumental music requires,
first, at least four violins, also 2 altviolas,
1 violoncello and a double bass, 2 oboes,
2 flutes. 2 comets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets
and timpani. If singers are included, also a
clavichord or fortepiano is needed. Singers
are needed according to what is performed,
a single aria, a duet with 2 sopranos, so¬
prano and alto, soprano and tenor, soprano
and bass and so vice versa, also together a
3, 4, 5, 6, 7 voiced vocal music or even a
whole chorus, whereby the voices, as many
as one has of them, as also the string instru¬
ments according to the proportion of the
singers, must be doubled.
Consequently, a small chamber music
group could well and adequately consist
of 4 singers, 4 violins, 2 violas, 1 cello,
1 double bass, 2 oboes, 2 flutes, 2 clari¬
nets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 1 drum, al¬
together 23, counting a pianist, it makes
24 persons. In church music, the pianist is
changed to organist.
For theatre music the same would be
needed, except only for the incidental ad¬
ditional singers and again more chorus
singers and more string instruments if the
circumstances require it, if the personnel
has already increased more.
In addition, comes the so-called wind
Hannonie or "Tafel" music [table or din¬
ner music], which usually consists of 8 in¬
struments, namely 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2
horns and 2 bassoons, because more Har-
monie pieces are composed in this way.
One can also use flutes for it [the Har-
monie]. However, the music for it must be
composed especially. In addition, the now
customary octave [contra] bassoon, which
has nothing to do but play along with the
bass notes or essential notes, is very effec¬
tive and requires only one instrument and
one person more. It can also be played by
any bassoonist if he practices a short time.
The octave bassoon serves to strengthen
and perfect and also helps in easing and
assisting the wind players. If one wishes
to use him for the larger newer composi¬
tions of Haydn and other composers for
"whole music" [full orchestra'?], then he
can at times be used appropriately for so¬
los as well as for strengthening the main
tutti with good effect.
Since we ascribe an aesthetic power to
every matter of taste, insofar as it is able
to generate an emotion in us, so the com¬
poser must mainly be concerned with the
aesthetic power in the music. The usual in¬
cidental powers of the fine arts, as Sulzer
says in his Theory of the Fine Arts and
Scholarship in the Third Part, p. 16, are

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the "new," the "unexpected," the "extraor¬
dinary," the "great," the "wondrous": the
really essential powers. However, these
can only be of three kinds and arise out of
"perfection," "beauty," and "goodness" or
out of attributes contrary to these.
About Aesthetics
Musical aesthetic is naturally that which is
in every other art and science, namely the
"unique," "true," "beautiful," "good" and
"perfect." Making it applicable to music
can only mean musical composition, where
the beautiful, taste, as well as the sense of
the writer, the purpose of the whole, as also
the costume of the time, the custom and
manners of the various peoples stand out.
This fully accords with the true expres¬
sion, provided that it be likewise the poetic.
And this art appears thus to have the most
similarity with the poetic, art and painting,
where also now by a nuance or energy the
especially outstanding buoyancy gener¬
ally strikes forth like lightning. Therefore,
Rousseau says in his Dictionary of Music,
"Musicians read little, give their many
ideas and points to emotions," which is
very natural, for how can a composer, for
example, set a moral, critical, juristic, etc.
treatise to music? He needs strong ideas
and passions, which he, when he is so led,
through his knowledge attained through
other scholarship, will be able to judge
easily and cultivate. This I will explain as I
deal further with his education.
For it would be very unsuitable, if
he set before a noisy Moslem a German
shepherd melody, for the serious jealous
Spaniard, a French trifling chansonette,
for the tender lover, an intoxicating aria,
and for the languishing beauty, a throaty
piece with noisy passages, etc. All would
be striking errors of taste, of the necessary
power of judgment and, in general, errors
against aesthetics. Therefore, every com¬
poser whatever his style of writing should
diligently search through the scores of the
most famous masters of this branch and
study them, take the text book into ac¬
count and with all deliberation investigate
the true causes: why and for what kind of
reasons it was written thus and not other¬
wise, how the author introduces his plans
and in what manner he continues his work
and how he step by step follows the poet,
where he deviates from him, that is, finds
the material too dry or too unimportant,
or in what kind of a situation he seeks to
The Clarinet
use the so-called poetic license. So, all this
appears, therefore, in accordance with the
whole, melodic and harmonic, powerful
and striking, causes no boredom, always
surprises, increases the expectation and
tension and forces the voluntary attention
of the listener, and also fills him with de¬
sire for what is to follow.
In this manner the plan of a work is
well-considered, correctly introduced and
appropriately performed, be it church, the¬
atre or chamber style. The accompanying
musician need only to follow exactly the
prescribed annotations and markings of
the composition in order to present the
work perfectly, to fulfill the duty which
the performer owes, to pay attention to
the proper shadow and light. So when the
required expression is strictly observed
everywhere, the work has been performed
with aesthetic correctness, it will certainly
fulfill its purpose and be received with ap¬
proval. But much insight, patience and
time is necessary in order to perform a mu¬
sical piece so that connoisseurs and music
lovers as well as performers themselves
find pleasure in it. And here much depends
on the direction of the conductor or music
director, his manner and on his bearing to¬
wards the accompanying artist, whom he
should treat with courtesy, who is not to be
shouted at when he makes a mistake, nor
even less made ridiculous, nor be treated
with irony. Otherwise, the artist loses his
composure, his attentiveness is lost even
more, because a heart put to shame or an
embittered spirit is no longer capable of a
gentle and cooperative feeling, if once the
presence of mind has been upset.
Finally, there remains the art of setting
music or musical composition. Every ex¬
pert of the art is convinced that it can be
taught to the musical apprentice only after
he has fully mastered the practical as well
as the theoretical art of singing, together
with piano playing, the figured bass with
all its rules, as also the knowledge of all
the remaining customary instruments to¬
gether with the periphery of their tones
[range] and manner of execution. He must
also in addition have well and diligently
studied the mathematical proportions and
ratios, without these making him a circle
[compass] harmonist. To be sure many
believe that they, simply by knowing dry,
geometric relationships, can compose mu¬
sic. The rules of composition alone, to be
sure, everyone can understand, the way he
can learn the rules of arithmetic, the rules
of poetry or the grammar of a language.
However, if he is to be a true composer,
he should express every kind of poetry ac¬
cording to the sense of the poet, as much
as the nature of the art allows, to make it
comprehensible to the text-reading listener
and to express the words appropriately, at
least according to the accepted musical
declamation system. Insofar as he has not
invented something newer through skill
and much studying of scores, he must also
study the whole tone and time order, ev¬
ery rhythm, every modulation, the musi¬
cal prosody and the entire knowledge of
harmony, understand double counterpoint,
etc., and in addition also possess talent
similar to that of a great poet and painter
"quia poeta nascitur rethor [sic] fit" [For as
poet one is born, as speaker one is trained].
All this is necessary because music is
one of the greatest arts, for which much
is demanded when one wants to learn it
thoroughly. By the following demonstra¬
tions and annotations I have, at the same
time, the honor to answer Your Gracious
Highness's 12th question: "How one could
make as good musicians as the pupils of
the school in Vienna, which one could use
at the same time on the estate for other oc¬
cupations such as in the office, etc.?"
1. Cicero in the Tusculanic questions in
the First Book writes, "The Greeks
were of the opinion that the greatest
erudition is contained in music."
2. A scholar, Aristophanis, maintains:
"Under the name of music scholar, a
man was meant who was capable of all
learning."
3. Plato says music is great world wis¬
dom. This is affirmed also by:
4. The famous Herr Richey in Hamburg
when he writes in a letter to be found in
Matheson's Crit. Mus. Part II: "Music
is an active world wisdom." Whoever
wants to understand music must know
the whole world wisdom and mathe¬
matics, poetry, elocution, art and many
languages. In order therefore to spend
one's lifetime with music, one must
test oneself first, whether nature has
endowed one with the necessary quali¬
fications and gifts for it.
The above cited examples illuminate
clearly that a pupil who possesses this
preparatory knowledge could very easily
be used in every other occupation. Should
he find during his apprentice time another
branch of study which suits him better, so
let him go into it. The main thing is that
he only becomes more useful, because his
patronage and the state thereby gain a use¬
ful member unexpectedly, since calling
and inclination have been chosen of them¬
selves. Would that such fortunate errors
and changes happened frequently so cer¬
tainly, so that at times a capable student
without so-called calling, by various side
paths would come to be preferred to the
chosen ones.
We still have living examples of musi¬
cians, who have been brought up in certain
institutions, who accompany many great
and eminent state officials. Never, how¬
ever, has an official become a conductor.
[This is still a great remark!]
Education, therefore, and literature are
necessary for the true musician if he wants
to become great. If he is entirely without
all other knowledge, he becomes only a
half-thing, and so he, unfortunately, one
of the messed-up musician souls whom
daily experience proves are either arrogant,
proud, pushy, quarrelsome, unbending, un¬
bearable, or, indeed, stupid asses. For this
reason, in addition, he is distrustful of those
who disregard him as someone who is lack¬
ing in the other sciences, even if he also has
the best character and the noblest heart.
Daily experience unfortunately shows
us the way of native and foreign anus vir¬
tuosi who because of their conceit over
all, in whatever kind of land customs and
habits they brought with them, awkwardly
stumble along. They permit themselves
unlimited liberties to denigrate their art
by baseness and make their memory hated
everywhere.
Unfortunately, I have had to see such
types myself on my trips and still possess,
saved as proof, silhouettes of two such
uncouth fellows. A noble, upright, emi¬
nent Northlander tore these silhouettes out
of his souvenir book with a kind of rage,
while he handed them to me with these
words: "Friend! Should you see these two
again, when fate some time should bring
you safely over the stormy waves of the
Baltic Sea to the south, so show these
rogues their silhouettes together with their
own stupid, mispellt, affected signatures
and tell them how unworthy they were be¬
cause of a number of mean deeds to every¬
one's friendship and particularly to mine."
And so because of the above given rea¬
sons I have considered it not unsuitable to
June 2009
make the developing artist more closely
acquainted with his vocation and the pur¬
pose of his calling and to urge him par¬
ticularly to morality.
Because if he is in the church, he works
for the honor of God, consequently his be¬
havior must be honorable, his gestures,
modes and his performance sensitive and
uplifting.
If he is in the theatre, his bearing should
be calm, his behavior proper and his atten¬
tion should be directed towards the con¬
ductor as well as the music director, as
well as towards the performing singers on
the stage and to the instrumentalists play¬
ing soli in the orchestra. He should not
cover the soloists too much, neither out of
ignorance nor malice, neither hold back
alone in tempo nor press on, but always
adjust to the conductor's or the music di¬
rector's signal without willfulness. The
conductor or music director have them¬
selves already determined and indicated
their action to the singer and soloist. So
also will they help him out with patience
should he make a mistake and bring him
back in line. For otherwise often the pub¬
lic, who pay well, or the invited guest, is
deceived and is distracted in his attention
by the stupid caprice of such a restless
spirit and his pleasure destroyed. From
singers and actors of this kind of egotist,
we can see almost daily edifying tricks of
which I, if it were suitable here, could re¬
cite a whole litany.
For chamber music all of the above
rules are valid in regard to behavior and
musical accompaniment. As in the the¬
atre, the artist, in addition, must, in the
presence of his employer who gives him
bread, and in the company of aristocratic
gentlemen and guests, never be unwilling,
quarrelsome or flare up in anger, but al¬
ways comport himself well and modestly.
He should never censure another's chance
mistake publicly, nor make him ridiculous,
for his own turn might come directly af¬
terward. In this way, his employer for his
many expenses gains honor, the company,
true pleasure; the artist himself, however,
earns and deserves genuine approval in
every respect. And so an exact manner
of performance following the rules of art
as well as in knowledge, in morality, in a
choir trained in proper behavior must, if
the above shown are strictly adhered to,
in time provoke general admiration. The
artist gains, for the exalted philanthropic
43
founder, boundless fame and honor, gives
true pleasure to every connoisseur and
music lover and provides the young art¬
ists, who were educated in such a benevo¬
lent institution, a sufficient livelihood and
ever enduring approval. Only it would be
desirable that either a capable conductor
or understanding musician could be em¬
ployed for guidance and training of these
pupils, so that this work begun with so
much cost and effort could be continued
in strict order and honor and never come
to a standstill.
Therefore, Gracious Sir! As Serius
once said to the Romans, which the Greeks
would have deserved (ad Aeneid: L: VI):
"Nullam maiores nostri artem esse voluer-
ant, quae non aliquid reipublicae commo-
daret." ["Our forefathers wished that there
be no art which does not in some way ben¬
efit the state."] Not only for these benefits
but for every important improvement of
yours which benefits men and state can
men call out with delight that they pos¬
sess a great benefactor, who devotes his
wealth to unfortunate humanity, to learn¬
ing, to fine arts and science and to the
improvement of every branch of endeavor
and thereby principally to the education of
youth who otherwise would be left to their
fate, to offer all this to them solely out of
the desire to do good.
May heaven give your great nation suc¬
cessors who think so nobly; and soon, this
already so famous nation, whose land has
been so richly blessed with abundance,
would soar up to a degree of perfection
which would earn the envy and admiration
of the world.
Most gracious Count, if you accept the
attempt of my obedience and good will
graciously and with indulgence, I will
eternally count myself fortunate that you
have permitted me to present my small
knowledge, which I, as a simple composer
have presented here to Your Highness's
wise judgment on approval.
I recommend myself to your indulgence
and grace, remain in deepest respect
Your Grace's most obedient servant
Anton Stalder mpia.
Anton Stadler Musician of the Royal
& Imperial National Court Theatre
Vienna, July 10, 1800"
Bibliography
44
Compositions and
Thorough-bass Books
1. Gradus ad Parnassum, sive manduc-
tio ad compositionem Musicae regu-
larum pp.
Elaborata
Joanne Fux s.c. ac regiae Cathol.
Maj. Caroli VI. Romanorum Impera-
toris Supremo Chori Pra[e]fecto. Vi-
enne 1725. In German with Mitzler's
Annotations.
2. Das K.K. Hoforganisten Composi¬
tions Buch.
3. Manfredini's Regole.
4. Matheson's Stern melodischer Wis-
senschaften, Hamburg.
5. Handbuch bei den Generalbass und
Composition, mit 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
und mehr Stimmen fiir Anfanger und
Geiibtere. Franz Wilhelm Marpurg,
Berlin.
6. Rieppel's Anfangsgriinde zur musika-
lischen Serzkunst pp Regensburg und
Wien.
7. Georg Fr. Lingkens Churfiirstl. Ber-
graths kurze Musiklehre, Leipzig,
Breitkopf, 1779.
8. Padre Martini Storia della Musica.
Ro[u]seau Dictionaire de Musique.
9. Rameau V: Generation harmonique.
Ex. XXX pp
10. Uber den Ausdruck in der Musik ha-
ben besondere Werke geschrieben
Chr. Avison Essay on Musical
Expression, London, 1779.
11. Hr. Engel iiber die musikalische
Mahlerey, Berlin, 1780. 8.
12. Von den musikalischen Ausdruck
der verschiedenen Klangfiisse, und
den Arten desselben wird im 60ten
und f: br. Der krit[i]sch. Briefe iiber
die Tonkunst Berlin, 1759 u. s. f. 8.
- und von dem Ausdrucke in der Vo¬
cal Musik, und was dieses hier ist und
heisst in der Schrift iiber das Recitativ.
Bilblio. der schonen Wissenschaften,
Berlin, 12, Seite 219 u. f: gehandelt.
13. Uber den Ausdruck des Ausrufs in der
Musik ist die Abhandlung iiber das
Recitativ in der Biblio. der schonen
Kiinste und Wissenschaften: Berlin 2,
Seite 223 nachzulesen.
14. Euleri Tentamen novae Theorae Mus.
C. 1. 13.
15. For the aesthetic art of tone, see Selt¬
zer's Theories der schoner Kiinste
and Herder's Untrusting uber den
Urspring der Sprachen, welche den
The Clarinet
Preis der Berliner Academic erhielt.
16. Kirnberger's Kunst des reinen Satzes
in der Musik.
17. Allgavotti Saggio sopra 1'Opera.
18. Hugenii Cosmotheoreas L: 1. open
variat: T III.
19. Murchhauser hohe Schule der
musikal. Composition.
20. Heiniglchlen's Anweisung zum Gen¬
eralbass
21. Galilaei, Dialoge della Mus. antica e
moderna.
22. L'Abbe le Boef. Traite historique et
practique sur le chant ecclesiastique,
Paris.
23. Krause, von der musikalischen Po-
esie.
24. Riedel's Werke.
25. Sulzer's Theorie der schonen Kunste.
26. Bibliothek der schonen Kunste und
Wissenschaften, Berlin.
27. [C,P.E. Bach] Uber die wahre Art das
Clavier zu spielen.
28. Exposition de la Theorie, et de la
practique, de la Musique, par Mr. de
Bethizy Ch: XVII art. 3
29. Matheson'svolkommenerCapellmeis-
ter.
Bach's Generalbass.
Albrechtsberger's Generalbass.
Gagl d"
Marpurg's Singkunst.
Tosi's Anleitung zur Singkunst
nach Agricola Ubersetzung.
L'Art de toucher le Clav. Par Mr.
Couperin, a Paris, 1717.
Quan[t]z Flotten Schule, Berlin.
For oboe, the practical method
written by Peozzi.
Violin Schule as above.
Clarinette Schule [written] by
myself coming soon.g
Of the remaining instruments
that up to now are not known to me, I
will in a short time have the honor to
give more precise information.
As well as about all the old and
newer masters famous in Italy, for
which my correspondent has not yet
sent me the promised list, and in the
meantime I will give here a few of the
best-known and most famous in each
style.
Church Music
Pergolesi, whose famous Sta-
bat Mater is a masterwork. Hasse,
Seitelmann, Telemann, Reuter, Mo¬
zart, Kraus, Thuma, Gassmann, Fux,
 Hofmann, Bonno, Wanhal, Joseph
Hayden [sic], Michel Hayden [sic],
Foster, Cartel[l]ieri, Naumann, Al-
brechtsberger, Eibler, Schuster,
Graun, Handel, Pleiel [Pleyel]. pp.
Opera Composers
Gluck, Hasse, Gulielmi, Paisello,
Cimarosa, Sarti, Picini [sic], Grettry
[sic], Salieri, Mozart, J. Hayden [sic].
Beer, Weigel, Righini, Himmel, Sale-
sandri, Naumann, Schuster, Seitel-
mann Reichard, Martin, Siissmayr,
Miiller, Wranitzky, Schenck, v. Dit-
tersdorf, Cartel[l]ieri, Hofmeister,
Kraus.
Chamber Music
Handel, Hayden [sic], Mozart,
Pleyel, Graun, Gromer, van Be[e]
thoven, Woelfl, Wranitzky Paul,
Wranitzky Anton, Hayden [sic] Mi¬
chael, Cartellieri, Hofmeister, Wan¬
hal, Freystiidter, Eibler, Forster, Fux,
Boessinger, Hofmann, Kraus, Righini
pp.
In order to obtain detailed informa¬
tion of all the best known classes of music
pieces and their masters more easily, the
printed catalogs of music dealers offer the
best service. Karl Kempa. "A keszthelyi Festectics-fele ze-
neiskola," Dundntiili Helikon, 1. Jg, Nr. 2^,
Gyor, 1938, p. 171.
End Notes
I agree with Plato that nothing flows so easily
a Pamela L. Poulin, "A View of Eighteenth-Cen¬ into tender and sensitive minds as music. One
tury Musical Life and Training: Anton Stadler's can scarcely say how great its influence is for two
Musick Plan," Music and Letters 71/2 (May reasons: it stimulates the sluggish and calms the
1990): 215-224; Ibid.. "Discoveries in Riga: excited, now it relaxes the mind and then it tenses
What Stadler's Basset Clarinet Looked Like and it again.
the First Documented Performance of Mozart's The promised method does not appear to have
Clarinet Concerto," Journal of the American been published.
Musical Instrument Society (1996); Ibid., "An
Updated Report on New Information Regarding
Stadler's Concert Tour of Europe," The Clarinet
22/2 (1995): 24-28; Ibid., "A Report on New
Information Regarding Stadler's Concert Tour
of Europe," Mozart Jahrbuch (1992):946-955; The
Ibid., "A Little-Known Letter of Anton Stadler,"
Music and Letters 69/2 (January 1988): 49-56;
and Ibid., "The Bassett Clarinet of Anton Sta¬ Clarinet
dler," College Music Symposium 22/2 (Fall
1982): 67-82. PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
b See Ernst Hess, Mozart Jahrbuch (1962-3): 37- The magazine is usually
54, in which the citations which follow below are
found. T. Koppany, P. Peczely and k. Sagi, Kesz- mailed during the last week
thely (Budapest, 1962), p. 56. of February, May, August
c In 1987, the present writer visited the Festetics
palace, estate and site of the music school. The and November. Delivery
estate and palace had been in the Festetics family time within North America
until 1938 and the palace, open to view by the is normally 10-14 days,
public, in pristine condition and the site of music
concerts today, has its original furnishings, while airmail delivery time
d Constantin von Wurzbach, Biographisches outside of North America is
Lexikon des Kaiserthums Osterreich (Wien,
7-10 days.
1868) Bd. IV, pp. 209-10.

Andrew Marriner Andy Firth

Principal Clarinet International
London Symphony Jazz Artist

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June 2009 45

UltZ/iboruogiziphic, tfiweAtigatuon,
oft ClabUut fy/ultipU, -flttiadatwn
by Josh Gardner
Introduction1
Articulation and voicing, both in¬
volving highly refined tongue
motion, are the primary intraoral
mechanics that teachers must address with
students of all ages and abilities. Articula¬
tion presents the most evident tongue mo¬
tion during clarinet performance. During
single articulation, the tongue moves from
a resting position to touch the reed and then
returns to the resting position, continuing
in a cycle defined by the articulation pat¬
tern of the music being played. Multiple
articulation adds a posterior articulation,
with the tongue moving in a compound cy¬
cle: touching the reed, followed by a pos¬
terior tongue segment touching the hard
palate. Voicing is more obscure because
the tongue moves only slightly between
adjacent notes. When teaching, clarinet¬
ists typically use spoken vowel sounds to
approximate the appropriate tongue posi¬
tions for specific registers or notes; how¬
ever, these phonetic syllables may not be
entirely accurate. Syllables are also used
to teach articulation; however, the conso¬
nant context of the syllable (such as III in
"tee") moves the tongue in the general lo¬
cation with correct motion to complete the
articulation (to either the tip of the reed or
the hard palate), while the vowel compo¬
nent shapes the rest of the tongue during
the articulation and between articulations.
This shape may or may not be correct.
Ultrasonographic imaging allows re¬
searchers to qualitatively observe tongue
motion and measure this motion for further
quantitative analysis. The dimensionality
of the data is reduced by limiting obser¬
vation to tongue contours within a single
plane. Comparing tongue motion of per¬
formance and the pedagogical tools used to
manipulate the tongue may help clarinetists
improve the way they teach various aspects
of clarinet performance, primarily articula¬
tion and voicing. The purposes of this pa¬
per are to introduce ultrasound as a means
of observing the tongue during clarinet
performance and to offer suggestions for
implementing the protocol as an effective
diagnostic tool. The context of the study
involves comparing tongue motion during
46
multiple articulation and the speech sylla¬
bles normally used to teach the technique.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound has proven to be a safe and
valuable imaging technique for measur¬
ing tongue motion.2 The Vocal Tract Vi¬
sualization Laboratory (VTV Lab) at the
University of Maryland Dental School is
dedicated to tongue research using various
means of observation, including magnetic
resonance imaging and ultrasound. The
director of the lab, Maureen Stone, has
helped pioneer the use of ultrasound as a
reliable means of quantifiably analyzing
tongue motion using ultrasound.3 With her
cooperation, we successfully adapted the
VTV Lab's ultrasound imaging protocol
to observe and measure tongue motion
during clarinet performance. A detailed
explanation of the necessary protocol ad¬
aptations and limitations will be available
in the author's dissertation under the same
title, to be published May 2009.
Procedure
Exercise:
Seven articulation exercises were per¬
formed, each consisting of six to eight
beats of sixteenth-notes on El, E2, B2, E3,
B3, E4, and B4 at 40 bpm.4 Eight speech
exercises were imaged as well, using syl¬
lables commonly used to teach multiple
articulation. These include ti/ki, di/gi, tu/
ku, du/gu, teh/keh, deh/geh, ta/ka, and da/
ga.5 They were spoken to the same rhythm
and tempo as the performance exercises.
These combinations were chosen based on
syllable suggestions from selected peda¬
gogical materials for single and double
reed instruments.6 A slow tempo was nec¬
essary due to the temporal resolution of
the ultrasound machine (28 Hz). At faster
articulation rates, data is lost because of
motion between samples.
Data acquisition
According to Stone, et al, "the slightest
movement of the head will cause rotation
or translation of the transducer, resulting in
an off-plane image."7 The VTV Lab utilizes
The Clarinet
a device called the Head and Transducer
Support (HATS) system that addresses
such issues by immobilizing the head and
the transducer. For this study, one subject
was locked into the HATS system and im¬
aged playing seven exercises on the clari¬
net and speaking eight speech exercises.
The transducer is positioned under the
chin (submentally), allowing the emanated
sound waves to pass between the jawbone
and the hyoid bone. Ultrasound images a
"slice" that is approximately 2 millimeters
thick within a given plane.8 For this study,
we imaged the midsagittal plane (the mid-
line of the tongue, back to front). Once the
transducer had been positioned satisfacto¬
rily, the subject performed the selected ex¬
ercises. All data was collected in the same
session to ensure consistent placement of
the transducer and head.
All digital video and audio was re¬
corded on a Macintosh G5 using Final Cut
Pro and an analog backup of the entire
session was recorded to VHS. The digital
video and audio were recorded as uncom¬
pressed AVI files, thus not compromising
image or audio quality. With a scan rate of
28 Hz, even short exercises have an im¬
mense amount of data. The videos were
then saved as image sequences, extracted
at 29.97 fps, and the audio tracks were
saved as separate files. The images were
saved in the JPEG compressed format,
which reduce file size without compro¬
mising image quality.9 Although the audio
files contain valuable data, they were not
used for this study.
Contour Extraction
The images were imported into an edge
detection application, from which two-di¬
mensional tongue contours were extracted.
The software application used for edge de¬
tection and extraction is named EdgeTrak,
designed by the VTV Lab.10 EdgeTrak is
a semi-automatic edge detection applica¬
tion that assists in identifying tongue con¬
tours. The user inputs several points along
an initial tongue contour and the program
interpolates a user-definable number of
points along that contour. Additionally, the
program uses that initial contour to auto¬
matically track contours for the following
frames in the sequence. In most cases, how¬
ever, it was necessary to adjust the automat¬
ically extracted contours manually. The se¬
quence of contours, represented by a series
of x-y coordinates, is saved as a CON file,
which can be opened in Excel or CAVITE,
another program designed by the Lab.

The Data
Figure 1 is a raw ultrasound image ex¬
tracted from the digital video with labels
added for reference. Because much of
the space on an ultrasound image is not
needed for analysis, several items have
been added, including a video of the lower
right side of the subject's head, including
the jaw, the transducer, and the clarinet
mouthpiece, a video timer, which allows
precise identification of each image, and
exercise information at the top of the im¬
age that was typed into the ultrasound ma¬
chine during the recording session.
The lower edge of the bright white line
in the middle of the image represents the
surface of the tongue.11 This particular
image was recorded during a chromatic
scale exercise and displays the midsagittal
tongue contour at altissimo C. The image
includes much more information than we
need, so EdgeTrak is used to export only
the x-y coordinates of the tongue contour.
Figure 2 is a screenshot from EdgeT¬
rak. The green box identifies the area con¬
taining motion in which we are interested.
The red dots outline the tongue surface
contour, measured in pixels from the top
of the image. The user can define the num¬
ber of points per contour. For this study,
100 points were extrapolated from each
contour. The two green "X" marks on the
left are scaling marks, which are placed
manually on the ultrasound scaling marks,
allowing the program to convert the pixel
measurements to millimeters. This par¬
ticular recording session yielded 32 pix-
SHi»E^-E3-swez»ei«B*-
kofTcnguc lioroof Icvik
"a—:c- dd:3E:H5:B5 70,
Figure 1. Ultrasound image with features
labeled. This single window contains a
significant amount of important informa¬
tion in addition to the actual image of the
tongue. This information helps identify
specific frames within the sequence, ul¬
trasound machine settings, and possible
movement of the subject or the transducer.
Note that the viewable area of the tongue
is limited by the shadows of the hyoid bone
and the jaw bone.
Figure 2. Screenshot from EdgeTrak. The
red dots represent the tongue surface con¬
tour. The green box designates the area of
interest. Green "X" marks are placed on
the ultrasound scaling marks on the left of
the image, allowing the program to con¬
vert pixel measurements to millimeters.
els per centimeter. When the contours are
exported from the program as a CON file,
all measurements are converted to milli¬
meters using a scaling factor based on the
ratio of pixels to one centimeter.
Managing the data
Fifteen exercises were used for this study:
eight spoken exercises, and seven per¬
formed exercises. Each exercise is ap¬
proximately 30 seconds in length with in¬
dividual images extracted at 29.97 frames
per second, thus comprising an immense
amount of raw data. In order to process
this data efficiently, the images need to
be organized in a logical manner. In addi¬
tion, EdgeTrak cannot easily handle large
frame sequences.12
The naturally cyclic, or periodic, motion
of the tongue during continuous articulation
patterns was used to partition the image se¬
quences. During multiple articulation, the
tongue moves in a periodic compound mo¬
tion, first touching the reed for the anterior
articulation followed by the middle rising
to touch the palate for the posterior articu¬
lation. The exercises were divided into in¬
dividual articulation cycles, initiated by the
release of the anterior articulation (when
the tongue retracts from the reed) and ter¬
minated by the frame prior to this release
in the next cycle. The average number of
frames per cycle for each repetition in each
exercise is 22 frames.
Each exercise is comprised of 12 to
16 cycles. The first and last cycles were
eliminated from further analysis because
the tongue may move differently during
these cycles, thus compromising the in¬
June 2009
tegrity of the final average. Contours were
extracted using EdgeTrak for the middle
10 or 14 cycles. Following extraction, the
cycles need to be normalized in order to
be averaged, meaning they all need to be
the same length in frames. Because the av¬
erage length of each cycle is 22 frames,
all cycles were normalized to 22 frames.
Cycles longer than 22 frames were cut in
Excel, deleting either the first or last frame
or both. Cycles shorter than 22 frames
were lengthened by duplicating either
the first or the last frame. Cycles deviat¬
ing more than one frame from the average
were excluded from averages. Once each
cycle has been normalized, contours can
be imported into another program for pre¬
processing and analysis.
Pre-processing of data
CAVITE (Contour Analysis and Visual¬
ization TEchnique)13 is a Matlab applica¬
tion that allows the researcher to load a
sequence of contours (CON or TXT file)
which can be displayed as a spatiotempo-
ral image, meaning the two-dimensional
contours are displayed over time, showing
how the contours change from one frame to
the next, all on a single grid. The program
displays each contour on a single spatial
grid, with a single x for each y coordinate.
The application extrapolates points to
lengthen each contour to a uniform length
using an extrapolation method called krig-
ing, which is necessary for statistical com¬
parison and averaging. Without this pre¬
processing of data, quantitative analysis
such as averaging and comparison would
be impossible.14 Such quantitative analy¬
sis is possible within CAVITE, allowing
multiple exercise repetitions to be aver¬
aged and compared.
This first step in the analysis process is
to average ten normalized cycles for each
exercise. During this process, each con¬
tour is lengthened or shortened to a speci¬
fied length. To avoid omitting real data,
the maximum and minimum x value for
all contours was used to define the final
length of all contours. The minimum and
maximum x values used were 59 and 157,
respectively. Real data is not eliminated;
however, to lengthen some contours to the
specified length, a significant amount of
extrapolation is needed. Therefore, data
at the front and back of the contours may
have additional error. The extrapolation
method, kriging, has been validated for
use with tongue contours; however, as the
length of kriging increases, the potential
for error increases.15
47
 Averaged Tongue Spatiotemporal Surface: AJtissimo B dian difference values were calculated for each comparison to see if
the results would be different. Only minor differences were noted.
Front of Mouth The vowel context of each syllable seems to be the primary fac¬
tor affecting difference. The difference between consonant contexts
is minimal. These values represent global differences between sur¬
faces. Local differences were not considered in this analysis. The

Figure 3. Spatiotemporal surface with labeled features.

Spatiotemporal Surfaces
Looking at each frame individually does not indicate much about
tongue movement over time. CAVITE allows us to view a sequence
of frames as a spatiotemporal surface such as Figure 3. Each con¬
tour of the segment is displayed as an jt-v line graph with the z-axis
displaying time. Figure 3 shows the averaged spatiotemporal sur¬ Figure 4.a Overlay
face for a multiple articulation cycle on altissimo B with feature
labels for reference.
This graph allows us to see how the midsagittal plane of the
tongue changes during one multiple articulation cycle on altissimo
B. Note that because EdgeTrak measures tongue contour height
from the top of the image, the vertical axis shows decreasing values
for higher tongue positions. iiiiimiiimiiu
iiuiira::!!'
IIIIIIINIItllMIIHIIII
Analysis iimmiiMiiiiiimii!
Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are possible using ultra¬ m B11111111111111111
lillllllllllll
iiiiHiiiimii
sound coupled with edge detection (EdgeTrak) and pre-processing iwiuiiiimiiiiiu
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiii
illilllllilllllllUJilJ
software (CAVITE). As discussed earlier, EdgeTrak was used to
extract two-dimensional tongue surface contours from the highly
dimensional raw ultrasound images, which were then imported into Figure 4.b Comparison Image
CAVITE, a pre-processing application that extends each contour to
a uniform length using an extrapolation technique called kriging First Surface
Second :JTQ_HATS_ti_Averag*.txt
Surface:JTd_HATS_E3_Average.txt
and displays the contours on a single spatial grid. By making each Average Error: 10.14 r
contour the same length and placing them on a single grid, mul¬
tiple repetitions can be averaged and compared numerically.
Using the averaged surfaces, comparisons between each per¬
formed and spoken exercise were made using CAVITE. The pro¬
gram outputs an overlay surface, a difference image, and the RMS
difference for each frame.16 The overlay provides a means for qual¬
itative analysis, showing how the two surfaces compare. From the
overlay, we can see how contour differences change in time. The
difference image shows local differences between the two surfaces.
The RMS difference chart provides global differences between the
two surfaces at each frame.
Figure 4.c RMS Difference
The primary goal of this study is to determine the differences
and/or similarities between the speech syllables we use to teach Figure 4. CAVITE outputs three graphic comparison representa¬
multiple articulation and the actual tongue motion during perfor¬ tions describing the difference between two surfaces: (a) an over¬
mance. Therefore, the averages from each note were compared to lay of two spatiotemporal surfaces. The solid surface represents
the averages for each syllable, resulting in 56 comparisons. For ease midsagittal tongue motion during the ti/ki speech exercise and the
of interpretation, the mean RMS difference was used to describe the mesh surface represents tongue motion during the B3 performed
global difference between two surfaces. Figure 5 shows the results, exercise, (b) A difference image representing local differences be¬
plotting the mean RMS difference between each note and each syl¬ tween the two surfaces. Dark colors represent similarity and light
lable. A problem with mean values is that a few extreme values can colors represent difference, (c) RMS difference for each frame.
skew the result, thus failing to represent the central tendency of the A mean line has been added to show average global difference
data set. To determine if this error occurred with this data set, me¬ across both surfaces.
48 The Clarinet
difference includes extrapolated data as spatiotemporal surface. Multiple repeti¬
well as real data. tions of each exercise were averaged and
pairs of surfaces were compared numeri¬
Conclusion cally. The mean RMS difference for each
The purpose of this research was to find comparison was used to represent global
a way to help diagnose and solve tongue differences between two surfaces. Each
problems in multiple articulation. Addi¬ syllable pair is ranked in Table 1 by as¬
cending RMS difference.
tionally, the insight gained from this study
will allow us to research other aspects of Table 1. Ranked results.
clarinet playing with the aim to improve The syllable pair showing the least dif¬
performance and pedagogy. ference is teh/keh, which is consistent for
In this study, ultrasound has been each pitch. The syllable pair showing the
proven a valuable tool to measure tongue greatest difference is di/gi, which is con¬
motion during clarinet performance. Us¬ sistent for each pitch.
ing the imaging protocol designed by the Tongue surfaces are highly dimen¬
VTV Lab, we have successfully captured
sional; therefore, the single RMS differ¬
midsagittal tongue contours during clari¬
ence quantity does not represent complex
net performance. Several minor protocol differences between two surfaces. Differ¬
modifications were made to facilitate the ence between different notes is consider¬
clarinet. The protocol involves recording ably less than between speech exercises
(digital and analog) the video signal from and performed exercises. Although teh/
an ultrasound machine as well as the audio keh provided the lowest mean RMS dif¬
from an external microphone. An image
ference compared to the other speech ex¬
sequence is extracted from the video at ercises, the difference is still high. The
29.97 fps. Each exercise was divided into
overlay image demonstrates significant
cycles averaging 22 frames each. Each differences in certain regions, including
cycle was imported into a semi-automatic the posterior portion. During teh/keh, the
edge detection application, EdgeTrak,
tongue arch is, on average, higher over the
which exports a corresponding sequence duration of the exercise.
of two-dimensional contours. The con¬ In future research, surface difference
tours were imported to a pre-processing will be examined across different seg¬
application, CAVITE, which normalizes ments of the tongue to provide a more
contour length by extrapolating points us¬ detailed description of tongue surface
ing kriging and displays the contours as a comparisons between speech and perfor¬
Mean RMS Summary
12.000
ti/ki di/gi tu/ku du/gu teh/keh deh/geh ta/ka da/ga
Syllable
Figure 5. This chart indicates central tendency of difference between each syllable/note
comparison. The x-axis groups each of the eight speech exercises. Lower difference values
signify greater global similarity between the two surfaces. Conversely, higher difference
values signify greater global difference between two surfaces.
June 2009
mance. Other syllables will be compared
to performance in an effort to find a closer
spoken representation of tongue motion
during multiple articulation. Non-English
syllables should be explored as well. This
particular study only involved one sub¬
ject. In order to determine more accurate
tongue motion generalities, multiple sub¬
jects should be studied.
For questions or comments, please e-
mail me at jtgardner244@yahoo.com.
Select videos from the study can be down¬
loaded from the VTV Lab's Web site (http://
speech.umaryland.edu/funmovies.html).
End Notes
' This study was funded in part by a Northern
Trust/Virginia Piper Enhancement Award.
2
Maureen Stone, "A guide to analyzing tongue
motion from ultrasound images. Clinical Lin¬
guistics and Phonetics 19, nos. 6/7 (2005): 456.
3
For more information on ultrasound and its use
as an imaging tool for tongue motion, see ibid.
The detailed article covers ultrasound basics as
well as an explanation of the VTV Lab's imaging
protocol.
4
Octaves refer to the respective octave on the
clarinet, meaning El is low E, the first E that
can be played on the instrument. The Acoustical
Society of America octave designations for the
used pitches are E3, E4, B4, E5, B5, E6, and B6,
respectively.
5
Vowel examples: "ti" as in beet; "tu" as in shoe;
"teh" as in bed; "ta" as in father.
6
Joshua T. Gardner, "In Single-Reed Performance:
Review of Research with Emphasis on the Peda¬
gogy of Clarinet Multiple Articulation," Lecture
at the College Music Society Southern Pacific
Regional Conference at Arizona State University,
March 2007.
7
Maureen Stone and Edward P. Davis, "A head
and transducer support system for making ultra¬
sound images of tongue/jaw movement," Journal
of the Acoustical Society of America 98, no. 6
(1995): 3107.
8
Stone and Davis, 3107.
9
Stone, 482.
Min Li, Chandra Kambhamettu, and Maureen
Stone, "Automatic contour tracking in ultrasound
images," Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 19,
no. 6-7 (2005): 545-554.
11
Li, et al., 547.
12
Maureen Stone, Personal communication with
author, 24 July 2007.
13
Vijay Parthasarathy, Maureen Stone, Jerry L.
Prince, Min Li, and Chandra Kambhamettu,
CAVITE - Contour Analysis Visualization Tech¬
nique Ver. 3.0, Johns Hopkins University, Uni¬
versity of Maryland, and University of Delaware,
2004.
14
Ibid., 530-531.
15
Parthasarathy, et al., 539-541.
16
RMS (root-mean-square) refers to the square
root of the average squared values.
[Josh Gardner was the first-prize winner
in the 2008 I.C.A. Research Presentation
Competition. Ed.]
49

A Panel Discussion -
i.C.A. ClarinetFest® 2008, Kansas City
Transcribed and edited by John Cipolla
Michael Dean (Associate Pro¬
fessor of Music at Southeast
Missouri State University) or¬
ganized a panel discussion about the Peda¬
gogy of Master Clarinet and Saxophone
Teacher, Joe Allard. The panel consisted
of Deborah McKim, Associate Professor
of Music at Hastings College, who wrote a
dissertation on Joe Allard, (McKim, Debra
Jean. "Joseph Allard: His Contributions to
Saxophone Pedagogy and Performance,"
Published Doctor of Arts Dissertation, Uni¬
versity of Colorado, 2000); John Cipolla,
Associate Professor of Music at Western
Kentucky University, who studied with
Allard at The Juilliard School; and James
Meyer, bass clarinetist, clarinetist, and
saxophonist with the St. Louis Orchestra,
who also studied with Allard at Juilliard for
50
five years, then another three years, while
stationed in the Army Band at West Point.
This article presents an edited transcript of
the panel discussion at ClarinetFest® 2008
in Kansas City on July 3, 2008.
McKim: Allard was very much a recog¬
nized performer in the New York musical
scene in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. His
musical activities during the first 35 years
of his career were essentially as both a
freelance performer and teacher. He didn't
perform as a soloist or solo recording art¬
ist. Then from the mid-1960s, he curtailed
his performing to focus the last 25 years of
his career on teaching. Joe taught at Juil¬
liard, Manhattan School of Music, New
England Conservatory, and privately, first
across from Radio City Music Hall, then
The Clarinet
from the Carnegie studios, and then out of
his home in Tenefly, New Jersey. He had
an apartment in New York, but many of
his students would come to his home in
New Jersey, and usually were invited for
a meal because many were "starving" col¬
lege students.
One of the unique things about Joe, was
that he brought his professional perform¬
ing experience into his teaching, and he
influenced an extensive number of clari¬
netists and saxophonists who, themselves,
because prominent performers as well as
teachers. Although his performing expe¬
riences were not unique to the working
musician of the 1930s and 1940s, Allard
took the common-place experiences and
he found a way to make them intriguing,
enlightening and give them purpose. And
he used all of his own experiences as ped¬
agogical material as well.
Allard's first serious study of the clari¬
net began at age 16, when he studied with
Gaston Hamlin, the principal clarinetist of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Allard
recalls that Hamlin conducted those les¬
sons in French, so there was just as much
language instruction as there was clarinet
instruction. Allard studied very little, for¬
mally, after Hamlin returned to France in
the early 1930s. His learning from that
time on came from experimenting and
what he called, investigation. His teacher
was any resource that he could glean from.
He was a voracious reader—science, es¬
pecially anatomy, physiology, acoustics,
as well as philosophy and religion—
anything was fair game for him to make
connections to the art of music. He also
observed and questioned other musicians,
though rarely were they clarinetists or
saxophonists. He preferred to glean ideas
from vocalists and especially from double
reed players. He thought that they had a
better understanding of the breath, sound
projection, and of resonance, which be¬
came very important concepts in Allard's
arsenal. He would analyze their physical
and musical approach to playing, and then
try it out for himself. His descriptions of
these concepts were based on this inves¬
tigation, experimentation, along with the
interpretations and writings that he would
come across.
Some of his concepts were tongue po¬
sition, throat position, laryngeal flexibility
through the use of overtones and voicing,
lip and teeth pressure in the formation
of the embouchure, and reed working. out him stopping to comment with a story Joe once told me a story about Jasha
Though he was known as a reed wizard, about someone he worked with in his pro¬ Heifetz. Once, when playing with Tosca-
he basically fixed reeds for the immediacy fessional playing career, and seamlessly nini's NBC Orchestra, and Heiftz was the
of the moment. tied the story into what I was doing and soloist. Joe was sitting in the orchestra and
Some considered him a reed expert, how to make it better. I remember many not playing on that piece. He listened to
some an embouchure expert, others put his of those stories all these years later and it Heiftz and noticed that he heard quite a bit
concept of line and phrasing at the top of is no exaggeration that those lessons im¬ of extraneous scratching in Heiftz's sound.
the list because Joe had a solution for any pacted my own playing and teaching ca¬ So Joe went out to the audience to sit and
problem, or so it seemed, when talking to reer more than any other teacher I had. listen from there. When he went out, he
his students. When you ask a former Al- On his actual teaching concepts, I can noticed that the sound became pure, beau¬
lard student what Joe's legacy is, they will summarize them into categories of reeds, tiful, and projected wonderfully. This little
mention the concepts and pedagogy, but it overtones, the embouchure, our inner story meant more to me in how to learn to
always comes down to this—they will talk hearing, breathing, the throat and larynx, project my tone, then anything that any¬
about the fact that he was an empath—that and phrasing and musicianship. These one else has told me.
he felt what they felt and that he taught were the things that we worked on in our For the embouchure, we did an exer¬
them how to teach themselves as well as lessons. It took a lot of on-the-job trial cise where you take the top teeth off the
others. That he inspired them to be life¬ and error to put his concepts into practice. top of the mouthpiece. This seemed to
long learners. Things like playing with only enough em¬ make me much more aware of my lower
bouchure pressure to not let the air leak lip and jaw pressure against the reed. He
Cipolla: Joe played both clarinet and
and to allow the reed maximum vibration; also used to talk about developing a chew¬
saxophone. This stems from his profes¬
using lots of air and using it efficiently to ing motion so as to "feel" the reed with
sional/practical experience, which neces¬
produce a big vibrant and flexible sound; the lower teeth, through the lower lip. This
sitated knowing more than one instrument.
using overtones to learn to naturally feel was not to bite, but rather to simply feel
His career was in a different era—not so
how much pressure to use with our lower and be aware. He also made me aware of
specialized as things are today. There was
"and" upper lip and also how to place or the sound possibilities by having me flex
a variety of musical playing work available
in many styles and ensembles. Musicians voice each note; learning how to really let my upper lip while playing.
honed their skills on-the-job, adjusting our ears be the primary guide to what our He didn't believe in the drawstring em¬
to the needs of a particular musical situ¬ embouchure and body does to produce bouchure, where the entire embouchure
ation. Joe played in symphonies but also the sound; learning to not let the sound draws together like a bag with a draw¬
in dance bands. I think the focus was dif¬ get constricted by the throat or larynx, but string. He believed in keeping a flat lower
ferent then than it is today. He was simply rather to let these be an extension of the lip like a shelf that the reed can rest on so
a musician. With Joe, it was more of an instrument; to learn phrasing by listening there is a maximum portion of the lip for
emphasis on the actual process of learning to other types of instruments, like cellos, the reed to vibrate and have even pressure
to play your instrument and music well. great singers, and violinists; and to learn all across the reed. To keep the lower lip
That process lasted over the course of phrasing by singing out loud. flat, he put toothpicks in the sides of the
one's lifetime. In Joe's playing career the
emphasis didn't seem to be so much on
getting the "big" job, but rather to simply
learn to be as good a musician as possible.
There was also a very practical side to him
as well. He had to work to provide for his
family. Therefore, he did what he had to
do to work as a musician.
His associations with historically out¬
standing musicians, such as violinist Jasha
Heifetz and saxophonist John Coltrane,
helped him form his concepts of sound
production and general musicianship.
These experiences were the basis for his
teaching. His rapport with his students
was very relaxed, positive and encourag¬
ing. His lessons were not vocation prepa¬
ration. They were musicianship prepara¬
tion. They were more like apprenticeship/
mentoring sessions. There were no books
assigned and no syllabus. We just sat and
talked for an hour and experimented. I
never played more than a few lines with¬ Joe Allard playing near his summer home in Windham, New Hampshire.
June 2009 51
mouth to keep the corners down and not
curled up. He emphasized playing with
very little top teeth and top lip pressure
on the mouthpiece. This is because he had
dentures due to a childhood accident. And
thus, he learned to play with very little em¬
bouchure pressure and superb air control.
Jim Meyer: I am going to offer ideas
that are intended for players to take home
and try for themselves. This point of view
is from a professional musician's perspec¬
tive, including many of the demands that
come with being a professional player. Joe
did indeed teach embouchure not from the
point of view of the saxophone, clarinet,
or bass clarinet, all of which I studied
with him, but his techniques applied to
the single reed. His idea was that the lip
should function passively, as a pad. The
lip should not be an active body, where as
the teeth should be an active body. This
is a little difficult for us humans to un¬
derstand because the lip looks like an up¬
per and lower, but it's not. It is one round
muscle and we instinctively use it like we
do when we drink from a straw. That is not
a good idea for a single reed player for a
couple of reasons. One is that putting pres¬
sure on the sides of the reed is like putting
on the hand break on your road bike. It
creates resistance. And you are creating a
resistance that you are struggling against.
Also the sides of the reed is the part that
produces the low frequencies of the reed.
So wrapping the lip aound the reed, inhib¬
its vibration, and it locks up the response
of the low frequencies.
Joe really liked word formations that
you could remember easily. The tongue
should be high, wide, and stationary. Joe
spoke French and there is a syllable to use
for that position. It is ou [u]. We don't have
that sound in English. This syllable keeps
the tongue in a high position. As you move
the tongue higher, you have a given vol¬
ume of air going through a smaller open¬
ing at a higher speed. That's where you
get air speed. It also pulls the base of the
tongue out of the throat, freeing the throat.
So the ideas on tongue position are that
the tongue is high, wide and stationary.
There are two basic ways to breath.
You can breath with your ribs, that is chest
breathing, and you can breath abdominally
or diaphragmatically. The chest shouldn't
move when we breathe. Also, we don't
want to get the throat involved in control¬
ling the air stream because it has to change
52
when we play. The throat opens every
time you put a finger down and when you
lift your fingers, the throat narrows. The
throat can't be involved in controlling air
speed. A simple exercise to learn this is to
tie a piece of string around your ribs just
about the middle of shirt pocket level.
Make it snug, not tight. Now when you
take a big breath and expand your chest,
the string tightens. So the only other way
you can breathe through the interaction of
the abdominal muscles. You may not be
able to do it at first, because the two mus¬
cle groups are used to working together.
All of these concepts really work. I've
tried and used them for 42 years in the St.
Louis Symphony.
Joe talked about overtones. This is a
control exercise. Start on the saxophone on
a low C. If you put a little more mouthpiece
in your mouth, you get the octave above.
Then if you pull the mouthpiece out a bit,
it drops back down to the fundamental
because the saxophone is unstable in the
low register. Then you can continue this by
overblowing, with the low C fingering, a G
on top of the staff and then a C above the
staff. Then try writing out a little melody
that is above the staff. Then get those notes
with the overtone fingerings. The idea is
to blow through this melody with these
overtone fingerings. That is a tremendous
control exercise for the throat.
Audience comments/
questions:
Audience question: Did Joe Allard ever
talk about the tension of the keys of the
instrument, such as the spring tension.
Meyer: Yes, Joe did talk about that. He
felt that the spring tension should be
even on all the keys. And a good way
to learn this was to open and close the
keys in slow motion so that you get a
glissando. Joe learned that from Ralph
McLane. McLane was maybe one of
the best clarinet players to ever play
on the concert stage in this country.
He was the principal clarinetist with
the Philadelphia Orchestra, and many
of the things I've told you were the
practical implementation of McLane's
techniques. Joe told me that this was
something he learned from McLane.
First, even spring tension on all the
keys, and second, opening and clos¬
ing the keys so slowly that the muscle
The Clarinet
memory learns exactly how much ten¬
sion it takes to close the key.
Audience question: The speaker spoke at
a David Liebman Video, "Developing
a Personal Sound on the Saxophone."
The speaker explained an exercise
in the book where you play the upper
register of the saxophone without the
octave key, and then the lower register
with the octave key. This teaches the
player to be flexible. And the speaker
noted that the essence of the video is to
develop flexibility.
McKim: The flexibility is the key to Joe's
tonal concepts.
Meyer: There is another similar exercise.
Playing a high b'' with the side finger¬
ing, we had to learn to warp down the
note in half-steps: to A, B1, to a'', B1,
to G, etc., down the chromatic scale.
Cipolla demonstrates this exercise on
the clarinet. This teaches flexibility and
control.
Meyer: Joe taught the French "eh,"
through the word, roulette. When I say
the word roulette, something does hap¬
pen to my upper lip. The high tongue
position is very important because of
the channeling of the air, the air speed,
and pulling the tongue out of the base
of the throat. I guess any way that you
can get these things to work is okay. If
you can find a way to get these ideas
across, I think Mr. Allard would have
approved of that.
Conclusion
As the panel discussion ended, the audi¬
ence members mingled with the speakers
and among themselves. They talked about
Joe Allard's concepts and traded stories
about Allard and his teaching. There was
a relaxed mood that had a comfortably
blurred line between the speakers and the
audience. Joe's lessons were conducted in
this manner—with Joe being as inquisitive
as the student he was teaching. Thanks to
Mike Dean, who organized this event, and
to the organizers of the ClarinetFest (b) 2008
in Kansas City, the pedagogical ideas of
Joe Allard were given center stage at this
major international conference.
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 The Right Compromise Between

French And German Systems?

by Luigi Magistrelli

Introduction His system sums up the main improve¬

ments of the 19th century and offers several
Prof. Nicholas Shackleton was so
solutions for problematic technical issues
fond of the Fritz Wurlitzer Reform
as well as intonation and volume. Oehler
Boehm system clarinets that this is
was an indefatigable traveler, and he even
the reason for me to choose the subject
had the opportunity to meet Carl Baermann
for this paper. He also offered me very
in Munich, inventor of his Baermann clari¬
important help when my Fritz Wurlitzer Oskar Oehler, inventor of the Oehler-sys-
net system used also by Richard Miihlfeld,
Reform Bohm clarinet was stolen on temt clarinet
dedicatee of the clarinet masterworks of
a night train from Prague to Vienna more
Brahms. He also met A. Neff in Kassel who
than 10 years ago. He informed me that
played with Hermstedt under the guidance to the forked F fingering of the right hand
a set of such instruments was available
of Ludwig Spohr. Oehler was a highly ac- which was later finalized by F. A. Uebel.
for sale in Cambridge during that period,
knowleged clarinet maker as well as being The Oehler clarinets had a rather large bore
so I was able to get one more pair of nice
a good player. His clarinets became very (14.8) and very good response and projec¬
Fritz Wurlitzer Reform Bohm clarinets! I
well appreciated and in demand in Ger¬ tion. Oskar Oehler had three good pupils
also had the opportunity to visit his unique
many. The speaker key of the Oehler sys¬ who became very well known makers as
clarinet collection and test his precious
tem corresponds with a ring + vent for LI well: G. Graessel, L. Warschewski and
Reform Bohm instruments in order to
to improve intonation of F^ (vent open) and F.A. Uebel. Uebel
compare them with mine. In spite of the C#6 (vent closed). It also features a ring +
good tone qualities, hand-forged mecha¬ was the most pro¬
vent for L2 to improve intonation of B^5, a lific maker in terms
nism, flexibility and eveness over all the
ring for L3 corresponding with the R1 ring of number of clari¬
registers. Reform Bohm system clarinets
to improve into¬ nets made, starting
didn't receive wide acceptance in the clar¬
nation of forked from the 1940s.
inet world. Actually they are very highly
b'"', and a dupli¬ Due to the char¬
regarded, expecially in the Netherlands,
cate lever for R1 acteristics of their
and they are also played in Germany,
C*VG#\ On this bore, the sound was
England, and the U.S.A., and in Italy
clarinet the player quite well centered,
there are a few players who are using
has the option of warm and thick.
them. The reason could be that this sys¬
using the patent L. Warschewski
tem is perhaps considered a sort of hybrid
C^ mechanism or (1888-1950) was
between the French and German Oehler
to turn it off. The an apprentice to
system clarinets without its own identity.
lower section has Oehler in Berlin and
However, my personal opinion is just the
a ring on R1 to moved to Stock¬
opposite! I would consider this instru¬
improve E6 and holm after World
ment to be an ideal compromise between
F6. A plate for R2 War I. He was the
the dark, compact and warm sound of
closes the tone solo clarinetist with
the German Oehler system and the more
hole on the right the Stockholm Phil¬
flexible, brighter and technically easier to
side of the instru¬ harmonic Orchestra
handle French Bohm system.
ment and also ac¬ and rebuilt Uebel
tivates vent keys clarinets according
Reform Bohm System and to improve forked to his own patented
Oehler System B'VF5. There is design (the details
The Reform Bohm clarinet has its roots also a ring for R3 of this are unclear
in the Oehler system used today mainly with connection but there could be
Reform Boehm to a vent key. The something to do
in Germany, Austria and in a few northern
European countries. The German clarinet¬ system clarinets in key for R4 (G^4/ with bulges in the
ist Oskar Oehler (1858-1936), a founding A and B-jiat made E^) also closes bore). He was pro¬
member of the Berlin Philharmonic Or¬ by Fritz Wurlitzer vents to improve fessor at the Stock- Fritz Wurlizer
chestra, developed this new model after in 1966 (personal notes above C^. holm Royal Acad- Oehler system
opening his workshop in Berlin in 1887, instruments of He also began the emy of Music. His Schmidt-Kolbe
a period in which he also gave up playing. Luigi Magistrelli) improvements instruments were clarinet
54 The Clarinet
of high quality and quite popular. Unfor¬
tunately, he does not seem to have kept
any records of his production or sales. He
died during a performance of the Shosta-
kovitch Sixth Symphony. His clarinets keep
the good qualities of the Uebel instruments
but produce a mellower tone. At least this
is my personal idea being fortunate enough
to own a pair of L. Warschewski clarinets. I
used them in several CDs I have recorded,
and I think that the more I practised on
them the more I understood their unique
qualities. I definitely would choose them
for classical and romantic repertoire.
The first maker who took into great con¬
sideration the theories of E. Schimdt and
L. Kolbe was Fritz Wurlizer who made his
first Reform Bohm clarinets in the 1930-
40s. He worked in Erlbach (formerly in
the DDR) and conceived his clarinets with
a somewhat larger bore (15.2) compared
with the ones made nowadays by the Wurl-
itzer factory in Neustadt an der Aisch. Fritz
Wurlitzer also developed the Schimdt-
Kolbe system clarinets with the Oehler sys¬
tem which was used then by some eminent
principal players in German orchestras.
This system has some advantages, but on
the whole I think it is a bit awkward with
a heavy keywork when compared with the
normal Oehler-system clarinets.
A Brief History Of
The Reform Bohm System:
Ernst Schmidt and
Louis Kolbe
Ernst Schmidt (1870-1954)
Schmidt studied clarinet at the Conserva¬
tory of Leipzig and showed at an early age
a great interest in acoustics. Stimulated
by Traugott Gentzch, a clarinetist from
Leipzig, Ernst Schmidt decided in 1895
to switch to the Bohm system, which then
was quite unusual for a German clarinetist.
Although he recognized the advantages of
the Bohm keywork, he was not satisfied
with the overall tuning of the clarinets of
his day and considered the improvement
of the whole design by recalculating the
position and dimensions of the tone holes
based on acoustical principles. This inves¬
tigation was patented in 1905 (no. 193727)
for the Schmidt-Kolbe clarinet with a B""
improvement system (extra hole) in 1912.
Nearly all members of the clarinet family
had been taken into consideration, from the
E1, clarinet to the contrabass clarinet. He was
solo clarinetist in the Hof and Nationalthe-
ater of Mannheim from 1902 to 1935. He
was a musician and clarinet tuner but never
owned a workshop for the manufacturing
or maintaining of clarinets. He collaborated
Hstory of th* Schmidt R«form-B6hm Clsrinet - part I - Louis Koib* I Ernst Schmidt Hstory of the Schmidt Referm-Bfihm Clarinet - part 11 • Fritz f Herbert WurWzer
Hans de Nijs. The Netherlands Hans de Nijs. The Netherlands
kfutitiitec- Fig 1 - Catalog Fntz1
Rfftmi tUttii KtiiUntitt*
Must. No. 1 lllust. No. 2
Hittory of the Schmidt Reform-Bdhm Clarinet • part III - Modem
with well known clarinet makers such as
Hans de Nijs. The Netherlands
Louis Kolbe from 1902 until 1931 and from
1932 until about 1950 with Fritz Wurlitzer.
After his retirement in 1935 he collabo¬
rated also with the physician Friedrich
Rosch from Heidelberg and redesigned
the Reform-Bohm and Schmidt-Kolbe
clarinets for a second time recalculating the
positions of the tone holes and the dimen¬
sions of mouthpieces. These redesigned
Schmidt clarinets were ready in 1936 and
were tested in some important German and
Dutch orchestras. They also were promoted
in an interesting article in 1937 by both
Fritz Wurlitzer and Ernst Schmidt, which
included also very positive comments by
well known solo clarinetists (e.g. Rudolf
Gall, principal of the Amsterdam Concert-
gebouw orchestra), together with fingering
charts and maintenance instructions. Ernst
Schmidt tuned the Schmidt clarinets made
by Fritz Wurlitzer during this period and
was responsible for the final quality con¬ lllust. No. 3
trol test. Those tested clarinets were signed
by his stamp "Schmidt-Mannheim." Ernst
Schmidt passed away in 1954. of 1928 has fortunately survived and can
show us a broad spectrum of soloist mod¬
Louis Kolbe (1863-1952) els in all pitches and different systems.
Unfortunately we don't have much infor¬ (See lllust. No. 1, figure 4)
mation on Louis Kolbe. He was born in
Leubeth, Germany, a little village near History and Pre-war
Adorf. He decided to settle in Altenburg Development of the
in 1893. He received his education as a
Reform-Bohm System
clarinet builder from Meister A.H. Penzel
(1843-1892) in Markneukirchen in 1879- Very little information can be found on this
1882. He collaborated from the beginning clarinet system, searching both in the Inter¬
of the 20th century with Ernst Schmidt de¬ net or in all the books written so far. This
veloping different clarinets in the German system can be characterized as a combina¬
and Bohm systems. The firm's pricelist tion of the Oehler bore with limited flare
June 2009 55

Pair of Louis Kolbe clarinets (ca. 1915-1925) (Luigi Magistrelli collection)
in the lower joint in different bore widths
of 15.2 mm (early types) and 14.70 mm
(modern types). It has the Bohm basic key-
work but with various modifications, with
somewhat different altissimo fingerings.
On the Web site of Herbert Wurlitzer
and also in Wikipedia it is stated that the
Reform Bohm system was invented more
than 50 years ago by Fritz Wurlitzer, the
late Herbert Wurlitzer's father. However
the starting point of the development of the
Schmidt Reform Bohm system, as well as
the Schmidt-Kolbe system, can be found
more than 100 years ago. Ernst Schmidt's
ideas and concepts had been realized (ca.
1900) by Louis Kolbe in Altenburg. A very
early model can be seen in an article by W.
Altenburg from 1907'. The design of the
earliest keywork in two modifications is
shown in Illust. No. 1, figure I2. The first
modification (prototype) was very compli¬
cated and difficult to make with the forked
E'' mechanism. The second modification is
shown in Illust. No. 1, figure 3, a stamped
L. Kolbe B1, clarinet. I assume that only a
few clarinets of this type have been man¬
ufactured because only a few clarinets of
this type have survived. The pricelist of
the Louis Kolbe's firm from 1928 has sur¬
vived3, and it is an interesting document,
that shows the Reform Bohm models from
that period. The clarinets were offered
with a complete Reform Bohm lay-out or
equipped with a standard Bohm upper joint
with a Reform Bohm lower joint or a com¬
plete traditional Bohm system, indicated
as "nach alter Art" (according to the "old"
French design), as shown in Ulus. 2, fig. 4. It
is remarkable that the three long keys of the
lower joint (left hand) are bowed over the
E'' hole. The left c" rod during this period
was not designed as a rotating rod, but as a
balanced one. This arrangement is shown in
Illust. 3, figs. 2, 3, 4. Around 1935 Schmidt
gave new impetus to the development of
his clarinet system after his retirement. He
56
recalculated the position of the tone holes
according to certain acoustical laws and
strived to be a successor to Louis Kolbe.
At first he asked the clarinet maker Oskar
Neidhardt in Schoneck/Sachsen, who man¬
ufactured both types of Schmidt clarinets
already on a small scale but on a very high
level of workmanship. However, Neidhardt
refused this request for various reasons. In
Illust. No. 3, figures 1-3, a Neidhardt E''
Reform-Bohm clarinet is shown, manufac¬
tured in 1974, but still conceived accord¬
ing to the pre-war design described above.
The detailed illustrations show the high
level of workmanship of this rare but fine
model with various special features. Oskar
Neidhardt specialized in his own developed
Neidhardt system and manufactured a few
Reform Bohm clarinets, but only on spe¬
cial request. After Neidhardt's refusal Ernst
Schmidt visited Fritz Wurlitzer (Illust. No.
2, figure 2) in Erlbach. From this point on
the development of both the Oehler Schmidt
Kolbe and Schmidt Kolbe Reform Bohm
clarinets was continued by this successful
duo. Two clarinets made by Fritz Wurlitzer
in the first period (1936-1940) are shown
in Illust. No. 1, figure 2 and in Illust. No.
2, figure 3. A typical feature of this design
can be found on the upper joint with the Bl>
fork mechanism still in German style and
an innovative ff Vgt" and gf'Va" trill. The B'
improvement (two independently operating
keys for register and throat-tone B'') is also
present. The lower joint shows a resonance
key on the third ring and the double c" hole,
as well as the right-hand rollers for the little
finger. Both clarinets are stamped with the
Signum Schmidt/Mannheim, as in Illust.
No. 1, figure 5. They both published an in¬
teresting article4 in 1937 which promoted
the Schmidt type clarinets with recom¬
mendations of leading clarinetists, a lot of
information about fingering charts, about
mouthpieces and maintenance instructions.
Around 1946 the lower joint was adapted
The Clarinet
and the long keys of the left hand were re¬
arranged in order to be similar to the tra¬
ditional Bohm system. Numerous small
variations in the keywork can be seen in
some clarinets made in different years. The
bore width was also reduced around 1951.
Fritz Wurlitzer published in 1956 a catalog5
which shows also the Reform Bohm clari¬
net in all pitches from the small E'' clarinet
to the bass clarinet (Illust. No. 2, figure 1).
Fritz Wurlitzer the Schmidt Reform Bohm
clarinet in this catalog as the "Wurlitzer
Reform Bohm clarinet." His son Herbert
worked in the workshop at Erlbach until
his move in 1959 to Bubenreuth (West Ger¬
many) and he has continued manufacturing
Reform-Bohm clarinets until today while
his son Ulrik keeps alive this tradition. See
Illust. 2 for an example from 1974. The
Oehler Schmidt-Kolbe system clarinet was
not made anymore by Herbert Wurlitzer.
From the 1970s the Reform-Bohm clarinet
became more and more popular in different
countries, and in the Netherlands it is still
used by many professional players. The
Reform Bohm clarinet was also made by
the firm Hammerschmidt/Burgau and from
the 1990s by some of Herbert Wurlitzer's
former workers, such as Leitner & Kraus
(Illust. No. 3, figure 5), Harald Huying
and Wolfgang Dietz (Illust. No. 3, figure
4) and also by Schwenk und Seggelke in
Bamberg, Germany. The Italian maker Orsi
also tried to make some clarinets with the
Reform Bohm system design.
Considerations and
Comparison Between the
Reform Bohm and the
French-System Clarinets
The Reform Bohm clarinet was conceived
with the tone characteristics of the Ger¬
man Oehler system, therefore it should, in
my opinion, be played only with a German
mouthpiece. Otherwise, it would make no
sense to buy and use them because the
German timbre would be lost. The French-
system clarinet could, on the contrary, be
played with a German mouthpiece (the
Wurlitzer M3+ actually fits very well with
good intonation!), and the sound would
still keep the "French" Buffet timbre, but
with a darker and more compact tone. As
was mentioned above, the first Schmidt
Reform Bohm clarinets had a very large
bore in comparison with the ones built
later and today. My clarinets have a quite
compact but also flexible sound compared
with the modern Wurlitzer model. Moreo¬
ver, built in 1966, they still have a hole on
the right side of the bell (on the tenon!),
and this can produce better intonation.
bigger and warmer sound on the low notes
(so often flat on the Buffet and other clari¬
nets!). The Oehler Schmidt Kolbe system
clarinets could have such a hole on the left
side, and I found something similar even
on some early boxwood clarinets of Ger¬
man makers! I wonder why the modern
Wurlitzer Reform Bohm clarinets don't
have it ( they had it in the recent past, but
not placed on the tenon), but only a more
flared bell that can only partially solve the
problem of intonation and the round shape
of the low notes! However, Wurlitzer is
making (on special request) an extra hole
on the bell which is closed and opened
by a long key, just like the Oehler system
clarinets. The key design of the modern
Reform Bohm clarinets has a certain re¬
semblance to the Boehm-system clarinets,
but the early Fritz Wurlizer clarinets have
a more peculiar, interesting and "Ger¬
man" design.The Reform Bohm clarinets
are, like the French system, suitable for
any kind of music, like the French Boehm
clarinets.The Oehler system clarinets, be¬
cause of the sophisticated and complicated
fingering system, could be in a way un¬
suitable for the modern and contemporary
repertoire, but certainly we can find some
great German or Austrian virtuoso players
who could have been able to play the most
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difficult repertoire! All the extra resonance
holes of the Reform Bohm allow a more
homogeneous and well projected sound.
The extra hole of the throat B'' produces a
very good, in tune and clean tone. The up¬
per register on the Reform Bohm is much
easer to obtain even though some notes
(high b'" and high c'") could be a little
bit sharp, exactly like in the Oehler system
clarinets.lt is clearly a matter of opinion
and sound conception, but I consider the
tone of the Reform Boehm clarinet more
charming and interesting than the usual
French-system clarinet. However, for
some classical and romantic clarinet com¬
positions the warmer and thicker timbre of
the German Oehler clarinet could be re¬
ally something more recommended!
Conclusions
The Reform Bohm Schimdt-Kolbe sys¬
tem has survived to the present day, and it
could be considered as a very valid alterna¬
tive to the standard Bohm-system clarinets
for a lot of professional players because of
its focused, flexible and charming sound,
German bore and accurate keywork. My
aim in this article has been to describe the
Reform Bohm and German system clari¬
nets, to compare them and to comment on
their distinctive but also, in a way, similar
Just try and you'll see!
June 2009
tone characteristics. I have also attempted
to find some connections with the French-
system clarinets. Fritz Wurlitzer, father of
Herbert Wurlitzer, was the first maker be¬
fore World War II to make good Reform
Bohm system clarinets which were based
on the teaching of Schmidt and Kolbe. I
still consider them to be the best Reform
Bohm clarinets ever made.
Bibliography
Article of Hans De Nijs, May 2007
0. Kroll : Die Klarinette (Barenreiter, Kassel 1965)
End Notes
1. Altenburg W. "Neue Fortschritte im Klarinete-
bau," 28, 1907, pp. 324-326
2. Altenburg W. "Neue Mitteilungen iiber die
Schmidt-Kolbe Klarinette, " 29, 1908, pp. 617-
620
3. Price list/catalog
4. Publication/advertisement Ernst Schmidt and
Fritz Wurlitzer, 1937
5. Catalog Fritz Wurlitzer. 1956
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Hans De Nijs from Hol¬
land for helping me to find information on
the history of the Reform Boehm System
clarinets. His article and iconographic ma¬
terial were very valuable to me.
57

by Jorge Montilla
Dear clarinet community! Welcome
to another article dedicated to the
wonderful world of trios, quartets
and quintets for clarinets.
In this installment I will acquaint you
with some materials sent to me by our
readers, and I will also introduce you to
my second featured ensemble.
Since I was invited to write this column
about clarinet trios, quartets and quintets I
thought that writing it would be an excit¬
ing activity in my life, and, indeed, it has
become just that and much more.
Providing you with standard reper¬
tory for different ensembles of all differ¬
ent levels, pointing out what I consider are
exemplary recordings for the milieus and
offering my expertise, both musical and lo¬
gistical acquired after being a member of
several successful clarinet ensembles for
many years, were the logical items that I
have used as a basis for this column. Al¬
though I will not stop covering these items,
it has always been my intention to make
these columns more interactive with the
readers and with those who are currently
performing, composing, arranging and
recording the music for small clarinet en¬
sembles being considered in this series. For
this reason I will dedicate a big portion of
this column to sharing with you the materi¬
als sent to me by those working to make
this an even more wonderful world of trios,
quartets and quintets for clarinets.
Trio Lotz: Slovak Period and
Contemporary Basset Horn Treasures
This CD was sent to me by Slovak Clari¬
netist Ronald Sebesta (principal clarinet
of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Brat¬
islava and the Chamber Orchestra Cap-
pel la Istropolitana and professor at the
Academy of Music and Drama in Bratis-
58
lava). It came all the way from Slovakia
and has become one of my favorite CDs.
It features music for three basset horns by
Slovak composers and composers bound
to Slovakia by their work and artistic ac¬
tivities. Some of the composers were Mo¬
zart contemporaries while others are still
alive and composed their pieces especially
for the artistry of the Trio Lotz.
Trio Lotz's members are the two broth¬
ers Robert and Ronald Sebesta plus An¬
dreas Fink, which reminds me that the first
"historically relevant" basset horn trio was
formed, in Mozart's time, by the Stadler
brothers (Anton and Johann) plus Ray-
mund Griessbacher.
Trio Lotz members perform on replicas
of period basset horns made by Theodor
Lotz for whom they are named.
I have to say that presenting the reper¬
tory of Slovak composers who wrote for
three basset horns at the time of Mozart
would have been enough for a CD. How¬
ever, Trio Lotz did not seem satisfied with
that proposal and had the brilliant idea of
associating their instruments with current
compositions. The result is not only a new
and vibrant repertory but also the resur¬
rection of an ensemble that we all thought
was relagated to the repertory of the clas¬
sical style.
In this CD, the listener will hear mu¬
sic that goes from beautiful melodies and
consonant harmonies to quarter-tones,
breath sounds, glissandi and sounds sung
through the instruments. The intonation is
flawless, the articulation is neat, and the
CD was recorded, from top to bottom,
with exquisite taste, total technical control
and perfect characterization of the differ¬
ent styles. The booklet's presentation is
very nice, and the information, presented
in Slovak, English and German, is very
extensive, informative and clear.
The Clarinet
The repertory included on the CD:
Marek Placek: The Wasteland; Juraj Dru-
zecky: Divertimento; Bosko Milakovic:
The Inner Singers', Daniel Matej: 3m fur
Johann Josef Rosier: Partita;
Martin Burlas: Plavba Proti Noci; Mar¬
ian Lejava: Aria (for Lotz Trio); Label:
SF00562131; Contacts: www.lotztrio.com;
www.hf.sk;www.musicaslovaka.sk
0 Magnum Mysterium
This arrangement of Tomas Luis de Victo¬
ria's motet O Magnum Mysterium came to
me via e-mail from Andrew Lesser (Music
Director of Lindenwold High School, Lin-
denwold and a performing clarinetist and
composer).
The arrangement, in the original key,
was made for three B-flats + bass, and its
level of difficulty is level 3. (Levels go
from 1 to 5 in concert band setting accord¬
ing to both the arranger and the publisher.)
The arrangement is currently published
by Grand Mesa Music (www.grandmesa-
music.com) and is available online under
catalogue #SE139. I highly recommend
this arrangement to students aiming to
improve their intonation (especially in the
throat notes), their ability to sustain long
phrases and their voice independence. The
length (almost five minutes if played too
slowly) could be an issue for some young
groups, but it is worth trying.
CarolinaClarinet Quartet
1 received, via e-mail, an invitation from
Brent Smith on behalf of the Carolina-
Clarinet Quartet to visit their Web site
www.CarolinaClarinet.org.
Current members of this North Carolina-
based group are Tara Glaspey, Jim Williams,
Janice Lipson and Brent Smith. Others who
have played with CarolinaClarinet include
Shirley Violand-Jones, Kristin Martin and
Merida Negrette. Their common interest?
Music for Clarinet Quartet!
What is impressive about this very or¬
ganized group of clarinet lovers is the fact
that they own a library with more than
175 clarinet quartets. Once on their Web
site you will see the pieces, the compos¬
ers, the arrangers, the instrumentation, the
performing time, a small comment and in
many cases you will be able to hear an ex¬
cerpt of the pieces performed by this group.
The recordings are live performances by
this group in various venues. I consider this
whole Web site to be a useful reference for
young groups and music educators for se¬
lecting music suitable for their needs.
Featured Ensemble Discography clips, videos, ringtones, etc.
Bozza Nova; Performers: Yuri Zyuryaev Do you have a CD of your ensemble that
Mariinsky Clarinet Club
(bass clarinet and clarinet), Vadim Bond¬ you want me to review? Or maybe a new
The five members of the Mariinsky Clari¬
net Club, the first Russian clarinet ensem¬ arenko (clarinet), Evgeny Kultygin (clari¬ piece? I look forward to receiving those.
ble, are engaged in the Mariinsky Theater net), Vitaly Papyrin (clarinet, basset horn For my contact information go to www.
Orchestra. This clarinet ensemble started and bass clarinet) and Dmitry Kharitonov. jorgemontilla.com.
in August of 2007, and the members' main (piccolo clarinet, clarinet and saxophone);
^ JjC 5{C
goal was to perform works of various Repertory: Eugene Bozza: Sonatine; Be¬
genres with both a classical and innova¬ atriz Lockhart: Estampas Criollas', Jean
Frangaix: Petit Quatuor; Vadim Bond¬ About the Writer...
tive approach. The members of the ensem¬
ble are: Yuri Zyuryaev (bass clarinet and arenko: Blues-Duo; Michael Kibbe: Eb¬ Jorge Montilla is principal clarinetist
clarinet), Vadim Bondarenko (clarinet), ony Suite and Shtetl Tanzen with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Ven¬
Evgeny Kultygin (clarinet), Vitaly Papy- For more information about this ensem¬ ezuela, professor of clarinet at the Latin
rin (clarinet, basset horn and bass clarinet) ble you can write to mail@mariinskyclari American Clarinet Academy in Venezu¬
and Dmitry Kharitonov (piccolo clarinet, netclub.com or visit their Web site: www. ela, former artistic director of the Caracas
clarinet and saxophone). They all studied mariinskyclarinetclub.com where you will Clarinet Quartet and current member of
at the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College find a complete biography, pictures, audio Trio "Zephir."
and/or in the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
They claim to have named themselves a
"Clarinet Club" because they play concerts
with repertory chosen to please the listener, Back Issues of The Clarinet
but I also think that their name honors their
multiplicity of instrumentations (from a Back-issue order forms for The Clarinet may now be downloaded from the
duet to clarinet quintet), as well as their in¬ I.C.A. Web site: www.clarinet.org. Copies may also be requested by contacting:
clusion of a wide range of musical styles. James Gillespie
University of North Texas, College of Music
Highlights of Their Repertory 1155 Union Circle #311367, Denton, Texas 76203-5017
For B-flat and Bass: E-mail: jgillesp@music.unt.edu
Alfred Prinz: Meeting
George Shearing: Get off my Bach
(arr. anon.)
For Two B-flats and Bass: Reed Machine »RPM 68« and »RPM 82«
Anonymous: Rucaneao RPM 68: Eb-Clarinet, Bb-Clarinet, Soprano Sax
(arr. Jorge Montilla) RPM 82: Bass Clarinet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax
Daniel Levin: The Phoenix
Zefir Brezeanu: Bachanale
For E-flat, B-flat and Bass:
Michael Kibbe: Shtetl Tanzen and
Ebony Suite
For Four B-flats:
Yvonne Desportes: French Suite
Pierre Max Dubois: Petite Concert
Devient Grand
Arthur Frackenpohl: Licorice Licks
Gordon Jacob: Scherzetto
Fred Hasdorfer: Suite voor vier
Klarinetten
• Direct copy (reed to reed)
Michael Kibbe: China Journal
Optional guides available
Rolf Rudin: Divertimento
• Fine adjustment for reed thickness
For Three B-flats and Bass: High precision ball-bearing guides
Beatriz Lockhart: Estampas Criollas Carbide metal cutters with two knife-edges
(arr. Jorge Montilla)
For Two B-flats, Basset Horn and Bass:
Jean Frangaix: Petit Quatuor Kreisstr. 10 • 89428 Syrgenstein • Germany
Tel.: +49 90777088 40 • Fax: +49 90777088 39
For E-flat, Two B-flats and Bass: info@uhl-technik.de • www.uhl-technik.de
Eugene Bozza: Sonatine
Jorge Montilla: Four for Four
June 2009 59

(Th& (ftmateWL
"Qtatineiibt
by Susan Steele
In the community band where I play 3rd
clarinet, a fellow clarinetist is Adam, a
fine 10th grader who has been listen¬
ing to Glen Miller, Gershwin and other Big
Band sounds recently. The adult members
of my community band do all they can
to mentor and encourage our school-age
members. In turn, the young members en¬
courage us by having a good, quick sound
and by valuing the band and our group
experiences. Their young resilience is a
good balance for the rest of the band, even
keeping us extra lively.
I have recently enjoyed playing in an
ensemble class with clarinet, violin, cello,
and soprano, alto and tenor recorders. Our
teacher and mentor is encouraging, yet
has high standards. Our repertoire has in¬
cluded some great early music like Airs by
Purcell and Bach, the Shaker Simple Gifts,
and then such favorites as Greensleeves.
I recently played/practiced with a fine
pianist friend. The morning we spent play¬
ing together made all my hours practicing
alone take on such a greater dimension.
Although I brought lots of music (just in
case), we just played and dissected the
Pachelbel Canon. How lovely is the piano
part. I tried to keep up my end with clarity,
beauty and correct tempo and counting. I
appreciated when the pianist said she re¬
ally felt the clarinet added depth to the
piece. The arrangement we used was by
Danief Dorff.
This pianist friend and I have played
together on occasion for about the last five
years. She is the first person who encour¬
aged me to really analyze a work of music,
to learn about the composer and to become
part of the composition's heart.
Looking back, I know that my counting
has been my greatest flaw to overcome, es¬
pecially in playing with others. As long as
the music is written, it is no good to esti¬
mate beat lengths. (Then I wonder — what
about jazz, blues, improvisation?) Also,
earlier on, I didn't pay enough attention to
60
the music's dynamic markings—pp and /
didn't sound different from each other when
I played them. What I think of as "correct
juggling" (seeing everything on my score)
has taken time and is never ending.
There is a recent newcomer in our com¬
munity band who has been playing with us
for six months. When I first greeted her,
she looked astounded at what playing mu¬
sic with 50 diverse musicians entails. After
rehearsal, I encouraged her to come back
and not to give up! I am so glad she has
continued to attend band and now looks
very much at home. One of her secrets to
progress is her little tape recorder with
which she tapes our rehearsals and then, as
she is able, plays along at home, improv¬
ing as she goes. I know it has taken me so
long to learn to focus on my part without
distraction, while still being aware of the
other players and our whole sound.
Our band recently played at the dedi¬
cation of a new youth building. It was
wonderful to be a part of live music at this
event. The room where we played had fine
Clarinetists with the Lakeland (Florida) Concert Band.
Dr. Chet Dissinger is second from right.
The Clarinet
acoustics. Our best crowd-pleaser that day
was Lassus Trombone, especially when
that section stood during playing. I will
never forget what that piece's exhilaration
and verve in a community musical group
can mean to musicians and audiences.
Not long ago I took a semester off
from taking clarinet lessons. Fortunately,
I have now returned, and it is grand to be
back! I have studied with the same music
teacher for the last five-i- years. We work
on discipline, making my sound stronger,
clearer, more accurate, more beautiful and
on playing all of the 16th notes in a piece
— one half-hour at a time. Thank you, Mr.
Larry Walker.
Currently, I have been using a IVi
strength reeds, but I am having great
trouble sounding high E (and forget about
above that), so I am going to try using pro¬
gressively harder reeds.
When we begin to make music,
whether we are very young or even much
older — our journeys seem so quixotic as
to a choice of instrument. How often is
the choice, "What is that old attic instru¬
ment?" If we persist in our playing, instru¬
ment upgrades hopefully come forth.
For all that we enjoy playing with oth¬
ers, the basis of any of our playing prog¬
ress must begin with our solo sound. To¬
ward this, I usually practice for 45 minutes
most days, long enough to get some water
on the floor and swollen lips.
I recently bought two books on jazz
technique which this magazine recom¬
mended; I am enjoying them. When I see
an interesting music book I always hope it
will contain a few secrets to great playing
— are you the same way? Then I laugh at
myself when 1, of course, remember that
the greatest secret is well known to us all
— effective and faithful practice.
Do any readers have a pet that seems to
show a special relationship with your mu¬
sic making? I practice in the same sunny
room where my calico cat, Margaret, usu¬
ally naps. I take it as a compliment that
during my practice time, she stays at the
window, pretending to still be asleep.
On the other hand, a few years ago, I
took in my aunt's two cats when she went
into assisted living. For the longest time,
one of the cats, Irma, was very skittish in
her new surroundings. She had only three
legs; long story — a years' before encoun¬
ter with a fox. Anyway, she had been used
to beautiful music from years of National
Public Radio at my aunt's house. So, I
was dismayed after I opened my clarinet
case for the first time after her arrival and
began playing...to have her quickly leave
the room! Ever after, she would run like
lightning whenever I sat in my practice
chair and opened the clarinet case. And
yet I persist.
When I reflect on the clarinet music I
play, I have appreciation for the many fine
music arrangers who make this possible.
After seeing Clair W. Johnson's name for
so long, I recently looked up about Dr.
Johnson. I was glad to see his musical
archive in existence at Weber State Uni¬
versity in Ogden, Utah where a large part
of his music teaching occurred. What an
amazingly prolific life and now what a
fine legacy resource this archive is.
A book that has greatly influenced me
is Never Too Late by John Holt. Mr. Holt
was mainly known for his zeal as a noted
educator, learning reformer and speaker.
Never Too Late is about his experiences
beginning to play music as an adult — the
flute and then the cello. Mr. Holt is dis¬
arming and candid in telling about his ex¬
periences to improve his playing, to find
people to make music with, and how to
have persistence and even practice in a
modest apartment with not much room
and with neighbors who can't abide noise.
My edition is a 1978 hardback and I was
so gratified to see a newer paperback copy
being used in a college course.
Thank you for the e-mails or letters
from readers: Annette B. from Maryland
is a 1st clarinet-2nd chair with a wind en¬
semble. She had played when younger
and began playing clarinet again to en¬
hance and aid breathing and to strengthen
her diaphragm muscles. She mentions that
with some independent study, the finger¬
ings, embouchure and scales came back in
no time. Michael P. is a psychologist liv¬
ing in eastern North Carolina after retir¬
ing from a career at a school of medicine
in Maryland. He has been a member of
"Petite Arpeggio" which includes strings,
flutes and clarinet, as well as a New Ho¬
rizons Band program. He has been work¬
ing on the Brahms Clarinet Sonata No. 2.
Brent S. from North Carolina is a member
of the "Carolina Clarinet Quartet" and is
part of a music and sound exchange pro¬
gram (www.CarolinaClarinet.org). Dr.
Chet D. is from Lakeland, Florida and is
active in the Lakeland Concert Band and
the Foxhall Winds and has had his "Trios
for Winds" performed. (See photo.) What
fine musical contributions these readers/
clarinetists make.
Until next time, may our sounds be mu¬
sical.
Susan Steele
P. O. Box 351, Selbyville, DE 19975
USA; ssteelel213@hotmaU.com

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June 2009 61

Jacques Lancelot 1920-2009
Mr. Lancelot died on Saturday
February 7 in Paris. The funer¬
als were on February 16 at Saint
Roch Church with many clarinetists of all
ages coming from overseas, including
Koichi Hamanaka from Japan.
On February 11,1 answered questions
from journalists at France-Musique Radio
in a brief homage to him which was fol¬
lowed by his Mozart Concerto recording.
Clarinetists may refer to my article in
The Clarinet, Vol. 34/1, December 2006,
pp. 43-50. Jacques Lancelot was honored
by the I.C.A. with its Lifetime Achieve¬
ment Award at the Atlanta ClarinetFest®
in 2006.
New Chairs
Paris Conservatory
There were two clarinet positions open
for admission to the Paris Conservatory
Yves one1 Raphael Severe
62
Vincent Penot
for this year (for entrance in September).
53 candidates applied and 14 were chosen
for the second round auditions. The jury
unanimously chose Raphael Severe and
Floriane Tardy.
Raphael Severe, aged 14, is already
famous in the clarinet world, like Julian
Bliss in England. You will find his bio
on his Web site www.raphael-severe.com
(also in English!). He began the clarinet
at 8 at his father's class. (Yves Severe is
professor at Nantes Conservatory.) He is
already the winner of five international ju¬
nior competitions, including one in Tokyo,
and he released a CD in 2007.
Floriane Tardy is currently in her
second year with Bruno Martinez (Paris
Opera) at the Paris Municipal Conserva¬
tory of the 6th arrondissement. For Bruno
The Clarinet
Martinez it is his 15th student to enter the
Paris Conservatory. Floriane studied at the
Regional Conservatory in Lyon with Di-
dier Reymond, then at Rueil-malmaison
with Florent Heau where she earned a 1st
Prize. She also won clarinet competitions
in France (Langres and Picardie).
Paris Opera Orchestra
Vincent Penot won the bass clarinet chair
in the Paris Opera Orchestra on Decem¬
ber 16. Jean-Noel Crocq retired but is still
the professor of bass clarinet at the Paris
Conservatory. Vincent Penot graduated in
clarinet and bass clarinet from the Paris
Conservatory and is currently second solo
clarinet of the Garde Republicaine and
solo clarinet of the Pasdeloup Orchestra.
The Paris Opera Orchestra is an espe¬
cially large one (two in one) that generally
splits into two venues, Palais Garnier (the
old famous one), and Bastille (the new one
built in 1989). There are seven clarinet¬
ists! 1st solo clarinets ("super-solistes"):
Philippe Cuper and Jean-Francois Verdier;
2nd solo clarinets ("premiers solistes"): Al¬
exandre Chabod, Jerome Julien-Laferri-
ere, Jerome Verhaeghe; and two solo bass
clarinets: Bruno Martinez and since Janu¬
ary Vincent Penot.
Florence Bouillot, Garde Republicaine
Florence Bouillot has filled the chair of
Sandrine Vasseur, now soloist in the Or-
chestre National d lie de France. Flor¬
ence is currently in her third year at the
Paris Conservatory in the class of Michel
Arrignon. She graduated earlier from the
Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory near Paris
(class of Florent Heau).
Florence Bouillot
Maxime Penard,
Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra
Maxime Penard is
a founding member
of the clarinet quar¬
tet "Les Anches
Hantees" www.
quatuorancheshan
tees.com. He has
been the soloist
of the Paris Con¬
servatory laureates
Maxime Penard
orchestra and a
member of the Mahler Chamber Orches¬
tra (conducted by Claudio Abbado). He
won 1 st Prize at the Geneva Conservatory
(2006), Rueil-Malmaison (2003) and Ami¬
ens (2000) and graduated in musicology
from Sorbonne University (2003). He takes
over the chair of bass clarinet/second clar¬
inet of Gilbert Remond who retired. The
two principals are Alain Toiron and Man¬
uel Poultier.
National Police Band
Jerome Hilaire is
the new associate-
conductor of the
National Police
Band. He has been
the band's clarinet
soloist since 1991.
Jerome Hilaire
A Clarinet Quartet for Five Months
in Paris Theaters!
This event is rare enough to be men¬
tioned: a clarinet quartet, Les Bons Bees,
presented a daily show for three months
at the Sudden Theatre, and from February
20 on weekends at the Ranelagh Theatre.
For people who know the classical career
of Florent Heau, professor at the National
Conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison, mak¬
ing tap-dance or playing musical saw, is
quite a surprise! A CD of the quartet has
been produced www.clarinetscores.com;
type reference 2CL756). Florent Heau
just released the Mozart Concerto and
the Sinfonia Concertante with the Prague
Chamber Orchestra (2CL758) and Mozart
Quintet and Quartets (2CL742).
Les Bons Bees is comprised of Florent
Heau, e'', b'', musical saw & arrangements;
Eric Baret, b''; Francis Prost, basset horn;
Yves Jeanne, bass clarinet; Bruno Des-
mouilleres, various percussion.
Switzerland Why call it a
Geneva Conservatory
thumb rest
With Thomas Friedli's death, the Haute when your
Ecole de Musique of Geneva has chosen thumb does all
to invite two clarinet professors for this the work?
university year allowing time to organize a
Get a FHRED and
competition: Jean-Michel Bertelli (Lyon really give your
thumb a rest!
Opera) and Michel Westphal (Suisse Ro-
FHRED attaches to your
mande Orchestra).
thumb rest and rests on your chair
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne l or Clarinet, Basset 1 lorn, Soprano Sax, Oboe,
Julien Chabod has English Horn, Oboe d'Amore, bass oboe.
Priced from $28.99
been the solo clari¬ teacher discounts on student models
net in the Paris Po¬
lice Band (Gardiens Sax players
If this kid can plav Bari,
de la Pai.x) since think what you can do
2005 and since with a SAX-ON for
2006 in a baroque Alto, Tenor, Bari Sax
orchestra, Les Mu- and Bass Clarinet.
siciens du Louvre,
conducted by Marc Quodlihet® Inc.
Julien Chabod RO. Box 3780
Minkowski. He Englewood, CO 80155-3780
is also a member e-mail fhre(l@quo(llibet.com
of Cassiopee: Wind Quintet. His brother Tel: (303) 779-3083 Fax: (303)779-4571
Quodlihet and IHR1D are registm-d trademarks and SA.M1
Alexandre has been mentioned above as a is a trademark ot Quodlibet Inc.
clarinet soloist at the Paris Opera. 1-800-59-FHRED
http://\v\Yw.quodlibet.com
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Visa, MasterCard, Discover
The competition was on December 11-12
with Mozart and Debussy as the required
audition works for the chair of Art Roze-
boom. Dmitry Rasul-Kareyev was se¬
lected as the new soloist. Born in Moscow, Woodwindiana
he made his clarinet studies there, then in
2002 at the London Royal Academy of A resource for great
clarinet music and CDs
Music. While he was there he founded the
London Bach Clarinet Ensemble http://
lbce.org/dmitry.html. Home of The Clarinet Doctor
Until now, he has been assistant prin¬ book and a place to purchase
cipal of the Tampere Philharmonic Or¬
unique clarinet duets, trios &
chestra in Finland. In the Suisse Romande
quartets from around the world.
Orchestra the other clarinetists are Michel
Westphal (the other soloist), BenoTt Will-
mann (&clarinet/2n'i soloist), Guillaume Visit our website for full catalog
Le Corre and Antoine Marguier (clarinet/ and ordering information:
bass clarinet). www.woodwindiana.com
For interesting and informative
articles on a variety of
The Clarinet
pedagogical topics, visit
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE the Forum section at:
The magazine is usually mailed www.howardklug.com
during the last week of February,
May, August and November. De¬ Woodwindiana, Inc.
livery time within North America P.O. Box 344
is normally 10-14 days, while Bloomington, IN 47402-0344
airmail delivery time outside of
(812) 824-6161
North America is 7-10 days.
June 2009 63
 Prior to arriving in New York, Dr. Sei¬
gel played in the Baton Rouge, Gulf Coast,
and Grand Rapids Symphonies. He has
MUSICAL CHAIRS performed recitals throughout the U.S.,
Hungary, Germany and Romania, and has
Andrew Seigel of Music. Originally from California, Sei¬ appeared as a soloist with ensembles in
gel received degrees from California State California, Michigan and Louisiana. He
SUNY Fredonia
University-Fresno, where he studied with performs as half of the Silverwind Duo
Fredonia, NY Miles Ishigaki. Other teachers include with his wife, flutist Nicole McPherson.
Andrew Seigel is Charles Neidich, Ted Oien, Peter Jenkin, During the summers he teaches at the New
the newly appointed Colin Lawson and Jozsef Balogh. England Music Camp in Maine.
assistant profes¬
sor of clarinet at
the State Univer¬
sity of New York Pedagogy Corner - Call for Participation
at Fredonia, where A new pedagogy initiative of the I.C.A. seeks to gather and share ideas from clarinet
he teaches applied teachers through the I.C.A. journal, Web site, and future ClarinetFest" conferences.
clarinet, chamber
If you have particularly successful methods which work consistently with your stu¬
Andrew Seigel music, and per¬ dents, please consider sharing them with us and be as specific as you would like: for
forms with the Fre¬
donia Wind Quintet. He previously taught example, methods/concepts which work especially well for young players as op¬
on the faculties of Southeastern Louisiana posed to good ideas for the more advanced student. We will address the areas of fin¬
University, Michigan State University, ger technique, articulation, tone production, rhythm, etc., and hope that all mem¬
Albion College and Spring Arbor Univer¬ bers of our association will benefit from these valuable insights from pedagogues
sity. He earned his doctorate as a Distin¬ around the world. Our new Chair of the I.C.A. Pedagogy Corner, Larry Guy, will coor¬
guished Fellow at Michigan State Univer¬ dinate your ideas and address them at conferences, on our Web site, and in future
sity, studying with Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. articles in The Clarinet. If your concepts are used, you will be credited with them. You
From 1997-1999, he studied as a Fulbright may contact him at LGuy551856@aol.com with your ideas and suggestions.
Scholar at Hungary's Franz Liszt Academy

Site Search for ClarinetFest® 2012 & 2013

The Board of Directors is soliciting the assistance of the general membership in identifying potential sites for future Clarinet-
Fests® to be held in 2012 and 2013. Being sought are locations with the following attributes:
• Performance Space - Superior acoustical space with multi-media capabilities conducive for the presentation of concerts,
recitals, lectures, and master classes. Having two or more performance venues in the same location is considered optimal.
Minimum capacity of the large hall should be 1100-1300 seats.
• Exhibition Space - Approximately 15,000 sq. ft. exhibition/ballroom space located in or near the same facility as where pro¬
gram presentations will take place.
• Housing - Convenient housing (hotel/dorm) with a variety of price options able to accommodate budgets ranging from
students to corporate executives. Capability to house a minimum of 800 individuals.
• Travel - Access to major transportation centers (i.e. - airports, train stations, etc.)
• Excursions - Interesting tourist activities in, or within the vicinity of, the city/area of venue.
• Other - Incorporation of area musical resources (i.e. - professional symphony orchestras, jazz ensembles, chamber musicians,
military ensembles, etc.) adds greatly to the local experience for those attending ClarinetFests®.
• Program Director -Nominations are encouraged to identify individuals to serve in leadership roles with regard to artistic and
facility coordination.
Proposals are encouraged for international sites as well as in the United States.
Send electronic site nominations/recommendations addressing desired attributes listed above by July 15,2009 to:
Gary Whitman, President
ICApresident@clarinet.org

64 The Clarinet

Music Reviews
by Will Cicola
Jean-Marc Volta. The Bass Clarinet:
Method. International Music Diffusion
1996, $49.95. www.vcisinc.com
The bass clarinet has long been viewed
as an auxiliary instrument and its study
has traditionally followed from this phi¬
losophy. Few if any conservatories allow
students to specialize on the bass clarinet.
Because of this, the bulk of instructional
material for the instrument is either geared
toward orchestral musicians or public
school students. Jean-Marc Volta, princi¬
pal bass clarinetist of the French National
Orchestra, has put his expertise and expe¬
rience to use in filling this gap with The
Bass Clarinet.
The purpose of The Bass Clarinet is to
create a fully bass clarinet-oriented peda¬
gogical method (although it is clearly in¬
tended for those with prior clarinet train¬
ing). To this aim, Volta begins with sound
production — embouchure, breathing, and
long tones — before moving into finger
technique and articulation. As the book
progresses, the specific challenges of the
bass clarinet, such as voicing the upper
register and the uneven response of the in¬
strument, are covered in great detail. Each
section focuses on a specific aspect of
technique, with both instructional text and
musical exercises. Volta also includes il¬
lustrative passages from the orchestral lit¬
erature whenever possible. The fingering
chart is valuable, with several suggestions
for alternate fingerings that would not nec¬
essarily work on the soprano clarinet.
The book is fully bilingual, with all text
appearing in both French and English on
every page. At times, this can be somewhat
visually confusing, but it does prevent the
need to publish separate French and English
editions. The cost-conscious may be fright¬
ened by the nearly $50 price tag, but The
Bass Clarinet is a unique and indispensable
resource for any bass clarinetist interested
in true mastery of the instrument.
by John Cipolla
James Rae. Easy Blue Clarinet for clari¬
net and piano. Universal Edition Ltd.,
London, 2005, $17.90/£8.95. www.
musicroom.com
ing markings on and less prone to getting
worn with use. The publisher also does a
nice job of spacing the notes and staves for
Reviews easy-to-read notation. Articulations and
dynamics are well-marked. This is an ex¬
tremely well-done collection for most any
clarinetist seeking an introduction to play¬
ing the blues on the clarinet, but especially
for the young clarinetist wanting to have
some fun learning to play the blues!
Mike Curtis. Eight Original Jazz Duos
for 2 Clarinets. Advance Music, 1996,
$10.95. www.advancemusic.com
This collection of eight original easy
pieces for clarinet and piano is very effec¬ This collection of eight duos for clari¬
tive for learning characteristic blues styles net is a refreshing addition of stylisti¬
on the clarinet. The accompaniments offer cally varied pieces that will work well
excellent support to the soloist in learn¬ for teaching or recital material for the
ing to play correct inflections with a good advanced high school student or a college
student. Byard's Bounce is a quick swing
rhythmic feel. Included are a variety of
piece with written out turns (a common
blues-styled tunes such as a slow blues,
embellishment in the jazz style) in which
medium-tempo blues, a shuffle, a bossa
Curtis makes creative use of various trip¬
nova, and even a tune with a steady rock
let rhythms. Wistful is a slow-tempo tune
blues-feel. The piano part includes chord
that emphasizes the eight-note triplet
symbols so the pianist can embellish the
rhythm, along with some double-time
written accompaniments. The preface of
feel, 16th-note passages. Contuberance
the book offers a basic description of how is an up-tempo swing piece with char¬
to interpret eighth notes in the jazz and acteristic syncopations and a solid swing
blues style by playing with a triplet-feel. feel in the key of A major. That Dang
The titles in this set are: Blue Monday, Thang is an up-tempo swing piece written
Three Blue Mice, Walkin' the Walk, Late in cut time with some tricky syncopated
Freight, Hangin' Loose, Takin' Care of rhythms. Huntington Park and The Fool¬
Business, Blue Waltz and Snug Fit. Except ish Fool change meters frequently and are
for the last piece in the book, the clarinet a fun challenge. Birdseed is a "Debussy-
range of these pieces spans from low E esque" piece with a flowing melody over
to throat B^. This, along with simplified a mostly 9/8 meter vamp. And Spring
syncopated jazz rhythms, provides a very Chicken Fever is a straight-ahead swing
nice platform from which a young student piece with some fun, quirky syncopations.
can gain an introduction into playing the Articulations are marked in this collection
blues on the clarinet. There are separate at times very carefully, and at other times
clarinet and piano parts, which are printed left out completely. For instance, a less-
on thick-grade paper — excellent for mak¬ experienced player might interpret a series
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 of unarticulated eighth notes all tongued,
when they might be more convincingly
played with a tie on every other eighth
note-second note tied to the third, fourth
tied to the first, etc. Playing these duos
with a more experienced player though,
will alleviate many of these ambiguities.
A number of the duos have well-designed
fold-out pages to accommodate page turns
in a performance. These duos are fun to
play and offer an excellent opportunity for
a more experienced player to demonstrate
jazz styles and rhythms by playing along
with the student.
Mike Curtis. Eight More Original Jazz
Duos for Clarinet and Bassoon. Man¬
aged System Solutions, 220 Dartmouth
Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA, 1994,
$15.00.
There are very few published jazz du¬
ets for clarinet and bassoon, and especially
ones that challenge the players with char¬
acteristically idiomatic swing rhythms, as
this collection does so nicely. That's what
makes this collection an excellent edition
to have in a teaching studio or to be used
in advanced high school or college student
performances. As with Curtis' Eight Orig¬
inal Jazz Duos for 2 Clarinets (also re¬
viewed in this issue), this collection marks
the articulations sporadically, which makes
playing these duos in a characteristic jazz
style a challenge for the student. But, as
with Curtis' Eight Original Jazz Duos for
2 Clarinets collection, playing these with
an experienced teacher will help the stu¬
dent develop a good conception of the jazz
style. The titles of the compositions in this
book are: Try a Little Tenderloin, Corvalla,
Coatzacoalcos, Uninsured, Salamander
Strut, Blues for Stella, Shoe Tree Shuffle
and Anacueya (for A.Q). These duos are
nicely varied in rhythmic style — rang¬
ing from a slow bluesy number, numerous
medium to up-tempo swing numbers and
even includes a Latin number. At times,
the bassoon part plays the traditional role
of the walking quarter note bass line. Gen¬
erally though, both parts play an equal
role melodically, and have a good blend
between playing in rhythmic unison and
playing off each other in a rhythmically
complimentary fashion. This collection
offers an opportunity for some less com¬
mon recital programming —jazz bassoon
and clarinet. Advanced players will have
lots of fun with this collection.
66
by Alice Meyer
Jean-Francois Verdier. Cartes Postales,
32 petites pieces originals et faciles,
for Clarinet in B1, and Piano. Gerard
Billaudot (U.S. Agent, Theodore Press-
er), 2002, $35.95.
Cartes Postales, or Post Cards, is a
book of 32 short pieces written for the be¬
ginning level clarinet student with piano
accompaniment. The pieces, which range
from 1/3 to Vi page, are for a student who
has studied for several months. This book
progresses and increases in difficulty in a
manner similar to a method book. Each
piece in the book has a name, for ex¬
ample: Chewing Gum, Chicago, Tango,
Broadway and Buenos Aires. The titles of
the pieces are fitting for the music. The
dance pieces and pieces named for coun¬
tries or cultures have the style of music
appropriate for the type of dance or mu¬
sic of the country —just what one would
expect. The first piece ranges from low
register A to throat tone B1', and includes
throat tone G^ also notated as a''. Notes are
both tongued and slurred, and accents and
dynamics are included. Throughout the
book, major, minor, and modal pieces are
offered in many different keys, along with
various time signatures and tempi. Both
staccato and lyric pieces are included. The
rhythmic level of difficulty progresses
quickly; the advanced counting skill of
triplets and duplets seen next to each other
occurs in #7, and syncopation in #19. The
upper register is not used until #24, where
it is offered as an option. By the time the
student reaches the end of the book, the
range from low register E through high
register B1, has been used, and the student
has encountered many different rhythms
progressing from simple to complex;
chromatic pieces, crossing the break, and
melodies in major, minor, modal, and pen-
tatonic harmony have been played, and
world music has been explored through
pieces that are appropriate to the country
of origin. For example: Danse hongroise
(Hungarian Dance) is in harmonic minor,
and Berceuse de Chine (Lullaby of China)
loosely follows the pentatonic scale.
Included with this book is a CD. Track
1 is a tuning note. Beginning with track
2, each piece is on the CD, first appearing
with clarinet and piano, then piano accom¬
paniment alone. A picture of a CD before
The Clarinet
each piece gives the track numbers spe¬
cific to the piece and the number of clicks
that occur before the piano begins in the
accompaniment track. This icon is located
in both the clarinet and piano parts.
Cartes Postales would make a won¬
derful supplement to a beginning method
book. It gives the student the opportunity
to play "solos" with the piano at the onset
of study. The opportunity for beginning
students to learn ensemble and solo play¬
ing right away is invaluable. The piano
part can be played with minimal practice
by someone who has had only intermedi¬
ate study on the piano. The clarinet teacher
could accompany her or his own students
on a lesson to lesson basis, which is an ad¬
vantage. The pieces can be used for per¬
formance or study within the lesson.
A table of contents is included in both
the clarinet and piano parts. The piano has
page turns that may be problematic, and
a page turner may be needed for perfor¬
mance. The paper is of good quality and
the cover of the piano part is laminated.
The clarinet part is not laminated which
may be a problem for a young student to
keep the music in decent condition.
The one troubling thing about this book
is that it is in French. There are no trans¬
lations, which is impractical for people
who do not read French. There are some
instructions in #29 for a note that has an
"x" through it. The composer has musical
intention for this note, but a student would
not know what to do without a translation.
I realize that one is available simply on the
Internet, but the reality for a young stu¬
dent translating the language is not prob¬
able. All in all, this is a book that would
be useful on many different levels, and I
recommend it.
Jean-Pierre Labaste. 32 Etudes in Duet
Form, for $ Clarinet. Gerard Billaudot
(U.S. Agent, Theodore Presser), 2002,
$22.95.
32 Etudes in Duet Form is a duet book
written for two clarinets. The one and two-
page duets start at a beginning student level
and progressively get more difficult. Duet
#1 begins with a five-note range, middle
C-G. There are quarter and half notes, and
notes are both slurred and tongued. Dy¬
namics are included. The duets progres¬
sively get more difficult, adding different
time signatures, more rhythms, and more
musical vocabulary. By duet #10, the stu-
dent is using more than a full octave on
the clarinet, more complex rhythms, more
varied dynamics, and the two parts are
more independent from one another. Vo¬
cabulary terms regarding tempo include
Lento, Andantino and Allegro. By duet
#20, the student is using alternate finger¬
ings, parallel major and minor keys, time
signature changes within the duet, repeats,
and D.C. a I fine. As the student progresses
to the end of the book, they have the op¬
portunity to study going over the break
and have used the range of the instru¬
ment from low register E to high register
C. The musical vocabulary increases with
each duet, as does the dynamic vocabulary
and symbols, including a coda. The time
signatures include both simple and com¬
pound meters.
This duet book is not a method book.
It does not introduce or explain the con¬
cepts as a method book would. However,
it would compliment a beginning method
book very well. The duets range from be¬
ginner to intermediate level. Both the top
and bottom parts are equally composed,
thus a student would be able to play both
parts. The teacher would begin this book
when the student was comfortable with
C-G. The original language of this book
is French; however, English translations
are included. The paper is of good quality
and the cover is laminated. There are no
page turn issues.
Duets are an integral part of any instru¬
ment study. They allow the student to hear
and imitate the teacher's sound, learn into¬
nation and ensemble. To have the use of a
duet book from the beginning of study is
an invaluable resource. When the student
is finished with this book, they would be at
an intermediate level sufficient to play the
Rubank Selected Duets. I like this book, and
will be incorporating it into my teaching.
by Michele Gingras
Rick Sowash. Three trios for violin, clari¬
net and piano. No. 1: Sunny Days (Suite)
(1996); No. 2: American Variations on
a Belorussian Folksong: "The Sun Al¬
ready Shines" (2005); No. 3; Memories
of Corsica (2007). www.sowash.com
Here are three delightful trios for violin,
clarinet and piano by a prolific Cincinnati
composer who, luckily for us has had a long
and ongoing love affair with the clarinet.
A few decades ago, musicians were hard
pressed to find works for this trio combi¬
nation. The internationally acclaimed Ver-
dehr Trio has championed the cause of ex¬
panding this repertoire by commissioning
both audience friendly music and experi¬
mental pieces to our repertoire, including
the third of these trios by Rick Sowash.
Sowash, 59, describes his work as being
outside of the mainstream, shunning pub¬
lishers, bookstores and academia, refusing
even to name his alma mater, preferring
not to "give any credit where credit's not
due." He earned a living in a number of
eclectic ways, such as storyteller, teacher,
arts administrator, radio broadcaster,
theater manager, county commissioner,
innkeeper, writer, publisher, and church
musician. He composed more than 200
musical works, and he is gaining an en¬
viable reputation in the U.S. and abroad,
most particularly for his chamber music,
some of which won acclaim at the Cannes
Film Festival in 2003.
Trio #] for violin, A clarinet and piano:
Sunny Days in four movements, composed
in 1994, rev. 1996; duration 20 minutes.
This is Rick Sowash's best-selling piece
including clarinet, and for good reason.
Packed with toe-tapping exquisite themes
and rhythms throughout, it is a sure bet for
a successful concert program. Based on
Belarusian folksongs (Republic of Belarus
sits between Lithuania and Ukraine), the
overall effect still sounds distinctly Amer¬
ican, or as he puts it "somewhere between
Gershwin and Copland." There is also
an available B'' clarinet part, which I find
Send all articles, recital programs, orders for
back issues, announcements and any
other non-commercial items intended for
publication in The Clarinet to:
James Gillespie, Editor/Publisher
University of North Texas, College of Music
1155 Union Circle #311367
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
E-mail: editor@clarinet.org or
jgillesp@music.unt.edu
Send all printed materials (music, books, etc.)
intended for review in The Clarinet to:
Gregory Barrett, Editor of Reviews
School of Music, Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115, 815/753-8004
E-mail: gregbarrett@niu.edu
June 2009
much more user friendly. The A clarinet
part is less practical, with up to six flats. I
prefer the B' part, which makes the work
relatively easy to play and much more idi¬
omatic because of the lighter tone colors
usually inherent to folk music.
Trio #2 for violin, A clarinet & piano:
American Variations on a Belo-Russian
Folksong: The Sun Already Shines, in one
movement. Completed in 2005. Duration
16 minutes. The work is intended as a
metaphor for the two cultures (American
and Russian), joining together after a for¬
merly hostile relationship during the Cold
War. The short and delicious little Russian
tune gradually shifts into an American
sound, climaxing in an all-out and fun rag¬
time variation. At the last minute though,
Sowash returns to a multi-meter Russian
short statement as if to end the piece with
a peace-making truce. The variations in¬
clude Ballad, Tango, Sentimental Song,
Copland-like Nationalistic expression and
a Ragtime finale.
Trio #3 for violin, B^ clarinet & piano:
Memories of Corsica, in three movements,
composed in 2007 for the Verdehr Trio. So¬
wash's visit to Corsica had a tremendous
impact on him, as he musically depicts the
country's harsh landscape, the blue Medi¬
terranean and its pristine beaches, the lo¬
cal culture, and intense cuisine. The move¬
ments are entitled Arid Heat, Aromatic
Breezes, and Ardent Souls. The Verdehr
Trio premiered the work in November,
2008, at the Phillips Collection Concert
Series in Washington, D.C. The Wash-
Send all recordings intended for review
in The Clarinet to:
William Nichols, Audio Review Editor
1033 Fawn Hollow
Bossier City, Louisiana 71111
E-mail: wrnichols@bellsouth.net
Send all inquiries about advertising, notices
of change of address, inquiries about I.C.A.
membership, missing issues, etc., to:
So Rhee, Executive Director
P.O. Box 1310
Lyons, Colorado 80540
E-mail: execdirector@clarinet.org
67
ington Post described the work as "...an
engaging, colorful tone poem in the time-
honored genre of musical travelogue.. .full
of exuberance and laughter." The Verdehr
Trio has exclusive performing rights to the
piece through the end of 2009.
All three trios are relatively easy to
play. My order of preference is #1, #2, #3
(#1 being the most audience accessible
in style), however this order could easily
be reversed depending on programming
needs and preferences. Either way, I am
getting to work learning these pieces as
soon as I send off this review.
by Gregory Barrett
Johannes Brahms. Clarinet Quintet in B
minor. Op. 115. G. Henle Verlag, 2000.
Study score and set of parts.
Brahms' indoctrination to chamber
music with winds began in 1843 when
as a 10-year-old pianist he joined col¬
leagues of his father in a performance of
Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds.
Fast-forward to 1890. Brahms was enjoy¬
ing his prominent artistic popularity and
had declared his String Quintet in G ma¬
jor, Op. Ill to be his crowning and final
composition. The next year Brahms heard
clarinetist Richard Miihlfeld performing at
the court in Meiningen. Miihlfeld's lovely
playing inspired Brahms to immediately
begin simultaneous work on his Trio for
Piano, Clarinet, and Cello in A minor, Op.
114 and the Clarinet Quintet in B minor.
Op. 115 here at hand. Composition of both
works was completed quickly and private
first performances were given in Meinin¬
gen on November 24, 1891. Hand-written
parts were used, as they were also for the
first public performances of the Quintet
in Berlin on December 12, 1891, and on
January 5, 1892, in Vienna.
Andrea Massimo Grassi, editor of
this edition, has used as its basis several
sources: the autograph score housed with
the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vi¬
enna, the first copyist's (William Kupfer)
manuscript of the score, the first published
edition (Simrock) and the first two editions
of the separate parts (Simrock). Brahms'
autograph is not considered his final ver¬
sion. During the period of the first perfor¬
mances he made numerous adjustments
to his music. Likewise, the first published
edition is not considered definitive as Sim¬
rock was hurrying the Quintet to publica¬
68
tion despite Brahms' pleas for more time
for proofreading. Grassi has examined all
the sources and used her expert knowledge
of Brahms' idiosyncratic hand-written no¬
tation to create a score and set of parts that
are as near to Brahms' final conception as
possible. In addition to correcting a few
long-standing note errors and other errors
made by Kupfer in preparing the first score
from autograph, Grassi has taken special
care for the correct placement of crescendo
and diminuendo hairpins. What results is
the latest critical thinking by a Brahms
specialist in one of our greatest repertoire
pieces. Readability and page layout is done
in a highly pleasing manner.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Clarinet
Quintet in A major K.581 and Clarinet
Quintet Fragment in B' major K. Anh.
91(516c). G. Henle Verlag, 2005. Study
score $13.95, set of parts $25.95.
This is a carefully prepared edition for
the clarinetist using standard clarinets, not
basset clarinets. Henrik Weise, the Henle
editor explains in his detailed preface that
the autograph manuscript for the Clari¬
net Quintet in A major K.581 is lost. He
therefore based this edition on the earli¬
est surviving commercial editions. They
date from 1802 and are by Artaria of Vi¬
enna and Andre of Offenbach. Whereas it
is known that Mozart's composition was
for Anton Stadler's basset clarinet capable
of playing to low C, the Artaria and Andre
editions were made for standard clarinet.
Obvious errors are corrected in the
score and parts without comment. Weise
explains the conflicting rationale for sev¬
eral chromatically altered notes in the
string parts in the first movement. He also
suggests a solution for the clarinet in m.
43 of the Trio II, replacing the Artaria and
Andre non-original triplet with eighth
notes low E and F. The final decision about
these details rests with the performers.
Much slurred articulation found in other
editions is here stripped away.
As familiar as the Clarinet Quintet in
A major K. 581 is, the Clarinet Quintet
Fragment in B>' major K. Anh. 91(516c) is
unknown. Mozart's autograph survives in
Paris, and from its paper type its date of
composition is known to be close to that
of K. 581. Only the first bifolium of the
manuscript is extant, though there is some
speculation that the work was completed.
Henle has published all 93 measures of
The Clarinet
what survives. Luckily it includes the
entire exposition of the first movement.
Originally written for a basset clarinet
in B'', the present edition for standard b''
clarinet includes a suggested version of 10
measures that made extensive use of the
basset notes. The original is given in small
type above the main staff.
The page layout in the parts was done
thoughtfully. Violin I's first movement in¬
cludes a foldout page to ensure continuity.
Preface and notes are in German, English
and French.
Giacomo Puccini. Chrysanthemums. Ar¬
ranged for woodwind quintet by Geof¬
frey Emerson. Emerson Edition, 2001,
£8.50.
Geoffrey Emerson's arrangement for
woodwind quintet of Puccini's string quar¬
tet allows clarinetists to partake in Puc¬
cini's late romantic melody and harmony
outside of the opera pit. This five-and-a-
half minute piece was composed by Puc¬
cini in a single night following the sudden
death of an Italian noble. The title refers to
the traditional Italian flowers of mourning.
The arrangement works well with the first
violinist's melody shared among the up¬
per woodwind voices. Excellent dynamic
control to balance the low register of the
flute and the middle register of the horn is
needed for a good performance.
by Larry Guy
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Serenade
for 13 Winds KV 361 (370a) "Gran
PartitaG. Henle Edition
This is a beautiful edition of one of
the greatest masterpieces of chamber
music in the history of Western civili¬
zation. G. Henle, with headquarters in
Munich, is a publisher noted for rigor¬
ous research and excellent print qual¬
ity. One does not encounter errors or ty¬
pos in Henle editions, and the quality of
paper is always high.
The editors were faced with a choice
as to which source material to use: the
autograph score or the first edition, pub¬
lished 12 years after Mozart's death.
Since the first edition frequently con¬
flicts with the autograph score in mat¬
ters of articulation and phrasing, and
since it is impossible to ascertain which
discrepancies might have originated with
Mozart, Henle has chosen to base this
Urtext Edition entirely on Mozart's auto¬
graph score, with editorial additions en¬
closed in parentheses. The Preface, writ¬
ten by editor Henrik Wiese, sheds light on
the probable date of composition, details
of the first performance, and the origin of
the term "Gran Partita."
Of special interest to the performer is
the use of articulation marks taken directly
from the autograph score. This edition
incorporates Mozart's own distinctions
between dots and strokes to indicate sep¬
arated notes. Mozart's articulation mark¬
ings were inconsistent (probably due to
having been written in haste), especially
in the second trio from the first minuet
(movement II) and variation VI from the
sixth movement. The "strokes" or elon¬
gated staccato marks (commonly known
as "carrots") may connote a bit of accent
with the separation, whereas the more
commonly-encountered dots over notes
do not. Although somewhat ambiguous at
times, certainly all performers will wel¬
come Mozart's own articulation.A perusal
of the parts reveals another welcome Henle
feature: the organization of music so as to
allow consistently easy page-turning.
This Henle version is the "must-have"
edition for every serious performance of
this great work. Although expensive, it is
well worth the price, as it may be consid¬
ered definitive.
Kalmen Opperman. Un Seul. Carl Fischer
Kalmen Opperman, who celebrated his
89th birthday last December, is one of the
most respected teachers in the U.S. One
of the few living players who studied with
the legendary Ralph McLane, Mr. Opper¬
man is dedicated to passing on the invalu¬
able French fundamentals to succeeding
generations.
Most players are familiar with his
technique books: the four volumes of
Velocity Studies, the Modern Studies,
Books I and II, and his Handbook for
Making and Adjusting Single Reeds.
Un Seul (French: alone) is written for un¬
accompanied b'' or bass clarinet and takes
approximately five minutes to play. It is
dedicated to Richard Stoltzman, one of
the outstanding soloists in the world, who
was a student of Mr. Opperman's. The
prevailing tempo is a free Adagio at about
60 to the quarter note. It is very accessible
melodically, with a perceived tonality of
D minor. The opening legato theme is
melancholy, reminding one a little of the
bassoon solo at the beginning of Tchaik¬
ovsky's Symphony No. 6. A middle section
contains more articulation and intensity,
and culminates with a cadenza marked
rapido, ending on a high A fermata. Af¬
ter a short pause the opening material is
restated in the final 12 bars, with some
ornamentation. Mr. Opperman is quite
specific with his dynamic markings and
requests for tempo rubato at various mo¬
ments. This solo can be played by a mod¬
erately advanced student, but has enough
musical interest to engage a professional
player. It is delightful to play and has a
striking personal character, affording the
performer many opportunities for expres¬
sion. It would be especially effective as an
encore piece.
CD Reviews
by Larry Guy
Sean Osborn Plays Mozart. Sean Os-
born, clarinet; Ballard Quartet (Simon
James and Michael Miropolsky, vio¬
lins; Scott Ligocki, viola; Walter Gray,
cello. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet and
Clarinet Quartet No. 3. ALBANY RE¬
CORDS TROY 1033. Total time 55:18.
www.albanyrecords.com
S f; AN O iU > t- V
Quintvl tora.mncr ..nJ String itj A M.h.t k SM
Ou.««i un CKmiH-t FMuj.t.K 4*>aY-
Sean Osborn is a clarinetist who played
for 11 years with the Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra. Since leaving the Met in 2000,
Mr. Osborne has relocated to Seattle,
where he has kept busy playing chamber
music, teaching clarinet and chamber mu¬
sic at the University of Washington, giv¬
ing master classes, and composing. He is
a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Acad¬
emy and the Curtis Institute, and received
June 2009
his master's degree from Southern Illinois
University. His teachers include Stanley
Hasty, Frank Kowalski and Eric Mandat.
In this CD Mr. Osborn performs Mo¬
zart's Quintet for clarinet and strings in A
major, K. 581 and the Quartet for clarinet
and strings #3 in F major, K. 496 (Op. 79).
Mr. Osborn, an intelligent clarinetist and a
natural Mozartean, plays with warm tone,
flawless technique, and felicitous phrasing
throughout the disc. The Ballard Quartet
is made up of string players who perform
with a number of organizations in the Se¬
attle area, including the Seattle Symphony.
This very fine, beautifully-matched group
offers Mr. Osborn admirable support in
both pieces. Tempos are traditional for the
most part, but wonderfully flexible.
The quartet is an arrangement of Mo¬
zart's Trio for violin, cello, and piano in
G major, K. 496. This arrangement was
first published by Johann Anton Andre in
1799 as Op. 77, but no autograph exists.
Currently, two editions are available: one,
published in 1985 by Edition Kunzelmann
as the third of Three Quartets for Clarinet
and Strings, is edited by the German clari¬
netist Dieter Klocker; the other edition,
from 1986 by Musica Rara, is edited by
Himie Voxman.
Herr Klocker, who reports in his fore¬
word that he discovered the three quartets
"in the estate of the late clarinetist Kurt
Rauschenbach of the State Theatre of
' • ( ■ / \R i Braunschweig," thinks they were probably
arranged by Mozart himself. Himie Voxman
on the other hand, states that this is "ex¬
tremely unlikely," noting that it would have
been in Andre's best interest to publicize
them as Mozart's arrangements of his own
works, but did not. Mr. Voxman also men¬
tions a significantly altered (and uncharac¬
teristic) dynamic scheme from Mozart's
original. Mr. Osborn, citing uncharacteris¬
tic doublings in the strings, unconvincing
use of inner voices, and inconsistencies
in articulation, agrees with Mr. Voxman's
assessment, as do many others who have
performed the three quartets. Nevertheless,
the arrangements can make for delightful
listening, as does the third quartet in this
performance, which is distinguished by an
excellent dynamic balance between instru¬
ments and charming phrasing.
In the quintet, Mr. Osborn offers some
interpretative surprises to listeners famil¬
iar with this great work: he states in the
CD booklet that the musicians ornamented
69
"where we saw fit." So in the "Larghetto,"
at the end of the middle section, before
the return of the main theme, he inserts
a seven-note dominant-seventh arpeggio,
(a sort of "quasi-cadenza") followed by a
four-second caesura. This pause sets off
the return, played pianissimo, effectively.
Players who wish to embellish Mozart's
music but are uncertain as to how to do
so can use this performance as a veritable
compendium from which to choose all
sorts of changes, as Mr. Osborn lavishes
the printed part with passing tones, runs,
grupetti, and trills at numerous opportu¬
nities (usually during the repeats of ma¬
terial), especially in the third and fourth
movements. Nor are the embellishments
confined to the clarinet; the first violinist
also initiates them at various points.
This beautiful disc is highly recom¬
mended to all clarinetists.
by Thomas Jacobsen
Rue Longue. Stephane Chausse, clarinet/
demi-clarinet/bass clarinet/recorder/
flutes/alto saxophone; Alfio Origlio,
piano/keyboard; Jerome Regard, bass;
Stephane Huchard, drums; Joel Chausse,
cornet (one track); Denis Benarrosh, per¬
cussion (one track). S. Chausse: 5 temps
pour 3 coeurs, Italian Spirit, Running-
man, Rue longue, Ethnocity, Souvenir
d'Igor, A. Origlio: Serenade a Louloir,
S. Chausse: Casse-tete, Ivresse, Auto-
root, Reminiscences. Total time 53:16.
NOCTURNE JAZZ NTCD432. www.
nocturne.fr
French clarinetist Stephane Chausse, 32,
appeared at ClarinetFest® 2008 and, while
I missed it. all reports from those who
heard him were extremely favorable. This
70
impressive recording, which was released
in 2007, represents his debut as a leader.
Trained at the conservatories of both
Nice and Paris, Chausse is at home on bass
clarinet, flute and alto saxophone as well
as the standard b'' instrument. He is heard
on all of them on this CD, and his playing
reveals a technical mastery of each.
The musical program here is not the
standard jazz repertory. Rather, it consists
of original material composed almost en¬
tirely by the clarinetist himself. (The one
exception is track #7 [Serenade...] by pia¬
nist Alfio Origlio.) "When I'm composing
I do everything on the piano," he says,
"and I sing the music so that it always
stays melodic." Much of this music has an
international or ethnic spirit, a phenom¬
enon that seems to be not uncommon in
European jazz today.
Chausse grew up in Menton on the
French Mediterranean coast, so it is not
surprising to hear echoes of coastal Medi¬
terranean music from Italy to the Balkans
and the Orient. As he says about walking
down the main street of his hometown (re¬
flected by his lovely title track), "you can
breathe all the Italian and Oriental influ¬
ences that make up the history and identity
of this Mediterranean town." His "Italian
Spirit" is a tarantella, while he weaves
both Oriental and Celtic threads together
in the rather more exotic "Ethnocity." His
arrangement of the Origlio original brings
a feeling of the tango to the piece. Not sur¬
prisingly, then, unusual meters are often
encountered here as well.
Chausse's technique is impressive, es¬
pecially on up-tempo pieces like "Casse-
tete," in which he is heard on bass clarinet
and alto saxophone as well as clarinet.
Given his multi-instrumental talents, this
piece also exemplifies the frequent use
of overdubbing (sometimes quite clever)
in the album — in this case, bass clarinet
over saxophone. It also reveals the clari¬
netist's taste for free improvisation, which
is heard on more than one track.
Chausse plays only clarinet on four
tracks (2, 4, 6 and 9), and these are among
my favorites from the album — not least,
his sensitive playing on the title track
and the introspective Ivresse. The for¬
mer brought to mind the recorded syn¬
ergies of Frank Glover and keyboardist
Claude Sifferlen. Elsewhere it is clear that
Chausse has listened to a good bit of Ed¬
die Daniels.
The Clarinet
Note should also be taken of the fine
playing throughout of pianist/keyboard¬
ist Origlio. An excellent soloist, he shows
himself to be a wonderful complement to
the clarinetist.
In sum, I am pleased to be able to rec¬
ommend this recording with considerable
enthusiasm. Stephane Chausse is clearly a
young man with a most promising future.
Indeed, he surely must be ranked among
the jazz world's top young clarinetists. Yet,
as a talented multi-instrumentalist, he may
eventually have to make a choice among
his favorite instruments. If so, I hope he
opts for the clarinet.
I look forward to his next recording.
by Simone Weber
Clarimonia — en Suite (Evolution of the
Clarinet and its Music). Clarimonia:
Bernhard Kosling, Ekkehard Sauer,
Jochen Seggelke, clarinets and basset
horn; and guest Joaqim Palet, hunt¬
ing horn. G. F. Handel: Overture in D;
Joseph Pranzer: Trio in C Major, Kon-
radin Kreutzer: Trio-, Giuseppe di Blu-
menthal: Trio on Themes from Operas
of Abbe Vogler, Robert Stark: Trio in G
Minor, Op. 49. CAVALLI RECORDS
CCD 287. Total time 71:11. www.cav-
alli-records.de or www.schwenk-und-
seggelke.de
(iarimonia -
EVOLUTION D€R KLARNETTE UNDIHRER MUSK
EVOLUTION OF THE CLARINET AND ITS MUSIC
en Suite is a recording for those who
sometimes wonder how music might have
sounded centuries ago. Audio encyclope¬
dia and delightful recording in one, it lets
the listener experience clarinet history in
a new way.
en Suite opens with a festive Baroque
overture by none other than Georg Friedrich
Handel, composed in 1744 for the then
popular combination of two clarinets and
a como da caccia. The rather brilliant and
sonorous sound of the two-keyed Baroque
clarinets in D (after Jakob Denner) per¬
fectly matches the hunting horn and gives
this little overture a unique color. As hand-
stopping — a technique used to correct the
tuning of natural tones on the valveless
horn — was not yet developed at the time,
this piece might sound very unusual to ears
accustomed to equal temperament.
The earliest trio for two clarinets and
basset horn represented on this recording
was written by little-known composer Jo¬
seph Pranzer. His Trio No. 2 in C Major is
performed on Buhner & Keller clarinets in
C from around 1800 and a basset horn in F
after Hammig Jr. from the same time.
Konradin Kreutzer, who had an affin¬
ity for unusual ensemble combinations,
originally composed the trio included here
for two clarinets and viola. Replacing the
viola with a basset horn nevertheless pre¬
serves its unique character. Written at a
later date than Pranzer's trio, Clarimonia
this time employs clarinets in B-flat after
Heinrich Grenser from around 1810.
Abbe Vogler's opera Herrmann von
Unna, in which a basset horn trio is used
soloistically, inspired Giuseppe di Blu-
menthal to compose a trio for two clari¬
nets and basset horn. These charming little
character pieces are based on themes from
different Vogler operas.
Last on this recording comes Robert
Stark's Trio in G Minor. Even though Stark
is well-known as a pedagogue today, his
compositions rarely find the same respect
and enthusiasm as his clarinet methods.
Clarimonia demonstrates that this late-
Romantic piece has far more to offer than
credited, and constitutes an interesting
addition to the clarinet trio repertoire. On
en Suite, Clarimonia performs this trio on
B'' clarinets after Georg Ottensteiner (ca.
1870) and a modern basset horn by Sch-
wenk & Seggelke.
Since its formation, Clarimonia is ded¬
icated to performing on original instru¬
ments and has given many workshops on
period clarinet playing throughout Europe.
On en Suite, the ensemble demonstrates a
thorough understanding of the music and
repertoire and excellent mastery of period
clarinets. The artists captivate with clear
phrasing and articulation, and success¬
fully elicit the sweet sound particular to
boxwood clarinets.
Clarimonia's members, Jochen Seg¬
gelke, Bernhard Kosling and Ekkehard
Sauer, are joined by hornist Joaqim Palet
for this recording. It almost goes without
saying that the clarinets featured on this
recording were made by Schwenk & Seg¬
gelke.
As the title en Suite already suggests,
this album is a successor to their debut re¬
cording Divertissement released in 2007.
It features works for three basset horns by
Mozart, Stadler and contemporaries, per¬
formed on period instruments.
The booklet deserves a special men¬
tion, as it immediately impresses with
its appealing design and neat layout. The
back depicts and describes each instru¬ Triofus was formed 13 years ago com¬
ment featured on this CD, and inside liner prised of clarinetist Robert Riseling, bas¬
notes in German, English and Japanese soonist David Hayward and pianist Mark
are accompanied by illustrations of the Payne, and they are joined on this album
various instrumental ensembles featured by flutist Anne Thompson. The repertoire
on this recording. they present is a delightful mix of new
en Suite offers far more than the simple works for winds and piano by composers
pleasure of listening to intriguing cham¬ Paul Carr, Madeleine Dring, Alan Torok,
ber music and good clarinet playing — it Ronald Royer and John Burge.
invites the listener on a journey through Divertimento by English composer Paul
time to rediscover the roots of the clarinet Carr, who has written quite extensively for
and delve into sounds of past centuries. As winds, opens the album. The outer move¬
time machines are not available yet, this ments of this work are filled with an in¬
recording is the closest we can get. tensely rhythmic and jazz influenced char¬
acter, and the middle movement exhibits
by Julianne Kirk beautiful lyrical passages for the clarinet
and bassoon. The work is delivered by
Morofus. Triofus: Robert Riseling, clari¬ Triofus with great energy and intensity. Of
net; David Hayward, bassoon; Mark special note is the sensitivity to the lyrical
Payne, piano; with guest Anne Thomp¬ lines in the second movement by Robert
son, flute. Paul Carr: Divertimento; Riseling and David Hayward while pianist
Madeleine Dring: Trio\ Alan Torok: Mark Payne provides a wonderful palate
Four Panels from My Pasf, Ronald of support.
Royer: In Memoriam Fryderyk Chopiir, In Trio by Madeleine Dring, the influ¬
John Burge: Trio Breve No. I . TRIO¬ ence of her mentors Gordon Jacob and
FUS (no catalog number). Total time Ralph Vaughan Williams is clearly audible.
64:18. www.triofus.com (also available The first movement shows hints of Poulenc
as a download) in its rhythmic intricacies, multiple meter
~where my craft meets your ari:~
Larry Naylor, NAPBIRT Master Clinician
in suburban Denver, CO USA — toll-free 877.761.4759
Quality repairs and immersion restorations
for the discriminating clarinetist
Please visit me at ...
www.naylors-woodwind-repair.com
June 2009 71
changes as well as harmonic colors. Titled
Dialogues, the second movement is a con¬
versation by clarinet and bassoon with the
piano, each with flowing melodies in a
medieval style. The final movement is full
of brilliant energy and character, referenc¬
ing the dialogues of the second movement
and the meter changes of the first. Triofus
performs this work with great excitement,
sparkling technical passages and sensitiv¬
ity to the lyrical lines.
Four Panels from My Past by Alan
Torok for flute, clarinet and piano is an
autobiographical composition with each
of the four movements signifying a dif¬
ferent phase in the composer's youth. My
Springtime evokes a joyful allegro char¬
acter. My Silly Prime is a charming and
spirited movement referred to by the com¬
poser as a "satire that pricks some of my
youthful pretentions." At Last... is given
the subtitle "Much ado about...nothing"
and depicts conflict and resolution. Child¬
hood Forever opens with a familiar nurs¬
ery tune and depicts a youthful energy and
optimism. Anne Thompson and Robert
Riseling display a beautiful blend of col¬
ors and sense of line throughout this work,
and again Mark Payne joins them with a
brilliant canvas of characters and color.
In Memoriam Fryderyk Chopin by Ca¬
nadian composer Ronald Royer is based on
the Chopin piano Nocturne in e minor. Op.
72. This work is a reflection of the life, work
and death of Chopin and is a magnificently
passionate work. The work was originally
written for clarinet, cello and string orches¬
tra and was arranged for Triofus by Chris
Meyer. It opens with a very free piano in¬
troduction and cadenzas in both the clarinet
and bassoon, delivered with control, pas¬
sion and sensitivity by Riseling and Hay-
ward. The work builds and travels through
many different moods but then returns to
the character of the opening.
Trio Breve No. 1 by John Burge is the
final work on the album and was com¬
posed for Triofus in 2008. It is a theme
and variations based on an organ fanfare.
Throughout each variation, a hint of the
following variation's motive is given.
Triofus executes this piece with fantastic
virtuosic playing in all parts.
Morofus is a brilliant collection of new
works for winds and piano performed by
four superbly talented musicians. This
album is a great addition to CD libraries
of all who enjoy new well-conceived, and
72
masterfully performed works for piano
and winds.
by Steve Cohen
Arlequin. Robert DiLutis, clarinet; Yin
Zheng, piano; Juliana Athayde, vio¬
lin; Liana Koteva, violin; Marc Ander¬
son, viola; Kathleen Murphy Kemp,
cello. Gerald Finzi: Five Bagatelles;
Louis Cahuzac: Arlequin; Germaine
Tailleferre: Arabesque; Angel Kotev:
Piece for Clarinef, Andre Messager:
Morceau de Concours; Heinrich Suter-
meister: Capriccio for Solo Clarinet,
Robert Schumann: Fantasy Pieces,
Op. 73; Igor Stravinsky: Three Pieces
for Clarinet; Sergei Prokofiev: Over¬
ture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34. THE
REED MACHINE JJD002. Total time
60:47. www.CDBaby.com (search Di¬
Lutis) and www.thereedmachine.com
ARLEQUIN
ROBERT DLimS CLARINET
This new CD from Robert DiLutis is
a collection of some of his favorite works
as well as a new work written for him in
the fall of 2005. Mr. DiLutis has been the
assistant principal and clarinetist with
the Rochester Philharmonic since 1996
and teaches at the Eastman School of
Music. In the program notes for the CD,
Mr. DiLutis pays tribute to his musical
inspirations with a touching collection of
photographs of various family members as
well as his teachers, William Blayney and
David Weber.
For me it is an interesting and eclectic
program of some familiar, some less fa¬
miliar and some new music. Mr. DiLutis
tells us that the recording was made as the
culmination of the 2007 Eastman Sum¬
mer Session and the pieces were played
in recital just afterwards. It is a represen¬
tation of works that have been important
The Clarinet
in his life, that he has enjoyed performing
on many occasions, and he describes how
he came to know each of the works. It is
a lovely personal touch that helps the lis¬
tener to be drawn in before even beginning
to listen to the CD.
Gerald Finzi's Five Bagatelles are fa¬
miliar territory for most of us, and Mr. Di¬
Lutis presents a charming and extremely
sensitive interpretation of these wonder¬
fully characteristic English pieces. Musi¬
cally it is a beautiful performance in every
way. Since it is often used as a piece for
students, it can haplessly be relegated to
an unfortunate position in our repertoire.
Mr. DiLutis shows us the best of them and
it is extremely moving and a joy to hear.
Arlequin, one of the works of the great
Louis Cahuzac, is another familiar stan¬
dard piece. Here we see another side of the
personality of Mr. DiLutis as he presents a
rich and varied interpretation of this quix¬
otic work. It is an energetic, exciting and
completely appropriate performance.
Germaine Tailleferre's Arabesque may
not be as familiar as the previous works on
this CD. It is a delightful little piece with a
hauntingly beautiful melody. Very simple
and yet very engaging. Here, we see yet
more evidence of the beauty of Mr. DiLu¬
tis' great musicianship. Wonderful legato,
lovely lines, beautiful sound all contribute
to making one want to go out and learn
this lovely work.
The Piece for Clarinet by Angel Kotev
is a new work written for Mr. DiLutis.
Mr. Kotev, the father of colleague. Liana
Koteva, wrote this piece for Mr. DiLutis
in 2005. It is another relatively short work
written in a seemingly idiomatic style for
the instrument and is very accessible. I
found it very enjoyable, and Mr. DiLutis
shows the same musical commitment to it
as he does to all the other varied works on
the disc.
Messager's Morceau de Concours (also
known as Solo de Concours) is another one
of those wonderfully idiomatic French
contest pieces. Mr. DiLutis points out in
his program notes that this is one of his
favorite opening works for a recital. I have
a feeling this is a widely held belief, and
all the excitement and lyricism that is note¬
worthy about this piece is evident in ample
amounts. It is an exciting performance.
Sutermeister's Capriccio for solo clari¬
net in A is another charmer, but in a dif¬
ferent style than the other solo pieces on
 the CD. The variety of articulation, the
dynamic contrast, the sensitive and highly
lyrical sections all are brought into high
relief by Mr. DiLutis.
Schumann's Fantasy Pieces is yet an¬
other example of the standard repertoire
included on this CD. This interpretation
is full of the lyricism and soulfulness nec¬
essary to show why all clarinetists must
know these pieces. Mr. DiLutis shows
great command of all the legato aspects
of playing and brings to these sensitive
and meaningful works all the best of what
makes them such masterpieces.
Probably the most familiar work on the
CD, the Three Pieces by Stravinsky, in spite
of its familiarity, present many challenges
to even the best players. Mr. DiLutis shows
great command of them in every sense.
From the quiet calm of the first movement
to the wild and free second movement and
through the final energetic third, there is
never a misstep. It is a first-rate rendition of
this staple of the clarinet repertoire.
Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew
Themes, a wonderful and stylized work
written for the Simeon Bellison group
Zimro, is one of our more "fun" pieces to
play. Not challenging in some of the more
traditional ways, it is a piece that utilizes
the ideas of Jewish folk songs in a way that
does challenge us to evoke those folk ele¬
ments as we play with some willing par¬
ticipants. Mr. DiLutis, it should be noted
here as well as everywhere on the CD,
has some very willing and able colleagues
helping him throughout. The string play¬
ing is terrific and the piano collaborations
of Yin Zheng are memorable. Ms. Zheng's
piano playing throughout is of the highest
order and adds hugely to everything done
by Mr. DiLutis. It must be very gratifying
to have such wonderful colleagues with
whom to share this music.
This CD is a welcome addition to the
list of CDs for clarinet. It is a combination
of well-known and unknown works with
a personal touch and a personal story be¬
hind each. This "family" affair is certainly
worthy of a good listen and shows all the
varied emotions and expressive elements
in great clarinet playing.
by Randy Salman
New Orleans Classics. The New Orleans
All-Stars: Tim Laughlin, clarinet; Con¬
nie Jones, cornet; Rick Trolsen and
Lucien Barbarin, trombones; Tom Fis¬ Build A Dream On;" Anne Caldwell
cher, tenor sax; Tom McDermott, piano; & Vincent Youmans: "I Know That
Matt Perrine, bass and sousaphone; Hal You Know;" Dorothy Fields & Jimmy
Smith, drums; with guests John Eubanks, McHugh: "I Must Have That Man;"
rhythm guitar and Frankie Lynne, banjo. Tom Delaney: "Jazz Me Blues." MU¬
Original Dixieland Jazz Band: "Fidgety SIC MINUS ONE MMO 3252. Total
Feet;" New Orleans Rhythm Kings: time 43:45 (disc A) and 68:37 (disc B).
"Tin Roof Blues;"Clarence & Spencer www.musicminusone.com
Williams: "Royal Garden Blues;" Tim
Laughlin: "Blue Orleans" and "Dumaine
Street Breakdown;" Edward 'Kid' Ory:
"Savoy Blues;" Tim Laughlin: "March
of the Uncle Bubbys;" Eddie DeLang
& Louis Alter: "Do You Know What It
Means to Miss New Orleans?;" Louis
Armstrong: "Someday You'll Be Sorry;"
Sidney Bechet: "Quincy Street Romp."
MUSIC MINUS ONE MMO 3254. To¬
tal time 76:27 (disc A) and 78:10 (disc
B). www.musicminusone.com
The Isle of Orleans. The New Orleans
All-Stars: Tim Laughlin, clarinet; Con¬
nie Jones, cornet; Rick Trolsen and
Lucien Barbarin, trombones; Tom Mc¬
Dermott and John Royen, pianos; John
Eubanks, rhythm guitar; Frankie Lynne
and Neil Unterseher, banjos; Matt Per¬
rine, bass and sousaphone; Hal Smith,
drums; with guests Neil Unterseher
and Phillip Manuel, vocals, and Jason
Marsalis, vibraphone. Tim Laughlin:
"Magnolia Dance," "Restless Heart,"
"Blues for Faz," "Suburban St. Pa¬
rade," "It's My Love Song To You,"
"Gentilly Strut," "I Know I'll See You
Again," "Crescent City Moon," "The
Isle of Orleans," "Monkey Hill." MU¬
SIC MINUS ONE MMO 3253. Total
These three Music Minus One clari¬
time 74:46 (disc A) and 76:34 (disc B).
net editions are similar in many respects:
www.musicminusone.com
they include a compact disc containing the
The Condon Gang — The Chicago & complete performance of the pieces and
New York Jazz Scene. Hal Smith's a second disc containing a "play-along"
Rhythmakers: Bobby Gordon, clari¬ version minus the clarinet. The music has
net; Chris Tyle, trumpet; Clint Baker, been transcribed clearly and accurately
trombone; Anita Thomas, tenor sax; for easy reading. The second CD also in¬
Ray Skjelbred, piano; Marty Eggers, cludes slower-tempo practice versions for
bass; Katie Cavera, guitar; Hal Smith, some of the more up-tempo pieces. This
drums. Earl Hines: "Monday Date;" provides a beneficial learning tool.
Isham Jones & Gus Kahn: "The One New Orleans Classics and The Isle of
I Love Belongs To Somebody Else;" Orleans feature clarinetist Tim Laughlin.
Henry Creamer & Turner Lay ton: Tim was born and raised in New Orleans.
"Strut Miss Lizzie;" Spencer Williams: He has been strongly influenced by Pete
"Georgia Grind;" Edwin B. Edwards, Fountain, but his style and sound are quite
D. James LaRocca, Henry Ragas, An¬ personal. Laughlin has been an impor¬
thony Sbarbaro & Larry Shields: "Skel¬ tant part of the New Orleans jazz scene,
eton Jangle;" Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby including eight years with the Dukes of
& Oscar Hammerstein II: "A Kiss To Dixieland. He is also active as a Yamaha
June 2009 73
 performing artist, occasionally giving
clinics at a variety of schools. The ensem¬
ble and solo playing on both recordings is
first rate. The play-along CD provides the
opportunity to participate as both soloist
and ensemble musician. A concern for me
is that the clarinetist must listen to many
solos on other instruments. Perhaps this is
due to alternate volumes that are designed
for trumpet, trombone, tenor sax, piano,
bass and drums. That being said, it does
feel like you are a vital part of an authen¬
tic performance. The written ensemble
passages are excellent; however, there are
many instances when solos and ensembles
include chord symbols only. This works
well for experienced improvisers, but it
would have been nice to include written
chords and related scales for less experi¬
enced players. To some extent, Tim ad¬
dresses this problem in his original com¬
positions by including the original melody
along with the chord symbols.
New Orleans Classics features many
of New Orleans' finest players performing
classic compositions by Louis Armstrong,
"Kid" Ory, Sidney Bechet, Clarence and
Spencer Williams, as well as groups: New
Orleans Rhythm Kings and Original Dix¬
ieland Jazz Band. Also included are two
interesting originals by Tim Laughlin
written in the classic New Orleans style.
There is also a Dixieland standard, "Do
You Know What It Means to Miss New
Orleans?," which was written for the 1947
film New Orleans.
The Isle of Orleans consists of 10
originals by Laughlin. These composi¬
tions show him to be an excellent com¬
poser in the traditional New Orleans style.
(This recording was awarded first prize as
the Best Jazz Album created in Louisiana
in 2003 by Offbeat Magazine.) Although I
prefer working on tunes that are likely to
be played on the bandstand, I can appreci¬
ate Laughlin's desire to write new reper¬
toire in this style.
The Condon Gang features clarinetist
Bobby Gordon, who studied with the great
jazz clarinetist Joe Marsala. (Gordon and
Marsala have been described as the great¬
est chalumeau clarinet players of their
time.) Joe's influence is clear, along with
acknowledged favorites Pee Wee Rus¬
sell, Jimmie Noone, Frank Teschmacher
and Benny Goodman. Important to note
is the fact that Mr.Gordon has performed
with legendary guitarist Eddie Condon
and a host of other well-known perform¬
ers. Gordon currently lives in San Diego
where he leads his own quartet and plays
with various swing era veterans.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, the great
Eddie Condon and his band created a truly
individual style of traditional jazz. They
began playing in Chicago before settling
in New York. The music is similar to the
New Orleans style, but contains a wider
variety of dynamics and several unique
rhythmic devices which are utilized on
this recording. Many of the compositions
("Skeleton Jangle," "Georgia Grind," "I
Must Have That Man" and "Strut Miss
Lizzie") were recorded by Condon be¬
tween 1939 and 1944. Others ("Jazz Me
Blues" and "I Know That You Know") ap¬
peared on broadcasts in 1943 and 1944.
Pianist Earl Hines first recorded "Monday
Date" in 1928. "The One I Love Belongs
To Somebody Else" was an early hit while
"A Kiss To build A Dream On" took much
longer to achieve popularity. Again, the
solo and ensemble playing is excellent.
As mentioned earlier, I would like to see
chords and related scales written out rather
than using symbols only. This would en¬
able novice improvisers to participate
more fully in the play-along version. I find
it helpful that original melodies are often
included for many of the improvised en¬
semble passages. In addition to the fully
transposed and notated parts in B1', there
are lead sheet sketches written in concert
key. This is very useful as professionals
are often required to create arrangements
on the spot from concert key lead sheets.
I enjoyed listening to the original re¬
cordings very much, but more importantly,
I found the play-along versions to be fun
and challenging. I recommend these prod¬
ucts to those who enjoy listening to New
Orleans music, as well as aspiring im¬
provisers and students who would like to
learn more about this important style.
by Thomas Josenhans
Rhapsodic Fran^aise. Jonathan Cohler,
clarinet; Rasa Vitkauskaite, piano.
Camille Saint-Saens: Sonata in E-flat
Major, Op. 167; Andre Messager: Solo
de Concours; Charles-Marie Widor:
Introduction et Rondo, Op. 72; Ernest
Chausson: Andante et Allegro; Henri
Rabaud: Solo de Concours, Op. 10;
Claude Debussy: Premiere Rhapso-
die; Eugene Bozza: Bucolique\ Louis
Cahuzac: Cantilene. ONGAKU RE¬
CORDS 024-121. Total time: 64:02.
www.ongaku-records.com

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• More than 4000 wind recordings on CD, tape, LP& Video Debussy Rhapsodic, Widor Introduc¬
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or send $4 for our latest catalog from the canon of French solo clarinet
repertoire are found on Jonathan Cohler's
Tap Music Sales, 1992 Hunter Avenue, Newton, IA 50208 USA latest CD release, Rhapsodic Fran^aise.
Ph: 641-792-0352 Fax: 641-792-1361 email: tapmusic@tapmusic.com Coming mainly from the "French School,"
these pieces were all written within a span
74 The Clarinet
of 70 years around the turn of the 20th cen¬
tury. Many were inspired by the traditions
and influences of clarinet playing and
teaching at the Paris Conservatory. This
CD is the sixth solo recording released by
Cohler and adds to the growing list of de¬
finitive interpretations he has made of ma¬
jor works from the clarinet repertoire.
Jonathan Cohler is an acclaimed soloist
and chamber musician. He has been heard
in concerts around the world. His many re¬
cordings have been lauded by publications
including the American Record Guide,
BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone.
He currently serves on the faculties of
the Longy School, Boston Conservatory,
and New England Conservatory. His col¬
laborator in this recording is Lithuanian-
born pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite. Initially
trained in Vilnius, and later in Italy and at
the Boston Conservatory, she has won top
prizes at international piano competitions
including the Rubinstein, Les Recontres
Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes and
the Mendelssohn Cup.
The success of the collaboration of
these two world-class artists is unques¬
tionable and on vivid display throughout
this CD. The duo's performances achieve
an ideal blend of elegance, delicacy, and
joie de vivre. The listener is struck by the
easy virtuosity and inherent musicality of
every performance, and by the sensitivity
and subtlety of Cohler and Vitkauskaite's
ensemble work. Cohler's tone is light and
facile, adapting to the changing characters
called for in each work. His control and
ease in the clarinet's altissimo register is
particularly striking.
The final two works on this CD, Bozza's
Bucolique and Cahuzac's Cantilene, are
deserving of special mention. Perhaps less
familiar than some of the other works on
this album, these two pieces share moments
of inherent pastoral beauty, and, on this re¬
cording, seemingly flawless performances.
Eugene Bozza was a student of Henri
Rabaud at the Paris Conservatory and,
during a span of 10 years, graduated with
first-prize honors in violin, conducting
and composition. The Bucolique is dedi¬
cated to Ulysse Delecluse who was the
10th professor of clarinet at the conserva¬
tory and taught there for 30 years. The
various demands of the work are easily
met by Cohler, in particular the opening
recitative and the cadenza, both of which
are dazzling.
Louis Cahuzac was a student of Cy-
rille Rose and is known, among other
things, for the recordings of the Nielsen
and Hindemith concertos he made late in
his career. Cahuzac wrote several works
for clarinet, but the lyrical innocence of
the Cantilene makes it a favorite of this
reviewer. Cohler and Vitkauskaite capture
the work's impetuous charm with sensitiv¬
ity and grace.
In addition to sparkling performances,
this CD contains very fine liner notes. The
20 pages of remarks are detailed and in¬
formative, giving helpful insights into the
"French School," the composers' lives,
and each piece's place in history. Rhapso¬
dic Fran^aise is a CD worthy of any col¬
lection, and one is left looking forward to
future collaborations between Cohler and
Vitkauskaite.
by Justin O'Dell
Twelve by the Moon-dial. Riverdale En¬
semble: Stephen Fox, clarinet, bass
clarinet, soprano & alto saxophone;
Ellen Meyer, piano; Laura Jones, cel¬
lo; Susan Lipchak, viola; Joyce Lai &
Aleksandar Gajic, violins; Andras We¬
ber, cello. York Bowen: Phantasy Quin¬
tet:; John Ireland: Trio in D\ Josef Hol¬
brooke: Nocturne "Fairlyland," Eilean
Shona, and Sonata for saxophone and
piano. CHESTNUT HALL MUSIC
CHM080930. Total time 78:52. www.
riverdaleensemble.com
weLoe by the Moon-di'aL
",v<R:nh
/ i CLq{Rtne£
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HoLbRooke:~*?»ax<whonevSu>*iqCa MmuI
NoctuRne "Fai^ylayid"
EHe^m Shona » \w
RiuendaLe Ensemble cHrl
When I received the Riverdale Ensem¬
ble's new CD, Twelve by the Moon-dial,
I was delighted to examine the program¬
ming. Finally, someone had paid atten¬
tion to some terrific British chamber mu¬
sic that had slumbered for too Ions in an
June 2009
unjustly forgotten state. The composers
represented are York Bowen, John Ireland
and Josef Holbrooke.
One of the exciting repertoire selec¬
tions made by clarinetist Stephen Fox is
Ireland's Trio in D for clarinet, cello and
piano. Upon hearing Ireland's name, one
could have expected Mr. Fox to serve up
the beautiful Fantasy-Sonata for clarinet
and piano, the one work of Ireland's that
is familiar to most clarinetists. Instead, to¬
gether with Ellen Meyer and Laura Jones,
Fox offers the full-scale three-movement
trio that has been collecting dust since it
was written in 1914. As clarinetists, our
choices for this wonderful combination of
instruments are deep and varied, and for
those among us who dare to venture be¬
yond Brahms and Beethoven, yet another
compelling option longs to be rediscov¬
ered. The performance of the trio is filled
with a kind of vivacity and joyful music
making that occurs when the participants
are enthusiastic about what they are play¬
ing. It's no wonder they achieve such
ebullience in their performance. They are
clearly keen to make a strong case for this
composer. Ireland's trio is a robust effort
by a man with an assertive musical per¬
sonality who, while preserving his own
individuality, was able to successfully
assimilate his teacher's rigorous train¬
ing. Charles Villiers Stanford, Ireland's
professor at the Royal College of Music,
would have loved the sober primary theme
insofar that it radiates the old master's es¬
teem for Teutonicism. On the other hand,
British roots are in no way camouflaged
throughout the second movement. Here an
unmistakable English tune, one that could
have come right from Gustav Hoist's pen,
comes markedly to the fore.
The Phantasy Quintet by York Bowen
is not only winsome, but it is also innova¬
tive. Bowen, a composer of late-Romantic
style music, wrote the first bass clarinet
quintet between the years 1932 and 1936.
It evidently took a long time for a com¬
poser to come to the idea of writing a clar¬
inet quintet employing the bass clarinet
instead of the usual soprano, but Bowen's
results are compelling. Bowen, forgotten
today mostly because the Second World
War disrupted the momentum he was gen¬
erating, also wrote a fine sonata for clari¬
net and piano. The Phantasy Quintet, Op.
93, for bass clarinet, two violins, viola,
and cello is a substantial 14-minute work
that will inspire you to dust off that new
75
 low-C bass you bought and call up your
string-playing friends for a chamber mu¬
sic evening. The performance by Stephen
Fox on bass clarinet is terrific. He man¬
ages the instrument with finesse, musical-
ity and agility. The other members of the
quintet, Joyce Lai, Aleksandar Gajic (vio¬
lins), Susan Lipchak (viola), and Andras
Weber (cello) all deserve special praise for
their dedicated playing.
Eilean Shona, a short but enthralling
clarinet quintet by Joseph Holbrooke, has
been recorded at least twice before. This
piece belongs in the repertoire of any¬
one who plays clarinet quintets, and I am
pleased it is getting enough attention to
warrant at least three recorded versions.
This version is tender, sweet, and sounds
like it was recorded in the same live acous¬
tic as the other tracks on the CD. Another
terrific piece of repertoire by this com¬
poser is for clarinet, viola, and piano. The
single-movement Nocturne "Fairyland " is
a worthwhile addition to the repertoire for
this combination of instruments. The trio,
inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem with
the same name, gives a strange impression
upon first hearing due to the programmatic
elements intended by the composer. This
is an asset, however, and the music wears
well upon a second hearing.
This recording is recommendable on
two fronts. First, the music belongs to
those who want to hear beautiful reper¬
toire that is too rarely played in concerts.
Some of these pieces may even become
some of your new favorites. Secondly,
all performers are superbly suited to the
music and do their best to convey its sub¬
stance to a new audience. Additionally, the
recorded sound is abundantly live, but it is
pleasing and retains its clarity. The micro¬
phone sound recalls the warmth generated
by the old ribbon microphones. I hope the
Riverdale Ensemble continues its efforts
to beautifully record chamber music that
needs to be heard anew.
by Dileep Gangolli
Contradanza. Clarinetes Ad Libitum:
L I
Nuno Pinto, B and E clarinets; Jose
Ricardo Freitas, clarinet; Luis Filipe
Santos, clarinet; Tiago Abrantes, bass
clarinet; Jean-Francois Leze, percus¬
sion, vibaphone and piano. Celso
Machado: Quebra-Queixo and Pagoca;
Paquito D'Rivera: Contradanza^ Tra¬
ditional: Jamaica Farewell, Foliada de
Berducido, El Compadre Merengue,
76
Heymisher Bui gar, Trinkt Briderlakh!,
Ox Tate S'iz Gut; Milladoiro: Vals de
Libunca; Astor Piazolla: Libertango;
Carlos Paredes: Cangao de Alcipe and
Dangas Portuguesas No. 1; Andre Vic¬
tor Correa: Andre de Sapato Novo;
George Botsford: Black & White Rag;
Nick la Roca: Tiger Rag\ Stephen
Sondheim: Send in the Clowns. MFCD
061265. Total time 47:47. www.clari
netesadlibitum.net
CLARINETES AD LIBITUM
Discovering unusual instrumental com¬
binations that work successfully for cham¬
ber music is like finding a memorable bot¬
tle of wine in the budget aisle of your local
liquor store — it doesn't happen very of¬
ten. But when it does you want to log onto
FaceBook and tell all your friends.
I have to admit to being quite skeptical
when asked to review Contrazdanza, a
CD by the Portuguese group Clarinetes Ad
Libitum. To be honest, clarinet ensembles
aren't at the top of my list when choos¬
ing music to listen to in my free time. But
this recording really surprised me — in a
good way. This CD is testimony to the fact
that great performances are the result of
talented musicians playing original and
unique material prepared with meticulous
detail. To say that I was impressed by this
ensemble would be an understatement.
Clarinetes Ad Libitum have appeared
at several clarinet symposiums around the
world, most recently the event held last
summer in Kansas City. They made a strong
impression by presenting a varied and en¬
gaging program consisting of their own ar¬
rangements all played from memory.
Contradanza is an excellent example
of the work of this ensemble. The musical
selections cover a wide variety of styles
including Latin, klezmer, ragtime. Eastern
European gypsy, reggae, Broadway hits
and folk song. What makes the arrange¬
The Clarinet
ments so successful is their attention to
detail in the voicing and blend. The clever
arrangements have harmonic spice, plenty
of contrapuntal activity, and offer a healthy
range of moods and emotions. The result
is an hour of music-making engaging to
the listener and full of stylistic variety. My
fears of boredom due to timbral homoge¬
neity were never realized.
These four clarinetists have a common
aesthetic regarding sound, articulation and
style which creates a cohesive ensemble
and polished presentation. The use of
percussion as a spice and not as a main
ingredient is a clever musical touch. It cre¬
ates texture while always remaining in the
background. Kudos to percussionist Leze
in exhibiting a restraint that always adds to
the presentation and never overwhelms.
While I found the entire CD entertaining,
I was most impressed by the tracks titled
Libertango, Heymisher Bitlgar, Pagoca and
Ox Tate S'iz Gut. These four selections rep¬
resent four totally different musical styles
(tango, gypsy, Latin and klezmer respec¬
tively) played with technical prowess while
always maintaining a wonderful blend and
shared tonal concept. To make this work,
the performers have to be conversant with
world music and be able to transmit their
love for ethnic musical styles.
The members of Clarinetes Ad Libi¬
tum display talent and dedication to music
making that are truly world class. I urge
all readers to change into their favorite
Hawaiian shirt or bikini, mix a tropical
cocktail (go ahead make it a Grande),
and put Contradanza in the CD player.
Just because there's a world economic re¬
cession doesn't mean you can't travel the
world in your own living room. Just don't
admit to anyone that you danced the night
away listening to a clarinet ensemble.
Back Issues
of The Clarinet
Back-issue order forms for The Clar¬
inet may now be downloaded from
the I.C.A. Web site: www.clarinet.
org. Copies may also be requested
by contacting:
James Gillespie
University of North Texas
College of Music
1155 Union Circle #311367
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
E-mail: jgillesp@music.unt.edu
*
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 RECITALS m CONCERTS

and String Quartet, Op. 24, Prokofiev versity of North Texas, February 21, 2009.
Students...
Diane Pasch, clarinet, M.M. Recital, Pastorale Cevenole, Cahuzac; Dancing
Andrea Harrell, clarinet, M.M. Recital, University of North Texas, March 4, 2009. Solo, Larsen; Intrigues, Makris; Trio in A
University of North Texas, February 29, Sonata No. 2 in C Major, Wanhal; Five minor. Op. 114, Brahms
2009. Andante et Allegro, Chausson; Pieces for Clarinet Solo, Smith; Sonata Jessica Smith, clarinet, M.M. Recital,
Three Studies on Flight, Riepe; Sonata for for Clarinet and Piano, Guastavino; Fan¬ University of North Texas, February 28,
Clarinet and Piano, Bernstein; Overture tasy Trio, Op. 27, Muczynski 2009. Hillandale Waltzes, Babin; Cinco
on Hebrew Themes for Clarinet, Piano, Sam Ross, clarinet, M.M. Recital, Uni- Bocetos, Sierra; Sonatina for Clarinet and
Piano, Martin
SEAN OSBORN PLAYS MOZART
QUINTET K. 581 - QUARTET K. 496 Faculty and
Professional...
Mark Hollingsworth, clarinet. East Cen¬
tral University (Oklahoma), February 26,
2009. Tema con Variazioni, Frangaix;
Rumanian Whirling Dance, Sclater; Time
Pieces, Muczynski; Trois Variations sur la
Romance Russe, Cavallini
***ALL SORTS*** Madeline LeBaron Johnson, clarinet,
of RARE and vintage winds, BALLARD QUARTET Snow College, February 23, 2009. Fan¬
Stnon jmes, noLn Scott L^ucki, vii>b
especially saxes, clarinets Michad MirofvMtT, violin Wahrr Gf*% 'celk>
tasy-Sonata, Ireland; Carnival of Venice,
& flutes.
New from Sean Osborn Jeanjean; Meditacio, Ruera; Sonata, Op.
New or fully restored in 128, Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
"...a supreme pleasure" Timothy Phillips, clarinet, Troy Univer¬
our own workshop. American Record Guide
sity, November 16, 2008. Dance Preludes,
Wichita Band Instrument Co. "Clarinet Magic" Lutoslawski; Two Nursery Rhymes, Bliss;
2525 East Douglas, Wichita, KS 67211 Gramophone Magazine A Touch of Tango, Vollrath; Four Portraits,
orders (800)835-3006 also available Musgrave; Sonata No. 2 in F-flat Major,
Info (316)684-0291 Rose 32 Etudes American Spirit Op. 120, Brahms; University of Alabama,
FAX (316)684-6858
Huntsville, December 1, 2008. Dance
E-Mail: wbic@wichitaband.com
Preludes, Lutoslawski; A Touch of Tango,
visit our web site: Vollrath; Concert Piece No. 2, Op. 114,
www.wichitaband.com Mendelssohn; Sonata No. 2 in F-flat Ma¬
***since 19531*** jor, Op. 120, Brahms

Programs intended for publication

in The Clarinet should be sent to James
CLARINET SOLOS Gillespie, P. O. Box 311367, College of
Music, University of North Texas, Denton,
with
TX 76203-1367 (E-mail:jgillesp@music.
FULL ORCHESTRAL ACCOMPANIMENT
unt.edu). To ensure accurate program in¬
change the tempo, record yourself wi tk the accompaniment formation, please send a printed program
and a summary of pertinent data (names of
Mozart, Web er, Spohr, Crusell, Stamitz, Krommer, Tartini performers and composers, site, date and
titles of works, etc.) in either an e-mail or
for more information, please visit our weh site hard copy version in the format above. For
ClassicalCollectionlnc. Com student recitals, only solo degree recital
programs (junior, senior, master's and
doctoral) will be listed.
78 The Clarinet
Nicolas Baldeyrou and Vandoren

"I have always used Vandoren products. I'm using a B40 13

mouthpiece with V.12 #3.5 reeds and the Optimum ligature.
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 One of the many benefits of mem¬
bership in the I.C.A. is the ex¬
change of ideas related to the
performance and teaching of the clarinet.
Continuing in this spirit, the board has
created a new position called Pedagogy
Chair, with Larry Guy serving in this po¬
sition on a three-year rotation. Please no¬ by Gary Whitman
tice the call in this issue for participation
in the "Pedagogy Corner." The objective
is to gather and share ideas on different that allows members the opportunity to
pedagogy topics from clarinet teachers contribute a gift of unrestricted funds to
throughout the I.C.A. In his position as our organization.
Pedagogy Chair, Larry will coordinate the Different levels, or dollar amounts, of
ideas and address them at conferences, on giving have been established to accom¬
the Web site, and in future articles in The modate personal budgets. The names of
Clarinet. Larry needs no introduction to the differnet levels begin with "Sponsor"
the membership of our organization. His through the "Virtuoso Circle."
detailed articles on clarinet pedagogy have The funds from Contribute to the I.C.A.
appeared in many issues of the magazine. will be used to sponsor and offer long-term
Many members will also recognize Larry support to future projects of the I.C.A. In¬
as the successful producer of CDs on the dividuals may choose the level of giving
orchestral careers of Daniel Bonade and that is best for them and dedicate their
Ralph McLane. Feel free to contact Larry donation in someone's name, or as a me¬
and participate in the "Pedagogy Corner!" morial for a friend or loved one who has
I am happy to report that our Web site passed away. Please visit the Web site for
has undergone a new "user friendly" de¬ complete details on both new features.
sign with two new features, a members I would like to thank our Webmaster,
only link, and a new link entitled Contrib¬ Brian Covington, for his attention to detail
ute to the I.C.A. Contribute to the I.C.A. is and supervision during the new Web site
a new program implemented by the board design.
Clarinet Books
Van Cott Information
Advanced Intonation Tech w/CD (J.Gibson) $29.95
Services, Inc. Bass Clarinet [Method] (Volta) $49.95
The Daniel Bonade Workbook (Guy) $24.95
See our full catalog of wood¬ Campione on Clarinet (Campione) $44.95
wind books, music, and CDs at: Clarinet (Brymer) $19.95
http://www.vcisinc.com The Clarinet (Hoeprich) $39.95
The Clarinet Doctor (Klug) $34.95
Shipping (Media Mail-U.S.): $4.75 Clarinet Fingerings (Ridenour) $19.95
for the first item, $.50 for each Clarinetist's Guide to Klezmer (Puwalski) $24.95
additional. Priority and Overseas Clarinet in the Classical Period (Rice) [PB] $39.95
Air Mail also available. The Clarinet Revealed (Ferron) $32.95
We accept purchase orders from Clarinet Concerto in Outline (Heim) $24.95
Clarinet Literature in Outline (Heim) $24.95
US Universities,
Clarinet Secrets (Gingras) [Revised Ed.] $34.95
email: info@vcisinc.com Clarinet Sonata in Outline (Heim) $24.95
P.O. Box 9569 Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past (Weston) $41.95
Las Vegas, NV 89191, USA More Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past (Weston) $41.95
(702) 438-2102 Yesterday's Clarinettists: A Sequel (Weston) $41.95
Complete Daniel Bonade (ed. Guy) $24.95
Fax (801) 650-1719 Educators Guide to the Clarinet (Ridenour) $46.95
Embouchure Building for Clarinetists (Guy) $19.95
The Everyday Virtuoso (Chesebro & Kerstetter) ... $29.95
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* From the Clarinet D'Amour to the Contra Bass $98.95
Hand and Finger Development (Guy) $19.95
Working the Single Reed Heroes & Heroines of Clarinettistry (Weston) $29.05
Orchestral Studies for the Eb Cl (Hadcock) $21.95
A DVD tutorial on reed Orchestral Musician's Library CD-ROM [each] ... $19.95
adjustment by Toronto (Vols 1-10 with discounts on 3 or more)
Symphony Principal Bass A Practical Approach to the Clarinet (Etheridge)(3 Vols)
Clarinetist David Bourque. Symphonic Rep. Bass Cl Vols 1-3 (Drapkin) ea.... $21.95
Richard Miihlfeld, Brahms' Clarinettist $49.95
$29.95 + S&H The Working Clarinetist (Hadcock) $39.95
* The Woodwind Player's Cookbook $24.95
80 The Clarinet
1
I would also like to draw your attention
in this issue to a new I.C.A. competition,
the Composition Competition, with the
call in 2010 being a piece for clarinet and
piano. This competition is open to com¬
posers, clarinetists, and musicians who de¬
sire to further the repertoire of the clarinet
with an original work. The coordinator of
this new competition is clarinetist/com¬
poser Eric Mandat, professor of clarinet
and Distinguished Scholar at Southern Illi¬
nois University-Carbondale. The winning
composition will receive a world premiere
performance during ClarinetFest® 2010 at
The University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
More details are listed with the other I.C.A.
sponsored competitions on the Web site.
The program and plans for Clarinet¬
Fest® 2009 in Oporto, Portugal are mov¬
ing at a fast pace! Carlos Marques and
Antonio Saiote are busy planning a unique
ClarinetFest®. Emphasis on repertoire for
clarinet and wind band will be featured as
well as a special session on the most re¬
cent research on health in the performing
arts. All events will take place in one of the
most important concert halls in Portugal,
Casa da Music a. Please refer to the Web
site for detailed information on the artistic
program, hotel accommodations, and spe¬
cial summer travel packages in Portugal.
The call for proposals for ClarinetFest®
2010 at the University of Texas in Austin
is included in this issue. Artistic Directors,
Richard MacDowell and Nathan Williams,
have already started the preliminary plan¬
ning for their artistic program. The But¬
ler School of Music at UT-Austin offers
facilities near downtown Austin, the live
music capital of the world and an inter¬
national "foodie" destination. Mark your
calendars for July 21-25, 2010, and plan
to meet me in Austin for some inspired
clarinet playing and Texas hospitality!
The board of the I.C.A. is excited about
the future plans for our organization and
welcome suggestions from the member¬
ship on ideas for our conferences and Web
site that would benefit our membership.
Let us hear from you! In the meantime,
best wishes for a productive summer sea¬
son of performances, teaching, festivals,
and, of course, ClarinetFest® 2009!
BACKUN MUSICAL SERVICES

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www.backunmusical.com 604.205.5770
 JOAQUIN VALDEPENAS

Depends on Yamaha.

"My CSG clarinet has a truly unique voice that allows me to be

free in my musical expression and it has impeccable intonation."

'Joaquin Valdepenas, International Clarinet Soloist

2007 Qrammy Nominee
2004 Juno Award Winner #YAMAHA YCL-CSG
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