C'est La Vie

Vivaldi Violin Concerto in A minor, Op.3 No.6

Aka, The ultimate sassy baroque concerto that is solely responsible for helping most of the Music 283 class survive music history this year.  

So good.

Hey guys! Any suggestions of clarinet concertos that have wind ensemble accompaniment?
I need one for the fall :)
Thanks!

I’m putting the final touches on this concerto before I play it with the Edmonton Youth Orchestra on Sunday, and I just listened to Boeykens recording of this concerto (and the first one as well) on Naxos. It is BY FAR my favourite in comparison to a lot of the others I’ve really used to help my interpretation (Frost, Shifrin, Meyer, etc). I’m not sure about the little bit of vibrato he uses sometimes, I mean it’s quite charming and suits his playing but I don’t think I would do it.

He like..100% gets the character, and they are just so full of joy and excitement. And the orchestra sounds really full and lively, and they really just enhance the performance a lot.

The Weber Concertos aren’t my favourite works in the repertoire, but I’m really excited that this is gonna give me the last kick in the pants to polish off anything I have left. :)

Any clarinetists heard of this one?!
I absolutely adore it. Please go on Naxos and check it out!

I kind of want to learn it for concerto competition next year..but the part costs $84…

But Swedish music is just..insane and makes me so happy.  

My roommate got her recording of the Creston Saxophone Concerto that she did with the Wind Ensemble a few weeks ago. Such a bamf. 

You know, I normally don’t take tips from sax players ;) but her sound is so awesome. I have to remember to have that much energy when I do my concerto in May! 

She’s so awesome.
Just thought you’d all like to know.  

Hello Clarinetists! (and others…!)

My next lesson with my teacher we’re compiling a big list of repertoire to pick pieces for my junior recital, because I hopefully want to do it in the fall of my third year, so I should beginning planning and ordering music at least.

Any suggestions on repertoire? :)

I know for sure that I’m doing Poulenc Sonata, because it is my true love, and I might also do Francaix’s Theme and Variations. But I’d love lots of new ideas!

Thaaaanks.  

I’m getting this nervous - I have to play a 25 minute concerto from memory in two weeks and it’s like basically memorized, but like I memorized it in a week so it could be gone in the blink of an eye, and it’s still goddamn difficult - twitch and I want it to stop. 

But I really want to do well :P Because I want to play a concerto in the Winspear in Edmonton, because it’s gorgeous. And I get $750 if I win. 

And then I have to record my National Youth Orchestra audition a week after that. Bloop. But all my excerpts actually sound awesome! Wooot finally got Beethoven 6 and Shosty 9.
We won’t talk about the bass clarinet excerpts. 

That is all.
I other news I got a little split in my lip and took 2 advil, because apparently advil heals wounds? Nobody got time for a split lip.  

How do I always forget how much I LOVE Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
The second movement forever makes me cry.
 

So I just finished competing in my second concerto competition this fall! :) 
Hopefully it ends up as well as the first one! :) I feel good about my performance. I’d say a touch underprepared, but I played quite well still and I feel like my performance had a lot of character despite it maybe not being as clean as I’d have liked.

Now that I can put Weber aside for at least a month I was just thinking about what I need to change my focus on to now. I am an IDIOT and this year is SO PACKED WITH REPERTOIRE THAT I’M GOING TO DIE. 

So this September to April I will have learned:

Copland’s Clarinet Concerto
Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (Exposition of each movement)
Saint-Saens’ Clarinet Sonata
Brahms Clarinet Sonatas No. 1 and No. 2 
Brahms Trio in A minor
Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Clarinet (Second Piece)

Excerpts:
Mendelssohn’s Sommernachtstraum
Beethoven Symphony 6
Brahms Symphony 3
Shostakovich Symphony 9
Bartok Miraculous Mandarin
Mahler Symphony 9 (Bassclarinet)
Copland El Salon Mexico (Eb Clarinet)
Ravel’s Bolero (Eb Clarinet) 

As well as all of the repertoire for the University Wind Ensemble and Orchestra (omg L’apres midi, Brahms 1, Nielson Flute Concerto, Mozart Grand Mass..etc..) and for Wind Quintet.

I’m literally dying. So stupid. Never planning for this much repertoire ever again.  

So I’m almost done with this beast of a concerto (for now).
Our University has a concerto competition and I made it through the prelims and am playing again in the finals on Tuesday!
There is a floutist, a saxophonist, a violinist and two pianists in the finals as well. Competing for likely three spots to play with the orchestra or band.
I just had another rehearsal with my poor accompanist that had to play the nasty piano part. I actually got a half decent recording of the entire concerto with piano on my laptop, so I’ll upload it later for you guys :)

Okay, well apparently since I checked the orchestra website earlier this week Petar updated this years rep and actually added the cool stuff! I’m actually pretty excited, considering Andrea and I will be playing in almost everything, because there aren’t any clarinetists older than us! AWE YISS, cutest section ever. Though first semester is annoying because it’s mostly strings only stuff, so we can ‘focus on wind ensemble’ because orchestral winds have to play in both ensembles. Rood boi. 

Our Season

I have just over two weeks until school starts again, and three weeks until concerto competition. I really need to get my butt in gear.
I’ve made some significant progress this summer. Maybe not as much as I’d like, but oh boy my articulation has come a long way (too much Copland), and my tone and air support have also improved.
I want to make a few really specific goals so I don’t waste the last two weeks of summer with unproductive practice. If I write them down here, I’ll more likely follow them, and can get some feedback and suggestions as well! :)

- Hand tension. It’s improved a bit and I’ve loosened up, but I really need to focus on just keeping my embouchure firm and everything else fluid.
- Angle of my instrument. My teacher is big on holding the clarinet closer to your body, and I saw a video of myself playing the other day…the first month of lessons will just be her holding my bell in place. Oh god.
- Phrasing in my repertoire. I think I sometimes get caught up on smaller details and my phrasing doesn’t come through very well. I use lots of short phrases rather than connecting the ideas into a bigger picture.
- Be more purposeful. I need to have a clear idea of exactly how I want everything to sound, exactly where I want it to go and give everything musical direction. Don’t just play the notes.
- Aim for a fuller, resonate sound. I have a very ‘sweet’ sound but it sometimes lacks a bit of core substance. Air=Tone. Embouchure=Quality.
- Even finger speed. More scales, with more focus on even-ness of tone and fingers.  

Okay. Sounds good. I can do dis.

Sure. Any other suggestions?