Alberto Ginastera - Variaciones concertantes
Video
Perhaps the Mother of all orchestral excerpts, the solo from Ginastera's Scherzo from Variaciones concertantes was once considered too difficult to play. Parts have been split up between E-flat Clarinet and the original B-flat, or transposed to another
clarinet. Though it's probably not bad to play on a C clarinet, I learned it on A clarinet, so those are the pitches to which I will refer. The solo begins at measure nine and lasts until the final note of the variation. The marked tempo is likely
still impossible, and modern performances rarely exceed 120 to the dotted-quarter-note.
Begin with care to not be too edgy - we want fun, jaunty, celebretory: Scherzo! Play a little longer to keep the edge off, and f not ff. Grace-notes should be quick throughout and always with an accent. In the main theme, a crescendo from the G in
measure 2 to the A in measure 3 gives great flavor. 18 should start noticeably softer and more tender, then crescendo to a subito mf. Crescendo into 19. Going into 21 should be a bit more rhapsoidic - you can be a little freer with the rhythm as long
as you start and end this scale precisely. Beginning with the low C, return to the dancy bounce of the opening.
At 23, the first four trills should start fast and with accents. The longer trills can start with an establishment note, a tiny bit slower. I finger the high A/B-flat (on A clarinet) by trilling the throat A key on a standard double-high A fingering. My
double-high D is just overblown double-high A. The D Phrygian passage at 25 is super hard. Start practicing slowly. Play only mf. I used open D in the third measure and side D in the fourth. For the high G, I use 1/12 because it's sharp in case my
embouchure isn’t tight enough with all the voicing jumps I have to do, and I can get down to the top-staff G more easily. I half-hole the next D to avoid any finger slaps messing with voicing or causing that noise to overshadow the notes, which can happen
when moving this fast this high. It's easy to fall behind in the hemiola bars - don't.
At 26, diminuendos become impressive - make sure to do them. The mordents are tough at this speed. You can try practicing several rhythms there, including four even sixteenth-notes each. 28 is the hardest part to do on an A clarinet. I use side high
D (trill fingering) in the third and fourth measures, but go back to 5th-partial four measures from the end. Be sure to crescendo enough to give you room to get softer - the stronger you start, the less soft you have to get by the marked pp, making it
easier.
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