Orchestral Excerpts for the Clarinet
A guide to teaching and playing
Introduction
Orchestral excerpts are among the most important things to teach the career-minded clarinet
student because the most common way to make a living as a clarinettist today is by playing in an orchestra.
In order to be hired, one must first posess the ability to play the instrument well, and the most common
choice of music at an audition to demonstrate this is orchestral excerpts.
When teaching orchestral excerpts to clarinet students it is important to teach from two distinct
angles: how to play the excerpts in an orchestral rehearsal or performance, and how to play the excerpts at
an audition. Often one will play them the same in both situations, but occasionally one must tailor one's
performance to the situation.
In the summaries that follow I will attempt to point out ways to assist the student in performing the
pieces from both a technical and musical standpoint, discuss the current performance practice of these
pieces, and highlight trouble spots, common pitfalls, and passages of particular interest to an audition
committee.
Finally, listening to the pieces is of utmost importance to proper performance either in the orchestra
or at an audition, and whenever possible orchestral parts should be used for study instead of excerpt books.
Beethoven
All of Beethoven's symphonies are staples of the repertoire, appearing in concerts by professional
as well as student groups. Many different ideas exist about interpretation in Beethoven. After studying
Beethoven with many different people (in particular conductor Otto-Werner Müller), I am a strong believer
in a few things. First, Beethoven's dynamic scheme consisted of only four levels: f, p, ff, and pp - mp and
mf do not exist in Beethoven symphonies! You should therefore divide the dynamic scale you can achieve
on your instrument into four equal parts. This means there is a lot more dynamic range to a Beethoven piano
or forte, then to a Mahler piano or forte, and you can add considerable expression to each phrase without
going outside of the marked dynamic. This also means that forte is exactly halfway between piano and
fortissimo, and should be played accordingly, and not too strongly, unless of course the music (or
conductor) demands it. This carries over into: Second, Beethoven often writes f before the climax of a
phrase is reached. Therefore, you should not stop your crescendo just because you see the marking. Third,
Beethoven sometimes abbreviated sforzando with sf and sometimes with only f. Some of the best examples
of this can be seen in the second movement of the ninth symphony after letter "A" where you have a f at the
beginning of each of sixteen bars in a row. Familiarity with Beethoven's works will make it obvious whether
f indicates a forte or a sforzando. Lastly, Beethoven has provided us with metronome markings for all the
pieces, and these are almost universally followed by all ensembles.
Beethoven - 4th Symphony
Beethoven - 6th Symphony
Rossini - Semiramide Overture
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