Slapstick for Quartet

Harold LLoyd's famous clock scene from Safety First

Full of humor is the deliciously quartet I have the pleasure to acquaint you with today.

And he must indeed have been in a very good mood, when Belgian composer Rik Pelckmans  composed his ‘Slapstick’ for clarinet quartet.

Just listen and you will have no problem whatsover to bring to mind all kinds of hilarious silent movie situations: the exaggerated hasty steps, the wildly gesticulating conversations, the slow wide-eyed expressions on faces, the mischievous practical jokes, …

And yes indeed, it does sound good in an arrangement for flute, oboe, clarinet & bass clarinet also. :-)

Find the sheet music for Rik Pelckmans’  Slapstick for clarinet quartet in the MyPartitor library

Have fun

Mary

 

Baffle your first audience – free composition for student clarinetists

As a beginning clarinet player, it is nice to have some original and good-sounding pieces of music at your disposal, that not only help you practice your technique, but already very soon make it possible to show off the sweet sound of your clarinet to your sympathetic audience.

Belgian composer Willy Van Dorsselaer wrote a great deal of clarinet music for starters. His compositions also feature on the exam list of many clarinet teachers for their young students.

See this young fellow play one of his famous pieces for beginner (Habanera – also available for clarinet here) :

You want More ?

Belgian composer Willy Van Dorsselaer (°1918) has been living and working most of his life  in Colmar (France). After his studies at the conservatory, he has been an active performing clarinet player for several years, but he was also an excellent clarinet teacher at the Colmar music academy, where he held an executive position at the same time. He composed and arranged an impressive list of prize-winning pedagogical works for the clarinet and other instruments, amply showing off his love of music. With attractive melodies and rich harmonious accompaniments, he is able to enthuse even the younger players.

Many of Willy Van Dorsselaer’s works were published by Digital Music Print (DMP) in Antwerp and quite a number of them are already available in our library for digital download.   So pick, click, pay, print & start to play some Willy Van Dorsselaer of your choice !

Have a ball !

Mary

His Master’s Voice

If you ask people who is the most famous clarinetist they know, they have to think hard. And they hesitate, and then they say …….

“Squidward ?”

;-P

The Flanders Clarinet Quartet plays Patrick Hiketick’s ‘Tango’

Hey there, I just stumbled upon a very enjoyable ‘Tango’ for clarinet quartet from composer Patrick Hiketick.
Reactions on the  live recording on YouTube speak for themselves !

You might want to add this lovely piece to the repertoire of your own clarinet quartet  !  If so, you can find the sheet music in our clarinet sheet music library.

Let me know when your version is available online !

cheers

Mary

Full dedication to the clarinet

Playing the clarinet is great fun

or is this guy practicing for voodoo night ?

Copland & Goodman

This week on the car radio, I heard  this sad but wonderful clarinet tune. It did sound familiar, but I couldn’t immediately put my finger on the composer name.  The clarinet was accompanied by an orchestra  and I heard a rather prominent sound of a harp, and of a piano in the second movement.  The playlist of the radio station gave me the information : it was the Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Harp and Piano from Aaron Copland. A masterpiece, that’s for sure !

I found the original recording with Benny Goodman, for whom the work was written in the Deezer streaming service and now it is of course on my favourites list. In the end, it is a classic and one of the masterpieces of  clarinet repertoire, that any clarinetist should at least know about.

 

There is more background information on  the concerto, on Aaron Copland and Benny Goodman on the 1st-clarinetmusic website.

Enjoy

best greetings

Mary

 

Free Download – Amazing Grace for concert band

I received this week a newsletter from Edition Andel Muziekuitgever with an offer for a FREE DOWNLOAD of the “Amazing Grace” traditional in an arrangement for concert band by Michel Nowak . This material is worth 60€ at least ! Amazing, isn’t it ?

I simply had to let you in on this !

Quickly download both score and parts here and propose it your band conductor.

And feel free to program it for your next band concert. Keep us posted on the results !

have fun

Mary

Mozart Clarinet Concerto

Who doesn’t know the absolute master piece for clarinet: the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Especially the middle part (slow movement) is a worldwide hit! This concerto in A major was originally written for the famous clarinet player Anton Stadler in 1791. This marvelous piece is also the last purely instrumental work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written a few weeks before he died…

Remarkable is that the solo part is quite introvert, no big flashes with cadenzas and virtuoso tricks. just plain music, perfection in simplicity.

Listen to this great performance:

A great adaptation of this second movement (for Clarinet Choir) can be found and downloaded here:
Mozart Clarinet Concerto (2nd Movement) for Clarinet Choir.

Student Clarinet

While checking the stats of 1st-clarinet-music.com I noticed that through the years there is one constant factor: the pages that are visited the most by far are the pages about student clarinets…

Which clarinet to buy for a starter, do I choose a wooden clarinet (grenadilla) or a composite material, plastic? Is it easy to upgrade to a better clarinet and when is the right time to do so?

It seems that everybody has his own opinion about student clarinets.

Some of the articles you ‘ll find on the site are:

And of course we also know the Lyons Clarinet (the new type is called the “Clarineo”) and I am sure I am far from complete.

But, please, comment on this subject about student clarinets, give us your opinion as a student or as a teacher or professional. What do you think is the best instrument to start playing the clarinet?

 

Clarinet Jokes

clarinet jokesClarinet jokes are always a success among musician – as are jokes about viola players, oboe players and so on… It’s good that we have some humour, it deals with the stress of performing (hopefully).

I just collected some of the finest jokes, you wil find them here: clarinet jokes.

Have a laugh! .. And if you know even better ones: just put them in a comment, so we can all enjoy. I will send a free piece of sheet music to the clarinetist with the best joke!