There is another practical issue facing some clarinetists in playing this famous concerto: the ability to tongue the passage with ease and
clarity. If we consider that string players might well change the bowing, then winds can certainly alter the articulation as well. This certainly would not alter the overall style of the music. Rapid tonguing can be difficult for some younger players. Figure 6 shows one possibility for the articulation that might be considered for this famous opening. Most of this passage is slurred (played under one bow). The last two notes of the first sextuplet in each measure of the figure are tongued; obviously there are many other alternatives depending on the skill of the player and the desired musical outcome.
Figure 6. Concerto for Clarinet, possible clarinet bowing (articulation) The articulation seen in the third measure is more problematic. In the printed version (Figure 4), the notes are slurred but with dots.
This marking has no real clear interpretation in wind playing. Performers must do their best to show the connection of a single bow while still showing a separation between each note. The marking shown in figure 6 approximates this view—long but separate. A slight crescendo could be added to help show the connection of line. The last movement of Holst’s Second Suite in F is an example of somewhat unclear wind articulation in band music (see Figure 7). The
well-known “Dargason” melody serves as the primary source material for the movement. The original tune accompanies a very old English country dance.2
Figure 7. “Dargason” from Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst, fourth movement (Fennell edition) with bowings added In every other measure, there are pairs of repeated notes under a slur. A string player would know automatically to take both notes in the
same bow but they would be separated. The bowing works out very well—two bows per measure each with the same duration: one beat. Here again the articulation can be confusing for a wind player. Like the Mozart Concerto example above, the two notes played by the saxophone in the opening need to be separated with some degree of connection.
Coda Part of the magic of music is rooted in interpretation. There are countless ways that music can be subtly altered to show musical structure
and artistic direction. Articulation is just one of many ways that this can be accomplished. Students and teachers alike can explore different approaches to bring greater creativity to their performances.
Endnotes 1. Elizabeth A. H. Green. Orchestral Bowings and Routines. 2nd
ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Publishers, 1957, p. 7. 2. There is a wonderful YouTube video of this dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRIIpOBiU4 TEMPO 52 JANUARY 2014
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