Rhapsody in Blue clarinet solo comparison - 100 years (almost)

[@jedivideo6203]

Interesting. The first 2 versions were stylistically more 20's jazz clarinet, with the "laughing" eighth notes in bar 3. Never heard that before. I have an old saxophone method book from the 20s or 30s with a chapter on the "laughing saxophone" technique.

[@sparkshot289]

Probably written by Rudy Wiedeoft

[@sallymj8957]

I thought it totally sounded like laughing! Didn’t know that’s what it’s official name is!

[@flyfermin]

Love the laughter

[@DT-622]

@@sallymj8957 I suspect this laughing effect was taken into jazz from the Klezmer clarinet tradition (and not the other way around)

[@noraazemog]

Really insightful and informative video! Interesting to hear the evolution of it. One thing to notice is that it did get “cleaner” over the years. I’d personally keep it a bit more traditional as it was written for the Whiteman orchestra so it still needs that 20s jazz flavor. I also can’t help to mention how Larry Combs plays that high F so smoothly, not surprised of course since it’s him. Great video!

[@clarinetninja]

Thanks for watching and contributing such an interesting perspective. Larry Combs goes very elegant with all of it but, at the same time, exudes all the flexibility that Ross Gorman had in a totally different style. All these players did a very convincing job to my ears.

[@sallymj8957]

And the announcer’s voice sounds like jazz with a nice spreading of butter.

[@clarinetninja]

haha!

[@ewawilsons]

WDR is West Deutscher Rundfunk or West German Broadcasting, a major regional broadcaster in Germany.

[@clarinetninja]

Thanks for filling me in on that! It is a wonderful ensemble

[@amj.composer]

Holy guacamole the first one really was something special

[@AriannaCunningham]

I really like how the clarinet playing of Rhapsody in Blue has changed over time. Personally, my favorite interpretations have to be the version of Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra from 1958 featuring Pianist Eugene Weed. The 1947 recording from Phil Spitalny and his Hour of Charm (All Girl Orchestra), which I think that group had one of the reed doublers playing that solo. And of course I can’t forget a recent arrangement I found of Rhapsody in Blue arranged by Lara Downes and Edmar Colón, basically in this arrangement, the principal clarinetist of the SFCM Orchestra played the solo and had the instrument being processed through electronics, giving the sounds a little more of a distorted effect.

[@clarinetninja]

I admire your expertise on this topic! I am honored you watched the video and took the time to comment. 100 years is both a long and short time and tracing the changes in this one highly specific lens is super interesting

[@krommer66]

Great!!! Was that Ron Roseman on the oboe? Larry Combs! Once met him when I was a clerk at Patelson's. Nice man.

[@DT-622]

Although many of us choose the long high F fingering when we're jumping to that note, such as in arpeggios, I for one find the regular high F fingering better in this Gershwin solo if you're doing any sort of slide up to it. Most of us would need to add the sliver key to get that fingering sharp enough (Burt Hara) but it's not surprising to see Stanley Drucker use the standard fingering with no extra vent: the few lessons I had with him told me he was very 'old-school' and 'by the book' with high register fingerings: invariably just regular F natural and middle finger F#, with no 'correction' other than the Eb vent. The throat F trill with the G# key (presumably so he could match the speed of the other trills) also reminds me Drucker played the opening of Rhapsody Espagnol with that same key, to get from C to D. You can't really get away with that anymore but he sure did. Another point I find interesting in the Drucker video which you didn't draw out attention to is the swung 8ths in the trill bars: this is perhaps the only time I've ever heard it that way. The very fast trills from Drucker are typical in their intensity and energy: he really did have insanely fast and clean fingers, clean being the operative word: his outstanding technique was largely down to VERY accurate finger placement.

[@rhythmharmony2923]

Larry Combs‘ glissando is fantastic. It is sounds like an serious alarm. 😳 Furthermore, I like Ross Gormann‘s glissando from high c downwards onto the long f. 😃 Tone-colour-wise, our „German sound“ is unbeatable 😜, but we lack the flexibilty, I think.

[@clarinetninja]

I agree with all of your thoughts. The era of Ross Grossman had players that crossed genres yielding more flexibility. Combs at some point was a sax player as well….I think. The German example was great too! And yes, a darker sound is almost always less flexible - although incredibly beautiful

[@rhythmharmony2923]

@@clarinetninja Thank you very much for your response! 😊

[@emjay2045]

All nice love the variety of styles … but hands down to Ralph. 🏆 Drucker’s Trll was insane !

[@q12aw50]

4:00 is he like… REALLY sharp? Like almost a half step up

[@henkbeijnvoort2862]

Great video. For the people interested in clarinet effects please listen to records by Wilton Crawley or Fess Williams. And of course i would like to know how i can learn to play like that.

[@thardingau]

What are all these opening parts different? Did Gershwin write ‘ad lib’ on the score?

[@clarinetninja]

The words in the edition that we use today gives the instructions of "with license" Which I guess is not the same as "ad lib". There aren't many solos in the literature that are subject to this amount of variation from player to player. The original solo was written for more a jazz or popular music orchestration which put the original tradition in the capable hands of players that were not necessarily "classical" players. The ensuing 100 years has turned into orchestral players sounding "jazzy". It's pretty interesting to check out!

[@idonkat6097]

My personal favorite interpretation of this solo is played by Matteo Mastromarino with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, would definitely recommend to check it out

[@Cornodebassetto]

Why didn’t you use the Gervase de Peyer recording with the LSO?

[@clarinetninja]

I wish I had seen that one! There were lots to choose from, I wanted to try and keep the video a reasonable length and keep things spaced out from year to year. So much great clarinet playing!! Thanks for watching

[@michaelsutton3651]

you can find burt hard on one the vandoren what reed and mouthpiece videos

[@clarinetninja]

I have been a fan of his playing for years!

[@emjay2045]

Looks very taxing but sounds so even abs smooth. I guess a 5 on an M13£ will do that. All about sacrifices and how much you’re willing to work

[@sarahross2678]

Could someone please help me find the full video of LA Phil? I can't find it anywhere!

[@clarinetninja]

It’s weird, I can’t find the recording that I used to make this video…

[@peterpallotta2828]

Thanks much for this, it was great to hear the differences over the years sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic. Just for fun, I linked here the version that Benny Goodman did with Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra in 1942 -- with, at the 59 second mark, the famous 'squeak that was heard around the world'! Thanks again kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWGXg42tZ8yAnJo

[@clarinetninja]

Thanks for sharing this with me! I had no idea this existed. That was an interesting version of the solo. I like that a player who was primarily seen as a jazz player (despite his interest in classical playing and contributions to the literature) was not all that "jazzy" in his interpretation. As it should be in my mind! And that high F gets us all every once in a while....I will now count myself grateful I never had the pressure of playing this on a live broadcast! Along those lines, there is nothing more stressful than when this piece opens a program and you have to sit and wait for it with your mind focused on it and everybody else is having a "normal" day. There can be a lot of negative self-talk that starts!

[@DT-622]

@@clarinetninja I believe the story is that Toscanini ran into Goodman at NBC and asked him then and there to play in the upcoming performance. I thought you had tactfully and respectfully omitted that recording from your roundup because of the split high F! Perhaps Goodman just had a little water in that tone hole, but what a nightmare. I've also wondered about the 'straightness' of Goodman in this solo and also his Copland concerto recording with the Copland conducting -- was he actually a little intimidated by these situations and just wanted to show everybody he could be 'legit'? Goodman's recording of Bartok Contrasts is perhaps the one time in these high-profile classical recordings he made when he really does sound comfortable. BTW, I really don't intend any of this as a put-down, and of course the world is heavily indebted to Goodman's passion for classical repertoire and serious contemporary composers.

[@sashaclarino9022]

👍🎶👍

[@catalysts2627]

Stanley drucker is good

[@farmertice7064]

Great analysis except that the name is BernSTEIN & not BernSTEEN. The Oscar Levant recording is the best as far as the piano playing goes. As far as the clarinet is concerned, they are all charming in their own way.

[@bjoern6184]

Only men? Sad

[@clarinetninja]

Thanks for calling that out. I should have been more aware of that, but also a challenge based on the problematic history of only men being appointed principal clarinet in most orchestras for most of the last 100 years

[@bjoern6184]

@@clarinetninja that’s true.

[@DT-622]

I'm pretty sure it's Michelle Zukovsky playing on the LA Phil CD recording with Bernstein conducting and playing piano. So there's another german system performance too, of course. It's a little different to all the others, elegant-sass.