Sarah's Syrinx - Got Me Thinking!, Why some instruments are best for certain pieces? Options

[stevensfo]

Like everyone, I loved Sarah's recording of Debussy's Syrinx on the flute.

So much that I downloaded the sheet music for clarinet.

It was great fun to play, and I can see why it's such a challenge to play well.... but it didn't make my spine tingle in quite the same way as hearing Sarah play it on the flute.

Then I tried it on the oboe. Yes, my oboe playing is experimental only (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) but I managed the first bit, ie about a third of the piece.

It had a similar effect on me as hearing the flute. Okay, in an exam the examiners would probably have died with laughter after hearing my feeble efforts, but it was clear that the music seemed more suited to flute or oboe than the clarinet. It's difficult to put my finger on why exactly.

In one of my old clarinet tutor books I have the cat theme from Peter and the Wolf. This sounds great on the clarinet, but a bit silly on the oboe. Don't even mention the saxophone! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

So my question is Why?

Do you have any examples where a piece of music is obviously made for a certain instrument?

Or music that sounds daft if played with another instrument?

Steve

[Braceface flautist]

Our percussion group played Richard Strauss's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' on marimbas, xylophones etc. It just wasn't quite the same as the original even though they were all good players etc. I think pieces try to create very different moods and certain instruments create these moods better than others - it's all about the message the composer is trying to put across and the most effective way to do this. Or something like that.

[AnotherPianist]

I find this with piano reductions of symphonies. The piano in itself is a beautiful instrument and playing its own repertoire, of which there is plenty, sounds wonderful. However, hearing a piano reduction of a symphony I know well seems like seeing in black-and-white, the music looses its colour. Still better a piano reduction than one for a one-line instrument (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif).

Not quite exactly your point, but yes I do agree that some pieces just sound better on some instruments. It tends to be that the more recent the piece, the more necessary to play it on the specified insturment. There was a lot of 'absolute music' in Bach's time, to be played on any instrument with the appropriate range; now though, composers are using more and more instrument specific techniques and specifying every last detail. This gives the performer less scope, the composer more control, and ties the music much more to one instrument.

[LaFluteDePan]

Some instruments are better at different 'colors.' A flute is more hollow, and often used vibrato. A clarinet is more full and direct (if that makes any sense) and doesn't use vibrato. A sax is very brassy, but is more versitile in colors that flute or clarinet.

Especially with unaccompanied pieces, the instrument's tone colors are very important. Imagine a clarinet playing Katherine Hoover, or Ingolf Dahl.

[andante_in_c]

I find this with piano reductions of symphonies. The piano in itself is a beautiful instrument and playing its own repertoire, of which there is plenty, sounds wonderful. However, hearing a piano reduction of a symphony I know well seems like seeing in black-and-white, the music looses its colour. Still better a piano reduction than one for a one-line instrument (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif).

It's an interesting experience to compare Ravel's piano works with his orchestral arrangements of the same pieces. He orchestrated the bulk of his piano compositions, so there are plenty of examples available. I knew some of the pieces as orchestral works before I heard the piano version, and, as AP said, the piano version pales in comparison. However, as I have become more familiar with the piano works, knowing the orchestral version helps bring colour to my playing, as I can mentally hear the instrumentation Ravel used.

Now, other people arranging Ravel is another matter entirely. Don't get me started on the way the flute and piano version of the Prelude in Time Pieces 2 has butchered the piano part. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

[sarah-flute]

A sax is very brassy, but is more versitile in colors that flute or clarinet.

I'm not sure I agree with that - when the flute or clarinet is played by a real master, the number of tone colours that can appear is quite amazing.

[noodle]

I'm not sure I agree with that - when the flute or clarinet is played by a real master, the number of tone colours that can appear is quite amazing.

Ahh, but when I play my sax it sounds like a cow. How many flutes or clarinets can achieve that tone colour Sarah? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[LaFluteDePan]

A sax is very brassy, but is more versitile in colors that flute or clarinet.

I'm not sure I agree with that - when the flute or clarinet is played by a real master, the number of tone colours that can appear is quite amazing.

How about color changes are easier on the sax? I've heard amature saxophonists sound anything from a french horn to a trumpet. Also, it has the advantage over the flute of being able to change mouthpieces and reeds to produce different colors.

But I agree, I've heard amazing contrast on both the flute and the clarinet too.

[sarah-flute]

I'm not sure I agree with that - when the flute or clarinet is played by a real master, the number of tone colours that can appear is quite amazing.

Ahh, but when I play my sax it sounds like a cow. How many flutes or clarinets can achieve that tone colour Sarah? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You've got me there!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

A sax is very brassy, but is more versitile in colors that flute or clarinet.

I'm not sure I agree with that - when the flute or clarinet is played by a real master, the number of tone colours that can appear is quite amazing.

How about color changes are easier on the sax? I've heard amature saxophonists sound anything from a french horn to a trumpet. Also, it has the advantage over the flute of being able to change mouthpieces and reeds to produce different colors.

But I agree, I've heard amazing contrast on both the flute and the clarinet too.

Yes, I think it might be easier to get the different colours, though I'd guess in a way that probably makes it harder to control them too! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[stevensfo]

Ahh, but when I play my sax it sounds like a cow.

Have you ever thought of having lessons?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Steve

PS Can somebody actually define 'Tone colour' ?

[AnotherPianist]

PS Can somebody actually define 'Tone colour' ?

It's to do with harmonics in the sounds produced by different instruments; the same thing that makes a violin sound different to a piano playing the same note .

[noodle]

Ahh, but when I play my sax it sounds like a cow.

Have you ever thought of having lessons?

I AM having lessons! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)