We are the original
Dear LJ,
I've recently been trapped in a bit of downtime and maybe that's why I'm coming back here to my safe space to try to recall my initial inspirations and re-motivate myself to get back to the thing that I so far enjoy the most. It's the "so far" that slips in the doubt, isn't it? I can't know what I haven't experienced. I guess it's just like being in a committed relationship and suddenly realizing you're already committed to the only person you have ever been with even though there are millions of people out there that you don't know and some of which could, in theory, be better than the person now. And so, is this a sound reason to abandon a commitment you don't really have problems with just because there is a possibility of there being something better out there? Wow this really puts it into perspective.
But I actually came here to talk about works that were originally written for clarinet and then "stolen" by string instruments. Recently, I've been listening to various clarinet trios with cello because I'm currently playing in such a group and looking around for repertoire ideas for the future. In the past, I've played Brahms and Zemlinsky trios, the latter of which having been subjected to an alternative violin version. It's funny because young string players who do no research on their repertoire will generally assume that everything they play is written for their own instrument. I've had violists ask me "do you know the Brahms sonatas? Clarinet players play them too" or roll their eyes when I inform them who these works were actually written for.
Well today, to my delight, I actually found another work that is generally believed to be written for the standard piano trio with violin which was in fact intended to be a clarinet trio. This is Fauré's Opus 120 trio in D minor. To my further pleasant surprise, this fact was dug up by a piano professor of my alma mater. Prof. Ilya Poletaev found the evidence from the letters M.Fauré wrote to his wife during the creation of this work.
Interesting isn't it? I know it's childish but I can't help feel slightly pleased about this. The piece also reminded me of Ravel's F minor string quartet. It almost has a hint of harmonic minimalism in it. It's folky and has a fable-like narrative quality to it, much like a lot of Schumann's works. Even though Fauré was active during the Romantic era, this work strikes me to have none of the yearnings and messy emotions that is inherent of Romanticism. I like that it's more clean, fresh and with a youthful innocence. If anyone would be interested, there are very limited recordings of the original version with clarinet, but it's worth a listen.
I've recently been trapped in a bit of downtime and maybe that's why I'm coming back here to my safe space to try to recall my initial inspirations and re-motivate myself to get back to the thing that I so far enjoy the most. It's the "so far" that slips in the doubt, isn't it? I can't know what I haven't experienced. I guess it's just like being in a committed relationship and suddenly realizing you're already committed to the only person you have ever been with even though there are millions of people out there that you don't know and some of which could, in theory, be better than the person now. And so, is this a sound reason to abandon a commitment you don't really have problems with just because there is a possibility of there being something better out there? Wow this really puts it into perspective.
But I actually came here to talk about works that were originally written for clarinet and then "stolen" by string instruments. Recently, I've been listening to various clarinet trios with cello because I'm currently playing in such a group and looking around for repertoire ideas for the future. In the past, I've played Brahms and Zemlinsky trios, the latter of which having been subjected to an alternative violin version. It's funny because young string players who do no research on their repertoire will generally assume that everything they play is written for their own instrument. I've had violists ask me "do you know the Brahms sonatas? Clarinet players play them too" or roll their eyes when I inform them who these works were actually written for.
Well today, to my delight, I actually found another work that is generally believed to be written for the standard piano trio with violin which was in fact intended to be a clarinet trio. This is Fauré's Opus 120 trio in D minor. To my further pleasant surprise, this fact was dug up by a piano professor of my alma mater. Prof. Ilya Poletaev found the evidence from the letters M.Fauré wrote to his wife during the creation of this work.
Interesting isn't it? I know it's childish but I can't help feel slightly pleased about this. The piece also reminded me of Ravel's F minor string quartet. It almost has a hint of harmonic minimalism in it. It's folky and has a fable-like narrative quality to it, much like a lot of Schumann's works. Even though Fauré was active during the Romantic era, this work strikes me to have none of the yearnings and messy emotions that is inherent of Romanticism. I like that it's more clean, fresh and with a youthful innocence. If anyone would be interested, there are very limited recordings of the original version with clarinet, but it's worth a listen.