#clarinet ensemble

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

Here’s a real treat! And I thought they were done for now.

Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performs an arrangement of FF6′s famous “Dancing Mad” for clarinet octet.

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

And the last of the videos for now, here is Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performing the OP theme to Touken Ranbu, arranged by Yuto.

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

Well, it seems like “Sword Guys” is the new theme for these last two videos.

Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performs “Kokoro no Arika (心魂の在処),” ED to the 2nd Episode of Touken Ranbu, arranged by herohero61.

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performs “Tempest,” OP to Uta no☆Prince-sama♪.

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

See? I knew we we’re getting another set of videos!

Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performs “Moffu in the Box (もっふ・いんざぼっくす),” from THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE-13 Mofumofuen, arranged by Kazui (かずい).

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

It seems like we might be getting a new set of Kura Mitsuru Ensemble videos!

As with the first season, Kura Mitsuru Ensemble performs the OP to Hibike! Euphonium 2nd Season, “Soundscape.”

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

Update: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Clarinet Ensemble

     So it’s been quite a while since I posted my announcement of working on an arrangement of Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” (from Solomon, HWV 67: Act III) for a clarinet ensemble. Here I shall discuss what I’ve accomplished so far, some thoughts, and future plans.

     Almost all the parts are more or less finished. I’ll go through each of them:

Eb Clarinets - Since this one is note-for-note identical to the oboe parts (save for the last 2 measures where they play it up an octave), the Eb parts are done and accounted for.

Bb Clarinets - So far, a carbon copy of the violin parts. I mentioned splitting the parts to give these poor players some breathing room. That I have yet to do.

Alto Clarinet(s) - I took some slight liberties and added divisis on the final note of a passage, to add more notes to the chord. For example, the viola part often plays the dominant in the chord, even though proper voice leading suggests the mediant at times. So I added the divisi to flesh out the chord even more. Of course, this complicates matters if only 1 instrument is filling this part. 

Bass Clarinet(s) - I did the same thing with the alto clarinet part here: adding a few divisis, though much less often (only 4 here vs. 11 in the alto clarinet part). I admit that the choice to do this was entirely arbitrary. If they cause any trouble, I’ll allow getting rid of them. Other than that, the bass clarinet part is identical to the cello part and is finished.

Contra alto clarinet - The contra alto part is almost identical to the string bass, except for the lowest notes. There are numerous low concert F’s (F_1 to be exact) that correspond to a contra alto’s low D (written D_3). I wrote these with a divisi an octave higher if the instrument cannot play the low D. There is also one low concert D (D_3) in m. 58 that is outside the range of any contra alto. Of course, said note is covered by the contrabass.

Contrabass clarinet - I mentioned in the long post that I wanted to emulate the depth of the New Clarinet Symphonics recording by having the contrabass play the bass line down an octave. Of course, it would be overkill for the contrabass to do this all the time. Choosing when to do so is the tricky part; I admit that the part may be doing so far too much. As with the contra alto part, I wrote in divisi’s for notes that may not be covered by all contrabasses. But for the sake of pure overkill, I wrote in a low C for the very final note in the piece.

All substitutes / alternate parts have been taken care of. I will provide Bb clarinet substitutes to the Eb parts, and an alternate part for basset horn to cover the alto clarinet part. While I do have a Bb clarinet subsitute for the alto clarinet part, I will not provide it unless otherwise stated.

     Moving on, I have one big issue to decide: how to end the piece. I have trouble choosing between a historically informed ending that ends abruptly, with no ritardando at all, or an ending that has a tasteful ritardando. I may end up letting the performers decide this.

     As mentioned earlier, I will leave it up to the performers to decide about tempo, dynamics, articulation, ornamentation, cembalo, etc.

     One of the last things I need to add are measure markings for convenience of the performers. And once I’m done, I’ll put it up on MuseScore.

[thepessimisticclarinetist]

Kura Mitsuru Clarinet Ensemble is back, in this performance of a Splatoon medley, arranged by herohero61.

So many things to note here:

no Eefer!

2 alto clarinets: 1 in F (basset horn) and 1 in Eb (the typical alto)

both alto clarinets use a soprano-clarinet style bell

love how the contrabass sounds here!