What about the clarinet? :)

[Salacius 7]

I was recording an album the other day with a gentleman who was playing the clarinet and I was fascinated by it's velvety, nostalgic sound!

I never heard it from such close distance

Any cues come to mind where you can here this beautiful instrument?

mine is on ET. on the tracks originally titled 'ET phone home'

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

The Tale Of Viktor Navorski , Terminal

Hester's Theme And The House , The Fury

[Trent B 337]

I played the clarinet back in junior high when I took band then. I still have it but haven't played it in years.

[ChuckM 1]

My brother plays clarinet... Or did anyway. I don't think he's touched it in a while.

[Jediwashington 59]

I'm trying to learn the instrument right now to play in "Guys and Dolls" our school's musical. I've learned many instruments, but clarinet is different. Very rewarding and wonderful tones are easily accessible, yet virtuosity very difficult to attain. I've never played an instrument where successful tone came first before the technical aspects.

As for my favorite moments of clarinet in Williams writing, they are not moments of solos, but blend moments. In "American Journey" there is a beautiful clarinet and bassoon section at the very beginning of "Flight and Technology" that is very nice. There is the same kind of style all over the place in Saving Private Ryan, such as the beginning of "Finding Private Ryan" and 5:26 into "Omaha Beach," or 2:50 into revisiting Normandy. "High school teacher" has wonderful writing all over the place.

E.T. 2:25 into "Sending the signal" is nice writing also.

The Terminal is beautiful clarinet playing by Emily Bernstein shortly before she died. This is a photo of her at the session that David Weiss took (oboist) and posted online.

And no one can forget how he saterized the instrument in the Cantina Band.

It's a shame Williams doesn't use clarinet more often. I think as he's grown older, he's come to appreciate the quiet subtlety attainable with the instrument.

as for other wonderful uses of Clarinet, "Entry March of the Boyars" by Johan Halvorsen is wonderful. Jazz clarinet is wonderful by Benny Goodman. Percy Grainger also did some wonderful writing for Clarinet for Wind Ensemble.

~JW

[King Mark 3,624]

Opening of Back to America.Angela's Ashes.

I think there's lots of clarinet in Sabrina

[Ollie 1,059]

My wife plays the clarinet.

[Datameister 2,034]

Ah, clarinet can be so lovely. My mother plays it, and the rare occasions I get to hear her are always a pleasure.

For an example of how clarinet can be so unlovely, try some of the unused music from the first reel of ESB.

[Beowulf 4]

As a clarinetist, i'm glad to hear that so many people here actually appreciate the instrument! There is nothing more in this world that brings me joy than playing my clarinet either on my own or in any of the various ensembles that i'm in (Orchestra is definitely my favorite).

As for my favorite Williams' pieces where he utilizes the clarinet, I can name a couple right off the top of my head:

- There's are many gorgeous moments in E.T. for clarinet, but more specifically in the track I'm keeping him there's a short E-flat clarinet part I love especially

- In TOD in the track Nocturnal Activities there's some wonderfully whimsical clarinet parts that occur near the middle of the track

- The Float from CMIYC provides great parts for all members of the Clarinet family

- and who can resist the fun clarinet bits in Cantina Band?

There are innumerable other parts in Williams' repertoire that I could mention, but the list would be too long (as it would be for other instruments - most especially the Horn).

If anyone is interested in hearing other great pieces for clarinet, I'm currently learning two that are fantastic: Copland's Clarinet Concerto and Debussy's Rhapsody for Clarinet - i'll tell you, they are definitely not easy pieces to play!

[King Mark 3,624]

How could I forget,in the concert piece Family Portrait ,the Harry Potter theme is played on the clarinet.It's a beautiful little piece.

K.M.

[Jacck 23]

What about the Bass Clarinet! Such a satisfying whole sound. I have the pleasure of playing Bass Clarinet in my University Wind Orchestra and it's such a great instrument to play.. it's soo satisfying to play the lowest notes of the instrument.

Williams uses the instrument to great effect in many cues, albeit subtly (usually).

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

It's nice in Nutcracker.

[RomanticStrings 10]

How about the opening to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or his Promenade? There is some "use of clarinet!" And Haydn used them after his visits to London. Mozart was also a big fan, wasn't he?

I'm going to go eat breakfast with a clarinetist very shortly, in fact. I'll let her know that she has some admirers, hehe.

~Conor

[pixie_twinkle 48]

The most famous clarinet moment (apart from the cat in "Peter and the Wolf") is the classic opening to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". If you've seen the opening to Woody Allen's "Manhatten" you know the piece!

[Salacius 7]

Ah, clarinet can be so lovely. My mother plays it, and the rare occasions I get to hear her are always a pleasure.

For an example of how clarinet can be so unlovely, try some of the unused music from the first reel of ESB.

Oh yeah it can be nasty too

[KingPin 201]

I used to be a clarinetist. Those were good times.

I recommend listening to Dvorak's Cello Concerto - great clarinet features in that. Also, I highly suggest Respighi's Pines of Rome, 3rd movement - some of the best writing for the instrument ever. Lizst's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 has some good clarinet features scattered throughout the beginning section (I actually played the Lizst parts as part of my audition for the Tanglewood Summer Program when I was in high school, they're really fun).

I also really like the extended clarinet solo in the middle of the "My Friend, the Brachiosaurus" concert version recorded by the Boston Pops.

[Datameister 2,034]

If you want to hear clarinet pushed to its extremes, try RotLA. "Flight from Peru," "The Basket Game," and "The Well of Souls" contain some terrific and bizarre clarinet passages. How I'd love to see the original sheet music for all three of those...

[muehlopwer 0]

What about the bassclarinet in the beginning of "The Knight Bus"...

[Miguel Andrade 1,260]

I wonder when we will get aproper recording of Johnny's Clarinet Concerto.

This was what I had to say about it, a few months ago... and a funny day that was, November 28th...

http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12004&hl=

[Datameister 2,034]

I like that passage, muehlopwer.