She wants to make great music

August 9, 2009 4:21 PM

What sheet music should my friend buy? She plays clarinet, grade 8. She's completely lost, looking for something jazz or classical.
posted by mooreeasyvibe to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Grade level doesn't tell us a lot about your friend's capacity. (Unless you mean "Grade 8" in terms of difficulty of music. But that wasn't particularly clear to me.)

How long has she been playing? What is the most recent thing she's worked on?

This list looks like a good collection for someone who wants to move on to study clarinet at the collegiate level - if that's her ultimate goal. If she's still a beginner, I would suggest heading in the direction of the etudes, studies and methods, and scale studies. That will be most helpful at a younger age.

Studies and Methods
Hyancinth Klose. Celebrated Method for the Clarinet
Gabriel Pares. Pares Scales for Clarinet
Carl Baermann. Complete Method for the Clarinet, Vol. 3
Rode. Twenty Grand Studies
David Hite. Melodious and Progressive Studies
Cyrille Rose. 40 Studies, 32 Studies

Accompanied
C. M. Weber. Concertino
Johan Vanhal. Sonata in Bb
Carl Stamitz. Concerto No. 3 in Eb
Gerald Finzi. Five Bagatelles
Wilson Osbourne. Rhapsodie

Etudes
•Cyrille Rose. 32 Studies
•Ernesto Cavallini. 30 Caprices
•Alfred Uhl. 48 Studies
•Paul Jeanjean. Etudes progressive et melodiques pour la clarinette
•Marcel Bitsch. 12 Rhythmic Studies

Sonatas/Duos (with piano)
•Franz Danzi. Sonata in Bb
•Paul Hindemith. Sonata
•Camille Saint-Saens. Sonata in Eb, Op. 67
•Johannes Brahms. Sonatas, Op. 120
•Francis Poulenc. Sonata
•Darius Milhaud. Duo Concertante
•Norbert Burgmuller. Duo
•Witold Lutoslawski. Dance Preludes
•Bohislav Martinu. Sonatina
•C. M. Weber. Grand Duo
•Claude Debussy. Rhapsodie
•Gerald Finzi. Five Bagatelles

Concertos
•C. M. Weber. Concertos No. 1 and 2
•W. A. Mozart. Concerto in A Major, K. 622
•Aaron Copland. Concerto
•Carl Stamitz. Concerto No. 3 in Eb
•Ludwig Spohr. Concertos 1-4
•Franz Krommer. Concerto in Eb
•Darius Milhaud. Concerto
•Giacomo Rossini. Introduction, Theme and Variations

Unaccompanied
•Malcolm Arnold. Fantasy for Solo Clarinet
•Leslie Bassett. Soliloquies
•Ronald Caravan. Excursions
•Eric Mandat. Etude for Barney
•Oliver Messiaen. Abime des Oiseaux
•Wilson Osbourne. Rhapsodie
•Miklos Rosza. Sonatina
•Igor Stravinsky. Three Pieces
•Heinrich Sutermeister. Capriccio

Excerpts
•Daniel Bonade. Orchestral Studies

Scale/Technical Studies
•Hyancinth Klose. Celebrated Method for the Clarinet
•Carl Baermann. Complete Method for the Clarinet, Vol. 3
•Fritz Kroepsch. 416 Progressive Daily Studies for the Clarinet
•Gaston Hamelin. Gammes et exercises pour la clarinette
•Reginald Kell. 17 Staccato Exercises
posted by greekphilosophy at 5:16 PM on August 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

I came in here to give 3 of the books that greekphilosophy mentioned.

Now, I have to say, 2nding greekphilosophy.

That's what I get for being a lousy bassoonist and not a clarinetist.
posted by SNWidget at 6:04 PM on August 9, 2009

greekphilosophy's list is fantastic, but some of that stuff is only going to be accessible to an advanced player. An etude book is the most important thing to get her, and the most popular clarinet etude book for the past century or so has been the Rose 32. They're musically interesting and both approachable and valuable to players of a wide variety of ability levels. A scale book is also important, and the canonical one is Klose, I believe. Of the unaccompanied pieces on that list that I've played, only the Sutermeister would be appropriate to a middle school player. Unless someone else with more familiarity chimes in here though (my knowledge of the repertoire has faded), I'd really recommend asking the clarinet instructor at your closest university, I've never met one who wouldn't be glad to provide recommendations of this sort to a stranger.
posted by gsteff at 8:16 PM on August 9, 2009

'Grade 8' is a music exam from the Royal Schools of Music that's traditionally popular in the UK and (former) Commonwealth countries. Here's the Grade 8 clarinet syllabus (PDF), to give an idea of level.
posted by chrismear at 3:45 AM on August 10, 2009

Best answer: Thanks chrismear - I wondered what terminology we were using. In that case, I can give a bit more of a personalized suggestion.

If your friend likes jazz, there are several pieces on that liszt (pun!) that she might like. And there are several more names on that list she should look into, although I'm not personally familiar with their clarinet writing. I would suggest that she listen to the Copland Concerto and the Hindemith Sonata. Both have heavy jazz influences, aside from just being great pieces of music. (And VERY challenging.) I will go out of my way to hear either of them performed. Other names to consider there are Stravinsky, Poulenc, and of course Debussy. Though, a word of caution, any nonmusician listening to her practice any of these composers might want to kill her. It is a LOT easier to love the neoclassicists if you are a musician.

It's unlikely - if she's playing at Grade 8 proficiency - that she's never encountered Brahms. However, in the unlikely event that she hasn't, suggest that she look into his Sonatas. She will not regret it.
posted by greekphilosophy at 8:02 AM on August 10, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks folks for your help. And thanks chrismear for clarifying the grade 8 thing.
posted by mooreeasyvibe at 1:57 PM on August 10, 2009