This Time of the Year - Part 2

I discovered a crack in my clarinet this week. That makes four Bb clarinets in a row for me. Three of which were probably brought on by the horrible conditions of the non humidity controlled building in which I work. That and scheduling recitals in February. Since it's been two and a half years since I got this clarinet, I thought it was "seasoned" enough to not crack, but I was wrong.

I thought of repairing the crack myself, but then I got wise and did what any intelligent person within driving distance of Eldred Spell would do: I packed up my clarinet and a bottle of ultra thin super glue and headed for Eldred's house. Eldred is the master of fixing such things, and these photos prove it. It was both interesting and disheartening to see the extent of the crack through a microscope.

Diagnosis

Operation

Recovery

Bb Bass Transposition for Prelude and Isolde's Love Death by Wagner

I am sure that someone out there is going to really appreciate my valentine gift of a transposition of the bass clarinet part to Richard Wagner's Prelude and Isolde's Love Death (Liebestod) from Tristan and Isolde. The original part is for bass clarinet in A in bass clef. Unfortunately, I received a pristine part, with no markings on it to indicate any notes, even though I'd played the piece with the same orchestra a few years earlier. I searched my library and the internet in vain looking for a transposed part. I would have been happy to pay someone just to not have to deal with the transposition myself. I'm okay reading bass clef transposition and I'll deal with A transpositions in treble, but when you put the two together, it's a royal pain. Rather than marking up the part again and stressing through the rehearsals concerned that I'd flub a transposition, I went ahead and put it all into Finale. It took me 4 1/2 hours because I'm not a Finale pro.

So here it is, my masterpiece, guaranteed note correct and completely readable, since I just used it in my performance with the Asheville Symphony last night. You can download a pdf of the part here.