Re: wind instrument transposition (was Good work, Keith!)

[Neil Thornock]

> I've been a pianist for 45 years and a clarinetist for 40, so I am
> comfortably aware of transposition issues, but what you're saying
> doesn't explain the issues I pointed out.  If a piece is in concert D
> and I am asked to play it on my Bb clarinet, my music should have a key
> signature of E.  If I am asked to shift to an A clarinet, the key
> signature of the music should shift to F.  That rule has not been
> followed in the Dvorak.
>

That "rule" has never held for horns.  Even composers as recent as
Ravel never used key signatures in a horn part; I have never seen one,
in my time teaching orchestration.  It's simply one of the
idiosyncrasies of orchestration.

I have Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky open right now: G# minor
key signature, but the Horns in F have none; they get accidentals
strewn all over the place.  Same in Debussy.  Same for all composers
everywhere all the time.

I think it's mostly a matter of tradition.  A long, long time ago,
neither key signatures nor accidentals would have been necessary; it
would all have been diatonic, with horns crooked (transposed) to the
right key.  And some lazy horn player probably protested if they ever
got one :)


-- 
Neil Thornock, D.M.
No Stopping, Standing, or Parking:
http://neilthornock.net/mp3s/nostopping.mp3
Assistant Professor of Music
Composition/Theory
Brigham Young University