Re: Good work, Keith!

[Vaughan McAlley]

On 5 October 2011 03:57, Tim Roberts <address@hidden> wrote:
> Francisco Vila wrote:
>> Hello all, I think this is remarkable: Keith OHara has put Dvořák's
>> 9th symphony in Mutopia. Kudos!
>>
>> http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=1793
>
> That is remarkable, indeed.
>
> There are some odd things in the key signatures.  "Horn I, II in E",
> "Horn III IV in C, then E" and "Trumpet I II in E, then C" are all
> notated in the key of C throughout.  Mvt I starts in concert G, where an
> E instrument should be in the key of Eb.  Mvt II is in concert Db, but
> the clarinet I part, for A clarinet, starts out in written Eb instead of
> written E, and stays there when it switches to Bb clarinet 10 bars later.
>
> Is that the way Dvořák wrote it?  Certainly, all the notes are here.
>
> --
> Tim Roberts, address@hidden
> Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
>

Without having a score at hand, it all looks consistent with what
Dvorak would have written. Horn and trumpet parts were traditionally
written using accidentals instead of key signatures. When valve horns
and piston trumpets became common, it eventually became more common to
use key signatures. Dvorak’s horn parts are unusual in that they are
chromatic parts notated in all different keys (Brahms wrote in
different keys but preferred the natural horn, so all of his horn
parts are playable on natural horn). I’ve never found or thought of a
satisfactory explanation for Dvorak’s horn parts.

For the clarinet part in the second movement, Dvorak uses the A
clarinet to get the concert low D flat which is unavailable on the B
flat clarinet. The first phrase has very little to do with the key
signature so Dvorak used the same key signature as later.

The parts look very nice. This is a good example of how to structure
an orchestral piece.

Vaughan