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Hello Bret,
My theory on the use of two sets of Sarrusophones is that "You do, with what you got!". In other words, there were six players (each with their own instrument) and it was important to give them all a part (albeit small) to keep peace in the family. It would have been even more important if they were from families who were really supportive ($$$) of the arts.
Other than this excuse, I agree with you: "It is odd!".
Pierre LeMieux
----- Original Message -----From: Bret NewtonSent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 10:14 AMSubject: Re: [Sarrusophone] Hello from France
Yes, several years ago I had the chance to study one of only 2 or 3 copies
ofthe Paderewski Polonia in the US. The odd thing about the piece is the
the Sarrusophones only play in the spots where you can hear them. That is
to say that they only play for about 20-30 measures on the whole 80 minute
long work. They do seem to have their own "leitmotif" if you will always an
E-flat chord (major or minor depending on the movement) in 1st inversion
(2rd on bottom). No the truly odd thing about the Polonia is that half way
through the piece the composers ask for a switch of instruments. In the
first movement he calls for 3 CC contras and either in movement 2 or 3 (I
really can't remember) he switches to 3 E-flat contras. No transposition is
changed the range can be accomidated by either instruement so why the
switch? To me this seems like on of the oddest orchestrations that I have
ever looked at (although effective). The score appart from the
Sarrusophones is quite normal regular woodwinds in threes (with auxillary
instruments). This means that the Sarrusophones play right along side with
both the bass clarinet and the contrabassoon, so clearly Paderewski knew the
difference. The delicacy appears not to be an issuse, as the Sarrusophones
are used only for their shear force and volume. Apart from Delius, Bax, and
Grainger, this appears to be the only piece (al least in the early 20th and
late 19th centuries) that use the Sarrusophone outside of France. I have
not studied the history of the work in depth and would be curious to know
where he got the crazy idea to use 2 instruments that probably had never
even been heard in Poland.
Bret Newton
>From: Jopi Harri <jopi.harri@...>
>Reply-To: Sarrusophone@yahoogroups.com
>To: Sarrusophone@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [Sarrusophone] Hello from France
>Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 12:39:51 +0200
>
>At 18:11 12.3.2005 +0000, Denis BélièreshyZXM= wrote:
>
> > I learned about it when I was a child, reading in an old music
> >book, dated 1895: "The only used in orchestra is the contrabass ... to
> >replace contrabassoon, with large avantages."
>
>Indeed! Recently I gave a lecture on woodwinds in the series "Analysis of
>orchestral music". I played to the students an example of contrabassoon
>with the note that in my opinion, the sound quality is generally inferior,
>and this instrument is hardly of any use for a composer. Then I told them
>about sarrusophones, and that some early 20th century composers with
>above-the-average insight on orchestration substituted the unusable
>contrabassoon with the sarrusophone. After that I played them the clip
>Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Grant Green (hopefully he will not sue me for
>copyright infringement). The contrast to the double bassoon was so striking
>that the students were completely sold.
>
>For now, I have at hand three scores in which a sarrusophone is indicated,
>i.e. Ravel, Rapsodie espagnole; Dukas, L'apprenti sorcier; Delius, The Song
>of the High Hills.
>
>Btw, has anyone ever seen the score of Paderewski's Polonia Symphony (in
>which there are three sarrusophones - I bought the CD some time ago, and
>the sarrusophones certainly stand out, even though the composer could have
>written with more delicacy)?
>
>
>Regards,
>
>
>Jopi Harri, Turku, Finland
>(lecturer of musicology)
>
>
>
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