Going to concerts is becoming, for large numbers of Americans, an increasingly frequent pleasure. For those who encounter unfamiliar traditions and terms in the concert hall, here is information and advice which tells all listeners what they need to know to be comfortable at an orchestral concert. Includes background, biographies, and discussions of 200 masterpieces. Drawings.

Expertly arranged B-Flat Clarinet Solo by Louis Spohr from the Kalmus Edition series. This is from the Romantic era.

Notes for Clarinetists: A Guide to the Repertoire offers important historical and analytical information about thirty-five of the best-known pieces written for the instrument. Numerous contextual and theoretical insights make it an essential resource for professional, amateur, and student clarinetists. With engaging prose supported by fact-filled analytical charts, the book offers rich biographical information and informative analyses to help clarinetists gain a more complete understanding of Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo by Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet, String Orchestra, Harp, and Piano, Robert Schumann's Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73. and Time Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 43. by Robert Muczynski, among many others. With close attention to matters of context, style, and harmonic and formal analysis, Albert Rice explores a significant portion of the repertoire, and offers a faithful and comprehensive guide that includes works by Boulez, Brahms, and Mozart to Hindemith, Poulenc, and Stamitz. Rice includes biographical information on each composer and highlights history's impact on the creation and performance of important works for clarinet. Intended as a starting point for connecting performance studies with scholarship, Rice's analysis will help clarinetists gain a more complete picture of a given work. Its valuable insights make it essential to musicians preparing and presenting programs, and its detailed historical information about the work and composer will encourage readers to explore other works in a similarly analytical way. Covering concertos, chamber pieces, and works for solo clarinet, Rice presents Notes for Clarinetists as an indispensable handbook for students and professionals alike.

A History of the Concerto may be read from cover to cover, but readers may also use the extensive index to focus on specific concertos and their composers. Numerous musical examples illuminate critical points. While some readers may want to study the more detailed analyses with scores in hand, this is not essential for an understanding of the text.

Contents: Fantasy Piece (Schumann) * First Sonata (Brahms) * Grand Duo Concertant (Weber) * Second Sonata (Brahms) * Sonata (Mendelssohn) * Variations, Op.33 (Weber).