The Carnival Of Venice, H.L. Clarke

[fineleric]

This user is banned. He edited his original post to something about gaming. However, I'm leaving MY version of this post so we retain the comments below.

[aroberts781]

That is a very challenging piece, I wish you well! To be honest I was never really very good at these theme and variation pieces. I only ever worked on the Arban Carnival of Venice, so I really have no tips specific to the Clarke. But, if you are feeling over your head on the technical challenges, I would definitely aim to play the opening cadenza and the theme with very pronounced musical expression/phrasing/musical contrast/great tone/etc... Before it gets really difficult, make sure whoever you are playing for in an audition setting gets a chance to hear you sound good.

For all the variations, my only advice is to mark in your part, if you haven't already, where the melodic line is and try your best to emphasize those notes amongst the noodles as much as possible, and don't play it any faster than you are able to. My opinion is you will come across better in an audtition sounding good at a slower tempo (within reason) than you will flying through a bunch of missed notes.

On the subject of marking your part, it took me a while to convince myself that nobody could see my copy of the music and there was no shame (at least not for me) in writing in fingerings that were tripping me up. If there are any sequences or patterns of fingerings that trip you up, write them in. It will make it all easier to play if your brain doesn't have to think about that stuff.

Good luck!

[JTJ]

The more musically you can play, the more likely listeners will be to give you a pass on minor technical issues.

Keep practicing, but I would listen to this as many times as possible before the audition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJrkZ23idtE

Listen to a young Wynton Marsalis play the piece, try to get a feel for the musical shape, not just the notes under your fingers. Don't be too analytical, just listen and absorb how the piece sounds when played that well -- doing so can help elevate your playing to a more musical level.

[davewerden]

Wynton plays the Arban version, which is much different. In the Clarke, you never actually get to play the main theme, so make the most of the lyrical verse that comes before your variations. Here is my recording of the Clarke from 1977:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I1ct7jE1M

[Arnbone Euph]

Wow. That was amazing. I know I'm chiming in on an old thread, but I marvel at the skill demonstrated in this piece and wonder if I'll ever even come close to that. Bravo.