And now we're going to meet a clarinetist on our symphonic safari adventure.
Let's go.
Hello.
Hello.
I'm Violetta Vibrato.
But you can call me VI.
All right.
Hello.
And you are Sam.
Yes, I'm Sam, and I play the clarinet.
What's your full name?
My name is Sam Peliska.
Hi, Sam Peliska.
So tell me a little bit about yourself before we start.
Sure.
About the clarinet?
OK. Well, I started playing when I was about ten years old.
Like many kids, I was given the opportunity to join the school band when I was in fifth grade and they had a little instrument fair where we could try out all the instruments and see what we liked.
And at the time, I was really into big band swing music jazz, so I really wanted to play the saxophone because that instrument has the lead part and a lot of that big band swing music.
And so but my my dad suggested, well, you know, if you play the clarinet, there's a lot more orchestral music for the clarinet than there is for the saxophone.
And you could also do the jazz because the clarinet is used in both types of music.
And so you have lots to chose from.
More options, yeah.
And so I said that sounds like a good idea.
I'll do it so.
And I'm very grateful to him for suggesting that because ironically, I never really ended up going down the jazz route much and really just mainly got into playing the orchestral music.
So that became my main thing.
And you haven't yet played the jazz.
I've done a little.
I've done a little bit right and you'll hear one of the examples I'm planning on playing for you today has some jazz styling to it, certainly.
But yeah, I've done a little bit of jazz, but my my career has mainly been more along the orchestral lines.
How old did you say you were?
I was ten when I started playing.
Thats fantastic.
What was the very first song that you learned to play?
The very first song, I'm not really sure what the very first one was, but I do have a vivid memory of learning when I was learning to read music early on when I started to play the clarinet.
Writing in the names of the notes above the melody to Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
It was in my in my band method book at the time, so I remember vividly figuring out how to play that.
That was my first song too but on the piano!
Was it?
Oh, OK, nice.
I'd love to hear you play.
Sure.
Of course.
That sounds lovely.
Thank you.
So the clarinet is part of the woodwind family.
Yes.
So why is it part of the woodwind family?
Well, to start the instrument itself, the body of the instrument, the black part here is made of wood.
It's made of a very dense African blackwood called grenadilla, or sometimes in mpingo So the instrument itself is made of wood.
And then the reed that you see here up at the top of the mouthpiece is also a very thin strip of wood or cane.
And that's what vibrates to produce the sound.
Now, is that a single reed or a double reed?
It's a single reed.
I'm writing that down because that is notable.
So did you know that the clarinet was one of the most, I guess, relatively newcomers to the woodwind family?
Yes, that's right.
I think it wasn't until the 18th century that it was invented.
That's like the 7500.
Yes, that's right.
Right.
About 17 hundred is when it was invented and that at the time, the clarinet, the word clarinet actually means small trumpet.
Yeah, that's an interesting thing because.
Early clarinet writing, when composers would would compose for this new instrument, they treated it kind of like they treated a trumpet in an ensemble because it could play pretty loudly and they used it to punctuate and have fanfare like figures in the music.
And interestingly, though, that that kind of writing for the clarinet sort of fell out of fashion and it began to be treated a lot more like the flute or the oboe as a more melodic, expressive instrument.
That's fascinating.
So what are the things on our safari adventures that we're doing with the symphonic safari adventures We're noticing that a lot of instruments sounds like different animals, what animal sound do you think that the clarinet most closely resembles?
I would have to say a bird, and that is partially because a lot of other a lot of composers have felt that way as well.
I can think of three different pieces right off the top of my head by Beethoven, Saesons, Mahler, and they all thought the clarinet would make a good cuckoo, so they would have it right, so they do have that little cuckoo sound in there, but other composers have also incorporated birdsong into their writing for clarinet.
The one that really comes to mind for me is a piece that I really enjoy playing by the French composer Olivier Messiaen.
And it's called The Abyss of the Birds.
And he actually he was an amateur ornithologist, so he would go out and study birds, and he would actually write down their calls on music paper and incorporate them into his compositions.
So in the abyss of the birds, he uses the call of the Blackbird and the Nightingale.
I love birds.
Will you play that for me?
Sure.
The piece that you talked about.
Yes, absolutely.
That was amazeballs Thank you.
Wow, I could hear the birds in that it was amazing.
Thank you for playing that.
You're welcome.
How many clarinets are in an orchestra?
Usually two, sometimes three, if there is a bass clarinet also playing in that piece.
But the standard number is two.
Do you have a favorite orchestral piece that you like to play?
I have a great many pieces that I love to play for the orchestra.
But the one that I thought I would play for you today is perhaps the most recognizable clarinet solo from the orchestral repertoire, and that is the opening of Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.
Yes.
So I'm sure lots of listeners will recognize this one.
That is just so fantastic.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for joining us on a symphonic safari adventure.
You're most welcome, and for spending time with me today.
Before you go, I want to ask you a few what we call rapid fire questions.
OK.
They don't have very much to do with music, but it lets me learn a little bit more about you.
Sure.
You ready?
OK. OK.
So.
Jazz or rock?
Jazz.
Yes, Google Chrome or Safari?
Safari waffles or pancakes?
Waffles, yes.
Mountains or beach?
Mountains and pen or pencil?
Pen.
Thank you so much for spending the time with me.
You're welcome.
I had a wonderful time.
As did I.
And thank you all, till next time.
Bye bye.