Enharmonic keys in an orchestral score
Hello! I'm working on an orchestral score, my first symphony. I'm working on a passage in the key of E major. The trumpets in B flat and the clarinets are therefore transposed a whole step higher, to F sharp major. This is an awkward (if not impossible) key for those instruments. I have been trying to change the key to its enharmonic equivalent, G flat major. When I do Control drag of G flat, however, it transposes to A flat. Oh, so I need to go down a whole step? fine. That would be the key of E major, and when I control drag that key, it just comes out F sharp major. So back to square one. This seems goofy. Is there a way for me to end up with G flat major for the trumpets and clarinets? If not, this is certainly a glitch. It seems to me that the software should just let us pick the appropriate key and let it stay in that key without transposing.
Cheers, D. Gerard Lancaster
Comments
I would challenge the assumption that F# is worse for trumpets than Gb. Because of the very nature of the transposition adding sharps / subtracting flats, trumpet and clarinet players are much more accustomed to sharps than flats in general. So really, I would encourage you not to fight this, but to simply go with the default.
That said, the reason key signatures transpose is that they apply to all instruments, and the only way it makes sense to apply one key signature to all instruments is to treat the added key signature as being in concert pitch. You can force one staff to be different from others by holding Ctrl when adding the key, but you'll still need to solve the concert pitch issue. There are various workarounds people have employed if they are sure they want to ask the players to read flats, see for example #39176: Option to convert transposed instrument key signatures into enharmonic equivalent when number of accidentals exceeds limit, where the possibility of adding an option to control spelling of transposed keys is discussed. Also see https://musescore.org/en/node/225816. Do a search and you'll probably find other suggestions for workarounds.
In reply to I would challenge the… by Marc Sabatella
Thank you, Marc. For now, I will leave the trumpet part in F sharp major. In the unlikely event that I actually win this contest and they perform the work, I'm sure the conductor or trumpeter will request an enharmonic key change if necessary. The orchestral reference book I most heavily rely on, "The Technique of Orchestration," by Kent Kennan & Donald Grantham say that when writing for B flat clarinet, anyway, the flat keys are easier, and don't use more than 3 sharps, unless you know the players can handle it. I just assumed the same would be true for B flat trumpets. Cheers, Gerard Lancaster
In reply to Thank you, Marc. For now, I… by Gerard L
I think you are misunderstandng the advice in Kennan & Grantham. They aren't explicit about this, but it seems quite clear to me they are referring to concert pitch keys when they say flats are easier. And this is for precisely the reason I mentioned: the transposition takes away flats and/or and it adds sharps. So a key in concert pitch with 3 flats becomes only 1 flat, but a key in concert pitch with 3 sharps becomes 5 sharps. Obviously, comparing 3 flats to 3 sharps in concert pitch, 3 flats wins big time, because we are talking about reading 1 flat versus 5 sharps. But comparing 3 flats to 3 sharps written pitch (EDIT: originally I had a typo and said "concert pitch" here] is another matter entirely. While neither is inherently more difficult, common sense tells us that clarinet plays are going to see 3 sharps a lot more often, because that's the key of G concert (perhaps the single most common key there is for orchestral music), whereas 3 flats is the key of Db, a key that string players will openly revolt against :-). Clarinet players rarely see 3 flats written* but they see 3 sharps written all the time.
Anyhow, if the piece is performed, it is possible they'll request a part for C trumpet instead of Bb, in order to avoid this problem entirely. Or for clarinet, they might request A clarinet, although my sense is that more trumept players own C trumpets than clarinet players own A clarinets.
In reply to I think you are… by Marc Sabatella
All professional orchestra clarinetists either own an A clarinet or transpose A clarinet music with no difficulty since half of the symphonic music I've seen has had A clarinet parts while the other had B-flat clarinet parts. A lot of Symphonic music has a change from an A to a B-flat clarinet in the middle of the song. Only rarely is the bottom note of an A clarinet written, so transposition is usually possible. I have seen a couple of scores for a C clarinet, but those are extremely rare. From observing symphonic scores I would say that C trumpet parts are less common than A clarinets but are not by any means uncommon. I have also seen some A trumpet parts, though not as many as C trumpet parts. To make a trumpet change keys, you can change a section of tubing to retune it. It's not necessary to own as many trumpets if you have one made to be retuned in this manner. I know of the existence of these instruments, especially natural trumpets (old ones with no valves). I have see valved horns with this capability. From my observations, changes in horn tunings within a song happen more often than for trumpets.
I have seen B-flat clarinet music written in the Key of D-flat while the rest of the orchestra is in the key of B because there was no time to switch between an A and B-flat clarinet at the key change. Trumpet parts in symphonic scores are normally written with no key signature, so these transpositions are not normally an issue.
Last of all, I don't think G major/E minor is the most common orchestral key. I've honestly seen more scores in D major, though I wouldn't make a claim that any key is the most common.
@Gerard L,
Since this is actually about a contest that will be played by amateur musicians, I would suggest that you rethink the key of the song. I realize that each key has its own sound, but changing it to E-flat or F should not cause too many situations where you would need to rewrite music and would make the key signature issue moot. If this were for a professional orchestra I wouldn't worry about the key of any instrument since professionals are capable of playing in any key.
In reply to All professional orchestra… by mike320
Agreed, professional orchestra players normally have A clarinets. Less true, though, for community and school orchestras in my experience. As for G being the most common key, my real point is that is much more common than Db. But FWIW, I looked for data, and it seems your hunch is correct - D is the single most common key in the orchestral literature. Then C, then G. Db is third least common.
One other comment about what Kennan & Grantham write: they point out that flat keys are better for Bb clarinet, sharp keys better for A. Again, they specifically are talking about concert pitch. For all clarinets (indeed, pretty much all woodwinds period), the key of C written is physically easiest, and the fewer the flats or sharps the better. That's the physical fact of the instrument. What this means is that if the piece is in a flat concert pitch key, it will be easier to play on Bb than A clarinet, because it will have fewer flats once transposed. Conversely, if a piece is in a sharp concert pitch key, it will be easier to play on A than Bb, because it will have fewer sharps once transposed.
So, anyhow, getting back to the original question: in your case, if you don't want to change the key of the song, then producing the part for A clarinet would make a lot of sense, if the players in the orchestra in question own A clarinets. Changing key could indeed be wise if possible and you are concerned about playability.
In reply to All professional orchestra… by mike320
Hi, Mike. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I would change the key, if I could. It actually begins in D major, and modulates through: C major, B flat minor, A major, D flat major, E major, F sharp minor, B minor, C major, then finally back to D major. Yes, that's a LOT of keys, and about 3 times more than usual for me. I was aiming for a sound very liquid and fluid. Also, each violin plays a low G at some point (an open string, but buried in the orchestral texture). And the flute goes up to the B a seventh higher than high C, and to my ears, anything higher just sounds too shrill, especially for the mood of this piece. So the piece won't budge, and the enormous number of keys makes it impossible to avoid all difficult keys. I have, however, simply not written much for the clarinets, unless they're in acceptable keys, as I understand it. The only exception is they play a fairly important motif over and over in concert pitch F sharp minor, or G sharp minor for them...5 sharps. But they only have to learn it once, it repeats itself about 5 times. We'll see. I've tried moving it to another instrument, but really the ear is just ready for the clarinets at that point. It's too late to change anything now. Cheers, Gerard
In reply to I think you are… by Marc Sabatella
Hi, Marc. I know there are people who are confused about transposing instruments, but I'm not really among them (except on days when I'm feeling dyslexic!). When I say that I've read clarinetists are more comfortable in flat keys, I mean transposed flat keys, A flat concert pitch meaning B flat for clarinetists. Here's what my manual says: "As a general rule, key signatures involving flats (transposed) are easier for the instruments pitched in flat keys, whereas instruments such as the A clarinet find the sharp keys (transposed) more comfortable. However, the B flat clarinet is frequently called on to play in keys up to three of four sharps." Well, I should hope so, since that would be the keys of G major and D major, which are pretty common keys. Not having experience with an actual symphony, I'm just trying to keep in manageable for, shall we say, talented amateurs. As for the trumpet in B flat, the writers of my manual make no mention that trumpeters are more comfortable in flat keys, I was just speculating based on what I read about the clarinets. Perhaps it's not as much of an issue. My edition, however, is from 1983, and I know requirements for musicians have changed over the decades. Cheers, Gerard
In reply to Hi, Marc. I know there are… by Gerard L
No, design of clarinets has not changed in the past 30 years :-). Everything I wrote above continues to apply exactly as it has for centuries, and exactly as the passage you cite actually means once you realize they are talking about concert pitch keys. While it is possible you at one time heard someone say something that you interpreted as saying that clarinetists are more comfortable with transposed flat keys, I can absolutely positively assure you this is not the case, and it is not what Kennan and Grantham are saying. They are talking about concert pitch keys, no possible doubt about that whatsoever. I have the very same book you have, and the word "(transposed)" simply does not appear in that text. At least, not in the 2002 edition. It is conceivable a typo existed in the 1983; if so thankfully they corrected it because it would be hugely incorrect as you stated it!
The reason, again, is exactly as I stated. There is no physical reason whatsoever why a given key as written would be easier or hard on a Bb versus A clarinet - the instruments are practically identical. It is only the difference in concert pitch keys that is relevant here.
And yes, the exact logic applies to trumpets as well as other transposing instruments. If you want your piece in E, then if possible, you should provide parts for C trumpet instead of or in addition to providing them for Bb trumpet, as trumpet players would surely rather play in 4 sharps than 6. A few might have D trumpets, allowing them to play in only 2 sharps, but I wouldn't count on that. C trumpets are more or less the standard for orchestral use now, as Kennan and Grantham state (page 144 in my edition).
You can change to the enharmonic equivalent using the directions in https://musescore.org/en/node/260491
In reply to You can change to the… by mike320
Thank you! I printed this out for future reference. Cheers, Gerard
In reply to Thank you! I printed this… by Gerard L
Actually, I've enjoyed reading this discussion. I was going to chime in but what I was going to say had been already well (er...better) said; you certainly had enough good advice.
I wish there were more of these type discussion here, after all, what ultimately brings us here is a love of music.
BTW- I still keep Kennan (and Rimsky-Korsakov) books handy. I also found Kennan's textbook on Counterpoint rich in clarity.
Good luck with your symphonic journey...and the contest.