h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto - A4104622
Author: Gnomon - But this box can hide a secret inside - U151503

I'd nearly finished this when Vip put her version into Peer Review. Vip was unable to complete her version and withdrew it, so I'm now presenting this.

I'm glad to see this here Gnomon.

I'm also afraid we're a bit swamped with the Journal writing challenge, but I hope you get some reviews from those who're interested in music.
I've bumped this up the conversation list a little bit to keep it visible.

Looks good, Gnomon, but I would suggest a few small changes:

The first sentence is immediately more or less withdrawn. It would read better I think if you began with something like "Mozart's Clarinet Concerto is an outstandingly beautiful piece of music, and one of his most popular compositions."

Several times you use 'his or her'; it would be less conspicuous if you used 'their'.

You seem to have reduced the story of the reconstruction ... was Amy more detailed? This is one case where I feel more would be more.

Not Amy, Vip. Sorry.

Thanks for your comments, R. I'll have another read of Vip's entry. This was written before she wrote hers, so it doesn't draw on hers in any way.

Vip provided slightly less detail on the reconstruction. She did provide some comparisons via links to youtube, but these presented problems and weren't practical in my opinion. Not sure that there is much more to say about the reconstruction.

I'll look into the other rewordings you've suggested.

Actually, it could be improved by some examples done in Sibelius. I wonder how h2g2 handles midi files.

That would be something!

I've done some experimenting with midi files, and have asked Pastey about putting them on the site. It should certainly be possible to get Sibelius to produce a midi file and an image of the score.

The little snip of music you mentioned is in hand. The [Pastey] will let you know himself when it's uploaded.

The first piece I sent was just an experiment. I'll play around with Sibelius, the music-writing software, and get two music snippets right, then send them. I'll also need to send two small images to go with them.

I'm still waiting on access to my daughter's laptop to make those midi files. This entry can stay on hold until that's been done.

I've made the other wording changes you suggested, R. His and her to their and a more definite start to the entry.

The musical examples are now in the entry, with links to midi files playing the sounds. Can you let me know if you've any problems with these?

I'm in work at the moment so I can't test them.

I've also added a footnote about Mozart's name.

That pair of clips work fine, and the tempo is right. Is there a way of putting a clip in from an actual recording? The basset clarinet version can be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QAAZ29cvfU about 3 minutes 3 seconds in, and the standard A clarinet version at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOwdb9ofuMo at 2 minutes 30.

That's a great footnote about his name! I hadn't heard he was christened Gottlieb, though I had read that he was also christened Johann Chrysostom before Wolfgang etc.

In fact checking now in Grove, it says (under the header (Johann Chrystosttom) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) that 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as he is universally known, was baptized in Salzburg Cathedral on the day after his birth as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus.' (Spelling sic).

He was born on St John Chrysostom's feast day, and Grove says his last name came from his godfather, Joannes Theophilus Pergmayr. Then it says 'Mozart sometimes preferred the Latin form, Amadeus, more often Amadè, Amadé or the Italian Amadeo, and occasionally the German Gottlieb.' I suppose his publications would quite likely have given his name in the form he dictated.

It appears, reading between the lines, that there was a bit of Latinization going on already in the baptismal registry!

The phrase in the second clip starts at 2'50, not 2'30

Though I appreciate YouTube clips are liable to vanish, you might be able to extract the samples and post files of your own.

This sentence is a little out: 'If you are familiar with violin or piano concertos, you will know that you have to be a world-class player before you can perform them.'

Students do learn the hard concertos, and can play them a bit better than Eric Morecambe without being world-class. Perhaps 'If you are familiar with violin or piano concertos, you will know that you have to be a highly skilled player before you can perform them.'

Incidentally it is also true, isn't it, that students learn Vivaldi violin concertos at quite an early stage. So perhaps 'If you are familiar with the big violin or piano concertos, you will know that you have to be a very experienced player before you can perform them.'

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons we can't post other people's youtube recordings. I could record myself playing the phrase on standard clarinet, but I don't own a basset clarinet. That's why I decided to use the midi files.