Klarinet Archive - Posting 000163.txt from 1993/12

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Light/dark controversy
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1993 11:04:14 -0500

Stan Geidel has asked me to describe the sounds of three players:
Drucker, Marcellus, Leister.

Of the three, the only one who I have heard live on many occasions
is Drucker. Marcellus I know only from recordings. Leister I
heard on several occasions but never as a soloist where I could
direct my attention to his sound for a sustained period of time.

Recognizing, therefore, that we have apples and oranges in having
heard only one of the three players live for a sustained period,
I characterize their sound as follows:

Leister is very pleasing and I am very much attracted to it. It
reminds me more of the hollowness of a log than either of the
other two. (I am not joking. I hear hollowness in sounds that
I like. That does not mean that they are there, only that that is
what I hear.)

Marcellus' sound was lustrous. I always thought in terms of velvet
when I heard his recordings. I did not care for him interpretatively
and that may have influenced what I thought of his sound, but I
was enamoured of it.

Drucker's sound was one I never caref for. I found it harsh.

In no case did I think in terms of colors for any of these players.
That thought would not have entered into my head. Had I been
pressed, I would have characterized Leister's sound as dark,
Drucker's as bright approaching strident, and Marcellus as neutral
in color. But I was never pressed and, therefore, these notions
are shoot-from-the-hip responses to your question.

Finally this. I did not consider sound as an absolute by which to
measure a player. I tried to consider the toute ensemble of their
playing of which sound was only a single factor.

Is this of any help?

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================

   
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