Klarinet Archive - Posting 000114.txt from 1994/01

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: The Alec Wilder Sonata
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 1994 22:00:18 -0500

Sterling Lamet writes of the Wilder sonata. I know of no recording but
I am aware that a much better edition than the 1968 edition was released
about 10 years ago. I reviewed it for the Clarinet magazine.

The 1968 edition was reprinted from the original publication by Margun
Music of Newton Centre, MA. It was awful!! Full of mistakes and
confusion. I think I reviewed the publication around 1980 saying that
the Wilder sonata is an excellent piece but one cannot tell it from
the awful edition first printed by Wilder himself and then reprinted
in exactly the same form by Margun Music.

They must have taken my comments to heart because they completely redid
the sonata and I re-reviewed it around 1983 (also in the clarinet) saying
that they had done a marvellous job eliminating all the thousands of
errors (probably an exaggeration - thousands, no; hundreds, yes).

The new edition was done under the personal supervision of Gunther
Schuller who was a personal friend of Alec Wilder.

But keep in mind, when playing the work, that Wilder did note write
jazz. He wrote what the average Broadway sophisticate thinks is
jazz. The difference is what the average American thinks is Russian
music vs what is real Russian music.

I am glad you like the piece. It is quite an interesting work.

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

   
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