Klarinet Archive - Posting 000216.txt from 1994/01

From: Karen Noel-Bentley <karennb@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Re Karen's comments on performance practice
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 02:12:15 -0500

Dan, I guess I owe you an apology. You wanted to discuss the details of
Classical-period performance practice, and I diverted the subject to my
own esoteric views on the nature of performance. I agree that we don't play
Mozart "correctly" from the point of view of academic research into
performance practice. I just don't like to use the word "correct" when
referring to the performance of music, and that's the part of your original
statement that I focused on. As you may have guessed, I don't have a
problem with performances that do not follow the academic guidelines to the
letter.

> Somehow, being born in the 20th century freed you from doing something that
> you never spoke about in any detail.

> I believe only in one thing: knowledge. Feelings about how to play
> a work are, in my view, a waste of talent.

I did not mean to imply that I feel free to play music in a reckless and
uninformed manner. I, too, believe that knowledge is vital. But I cannot
see how anyone can play music without incorporating knowledge with, for
want of a better word, feelings. Otherwise, we may as well program a piece
into a synthesizer and forget about the human aspect.

> I don't think we should get married. We'd kill each other.

O.K., but I still look forward to future discussions/arguments with you, in
the comfort and safety of my own home :-)

Karen