Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 1994/02

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: The subject is v-i-b-r-a-t-o-o-o-o-o-o
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 19:13:27 -0500

What is the reaction to the use of vibrato when playing symphonic
clarinet (including chamber music); i.e., the non jazz world.

And so as to not complicate the matter, I am referring to the
mechanism (achieved in several ways, there is not a standard as to
which is best, worst, most effective, etc.) that causes slight
alterations of pitch in sustained tones, generally below the called-
for pitch and rising to the called-for pitch. The speed at which
this pitch transition is made is variable from slow to fast, though
when executed too slowly, it is a questionable practice at best.

There is another technique which is sometimes called vibrato that
is used to produce slight alterations in pressure but not in pitch
when playing a sustained tone. That is not what I am asking about
here.

The most prominent clarinetist of the last generation who used
vibrato extensively in performance of almost all repertoire, from
Mozart to Stravinsky, was Reginald Kell. A few contemporary players
use it today but limit its use to the more contemporary literature,
say from Brahms to the present.

I have been very careful not to present any personal opinion within
the framework of this question (though I certainly have one, of
course).

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