Klarinet Archive - Posting 000250.txt from 1994/10

From: richard dean spece <rspece@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: National schools of clarinet playing
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 16:03:56 -0400

My name is Rich Spece and I have been on this list for several
months and have not been prompted to respond to anyone until now. I am
an Associate Instructor at Indiana University and am currently working on
my DMA degree in clarinet. I received my MM in clarinet from the
University of Washington. My studies in clarinet were with Bill McColl.
Before starting my studies in Washington state I spent a year in Detmold
Germany studying with Fritz Hauser and Hans Dietrich Klaus and also
attending master classes with Jost Michaels. My teachers have included
the above mentioned and Howard Klug, James Campbell, and a two month period
with Gervase De Peyer while he was in residence at the University of
Washington.
I take issue with Mr. Leeson's premise that there are no national
schools of playing. I propose that he indeed does have a "tin ear".
After studying with an American a German a Canadian and an Englishman I
can assure that there are definitely different national styles of
playing. There are also different regional styles of playing which can
be seen by listening to the different approaches of Jost Michaels in the
North East of Germany, Dieter Klocker in the South (Freiburg) and Karl
Leister in the East (Berlin). Differences are due to many factors which
cannot all be included here but some of the major factors are: type of
instrument i.e. length, bore size, type of wood, and positioning of tone
holes; type of mouthpiece i.e. length, bore, facing and type of reed
used; the language of a particular country emphasizes different vowel
sounds which affect the tone quality (ee, aw, oh, etc.); teaching styles
vary greatly from one country to another and from one region to another;
there is also the historiographically elusive concept of nationalism
itself. The idea that our morals, ideals, social behavior, and the
products of our efforts (including artistic endeavors) are closely tied
to our sense of nationalism (my purpose here is not to get into an
extended historiographical discussion).
I do believe that because of the almost immediate access we now
have to international recordings and the fact that we can physically
travel great distances in relatively short periods of time, nationalism
in regards to clarinet playing, has diminished is diminishing and will
diminish in the future. Isolation is rapidly becoming extinct but in my
opinion is still with us, even if it to a much lessor degree than in the
past.
Yes Mr. Leeson, if clarinet players from different national
schools were put behind a screen, I am quite sure I could differentiate
between them. Nationalism and individuality is one of the things which
make playing and listening to the clarinet so enjoyable and exciting.

Richard D. Spece
Associate Instructor, Indiana University
rspece@-----.edu