Klarinet Archive - Posting 000397.txt from 1994/10

From: Jim Freeman <collnjim@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: John Dohrmann and national sounds
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1994 20:47:16 -0400

> Dan Leeson wrote:
> Then there was another note from someone who suggested that he or she heard
> a difference and actually picked out a player as German or French or
> English without knowing who the players were. I think that here is
> the possibility of reverse logic. One of the players was Sabine Meyer
> and the listener picked her out as being German.
>
> But Meyer's playing is so distinctive, so unique, that she is recognizable
> by her playing, not necessarily by her sound. So the logic (though internal
> and subconscious) was "Who is this person? Ah, that's Sabine Meyer. Her
> playing is very unique. Meyer is German." And then out pops the conscious
> thought "That is a German player." For what my opinion is worth, which is
> not much, Meyer's playing is not German at all. It is only great!
> ====================================
>
Dan

You raise some very interesting points in your various postings about
national styles. As a freelancer who has spent far too much time driving
to and from gigs with the car radio on, I've had oppertunities galore to
play "guess the orchestra's country of origin". I'm usually right. But it
bothers me (only a little) that my reasoning for my guesses is very
precarious (or you might say subjective).
We all seem to agree on several points: 1. All clarinet players do not
sound alike. 2. Some clarinet players may be identified by their
distictive sound. 3. Clarinet players use different equipment. 4. Some
clarinet players with similiar equipment and training sound very
different. I'm sure there's more, but this will do for a start. The
conclusions which we are drawing from these points are vastly different,
and possibly all unjustified, ranging from "I hear a common thread of
sound which I cannot objectively describe, from many players from or
influenced by a given area, therefore national styles exist" to "since
national styles can't be objectively described, they can't possibly exist
and any attempt to attribute national styles is really just recalling the
sound of a well-known player and attributing certain qualities to that
player's region of training or origin." (This, I think, is close to what
you are saying, Dan)

I think it's perfectly natural to crave objectivity in a situation like
this, but we have to be willing to admit that it might not be available
to us. The world is much more complex than anything we can say about it,
so the fact that we can't come up with a suitably "objective" way of
describing how a clarinet player's sound resembles another's from the
same country doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist. Similarly,
just because I can't describe in an objective way my fiancee's voice over
the telephone, doesn't mean I'm not perfectly certain that it's her on
the phone. Also, just because certain players depart from certain
regional "threads," doesn't mean that many other players from that region
don't exhibit certain recognizable traits.

What this boils down to is, I think, that those of us who are making
claims that percievable regional styles do in fact exist, need to put our
money where our mouth is and take Dan's test. I'm rather swayed by the
fact that I've been guessing with some sucess for several years, but I
would be willing to have my attitude adjusted if I failed significantly on
such a test. However, depending on our conception of "objectivity" (and
I heartily encourage anyone interested in a critizism of many modern
conceptions of objectivity to read Robert Nagel's excellent "A View from
Nowhere"), even if many of us pass such a test, there still will not be a
real proof of the existence of regional styles, just evidence of a
possibility.

Jim Freeman (collnjim@-----.edu)

   
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