Klarinet Archive - Posting 000273.txt from 1995/03

From: Nichelle Crocker <NCROCKER@-----.EDU>
Subj: The Stately Polacca
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 18:47:36 -0500

Tell me if I understand this clearly: Stately does not have to mean slow.
It is an indication about the character of the music and not the tempo.

And the piece seems to work better at a faster tempo. I like it faster, but
I think that I have been confusing the polacca character of the piece for a
slower tempo, and this was the source of my doubts about the tempos in the
recordings I have listened to. I have, in the past, played it at about 112,
maybe faster. But I have also never felt that I was really capturing the dance
feel of a polacca. And I suppose this is the reason I have been searching for
a more appropriate tempo, but it seems that tempo is perhaps not the problem.
Playing it slower is admittedly a bit unnatural, but I am not sure where to go
from here.

Jonathan Cohler made two listening suggestions:
"Listen to the Polonaise Brilliante by Wieniawski, for example, or the famous
Chopin piano Polonaise."

I would like more suggestions for listening. I would also like some
suggestions for reading. I am on my way to the library to go bury my nose
in some books and records. By the way, I am curious to know which recordings
of the Weber any of you recommend. I own several which I think are quite
good, but I am always curious about other clarinetists' opinions.

Thanks again (this is really getting interesting)
Nichelle Crocker

   
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