Klarinet Archive - Posting 000001.txt from 1995/05

From: David Gilman
Subj:
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 00:10:04 -0400

David,
You make excellent comments. Thank you. I agree that we, as musicians
should not ignore a vital element in our expressive arsenal. I guess I
wasn't clear enough about that in making my other points. Tone is indeed
one very important component of all our sounds.

Fred Jacobowitz

On Fri, 28 Apr 1995, David Gilman wrote:

> Fred,
> Earlier today, I read your very insightful message concerning the
> lack of emotional charge in classical music today. I must admit that there
> is a tendency among many orchestral players to play correctly but with
> little expression. Few would argue this. However, you imply that we spend
> too much time and energy on tone quality and too little on expression.
> Clearly, we need to focus on expression, but why at the expense of tone?
> Good tone is crucial for any kind of musical expression. I accept a variety
> of tone colors as part of our musical palette, but as long as humans
> continue to criticize each other, comparisons will be made as to tonal
> quality. I, for one, do not mind this, for it helps me to improve my own
> sound as well as the [hopefully] emotional charge traveling with it.
> Let me provide a ridiculous example to illustrate my point. Picture
> Luciano Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" from _Turandot_, especially the
> last "Vincero`!" at the end. Now imagine Andy Devine, John Fogarty, or
> Roseanne singing it. [How's that for covering three generations!] Painful,
> isn't it? Assuming any of these three could sing with some expression
> (which might be the case with Fogarty), the result would still be unbearable
> because these three people do not have the vocal timbre to pull it off. Why
> do top string players pay more for their instruments than most people pay
> for their houses? Because they need that beautiful tone as well as
> projection. Also remember that the best jazz players, like Benny Goodman
> and Artie Shaw, had wonderful sounds as well as great technique and
> groundbreaking ideas.
> Tone is a tool; like technique, dynamics, or phrasing; which we use
> to convey our emotional ideas about our music. The first thing my teacher
> told me when I started with him was that the music itself is what counts.
> But he also said that we need to use and understand the tools at our
> disposal in order to interpret that music. Tone is a very difficult element
> to compare because there is so much disagreement as to what an optimal tone
> is. What sounds strident to me may be gorgeous to someone else, and vice
> versa. Nevertheless, we must not minimize the importance of a polished,
> well thought out sound as part of our craft, whatever that sound may be.
> The concepts of timbre and expression not only can but must coexist in order
> that we may use them both to produce our art.
>
> David Gilman
>