Klarinet Archive - Posting 000134.txt from 1995/05

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Is no one to touch my posting?
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 01:16:22 -0400

On Wed, 3 May 1995, SCOTT MCCHESNEY wrote:

> Have I posted a topic that is too difficult for the list members? Or
> is it simply too low-brow to be commented upon?
> A couple of days ago, I posted a query about how it is that Clarinets
> seem to have the "upper hand" (vs. Oboes, Flutes, and Bassoons) in terms of
> technical flexibility and overall flexibility.

Well, if you're just interested in starting a controversy or a flame
war, I'll be glad to join the fray. It seems to me that to follow your
thinking on this to its logical conclusion would indicate that all
woodwind players should drop the instruments they are now playing and
change to the clarinet. And, that would certainly make the world of
music a less interesting and challenging place!

Actually, I can't quite accept your analyses of the performance
capabilities and limitations of the the other woodwinds. I am a woodwind
doubler. I started on clarinet at the age of 11, added oboe a year later
and saxophone after still another year. When I entered college, I was a
beginner on bassoon and became a bassoon major. Later in my
undergraduate days I added flute. I have now been involved in woodwind
playing in all sorts of settings for over 45 years, have a doctorate in
woodwinds from Indiana University, have taught all five instruments at
the university level, and have been teaching a woodwind techniques class
for over 25 years.

It seems to me that each musician has a natural affinity, mental,
psychological and physical, for one instrument or another. Those who are
fortunate enough eventually gravitate to the instrument which best
matches their own individual musical traits. Sometimes this seems to
relate to the range of the instrument and the range or quality of the
voice of the player, but this is not always the case. For me, I know
that as much as I enjoy playing all the woodwinds, I simply feel more
comfortable or "at home" when playing the bassoon.

But it never has occurred to me to feel that one instrument has an
inherent superiority over another. Each one has its own set of
characteristics, problems, limitations, capabilities and idiosyncracies.
Musicianship on the part of wind players consists to a large degree on
successfully accomodating one's playing techniques to the individual
characteristics and tendencies of the other instruments in an ensemble.
In a really good symphony orchestra or woodwind quintet, for example, one
would hardly be aware that in certain registers the flute has difficulty
projecting, in part because the other players in the woodwind section
play softly enough that the flute can be heard when required to play its
lowest notes. Naturally, this depends to a degree on the skill and
sensitivity of the composer/orchestrator.

Perhaps it precisely because of the contrasting characteristics of the
woodwinds that they sound so interesting to players and audiences.

Edwin Lacy
el2@-----.edu

   
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