Klarinet Archive - Posting 000165.txt from 1995/05

From: Anthony Eugene Harris <aeh0002@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Is no one to touch my posting?
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:36:59 -0400

On Wed, 3 May 1995, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> 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
>
YEAH THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR ME!!!!!!