Klarinet Archive - Posting 000179.txt from 1995/06

From: Andrew Grenci <AGrenci@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Neil Leupold asks difficult questions
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 1995 13:37:38 -0400

Dan and Neil,

I've been interested in your discussion concerning the use of the clarinet
requested by the composer, and you both seem to present compelling arguments.
I agree with both of you, up to a point.

Dan, I feel that your view of performance as a non-creative act is on the
mark. As a clarinetist, it is generally my job to discover want the composer
wanted and to do it, not to make decisions for the composer when his or her
desires are clearly presented.

Still, I think that this always a more difficult and subtle task than it may
seem. For example, I don't feel that I am any closer to Mahler's intention by
playing a passage he scored for a German A clarinet on a French A clarinet,
than I would be if I played it on a French Bb. Unfortunately, for a vast
amount of the orchestral and chamber repertoire, I simply don't have
available the instruments for which it was intended. To fulfill the desires
of composers using Dan's standard would require a massive collection of
clarinets from various makers, in all keys, in always styles and dating from
the 1700's to the present.

What is, for me, more important is to get at the expessive or musical result
the composer was aiming at. This, of course, includes trying to produce a
sound on my instruments which serves that purpose. And this usually, but
definitely not always, involves playing an instrument pitched as the composer
requested.

As Neil surmises, the composer may have been mistaken. More to the point,
though, is that I am a different player, with different instruments,
mouthpieces, etc. than Mahler had at his disposal. The conditions of
performance have changed. If I am to do the composer's bidding with regard to
musical expression, I have to work within the parameters of these new
conditions, and do the best I can with the instruments I have. This may not
be exactly "creative", but it is helping the composer's creativity to breath
again.

Andy

Andrew Grenci
agrenci@-----.com