Klarinet Archive - Posting 000501.txt from 1995/11

From: Martin Pergler <pergler@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Martin Pergler makes an observation
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 12:36:07 -0500

On Tue, 28 Nov 1995, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> I was fascinated by Martin Pergler's note. In it he gave his assessment
> of Neidich's playing and was quite specific about what it was he did
> not care for. There were actually two issues: one had to do with his
> playing (speed of stacatto for example) and one had to do with something
> that Neidich did. The exact words were: "between the chord ending the adagio
> and starting off the allegro, he puts in a cl[arinet] cadenza, arpeggiating
> down and then meandering up. This doesn't appear in the parts of the
> edition I have seen."
>
> That comment of Martin is the subject of this note. It is a perfect
> example of 99% of the players having strayed so far from a knowledge
> of how to play music of this epoch that when someone (like Neidich)
> comes along and does what the composer directs him to do, he is subject
> to criticism. Martin, you could not be more in error, though it is not
> your fault. I suspect that you, like most players, have little training
> in what constitutes the subject of performance practice and it is a lack
> of knowledge of the practice that caused you to say what you said.

[excellent explanation deleted] Thanks, Dan, for setting me straight on
this one. Indeed I have no training in this regard. Any suggestions for
accessible literature on performance practice of the 18th and early 19th
centuries?

> One can do whatever one wishes, of course, but if one adopts that attitude
> then Mozart will sound like Brahms which will sound like Stravinsky. The
> most serious problem facing any student of music today is that they are
> generally not trained in the performance practices of the music periods in
> whichthey will be obliged to play. They all have great hands, and
> magnificent sounds, and sensational instincts, but there is damn little
> discipline that says "Music of this period has certain special character-
> istics and it is my business to make sure that these are displayed."
>
This training is already a part of the education of musicians studying
"historical" instruments (such as recorder). Hopefully it is only
a question of time before it becomes commonplace with all instruments.

> Neidich is doing exactly what we should all be doing and he deserves
> no criticism for the doing of it. One might not like his execution,
> but one cannot argue with his scholarship.
>
> Have a nice day.
>
You too. I think this is what is great about this list.
One poses a question (or makes a comment) and gets back knowledgeable,
well-presented replies.

Incidentally, I also got two private emails prompted I think by Dan's
reply. One was commiseration for being "slammed" -- I don't feel
slammed... just wiser (though of course I'd feel better if I had known
before). This is a forthright but informative reply. The other email
heaped vitriol on me for being so "stupid"; since it was from a person I
have never heard from before and posted after Dan's reply, I think I'll
just ignore it...the other side of electronic discussion.

Martin
>
>
> ====================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> (leeson@-----.edu)
> ====================================

-------------------------------------------------------
Martin Pergler pergler@-----.edu
Grad student, Mathematics http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~pergler
Univ. of Chicago

   
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