Klarinet Archive - Posting 000523.txt from 1995/11

From: Armand Ferland <Armand.Ferland@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Martin Pergler makes an observation
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 01:27:22 -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

Dear Martin,

I also was interested with your remarks on Charles Neidich's
performance of eighteenth century music and with Dan Leeson's reply, but I
am sorry about the uncalled for vitriolic letter which was sent to you
through E-Mail.
With regards to books published in English about performance
practices of baroque and 18th century music, you may find some helpful
information here and there in the following publications.

Hermann Keller: Phrasing and Articulation
Charles Rosen: the Classical Style
Edward T. Cone: Musical Form and Musical Performance
Frederick Dorian: The History of Music in Performance

All four books are published by W.W. Norton& Company.

All the best!

Armand

Armand Ferland
1196, rue Eugene-Hamel
Sainte-Foy (Quebec)
Canada G1W 4G4

   
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