Klarinet Archive - Posting 000087.txt from 1995/12

From: OLIVER SEELY <oliver@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Electronic orchestras
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 15:57:34 -0500

Without actually disagreeing with either of the postings
about digital orchestras I would say that my sound board
and music software have already made an ecstatically
wonderful change in my life. I had pretty much resigned
myself to the realization that I would die without ever
having had the chance to play some beloved pieces for
clarinet. And now. . . the whole thing is MINE. All
of the clarinet literature of the world, in audio form,
as music minus one, for me, and music - x for whatever
x-1 friends I can inveigle to play with me at any one
time.

My only regret is that I'm 56 and there aren't a lot of
years left to convert all the pieces I want to play to
MIDI files. So much literature, so little time!

I mentioned this to one of my snootier music friends,
that is, I said where could I ever find two bassoonists,
two French hornists and another clarinetist to play
von Weber's Sextet, and he replied "The USC School of
Music, of course." "Right," I replied, "and I'm taking
an hour out each way to drive to USC and to pay for parking
and to haunt the halls of the Music Department and to put
notices up on the bulletin boards that an erstwhile
professor of chemistry wants to play a sextet and then
miracle of miracles a group actually gets together after
about a half-dozen attempts and after it is all over
I have to face the humiliation of one or another of them
saying, 'You know, Ollie, you're really not such a bad guy,
but your playing really isn't quite up to our standards.
Tell you what, the next time why don't you wait for our
call instead of coming to us.'"

No, sirree bob. Now, with electronic music, all is possible,
humiliation excluded. And I'm looking down the pike
at Mozart's Quintet for clarinet and strings, TRANSPOSED
so that I can play it on my Bb, Spohr's Fantasie and Variations
for clarinet and strings, Rossini's six quartets for clarinet,
oboe, horn and bassoon, Mozart's Cassazione for the same
mix, Gabrielsky's Grand Quartet and about a thousand other
things.

By the way, I'm working on Stamitz' concerto for two clarinets
right now. It ought to be available on my subdirectory
[anonymous.music] in about a week.

Yes, you folks bemoaning what's happening to live orchestras
do indeed have a point. But for me personally, I'm in
heaven.

Oliver