Klarinet Archive - Posting 000658.txt from 1996/01

From: Donald Yungkurth <DYungkurth@-----.COM>
Subj: Leeson and the Klarinet Malingerers
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 03:02:19 -0500

I haven't saved Dan Leeson's challenge to us to comment on Mozart's K. 297b,
but I'm sure that those of you who are interested will recall that Dan
thought the work was being performed less than in the past and got into a
discussion about the authenticity of the work. Dan also expressed
disappointment on the thin response to his topic and did some mild grumbling
about the repeated high interest in such mundane topics as reeds, mouthpieces
and cork grease.

I think Dan may overestimate the average ability, experience, skill and/or
knowledge of the people subscribed to Klarinet. Granted, we do have a
significant number of professional performers, clarinet teachers, repair
specialists and music educators on the list. With any given topic, many of
these folks will join the discussion, others may not. I don't think we
should get too upset that all those with experience and training on a subject
are not anxious to hop aboard every esoteric discussion.

On the other hand, many of the members probably have little background or
training which might encourage them to join in on a discussion about the
authenticity of a work attributed to Mozart. For example, I have no
professional training in music, except for a few courses I audited at the age
of 60 and my only clarinet lessons were over a period of about four years in
the late 1940s plus about 6 months study in 1992/3. What I know technically
about the clarinet I've learned on my own by reading. I would guess that,
compared with other amateurs, I've probably done more reading on the clarinet
and music in general, and I feel I play better than many who have picked up
the clarinet without going into music professionally.

As much as I enjoy following the thread of some of these topics, such as
Dan's recent Mozart discussion, I really don't have anything to contribute,
other than "opinion", which really doesn't add anything constructive to the
interchange, as Dan points out with his usual tact. This certainly is not
just a matter of reticence or unwillingness to put my foot in when I could be
wrong, since I fully realize that there is no malicious intent in these
exchanges.

Based on the questions and replies I read here, I would guess that I probably
know more than many subscribers. I'm still unable to contribute to many
topics. So - My conclusion after all the recent K. 297b interchange is that
Dan isn't really doing too badly at getting us involved, considering the mix
of interests and abilities on Klarinet.

Let's face it - All of us have *some* knowledge (and maybe some questions) on
reeds, corkgrease and mouthpieces and thus know enough to ask a question or
propose an answer. Why shouldn't you expect to get more discussion on these
topics than on musical scholarship?

Don Yungkurth (DYungkurth@-----.com)