Klarinet Archive - Posting 000145.txt from 1996/03

From: Raphael Tennenbaum <rtenn@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: PLEASE HELP - WEBER 2ND CONCERTO
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 22:03:41 -0500

I have never performed either of the Weber concerti in public and of course I'm
just an amateur so you maybe ought to take what I say with a grain of salt --
but I know the pieces and have had similar experiences playing them: times when
it seemed, strangely, as though I would never play them as easily as I had the
first few times I read them (or, the most recent time I had picked them up).
What makes it even more peculiar is that they are eminently "clarinetish." The
two most important things here, I suspect, are reed and tempo.

Reed selection: when I have been in similar circumstances, I've tried to
practice and psych myself along the line of doing my best to get myself ready
to deal with what the piece and my instrument will have for me on the day of
the performance, and making sure that I can contend with it in case I don't
have that perfect feeling. You might decide, for example, to practice with
three or four different reeds -- it may even be that using one softer than you
had ever considered playing with will help as a stopgap while you're practicing
-- or even for the performance itself.

Choosing the right tempo can be even more nettlesome, and I suspect this as much
as anything may be what's causing you anxiety. Try to remember that,
especially since the movement is in 3/4, if you don't really feel you can rip
through it, it may simply be that you can choose a *snappy* metronome marking
that's not @-----. When you practice, try to get the 3/4 feeling, too -- for the
sake of what it sounds like, that's more important than playing it as fast as
you can.

Rafe T.
Readme @-----.com/~rtenn