Klarinet Archive - Posting 000785.txt from 1996/03

From: Jacqueline G Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Nate Burk and innocence
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 12:07:04 -0500

Good Lord, Dan, control yourself, or I'll put saltpeter in your coffee!
It's certainly too early in the morning for this!

Publicly repressed (privately, it's-none-of-your-business!),

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu

On Thu, 28 Mar
1996, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> Nate writes "What I like about the clarinet so much is its clear,
> innocent, warm sound. While vibrato can add character if used correctly,
> more often than not it will take away from the innocence of the
> clarinet sound that we all love so much."
>
> Well, of course, Nate can hear in the sound of the clarinet anything
> he wishes or any emotion that his taste finds as contained in the
> character of the sound.
>
> On the other hand, (and this is simply an expression of my own taste
> and preference, not necessarily a statement of truth), I find the
> clarinet's sound to be lusty, erotic, sensual, passionate, and
> earthy, the very antithesis of innocent.
>
> It is because I find the character of the sound so sexual, that I
> find its passionate character is diminished when played without
> vibrato.
>
> The use of vibrato is likened to the tremors one might feel in
> a sensual situation. I may be a lot older than I was when I first
> felt sexual urges, but I would tremble with passion under certain
> circumstances. That passion is not dissimilar to the feelings
> I have when I would play the Brahms quintet (whose slow movement
> is erotic conversation at its most lusty) and to play it without
> physical trembling, simulated by vibrato, one would have to be made
> out of concrete.
>
> There is nothing innocent to my ears in the Mozart quintet, the
> Schubert octet, the Reger quintet, the Hindemith concerto, the
> Corigliano concerto, etc. These are hot, lusty, play-it-naked
> pieces.
>
> Innocent???? Hand me my whip!! Bring on the absinthe. No
> thin-blooded, pursed-lipped innocents for me. I want to see
> and feel the heat of passion in my music. I want to burn up
> and smoke. Excuse me for being vulgar, but I don't think that
> great clarinet playing (and music in general) comes from the
> heart. It comes from the crotch!!
>
>
> ====================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> (leeson@-----.edu)
> ====================================
>