Klarinet Archive - Posting 000247.txt from 1996/04

From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.COM>
Subj: Authenticity
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 22:15:29 -0400

Nate (nathan@-----.com) said
>People were talking about big egos playing a role in incorrectly
>interpreting a piece. I think it's just as arrogrant to trash someone else
>for exploring their own ideas in an interpretation as it is to interpret
>something "inocorrectly," if there is such a thing. There are more than just
>"right" interpretations and "wrong" interpretations -- it's up the performer
>to decide what he wants to do. If I want to play the Mozart Concerto on my
>e-flat clarinet and with jazz licks in the cadenzas, that's my decision, and
>I don't have to defend it in front of anybody. The performer must learn what
>is acceptable or not, and then he makes the decision how far he wants to go
>in interpreting a piece. Of course, musicians always have to deal with the
>consequences of their decisions, but the principle of the thing holds
>through -- in the end, it's up to the performer!!

Ahhhh - but you WILL have to defend it. Even an "acceptable" performance
should have a historical basis, or a grand explanation of why liberties
have been taken before the piece is played. One of my favorite recordings
of long ago was "Turned On Bach", an LP of Bach music played on an early
synthesizer. That got me started listening to classical music, but the
recording made no pretention of being accurate - it was made more for
fun than anything else, I'm pretty sure (and profit may have been a minor
motive ;^)

Try listening to some (relatively) authentic music - I got started with
Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music. Hogwood and the
Acedemy play on period instruments or replicas when originals are not
available, and the Orchestra seating is as close to the original arrangement
as can be discerned from the paintings and engravings of the period.
Even Pachelbel's Canon and Gigue sound fresh to my ears when done in this
manner. In fact, it sounds ----- modern.
--
Mark Charette
charette@-----.com