Klarinet Archive - Posting 000738.txt from 1996/04

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Rabaud Solo de Concours and solo lists
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 13:24:50 -0400

In Indiana, the solo and ensemble contests have five levels of entries.
Students receiving the top rating, Division I, in only the highest ranking,
Group I, are eligible to enter the state contest, and only this Group has
a required music list. The Rabaud is included in the list.

The required music lists are revised every 5 years or so on an rotating
schedule. (Brass one year, strings the next, etc.) The woodwind list is
up for revision next year.

Some music educator, presumably one well-versed in woodwind instruments,
will be the chairperson of a committee which will oversee the process.
Other teachers will be invited to submit suggestions. Publishers will be
able to submit works for consideration. The final version of the list
will then be in effect for the next five years.

My difficulty with the lists is somewhat different. I sometimes have
some difficulty in dealing with University students who have played the
Mozart concerto for a contest while still in high school. (I'm referring
mostly to his bassoon concerto, but I think the situation is much the
same for the clarinet and oboe concertos, and the D major flute one.)
Many high school students can manage these works technically, but almost
always they need more musical maturity to play them in the way that
they really should be played. But, some of them object when you suggest
that they should work on these works again as college students. I like to
save the Mozart concertos for the junior or senior year of college. Several
times I have heard, "But I played this in high school. Why do I have to do it
again?" They tend to regard it as a reflection on their ability if asked
to play a "high school" solo.

So far, no student has been able to talk me out of including Mozart in
their course of study. :-) Generally, they come around when they find
out that the way they played it in high school isn't satisfactory 3 or 4
years later.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
*****************************************************************