Klarinet Archive - Posting 000217.txt from 1996/11

From: Joerg Peltzer <peltzer@-----.de>
Subj: Re: Spohr and his concerti
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 07:26:24 -0500

The 1.st Spohr cocert may be an exception, but in my opinion the rest of
the Spohr Opus pieces for Clarinet all follow a specific pattern of
Composition. Watch his melodic thread, its all the same.
The only thing is, that we dont have that much pieces of romantic music and
we (clarinetists) tend to make every written piece more valuable then it
is.
Its not the point, that I dont like the Spohr Concertos, I played the 1st
with Orchestra and loved it. But in Comparison with other romantic Music,
especially for other Instruments,.....

I dont want to harm anyone, its just an opinion (excuse my english)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joerg Peltzer Tel. (0451) 70 20 830 - Luebeck, Germany
"Funk is, what you don't play" - Maceo Parker!

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> Von: Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
> An: Multiple recipients of list KLARINET
<KLARINET@-----.DE>
> Betreff: Spohr and his concerti
> Datum: Samstag, 9. November 1996 14:50
>
> Mark Charette comments on the first Spohr concerto and expresses surprise
> that it is not heard more often than it is. I not only agree with Mark
> but extend his question to all of his concerti for clarinet (and for that
> matter, much of his music as a whole).
>
> Spohr, for reasons that completely elude me, has fallen out of favor.
> It is one thing never to have been in favor in the first place but that
> is not the case for Spohr. He made it and lost it.
>
> It seems to me that whenever this happens to any composer (Meyerbeer
> is another example as is Salieri), the later public as well as the
> professional players simply assume that s/he was a flash in the pan
> and that, if s/he had anything of substance then s/he would not have
> lost it, so why bother to resurrect the dead.
>
> Other composers make it and never lose it, and yet another class simply
> never make it.
>
> But Spohr, to my ears at least, wrote lush, beautiful, enchanting
> and very romantic music (note: not "but very romantic music") and
> there is almost nothing of his that I have heard that I did not fall
> in love with.
>
> One of the most exciting pieces - and it uses a clarinet in a prominent
> position - is the Spohr Octet for strings and winds, not the Nonet
> (which is also a good piece) but the Octet.
>
> The concerti are all a delight, each in its own way. I too am sad
> that they are not played more often. Perhaps it is a matter of
> contemporary style being unsuited to a work of such blatant and
> unashamed romanticism.
>
>
>
> ====================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> (leeson@-----.edu)
> ====================================