Klarinet Archive - Posting 000312.txt from 1996/11

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: Re: Mozart articulation (fwd)
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 04:07:55 -0500

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 18:45:53 -0500
From: Patricia C. Brown <pcdew%HAMLET.UNCG.EDU@-----.UK>
Subject: Re: Mozart articulation

I was wondering about something in relation to all this talk about
Mozartean articulation: weren't the players still playing with the reed on
top at this point in history? I can't remember right now when that switch
in playing technique occurred, but if players were playing reed-on-top,
wouldn't that affect how they articulated and the sound of the
articulation?

I have tried playing reed-on-top as an experiment, and found that I
could articulate very sharply playing that way. But would the "harshness"
of that articulation have sounded bad to a Baroque listener? I could be
way off on this, since I can't remember exactly when the reed moved to the
bottom of the mouthpiece (and I don't have my notebook with me at the
moment to check). But I was wondering how that detail might fit into the
discussion on articulation.

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% Patricia C. Brown | pcdew@-----.edu %
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Didn't somebody (maybe Dan L.) once say on this list that Stadler played
with the reed underneath? I think the changeover was a VERY
long-drawn-out process, possibly not even complete now. No doubt the
earliest clarinettists had fairly well-developed top lips, as their first
instrument was probably the oboe.
Roger Shilcock