Klarinet Archive - Posting 000336.txt from 1996/12

From: "Fogle, Bill" <bill.fogle@-----.com>
Subj: Goodman and classical music
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 20:37:16 -0500

It's always troubled me, the legend that Benny Goodman couldn't play
classical. More to the point, what I have heard are phrases to the effect "
The King of Swing" was disappointing in another medium. To Goodman's
contemporaries who wrote the reviews, what did this attitude mean? How would
Goodman have "warmed up" classical? How does swing music apply to classical?
I guess that is why the question, the bad reviews, interest me. Are the
Benny Goodman critics saying Draper had "it" and Goodman didn't?

I have a book of Goodman's music (piano and clarinet parts). When I have
worked on the technical bits, the "expression" comes without too much
difficulty for me. This is less true in my case for *certain* classical
works. Often when playing, I wonder how Goodman--or any professional--
handled playing the different types of music. -----Bill Fogle.