Klarinet Archive - Posting 000463.txt from 1997/01

From: Francis Firth <Francis.Firth@-----.uk>
Subj: Francaix, brahms & Authenticity
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 04:46:51 -0500

J. lawrie Bloom wrote:

"Francaix is a minor composer who wrote a circus piece of little musical
value. Do you really want to include that in a discussion that started out
with Brahms, no matter how far afield it has wandered?"

I can hardly agree with this.
Admittedly Francaix is no Brahms but then no Frenc composer could be.
despite Brahms's evident genius and musical gifts his orchestration is on
occasion so thick and dense that the counterpont cannot be heard as intended
- not a charge that could ever be laid at Francaix' door.
While Francaix may be a minor composer and his clarinet concerto very
difficult this does not make it a circus piece of little musical interest.
the music of Francaix has great charm, wit and verve and is always MUSICAL.
Francaix does not let some theory about music substitute for musical
thought. As for difficulty I am sure that the Weber pieces may have been
regarded as circus pieces in terms of their difficulty when they were
composed - perhaps even the Nielsen concerto was - but technique moves on
(as well as keywork) and what was unplayable only a few years ago (think of
the Berio Sequenzas) is now routine for Music College students.
Incidentally the argument about playing Brahms in a 19th century hall with
19th centruy ears is misleading.
No one was suggesting that the part should be played on a 19th-century
Muhlfield or simple system clarinet only on whichever of the Bb or A
clarinets Brahms specified - hardly a chore given that both instruments
still exist and are commonly used. Admittedly, the C clarinet is rarer but
that still does not mean that it cannot be used. After all, a large
percentage of violin parts could probably be played on a viola but would
sound different. Hindemith's trio sounds different on a tenor saxophone from
a heckelphone but they still have the same general music range and so sound
similar.
While on the question of authenticity I once heard a good example of
authenticity and, I think, it was from Norrington and his band. It was, as
it happens a Brahms symphony (the 1st as I think I remember). In the slow
movement there is a big oboe solo. Well, the oboist failed to make an octave
leap (slurred) and the rest of the passage was messed up as a result. No
doubt octave keys were added to the oboe to overcome just this kind of
problem so it is probably authentic to hear performances riddled with
technical errors in performance as well.
Francis Firth
Francis.Firth@-----.uk