Klarinet Archive - Posting 000817.txt from 1997/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: A clarinet
Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 09:24:04 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.95
> Subj: Re: A clarinet

> On Wed, 28 May 1997, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:
>
> > Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 16:03:43 EDT
> > From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
> > To: klarinet@-----.us
> > Subject: Re: A clarinet
> [edited severely]>
> > Insofar as what is provable with respect to this issue, I can prove it.
> > Why did Mozart (and others, of course, but let's stick to the late
> > 1700s and then go slowly up to 1825) call for a clarinet of specific
> > pitch? Was it for the sound character or was there another reason?
> ...>
> > The sole reason for calling for this or that clarinet was to restrict
> > the written key signature. In mid-Mozart, that restriction was that
> > the clarinet's key signature should not ever have a sharp in it or
> > more than one flat in it. And should that restriction ever have
> > to be violated by modulations in the music, then the clarinetist was
> > directed to change instruments so as to live within the restriction;
> > i.e., if the music went to sounding A major, the clarinetist was
> > directed to switch to clarinet in A so that he or she could continue
> > to play in written C major.
> .....>
> >
> > However, and it is a big however, once the clarinet of specific
> > pitch was selected by virtue of the reason above, is there any
> > doubt that a person with as good an ear as Mozart (and Beethoven,
> > too) would not exploit that particular clarinet's unique sound?
> >
> > While it may be argued by some that the Beethoven 1st piano concerto
> > sounds just as good played on a B-flat clarinet, there are others
> > who maintain exactly the opposite; i.e., the change from the
> > requested C clarinet has a distinctly negative effect on the
> > entire sonic pallette of the piece. And in any event, why should
> > the clarinetist have any say in the decision of which instrument
> > to play when directed by the composer to do otherwise?
> ...>
> > =======================================
> > Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> > leeson@-----.edu
> > =======================================
> >
> Dear Dan L.
> Thank you for this clear statem,ent of your position. However, I don't
> think you can reasonably avoid dealing with the forces of "historical
> (authentic?) performance" like that. Nobody can really suppose Beethoven
> wanted his parts in the 1st piano concerto, 1st symphony, 5th symphony
> (last movement), violin concerto (slow movement), etc., to be played on a
> Noblet Artiste C. This is obviously absurdly trivial, but it seems to
> follow from what you say.
> (Having recently played in the violin concerto, there seem to be
> considerable practical advantages in just transposing the parts on As,
> and not bothering to change to cold instruments, of whatever
> species.....).
> Roger SHilcock
>

Roger, you may be right, but what you suggest (about practical
advantages) is an opinion. It does not represent a fact nor
does it contradict the clear and unambiguous fact that Beethoven
requested a clarinet other than the one on which you are
performing at that moment. Let me add my opinion to yours:
I see no practical advantage to using a clarinet other than the
one requested and several very distinct disadvantages all due to
the act of having to transpose while playing.

As you say, Beethoven did not request a Noblet Artiste C, simply
a C clarinet. But that is a distinction that has never been made
in music, in clarinetdom, or for any instrument. Does the
Mendelssohn violin concerto request an Amati? Come on, Roger.
You can do better than that.

I know that my personal insistance about which clarinet to use
under which circumstances irritates many players. And they
all make Herculean attempts to defend the status quo which is
this: the clarinetist, not the composer, decides on which
clarinet to use under which circumstances. To me, this is
arrogance gone mad.

>
>
=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================