Klarinet Archive - Posting 000836.txt from 1997/10

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: klarinet-digest V1 #339
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 15:32:41 -0400

Then there is always the possibility that rebarring reestablishes the
original intent. I remember the first time I began rehearsing John Barnes
Chance's "Blue Lake Overture" for band, and finally researched enough to
find out that he had originally scored it in mixed meter time....5/8, 7/8,
3/8 with some 4/4 and 2/4 thrown in.......at the request of the publisher,
who would not publish it otherwise, he rebarred it in straight 4/4 and
3/4, thereby supplying all future band conductors with an enormous amount
of grief!

Roger Garrett

On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> > <<One story we heard from Ozawa was that Bernstein, had parts for the
> > Philharmonic, arranged so-that it was in 2/4 or 3/4 (I forget which)
> > and the orchestra played the accents in the appropriate place.>>
>
> I have had the distinct displeasure of playing under a conductor who
> wanted to "help" the players by re-barring anything with mixed meters,
> which includes nearly everything by Stravinsky. This practice, of course,
> is no help at all, and destroys any semblance of the intent and effect of
> the music. For some reason, such conductors never want the orchestra to
> play syncopations, giving a downbeat on every accent.
>
> Always beware of conductors who say that they are going to do something
> out of the ordinary in order to "help" you. Almost invariably, what they
> actually want to do is help themselves.
>
> Ed Lacy
> el2@-----.edu
>
>
>