Klarinet Archive - Posting 001456.txt from 1997/10

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: wispy sounds
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 20:44:48 -0500

On Fri, 31 Oct 1997 SCHEER@-----.ca wrote:

> I have been listening to a recording of a recording this morning
> (sorry don't have the performer's name) and I find the person's
> tone and style so wispy, light and flute-like that it is driving me
> crazy. Is this a type of playing that some people deliberately choose
> to play?

Naturally, yes, but conditionally. A clarinetist who appraoches
every piece of music with the exact same concept of sound and
style is only a clarinetist, a clarinet practitioner, not a musician.
The clarinetist you heard may have conceived of the music in a light
and wispy style, thus shaping his sound and musical ideas to fit
that concept. The telling factor would be if we then heard that
same player attempt Brahms Sonata #1, or perhaps the opening
to Tchaikovsky 5. If (s)he continued to play in the same light
wispy style, it would be inappropriate to the music on the page,
and there would then be good cause for questions concerning musical
intent.

Neil