Klarinet Archive - Posting 000823.txt from 1997/11

From: Dee Hays <deerich@-----.net>
Subj: Re: two is company, three's a pain in the ears
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 12:21:08 -0500

This is quite an interesting discussion. I actually like a good concert band
just as well as an orchestra. Pieces like the 2nd Suite in F for Military
Band (the composer escapes me at the moment) are every bit as fine as
orchestral music. The problem is finding a good concert band. It is
certainly not valid to compare your local school or community band (though
many are indeed fine groups) to the Boston Pops and use this to judge band
versus orchestra.

Many times I wish I could get hold of good band recordings and that there was
more high caliber music for them. I get so tired of all those everlasting
strings (don't get me wrong here, I love Mozart and all the other great
composers even if I do get tired of the strings). Perhaps this is why I
Wagner's orchestration especially appeals to me. He really did a fine job of
using the various wind instruments to bring a richness and variety to his
music that can be lacking when the focus is on the violins, etc.

Roger Garrett wrote:

> On Fri, 21 Nov 1997, Edinger/Gilman wrote:
> > I greatly prefer listening
> > to orchestras (and playing in them too). And the worst part is, I think
> > it's the clarinets that make me so prejudiced. Fifteen clarinets is a
> > woefully inadequate substitute for a violin section. Groups of
> > clarinets just sound thin, strained, and usually at least have the
> > suggestion of being at least marginally out of tune. And I truly love
> > the clarinet. I just don't like more than about two at a time (except
> > in Mahler symphonies, where there are at least six of everything
> > anyway). Sorry.
>
> Nothing wrong with preferring a symphony orchestra because of the thinner
> woodwind texture and (I think) what inadequacies you hear in a 15 person
> clarinet section of a band. Consider that most 15 person clarinet
> sections play marginally out of tune because they play that way normally.
> I wonder if you enjoy the average community or high school
> orchestra over a fine unversity band? The strings in this kind of
> ensemble play more marginally out of tune than the professional orchestras
> we buy in cd and tape stores. Do you regularly listen to these kinds of
> orchestra on your stereo? Why do we have this impression of bands (other
> than personal experience in community or ok military bands)? Simply put,
> it is because there are not a lot of professional bands, and the ones we
> hear, are not made commercially available on cd or tape to the general
> public. Yes, they make cd's for publicity purposes, but the cd's are not
> available commercially. If we only hear or play in ensembles that are,
> comparably, much less talented than the professional orchestras we are
> comparing to, we are going to hear differences in tone, intonation, blend,
> balance, etc... And let's keep in mind again.....the repertoire
> available for the band medium is not as diverse and extensive as it's
> orchestral counterpart. It is unfortunate that a full size symphony band
> (with the instruments we have today) did not exist during the classical
> and romantic periods.....I believe we would have much more and much better
> repertoire in the area of bands than we do today.
>
> There is nothing wrong with preferreing one medium over another...but if
> you specify thin tones and intonation as the basic cause of the
> reason, there are reasons that this cause exists!
>
> Roger Garrett
> IWU