Klarinet Archive - Posting 000889.txt from 1997/11

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: WRONG NOTES
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 12:00:36 -0500

Wrong notes
There are always wrong notes in a MSS of a modern work. Or a manuscript
of a well know work.
Question: whose job is to correct them?
Is it the player, the conductor or the librarian?
Anyway, who is supposed to hear them?
There was one story lately, about a player playing on the wrong clarinet
and the conductor blamed the flute player.

I've seen that myself many times.
Sometimes one plays a work like the Rites of spring and the conductor
will jump back and forth. There might be a clarinet change just a page
before the "jump back" and unless you really know , you might end
playing the wrong clarinet.
I heard a funny story from a former pupil. He had to play Eb clarinet
at one of the prestigious Summer festivals. This was a student
orchestra.
The work was The miraculous Mandarin which called for a D clarinet.
Looking for a transposed part, the pupil asked the regular Eb player at
this Festival if there was a transposed part.
The veteran player told him: "Just transpose the first 4 lines and then
play everything as is."
Apparently no one knew the difference. It's an intricate score anyway.

We had Andre Kostalanetz conduct us quite a few times, He and Efrem
Kurtz came from the same Conservatory. Both talented men. But Kurtz
stuck to Classics and Kostalanetz to more popular idiom.
The first half of Andre's programs were always classical which he did
with great taste and then he lapsed into popular stuff.
He made all the arrangements. Brought along a librarian who would make
any changes Kostalanetz deemed necessary.
Once we played some popular medley and there was a were some wrong
notes. And we knew that the best NY people had played the piece and
recorded it.
I turned to the our bass clarinet player and asked him "How come these
wrong notes are there? Didn't they correct the notes?"
He replied: "Those guys played the right notes but left the wrong
notes for YOU to play".
My experience has been, never ask a conductor about a wrong note.
Especially in front of an orchestra.
It might show him up.

Play the wrong notes with conviction?

Avrahm Galper