Klarinet Archive - Posting 000420.txt from 1998/01

From: EbKlarinet <EbKlarinet@-----.com>
Subj: Re: exciting
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:13:19 -0500

"What's so important about 'exciting?'" A lot!!!!!! Why play if you're going
to put everybody to sleep? We can get a computer to do what many 'top'
players do (or we soon will be able to).
A lot of you have responded to G's "negative' comments with comments just
as negative, and many, more so! You have picked apart his original post
sentence by sentence, to find as many negative things to say about him as
possible. Just remember, when you point a finger at someone, 3 fingers are
pointing back at you.
I understand what G means, even if I don't express it the same way he
does. An example of this is comparing Drucker's and Stoltzman's Bernstein
Sonata recordings. Listen to the way they both play the final high, slow,
lyrical section before the return of the 5/8 section. I had one of my HS
students do this experiment, and asked her which one she preferred, and why.
She unhesitatingly chose Stoltzman, and what she appreciated was the legato,
the control, and another quality she couldn't define.I asked her if Drucker
played it well, and she said yes, but after hearing Stoltzman, she felt that
Drucker missed the point, that he was just playing the markings on the page,
but not the MUSIC!
I think this is pretty profound for a high school student, especially
since so many adult musicians of many varieties never reach this
conclusion--that it's the MUSIC that counts!
As for G's apparent lack of tact, it is my observation that most
clarinetists are introverted (see also The Musical Temperament: Psychology
and Personality of Musicians by Anthony Kemp). G is obviously a huge
extrovert (like me :~0 mouth open wide!) and we express ourselves very
vehemently, to put it mildly! :~) This can tend to rub the more introveted
people the wrong way, but we don't mean to offend--it's just our style---for
more on this subject, check out the Myers-Briggs type personality profiles.
As Type Talk puts it, 'our bark is worse than our bite' ! Please try not to
take offense when none is meant--believe me, when we want to offend, no one
will be in any doubt of the fact!!!!! Now, y'all, back to clarineting!
Elise