Klarinet Archive - Posting 000667.txt from 1998/01

From: Martin Pergler <pergler@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Vibrato
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 16:24:43 -0500

On Wed, 14 Jan 1998, Matthew Snyder wrote:

> This entire discussion points up, once again, the strange fear on the part
> of classical clarinet players of vibrato. Do ANY other instruments have
> such a hangup regarding a particular technique?
[...]

French horns. Vibrato. I believe most (many?) North American (at least)
horn players do not use vibrato and shiver if they hear it used. In
contrast, Czech horn players (for instance) do use it.

Incidentally, I played an experiment/trick on a horn student friend of
mine a few months ago. She emphatically does not use vibrato. I played a
melody on clarinet twice, once with vibrato and once without. Then I asked
her which she preferred (without having told her ahead of time to listen
carefully and without mentioning vibrato at all). She chose the one with
vibrato. I asked her what was different about it; she said she wasn't
sure, but she told me it sounded more haunting and alive. She didn't
mention vibrato at all. Of course, this is far from any sort of
controlled experiment, and even if it were, it wouldn't mean anything.

A word on "Czech horn players": I don't think nationality is the issue
here. A better phrasing might be "horn players trained and continuing
to perform in a tradition shared by orchestras and conservatories
located in the Czech Republic, with limited crosspollination with
orchestras outside." <waiting for a nibble on this para>

Martin

-------------------------------------------------------
Martin Pergler pergler@-----.edu
Grad student, Mathematics http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~pergler
Univ. of Chicago