Klarinet Archive - Posting 000943.txt from 1998/05

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] The Wind Ensemble
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 23:13:22 -0400

On Sat, 16 May 1998, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> I remember playing with Fred Fennell almost immediately after
> he formed (and invented) the first wind ensemble at the Eastman
> School of Music. He came from Rochester to the University of
> Massachussetts in 1951 where he conducted the all new England
> band and he spoke about the new ensemble that had just recorded
> the first Mercury disk.

Gee....I thought the first wind ensembles were those that were all
winds......like octets, sextets, quintets, quartets......some of the
Mozart Divertimenti sure are wonderful works for.....um....wind
ensembles.....that is, ensembles formed entirely of winds!

> At that time, the large universities had very large bands. Michigan
> had one with 60 clarinets, and having 10 on a part was not uncommon.
> The intent was to have volume along with precision. Revelli was
> top dog in that department.

Michigan never had a band with 60 clarinets........Revelli carried 22-28
clarinets in his section......an exact doubling of a violin section. Even
the Marching Band, 350 strong in 1983, only had 52 clarinets. Revelli was
not only top dog in that School of Music, he had delveloped it from a one
person department (himself) to one of the biggest and most prolific
Schools of Music in the nation.....with a reputation for having the finest
bands ever.

Roger Garrett
IWU

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