Klarinet Archive - Posting 000163.txt from 1998/07

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Mozart and the V word
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 12:37:38 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.00
> Subj: [kl] Re: Mozart and the V word

> I think we all know that "playing from the heart" doesn't actually mean
> playing from the heart; but it's a phrase that still has meaning. It simply
> means that you should play "spiritually", utilizing the emotions that a
> certain piece brings to you; and than convert that into musical energy. If
> you don't do this; then you will be one of the most boring, least successful
> soloist ever.

This is exactly my point!! The idea of playing from the heart is simply
a device we have invented because the heart, in the middle ages, was
thought to be the seat of romance. But then where do these emotions
really come from, the very emotions that we try to put into our playing?

They come from the head, and that is what I said 5 notes ago. That it
is the intellect which is responsible for the erotic nature of music,
and it is the intellect that increasesthe eroticism or completely
eliminatesit. Just one of the many tools that does that is vibrato,
about which I have not had much to say, but it is wrong to think that
it does not play a role in eroticism.

The nature of vibrato causes the music to tremble, which is exactly
the effect you want in eroticism; i.e., trembling with passion.

So when I hear comments such as "play from the heart" and I riposte,
"Nonesense, play from the head" I'm simply directing you to the more
erotic organ in the body, namely, the brain!!

And it is the proper application of the brain to music that makes it
so passionate, erotic, sexual, and hot pants. That application is
often a constant knowledge of appreciation of the details of
performance practice whose devices were used by the players of that
time to achieve the same kind of eroticism that you want to do with
an organ that simply pumps blood.

I am glad to see that you are thinking about the matter and not just
blinding following whatever it was you were thinking about last week.

Most of the passionate nature of music is the strict application of
specific tools used to simulate passion. You could not play the
Brahms sonatas 20 nights in a row with the same passion. You have
to simulate that passion with things like vibrato.

> I also think that it is safe to say that most of this argument about
> vibrato and emotion has been based on playing in the solo setting; as the
> argument originated from the mention of Kv. 622. I would think that very
> few of us would use vibrato or a questionable interpretation of a piece
> within an orchestral setting; I know that my orch. would kill me!;-)
> I apologize about my earlier comment of you playing the part of the
> "arrogant fool". It was not meant as an insult; it was only meant to convey
> a point; I have great respect for you, and don't yourself be lead to believe
> otherwise. I just don't always agree with you.
> Sincerely,
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Tristan Carpenter- Clarinetist, Saxophonist, and Bassist.
> emerald1@-----.net
> www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/bayou/2048
> "...music is the voice of the soul."
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >
> >Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 06:01:49 EDT
> >To: klarinet@-----.org
> >From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
> >Subject: RE: [kl] Re: Mozart and the V word
> >
> >> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.71
> >> Subj: [kl] Re: Mozart and the V word
> >
> >> P: Dan, that was well written and argued cleanly. However, I still say
> >> it is not really possible to know how an 18th century performer actually
> >> sounded and whether or not that sound matched the composer's intentions.
> >> How would Beethoven know??? No written descriptions, no matter how
> >> detailed, can describe a sound. Even a recording is not totally
> >> adequate.
> >
> >In effect, what you state is that no arguments that can be advanced
> >on the basis of reportorial information can possibly satisfy you,
> >and in that case, you are a free agent to do as you wish.
> >
> >Since this is the case, it does not pay to continue such a dialogue.
> >Do as you wish. Make up the rules as you go along. That is
> >probably enough to get you a gig or two with the New England Polka
> >band that does all the White Eagle Halls of Massachussets. It will
> >not get you far in the world of music that I suspect you would like
> >to belong to.
> >
> >Music is NOW. Anyway, I write more from the perspective of
> >> the consumer and the teacher. I am not, and never wanted to be, a solo
> >> performer. I've heard music with no heart - music lauded by those
> >> blessed with erudition - and I'd rather spend the time programming my
> >> computer to play that way than listen to it in many cases.
> >
> >Let's change tactics. You talk a great deal about music with no
> >heart. Let me be absolutely serious in the following question:
> >do you really believe that the human heart has any role whatsoever
> >in music except for the pumping of the blood through the body?
> >
> >I doubt if you do believe that, somehow, the heart is engaged in
> >emotional issues. That's poetry and love stories. In life, the
> >romantic and/or sexual impulse (which is really what we are talking
> >about when we speak of this element of music) comes from somewhere
> >other than the heart. It is clearly not the liver, the spleen, the
> >left lung, etc. So what organ in the human body (and it is not that
> >organ either) is responsible for the erotic or romantic in music?
> >
> >Without become too personal, exactly what part of your body produces
> >all of this romance about which you seem to be inordinately attracted?
> >You infer that intellectual approaches to music are as exciting as
> >programming your computer, so you certainly know where that aspect
> >of music comes from; i.e., the head. OK. I'll accept that.
> >
> >But from where does all the gooey stuff come that attracts you, and
> >once we understand where it comes from, then maybe we can find a
> >way to understand it better.
> >
> >The difficulty in speaking about music precisely is that eventually
> >you have to be so precise that you wind up throwing out a lot of
> >junk that has become almost biblical over the years, like "dark
> >sound" and "play from the heart" and "German style" and those
> >million phrases that have absolutely no meaning (and even less
> >value) that have become a part of your belief system.
> >
> >>
>
>
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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