Klarinet Archive - Posting 000725.txt from 1998/07

From: "Steven J Goldman, MD" <gpsc@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart's ban vs cl concerto
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 00:13:09 -0400

I agree with Dan, yet many would still call the clarinet concerto superior.
Why?

The reason may be that it more closely fits (in myth if not history) the
19th century romantic notion of what a "masterwork" should be (such as
exploring emotional depths - even better if the composer is poor, starving
and misunderstood), and subconsciously at least we are still pretty firmly
entrenched in the romantic ideal of the artist and his/her work. Add to this
a misplaced "Darwinian" sense of evolution in music (somehow music evolves
from an inferior form to superior form) and you will have people ranking
very good but different works as better or worse than each other.

Now when compared to concerti by Mozart's contemporaries, the Clarinet
concerto is noticeably different in its emotional impact, where the bassoon
concerto is within the norm of the day, but unless you are willing to say
that the aesthetics of the last quarter of the 18th C. were inferior to
ours, you shouldn't make a value judgment.

Steven Goldman
Glenview, IL 60025

sjgoldman@-----.com

-----Original Message-----
From: leeson@-----.edu]On Behalf Of
Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu
Subject: [kl] Mozart's ban vs cl concerto

..........The basic thrust of the note was to offer the view that the
bassoon
concerto is a work that is inferior to the clarinet concerto, and that
is an opinion which she is entitled to hold. She cited Zaslaw as
support for her contention and made several other remarks that led me
to believe that she felt that her statement was bold enough that it had
to be substantiated.

This is the central issue of my note; i.e., the claims of musical
superiority of this piece over that piece........

-------------------------------------------------------------------------