Klarinet Archive - Posting 000782.txt from 1998/07

From: "Carrie Koman" <smile4200@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: The Mozart concerto and Mark - or _any_ young
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 20:45:43 -0400

>>Subject: [kl] Re: The Mozart concerto and Mark - or _any_ young
student
>>
>>As some of you know, from time to time I teach all the woodwinds. In
>the
>>case of all our instruments (except the saxophone - thus far at least
I
>>haven't been subjected to Mozart for saxophone) I find it very
>difficult
>>to deal with a situation where a high school student has played the
>Mozart
>>concerto (or concertos in the case of the flute).
>>
>>One almost always come to the time when the college student must study
>>these works. Personally, I tend to save them for the senior year in
>>college, because the musical difficulties are so great that I want to
>wait
>>until the student has gained as much musical maturity as possible.
>>
>>Almost invariably, the student will protest, "But, I already played
>that -
>>when I was in HIGH SCHOOL!" Most of them take it as a definite insult
>>that a professor will ask them or force them to play a piece which
they
>>consider of a level of difficulty of a "high school" work. Then, when
>>they find out the level of detail with which I want them to consider
>the
>>work, they become bored or impatient or both.
>>
>>What is the solution? Should we ask teachers of high school level
>>students not to assign Mozart? I don't think that will work. There
>are
>>several factors at work when a teacher assigns Mozart to a 15- or
>16-year
>>old student. There may be a "vanity" factor at work here - "My
student
>is
>>playing _Mozart_." Some students may have pushed or agitated their
>>teachers into assigning Mozart because some other player they admire
>has
>>played it.
>>
>>Perhaps at a minimum, teachers could forewarn students that they will
>be
>>expected to play the work again during their college years, and give
>them
>>an idea of why this is the case.
>>
>>To my way of thinking, the Mozart concerto for any woodwind player's
>>specific instrument is something that should remain in the repertoire
>for
>>life. Anyone ought to be able to have the Mozart concerto ready to
>play
>>with two weeks notice, and we can continue to learn more about playing
>it
>>throughout our lives.
>>
>>I will slightly disagree with Dan Leeson on one point. When we listen
>to
>>orchestral auditions for woodwind players, as we will be doing in a
few
>>weeks for flutists, I don't object to listening to Mozart over and
over
>>again. In fact, our repertoire list for auditions _requires_ the
>>exposition of the first movement of the appropriate Mozart concerto as
>the
>>solo piece. It's not that everyone has to play it the same way, or
>that
>>we have a pre-concieved notion of how it should be played. But, one
>can
>>tell within a few measures many things about a player by listening to
>>their rendition of Mozart. Rhythm, technical facility, tone
>production,
>>articulation, musical sensitivity, how much thought the player has
>given
>>to the way he/she plays the instrument, and much more. This is where
>you
>>can separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls.
>>
>>Ed Lacy
>>*****************************************************************
>>Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
>>Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
>> Evansville, IN 47722
>>el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
>>*****************************************************************
>>I have recently graduated from high school and will be attending
>University of Michigan in the fall, majoring in music education. I
>played the Mozart Concerto for two years. In working with me on this
>work and all others, however, my teacher always managed to stress that
>the wonderful thing about music is that you never stop learning and
>improving. I was always fully aware that I will be playing the piece
>again and am looking forwad to it. I just hope I am granted a short
>reprieve before returning to it! Maybe the harm isn't done in playing
>the piece too early, but it the attitude that was not corrected while
>doing it.
>
>Kellie Downing
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------
In a lot of instances, a teacher cannot keep a high school student from
playing the Mozart Concerto. When I was in high school, it was the
audition piece for Honors Band my Junior year. Therefore, in order to be
in Honors Band I had to work (very intensely) on the piece...
I am currently a clarinet performance major in college and it is
required us to perform the Mozart by the end of our sophomore year... I
am looking forward to working on the piece again. I fell in love with it
the first time I played it... I can't wait to play it again after
learning as much as I have between my Junior year in HS and now.
Carrie

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