Klarinet Archive - Posting 001189.txt from 1998/07

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart and the right clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 22:42:36 -0400

On Sat, 25 Jul 1998, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> On the bottom level, I think that Mozart's ear was so refined that he
> heard a difference in character between an A clarinet and a B-flat
> clarinet in his head, something that ordinary mortals have difficulty
> doing in a real live situation. For you and I (I should really speak
> only for myself), hearing quality at that level is beyond us.

Dan, for about four years I've been reading and carefully considering your
arguments in favor of this position, keeping an open mind, hoping to be
convinced, but so far I'm afraid that the intellectual exercise, while an
interesting one, has failed to bring me around to your way of thinking.

Isn't it a rather egocentric view that Mozart would have made his choices
of keys for his symphonies based either on what would be convenient for
the clarinet or on a decidedly subtle difference in the tone quality of
clarinets in differing keys? What about the convenience of the much
larger string section, or the brass?

Mozart could hear the difference in the tone of the A and the Bb clarinet?
I don't doubt it for a minute. I'm thoroughly convinced that he could.
But, when he wrote for the clarinet, was he interested in the sound of the
clarinet, or the sound of the A or the Bb clarinet in particular? Wasn't
he interested in the totality of the musical effect? Exclusive of
technical considerations, would it change the overall musical effect to
play the clarinet part on an instrument in a different key? Think of the
differences in aesthetic stance of the last two symphonies, in G Minor and
D Major. Would these not still be the same works that they are no matter
what clarinet (within reason) the clarinetists might choose to use?

Isn't it true that if you hear either of these symphonies ten times by ten
different orchestras, you will hear a range of clarinet sound which varies
more widely than does the difference in sound achieved by a single player
on a Bb and then an A clarinet? Doesn't every other section of the
orchestra exhibit the same characteristic of varying tone qualities?

I really would like to be convinced of your position. It would make life
simpler. And I promise I am not deliberately trying to be obtuse. Try
again, Dan. Open up with your big guns, or your big arguments. On this
question, I am the "tabla rasa" - the blank slate.

Ed Lacy

P.S.: But I won't have access to my e-mail account for the next few days.
Eventually I will answer any messages on the topic.

*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
*****************************************************************

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