Klarinet Archive - Posting 001241.txt from 1998/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart and the right clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 23:16:59 -0400

At 08:58 AM 7/28/98 EDT, Dan Leeson wrote:

>> 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 am trying to fight one holy war at a time. I don't know if what you
>say is true. It may be. I haven't thought about it enough. But one
>step at a time. The subject is clarinets and the specifics have to do
>with change of sound with clarinet substitutions. Maybe in 10 years
>I'll be ready to think about other phenomena.
>
This seems like a bit of a cop-out, Dan. I think it is indeed part of the
same argument. If a single player swaps to a different clarinet IN THE
SAME KEY (or even if a different player and a different horn in the same
key replaces the original player) and makes a greater tone quality change
than he would switching to a well-matched instrument in a DIFFERENT key,
doesn't this render the argument moot? Is not the difference in tone
quality from one instrument to another, regardless of key, then equally
significant? I hope not, because it might mean that the only correct way
to perform these works would be to haul the ORIGINAL instruments (IF
available) out of the museums for each performance (we will leave the
original PERFORMERS right where they are, thank you :-) ).

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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