Klarinet Archive - Posting 001258.txt from 1998/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mozart and the right clarinet
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 08:20:35 -0400

At 01:25 AM 7/27/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Bill Hausmann wrote:
>>
>> >
>> For the K622, I can buy this argument, and maybe for the Quintet and other
>> clarinet solo/chamber works as well. But for symphonies, etc., the logical
>> extension of this argument is that he was tailoring his music to EACH AND
>> EVERY player in the orchestra! I cannot believe that even Mozart, genius
>> that he was, had the excess brainpower, much less the time and inclination,
>> to get that deep into the minor variances of individuals' sounds.
>>
>Very good point about symphony writing but the argument may still stand
>up. While writing the symphony and deciding whether to write the
>clarinet in A or B flat He would be trying to achieve some tonal aspect
>I think we can agree on that point. So knowing the limited number of
>players available could he not have taken that into account. For
>example theoreticaly in his mind he wanted to write for the A. BUt
>realiized theat no player's tone that he knew of at the time on an A
>would live up to the tonal aspect he heard in his mind. However,
>certain players could acheive the sound on B flat so he would write in B
>flat.
>
Where this argument loses me is that, if we assume he is paying that much
attention to one individual CLARINET player and his particular sound, we
must also assume he chose particular keys, even particular notes, to suit
the tone qualities of each oboist, flutist, trumpeter, horn player,
bassoonist, even string player, in the WHOLE orchestra, in EACH piece he
wrote. If so, no wonder he died at 35. The strain killed him!

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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