Klarinet Archive - Posting 001130.txt from 1998/10

From: "Craig Earl Countryman" <cegc@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Weber Concerto number 2--Sabine Meyer & Charlie Neidich
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 22:34:15 -0500

Let me respond to a couple posts here:

>Really........I don't hear a Polish dance to be as fast as one can play
>evenly .......I hear it as a dance.....I wonder if Weber was thinking that
>when he titled it Polacca?
>
>Roger Garrett
>IWU

I agree totally. Also, I remember someone mentioning about how tempo
changes don't have to be written. That is to some extent true, but looking
at some of Weber's other works such as the Rondo from Op. 34 you can see
that he clearly indicates "Meno Mosso" and later "Piu Vivo" in a section
very much like the finale of Polacca. He is also VERY clear about tempo
shifts he desires throughout the movement.

In Op. 26 tempo changes are not marked in many sections, but rather
adjectives like "con fuoco" and "risoluto" are used. I think this brings up
an interesting point in his works because it differentiates a change in
style vs. a change in tempo. Many times Weber seems not to want to work to
speed up, but for the performer to make sure to contrast the feel of the
different themes. One tool he may employ is a change in tempo, but I think
that making too radical a change would be a misinterpretation of the
composer's intent.

GT Gallant wrote:

"Music making (wind playing) of this time period was virtuosic and the
composer
assumed the player would add their own touches. Most players today have
become stiffs and 'orchestra drones' because they lack basic knowledge and
insight on playing music."

You make a good point here because many people do fail to add flavor to
their performances and they become boring. A great example of that is the
lack of improvisation in playing K. 622. Still, let's not confuse being a
stiff with conforming to what the composer has written. I can't make a
direct judgment on Neidich in this instance because I haven't heard his
performance, however, having heard him play other works such as Rossini's
Intro, Theme, and Vars. and listening to the description of his performance,
I can get a good picture of what he must sound like.

"Weber need not write "play faster" or "tongue these
notes" because he assumed the great Baerman was smart enough to do it
himself."

Maybe not, but did Weber actually think that Baerman was the only
clarinetist who would EVER play these works? If so, that would be a naive
assumption on his part, and I choose to give him a little more credit then
that.

"I agree with Kevin Fay, this work is extremely light and should not be
taken
so seriously. So go ahead, play everything as written, play ridiculously
slow,
and see if anyone outside the clarinet world listens!!!!!!"

Again, we are not talking about playing everything precisely as written,
rather about a serious misreading, in the opinion of some, of the work.
Also, a Polacca isn't ridiculously slow..... playing sixteenth note triplets
at m.m. 100 isn't THAT slow, much less at faster tempos in that vicinity.
Remember Polacca is a dance, and most of us wouldn't last a minute dancing
to music at the tempo Neidich takes it.

Lastly, there is much more to listen for in Weber then blazing speed.
People have been using evidence of Weber's role as an opera composer to make
it seem as though his music is lighter. I think that it makes is more
dramatic, especially the second movement of Op. 74. That is one of the most
beautiful slow movements in the literature, I feel -- much more exciting, TO
ME, than boring Mozart :) But, that is an opinion best left out of this
discussion

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