Klarinet Archive - Posting 000015.txt from 1999/03

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Craig Hill's comments on Steve Goldman's note
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 14:55:14 -0500

I notice that in Craig's note, he kept a snip of Steve's original
posting in which Steve commented on Sabine Meyer's "ornamentation."
(and since I don't have the note in front of me, I can't be sure
that he did not say "embellishment").

We need some more rigorous terminology here. The words at issue
are "ornamentation," "embellishment," and "improvisation."

"Ornamentation" is what the composer does. He or she writes a mordent,
a trill, a grace note, a turn, etc. and the performer is obliged to
interpret what should be done in response to the composer's notation;
i.e., should the trill begin on the tone or above it, should the grace
note be on the beat or before it, should the mordent go up or down,
should the turn commence with the lower note or the upper, etc.?

So performers do not ornament. They simply interprete the composer's
ornaments all of which are written down and all of which must be
intepreted in a historically correct fashion; i.e., the inclusion or
exclusion of a nachshlag at the conclusion of a trill, for example.

"Improvisation" is what the performer does as s/he deviates from what
the composer has written down; i.e., the composer writes a single note
pickup which the performer choses to play as a series of pickup notes,
the composer writes a note, the performer plays a trill instead, etc.

Improvisation is supposed to be spontaneous but it is not always so,
unfortunately. It's purpose is to permit each performance to be
characteristic, unique, personal, one-off. In general it is a skill-
oriented element of playing.

Ornamentation is a knowledge-oriented element of playing; i.e., we see
a symbol and we interpret that symbol not based on some personal
like or dislike, but rather on what that symbol meant at the time
the composer created it.

"Embellishment" is not so clear. It has to be understood in context.
It can mean either ornamentation or improvisation depending on how it
is used; i.e., "The performer embellished the composer's ornaments
in exactly the way the composer would have liked." or "The performer
ignored the composers ornaments and embellished the line improvisationally."

The matter of historically valid performances is a tough enough subject
without the added complication of making the notions fuzzy by reason
of incorrect vocabulary.

=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org