Klarinet Archive - Posting 000080.txt from 1999/03

From: "Steven J Goldman, MD" <sjgoldman@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] About authenticity
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 02:42:24 -0500

Yes, music on the level of Bach can be played on the Jew's harp to good
effect. But you miss some subtle and wonderful effects that old JS
ingeniously applied.

You do not ruin a piece when an instrument substitution is made out of
necessity, you just lose a subtle bit of genius.

Not every composer had a working knowledge of the instruments he composed
for, but that would make our job too easy.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Bush [mailto:rbushidioglot@-----.net]
Subject: Re: [kl] About authenticity

Hello Dr. Goldman,

I am sure enjoying your posts. A couple of your comments caught my
attention.
Just my two cents worth. All is meant in good humor.

Playing some music with instruments that the composer had in mind is not
always
economically, logistically and practically possible. Does Wagner or Richard
Strauss that calls for a Heckelphone require flying in one of maybe two
people
in L.A. to achieve a satisfying performance, or will a Loree bass oboe do?
What
if there just isn't either one available, player with horn or alternate
horn,
within a time frame or budget? What then, scrap the piece from the program?

I guess I'm not too HIP. Some music is so wonderful that everyone wants to
play
it. Bach instantly comes to mind. Not counting some of those funny
orchestral
arrangements for orchestra, and whether everyone likes it or not, it is a
fact
that Bach has been played on just about any instrument one could think of.
Maybe harmonica or accordion doesn't fill the bill for all tastes, but I
just
happen to be a great fan of Glen Gould's recordings of the Goldberg
Variations.
So I'm not to Hip, maybe just a little left of center.

Yes and no. I doubt Tchaikovski new squat about bassoon when he wrote some
of
those almost impossible (even by today's standards on modern bassoon)
unisons
with strings. They really rip. They are enough to make bassoonist's want to
slit their wrists or at least go out and get numbingly drunk after the
concert.
And then there were occasional slips by composers, writing low A's for tenor
sax and that sort of stuff.

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