Klarinet Archive - Posting 001311.txt from 1999/03

From: dnaden <dnaden@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Fred Jackobowitz' coments about Schifrin's playing
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 21:53:53 -0500

Dan--

Bravo. You have succinctly paraphrased Fred's comments pertaining to Shifrin
as they pertain to clarinet playing in general. In the "big picture," I also
think that Fred is correct. However, I do not agree with him as they pertain
to David Shifrin's playing. So...
for all of the "up and coming" soloists on the list, and to quote Dan,
"...technical proficiency alone is insufficient [and]...a great performance
requires more than mere technical accuracy."

David S. Naden, MMus
Cal State University Los Angeles

"Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu" wrote:

> I very much enjoyed Fred's comments about Schifrin's playing. If I
> can paraphrase what he said, Fred suggested that technical proficiency
> alone is insufficient. (I'm not suggesting I agree with Fred's
> perspective of Schifrin's playing, only stating what I think Fred
> said.) That a great performance requires more than mere technical
> accuracy is the substance of Fred's remarks.
>
> It is the very point that I have been hammering into the ground for
> the past 4 years; i.e., that a musical composition is not a
> completed thing, and that a performance is not simply a presentation
> of the notes described in a smooth elegant fashion.
>
> In order for compositions from this era to be performed, one must
> bring to them the sense of invention that most clarinet players
> eschew. The last thing that is expected from a performer should be a
> duplication of what is written in the score. That's paradoxical.
>
> The performer has to think of himself/herself as a painter who has
> been given an incomplete canvas, one on which a certain basic
> picture architecture has been placed there by the original artist,
> the composer. It is the performer's duty to complete the canvas in
> a highly personalized way. Of course he/she is expected to perform
> accurately. That goes without saying. But that is the minimum
> level of performance and if it is all that one does, the performance
> is going to be minimally acceptable.
>
> While most performers think that they are giving highly
> individualized interpretations of a composition, all most of them
> do is simply mimic every other performance, most of which were
> equally technically satisfactory in every way. But when done,
> all one has is just another tired old version of the same piece.
>
> It is the essence of the performing clarinetist that is being
> discussed here. What does one do to make a performance exciting,
> interesting, different?
>
> =======================================
> 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

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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