Klarinet Archive - Posting 000404.txt from 1999/05

From: "Jay Webler" <webler@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Today's NY Times (5/4/99)
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 10:41:32 -0400

On Mon, 10 May 1999 13:22:06 -1300, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

>> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.76
>> Subj: RE: [kl] Today's NY Times (5/4/99)
>
>> >@-----.org> =====
>> >On Tue, 4 May 1999 07:41:07 -1300, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> In a few years,
>> >>players who do NOT use them when playing 581 or 622 will be open
>> >>to serious criticism from the cognoscenti (and rightly so).
>> >>
>> >
>> >It's nice to know that the times are exciting because someday
>> >in the future we'll have something else to criticize people for.
>> >I can hardly wait.
>> >
>> >Jay Webler
>>
>> I find this rather frightening, as I personally can not afford to buy a basset
>> clarinet. Does this mean that simply because one can not afford an expensive
>> instrument, that they are a sub-par player or will not be allowed the joy of
>> performing and experiencing K. 581 & K. 622?
>
>Erin, it is like anything else in life. You either move forward
>with the technology or you get left behind. I am not a soothsayer
>and can only suggest where things are going, but more and more
>clarinetists are making the jump and if you want to give a performance
>that is closer to Mozart's conception, you are going to have to jump
>too. Otherwise more and more educated concertgoers are going to notice
>that you are not in the forefront of technology.
>
>If you were a physician, how long do you think you could practice if
>you ignored all improvements to the tools of your trade?

There is a big difference between ever developing technology and pompous pride.
I have listened to Sabine Meyer play the Mozart K 622 on a Basset Horn. I love
listening to it because she performs it so well, not because she plays it on a Bassett.
To think that a performer will be judged based upon which horn is being used, rather than
excellence of the performance itself, is a sad concept to me.

People will look for any reason to look down their noses at other people. We love to
exalt ourselves at the expense of others. If this leap forward in technology actually added
to the quality of life or brought forth a cure to the common cold than I would be the first to
condemn someone for not using a Bassett Horn. However, it doesn't. We are going back
and using an instrument that was used a couple of hundred years ago and then we call it
a leap forward. I have a hard time understanding how this is king of logic.

If it is a matter of working or not working, than by all means get a Bassett. But if it is only
done to keep up with the Jones', no thank you.

Other than that I love the sound of a Bassett Horn in the hands of a good player.

Jay Webler
Jay's Clarinet and Percussion

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