Klarinet Archive - Posting 000226.txt from 1999/06

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: Dan Leeson pushing buttons?
Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 16:39:50 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.98
> Subj: [kl] re: Dan Leeson pushing buttons?

> I thought Leeson's comment on Marcellus was a study in trying to present
> both sides of an issue.
>
> Half the traffic on this list seems to be some kind of p!$$ing contest. Why
> can't we all just get along? It really irritates me that Mark mostly pays
> for this bandwidth, and spends as much time as he does keeping it going,
> and we use half of it bickering.
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
>
> Gary Smith

I thank Gary for his comments. Indeed, I worked very hard on my note
so as to avoid showing any contempt for Marcellus' attitude in the
situation described. It was my great respect for Marcellus the
clarinet player that resulted in what I thought was a very respectful
attitude towards him in the context of that story.

I remember being concerned about what would happen to that young man
who had come to see me if he stepped on Marcellus' foot, so to speak,
in the middle of his master class session on K. 622. I knew that
Marcellus had very strong views on this matter and was perfectly
prepared to humiliate publicly anyone who transgressed his perception
on how that piece should go. So I warned him against taking any
action that would provoke Marcellus. I went against my musical
judgement simply to prevent this young man from being the object
of Marcellus' willingness to abuse someone publicly.

But make no mistake about it. I had nothing but contempt for
Marcellus in this respect. That he would publicly humiliate
a player for performing something in a way that displeased him
was always, in my view, an example of a man with a bad character.

This is not to say that Marcellus was right or wrong in his
attitude about K. 622 (and many other pieces, too), but rather
his perception that only he had a pipeline to the infinite. Thus,
while I was invariably in awe of his magnificent playing, as a
person, I would not have wanted to stay in the same room as him.

I don't know if he took delight in the crushing of the spirit of
another person, or if his attitude was simply a function of his
personal love of the music and the belief that those who saw it
another way were doing something destructive to the world. It
doesn't really matter was his motivation was; it was his treatment
of people who marched to the sound of a different drummer that was
at issue.

I did not comment in this way in my original note on this subject.
Instead, I tried very hard to disguise my feelings on this matter
and ANY reading of my original submisssion will show nothing but a most
carefully constructed note to show several perspectives of an issue without
taking any sides. I did this because I know that there are many
former Marcellus students on this list and I was loath to offend
any of them by intemperate remarks.

But when I saw a response suggesting that I was "pushing buttons"
on the matter, and from a Marcellus student, I came to the
conclusion that this distasteful character flaw in Marcellus'
person may have been transferred to some of his students along
with the clarinet lessons he gave.

I still have a recording of Mozart's 491piano concerto with Cleveland,
Szell, Casadesus, and Marcellus as one of my treasures, with Marcellus
himself being the diadem in the crown of that performance. I shall
always treasure it because of his elegant playing of simple lines. But
make no mistake, my respect in this arena notwithstanding, as a person,
and because of his readiness to humiliate people publicly simply because
their opinions differed, I held the man is complete contempt.

I should have been more forthright in my original note, and was not
because I am not interested in injuring anyone's memory of Marcellus
the player. But since I was unsuccessful in avoiding a fight the
first time 'round (and through no fault of my own), then I might as
well speak my mind the way it should have been spoken originally.
>
>
> garysmith@-----.com
>
>
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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