Klarinet Archive - Posting 000937.txt from 1999/09

From: Jennifer Jones <JJONES@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: [kl] The practice of playing solos (the Mozart controversy)
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 11:22:37 -0400

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Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 00:27:12 +0200
From: Rien Stein <rstein@-----.nl>
Subject: [kl] The practice of playing solos (the Mozart controversy)
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> Sorry, but I do not understand why you professional people are devoting such
> a lot of time to a discussion on how to play Mozart - or, for that, a certain
> passage in the Copland concerto - . There is too much personal taste in both
> how to interpret a piece, and in the evaluation by third parties as to that
> interpretation.

[Snip and Skip]

> So I think the issue you people discussing the topic of how to play are
> having a vain discussion without right or wrong.

Rien,

I understand your frustration; sometimes I feel the same way, however, there is
a lot more at stake here than a few hours taken to type, read, ingest and
think about these ideas.

Do you remember learning about the Middle Ages (aka Dark Ages) in school?
Trade almost ceased, people holed up in their own little fiefs and most
everyone became "dumb". Not that they did not have the capacity to learn and
create new ideas, but lacked the sources of information to stimulate their
minds and advance their ideas. The absence of communication, no matter how
pointless, resulted in an interruption in the flow and development of ideas and
exacerbated ignorance.

> When someone starts to study a piece - even if he or she has studied it a
> hundred times before - in my opinion he or she must try to find the way of
> playing it that plaese HIM OR HER best, and try to stick to that way, though
> of course this opinion may change when one gets deeper involved into the
> piece.

One can develop opinions about how a piece should be played, but one person can
come up with only so many ideas. Have you ever had a conversation with
someone, or asked them for help and when they showed you a new approach, you
used or thought the phrase "Ooh, I never thought of that." It is the same way
with music and anything else in which we invest time. One brain cannot make
up for the thought of a million. Think about it...

Places like this list are forums for the exchange of ideas. Here the
participants are exposed to different ideas and, whether or not they adopt a
new point of view now, they become aware of other perspectives and may choose
to adopt one later. Without this exposure, the change in opinion you
refer to above may never take place.

For example, though Mr. Leeson and Mr. Smith are very familiar with differing
opinions about performance practices of many pieces and are likely set in their
ways for the rest of their lives, it is still possible one could present an
argument that gets the other thinking and eventually results in a change of
mind. Or a lurker, who had never heard that people used to improvise in
Mozart's time, may form his/her opinion, in part, because of an arguement
between scholars like Mr. Leeson and Mr. Smith.

> Of course when the composer is still alive one can ask him about
> certain possibilities. I remember meeting Messiaen in I think the year 1974,
> when the Utrecht conservatory ran a Messiaen project he attended, and being
> one of the very few people fluent in the French language I automatically came
> to discuss with him some points. When I asked him rightaway about a female
> student singer, he only answered me she had a very beautiful voice, and had
> a great career ahead, but he did not give his opinion about the way she sang
> some of his songs, he said it was her way to see these songs, and it was a
> good and valid way, though different from what he had ecpectedd to hear. And
> he added that was a great compliment!

This is a nice anecdote. Though I defend uncivilized banter in the name
of knowledge, once we have our ideas out, it is nice to be able to accept the
existence of other points of view like Messiaen.

We are dependent upon eachother for the development and maintenance of our
knowledge. Without such conversation/argument, we could fall into the same pit
we crawled out of about a millenium ago.

Thank you so much for voicing your opinion, it helped me remember why I am on
this list and go through the effort of replying to it.

Happy thinking, ;-)

Jennifer

This is one of the best purposes of this medium: The exchange of ideas.

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