Klarinet Archive - Posting 000248.txt from 1999/11

From: David Glenn <notestaff@-----.de>
Subj: Re: [kl] More about 'that' audition
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 14:32:43 -0500

Tony Pay wrote:

> On Thu, 04 Nov 1999 00:20:11 GMT, I said:
>
> > I was recently the 'outside expert' in an audition that had its silly
> > aspects (like using the Mozart Concerto as one of the test pieces), but
> > it was an audition that ultimately turned up a very good, very musical
> > player for the job in question (I immediately wrote down his name and
> > contact details). And I found that the players I was working with
> > showed great intelligence in arriving at this decision.
> >
> > I think there's a sort of myth (perhaps you'd like to develop the notion
> > that it's the counterpart of similar myths about lawyers:-) that the
> > people who run auditions *want to reject people*. On the contrary, they
> > want to *find* people who can play, and are very happy when they find
> > someone who might be able to do so.
>
> Let me put a further edge on this discussion, by filling you all in a
> bit further.
>
> In this audition, there were two rounds that took place behind a screen.
> At the end of the first round, it appeared that we had agreed to
> eliminate (on the basis of the Mozart and something else, I can't
> remember what, perhaps Stravinsky II) candidate number 14, say.
>
> Candidate number 14 then turned out to be the freelance player who was
> currently three weeks into a three month contract standing in as first
> clarinet while the job was auditioned. According to everyone on the
> panel who was involved with the orchestra, his playing was fine.
>
> Now on the one hand this was simply a deficiency of the audition system.
> Someone capable of doing such a job to everyone's satisfaction is not
> someone correctly to be eliminated in a first round, with two further
> rounds to go.
>
> So since we happened to possess the information that he was much better
> than he had seemed, it looked only sensible at least to pass him on to
> the next round.
>
> On the other hand, this could be argued to be unfair to the other
> eliminated candidates, who equally might have been better than they
> demonstrated on that occasion.
>
> So, which argument is right?
>
> And, what did we do?
>
> Tony
> --
> _________ Tony Pay
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
> tel/fax 01865 553339
>
> ... Ancient Greeks made dolphin-killing punishable by death.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It appears he did not get through to the next round seeing as the first two
rounds were behind a screen.

I think it really is a problem. How do you decide how a candidate will play in
an orchestra without giving him/her the chance to do just that? Since playing
the Mozart - or Weber or Stravinsky or Brahms for that matter - is not what
the orchestral clarinettist is going to do each day, why do auditions start
with just that?

Traditional thinking orchestral clarinettists are not going to hear an
excellent candidate play the Mozart inspiringly and say, "That's nice, that
candidate would be a pleasure to make music with. (S)he goes to the next
round." No, they are going to think, "Oh dear! That was risky. What if (s)he
does that in the Mendelssohn symphony next week? It will fall apart!
Eliminate!!"

Why not start off the first round with long tones (cresc., dim. and keep your
pitch!), scales (three octaves, returning, in thirds, whatever...) chords,
maybe some Kroepsch. The next round could be orchestral exerpts. The third
round maybe Mozart or maybe better more exerpts. There are a lot of them and
they can be very different in character.

So my suggestion would be: round 1) scales, etc.; round 2) orch. exerpts:
round 3) more exerpts.

David

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