Klarinet Archive - Posting 001059.txt from 2000/05

From: Mark Thiel <thielm@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] White Tone
Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 09:54:35 -0400

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On Mon, 22 May 2000 12:43:55 -0400 (EDT), lytthans@-----.net said:

> When I was a grad student at USC, Copland wrote "Emblems" for our wind

> ensemble. I was serving as librarian of the wind groups and had many
> verbal and written conversations with the composer while he was
> writing the piece. One day over lunch, I asked Copland what he meant
> by "white tone". His comment was to make an "simple tone", as in
> "Simple Gift". Basically he wanted a pure, somewhat colorless sound,
> with subdued overtones.

Of course, to throw further murk on the subject, if when Copland said
"simple"
as in "Simple Gift" he meant "simple" in the Shaker meaning of the
term,
it would mean more like "unworldly" or "conforming to the
Shaker philosophy of life".

Of course this would amount to the same thing if you think of
"unworldly"
as "ethereal" or "choirs of angels"; and if you equate angels with
children,
which is easy to do if your only experience with children is listening
to
good children's choirs or the boys from Zauberfloete and you have never
met any actual children; and if you equate childrens voices with white
tone.

If, on the other hand, "simple" implies play as if you're a bit slow on
the
uptake, I think I've a much better chance of honoring the composer's
intentions.

Mark Thiel

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