Klarinet Archive - Posting 000786.txt from 2000/06

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Mozart Concerto - Quintet?
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 13:56:55 -0400

Tuesday 7.00 pm

Hello Alf,
You have written a very nice letter, and I appreciate your remarks and whole
heartedly agree with your comparison with the "Last Supper".
Music is indeed a fine art. I really do wish I was an artist of the calibre
that could stand up and perform this concerto in the Royal Festival Hall,
but I ain`t, and that frustration will live with me till the day I pop my
reeds into their box for the last time. I`m what you would call a <jack of
all trades>. Is that a familiar saying in the U.S.? <and a master of none>.
Due to what has therefore developed within me, (as I compose, in addition to
playing)
is a conflict, which I cannot reconcile. I have practised the clarinet quite
seriously in my time, and worked hard to try to play well - with excellent
instruction from the retired symphony players (who are a bit cheaper than
those still working). At the same time I have found that composing music
does not require the same kind of discipline. It is (once one has read all
the books) a much freer kind of self-discipline. Looser. Sometimes <no>
discipline. No one to tell you that you are # or b, or behind the beat etc.
No one tells you what to do, or when to do it. It`s very easy in those
circumstances to lose some of that self-discipline, and hence the feeling of
guilt sometimes arises when in rehearsing one`s own music, and the soloist
(or whoever) asks some quite precise question re interpretation, I see it as
not an important issue at all in adding to the value of the music. I have
to reassure the player then that what he is asking about is fine. Are you
with me still Alf? The player is the <perfectionist>, the composer is saying
it`s fine, don`t worry, <it doesn`t matter>.
We are two different breeds, I`m sure, and I`ve got a bit of both. Hmmmm -
does that make me bi-musical?
DON`T SAY A WORD!
Therefore, I have to admit that messing about with out of copyright works,
and indeed also <great works>, does not hold any real feelings of guilt or
shame. It`s been so throughout history in all the arts, not only music. But
I acknowledge that that doesn`t make it right to do so. I`m just trying to
find a road where I can usefully be as competent a musician as possible, in
a world that doesn`t hold the arts too close to it`s heart. And so, sadly, I
have to encompass a certain amount of cynicism in some of the projects I
involve myself in.
I`m being too honest with you Alf. I do believe tho` there is still a good
deal more honesty in the arts, than what there is in industry. <A lot more
talent also!>
One final dig - - - (we have nearly come to knocking each other about the
ears with your "A" clarinet, and my "pen", so I consider that we must both
be pals from now on - - -isn`t that what happens - - -?) And now for the
final and ultimate insult to the U.S. music scene. ARE YOU LISTENING
AMERICA? What about all those gruesome 30`s & 40`s songs pinched from the
classics, - I`m always chasing Rainbows, The Story of a Starry Night, The
Anvil Chorus, Moonlight Sonata, Tchaik`s Piano Concerto - - - - -the list
goes on and on and on and
"Now", he thinks, - - -where`s that Adagio which goes 3/4 c-f--aagf- that`s
it - eureka $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Do any of you write lyrics?
Very Best Wishes,
Tony Wakefield

----- Original Message -----
From: Alf Hörberg <alf.horberg@-----.se>
Subject: SV: [kl] Mozart Concerto - Quintet?

> John and Tony!
> First of all I want to apologize for some very badly chosen words in my
last
> message. I didn't mean to accuse anybody of being a rapist and nobody
should
> be ashamed. Accept my apologies from the bottom of my heart.
> I was writing in an instant affect and lost my respect for others opinions
> and ways of dealing with music that I don't necessarily agree with.
>
> Music is a fine art. It's a performing art form along with theatre. The
> problem and the advantage with performing arts is that it takes a
performer
> to put the art to life.The performer has a responsibility to educate
himself
> to a maximum to give the art full justice. He has to use his skills,
> intellect, experience and HEART to produce/reproduce the music and make it
> become a part of himself and not before he has come to a full conviction
> should he perform the music.
> Does this apply to your project?
>
> To me, the Mozart clarinet concerto is a piece of art that I in my heart
> compare with Lionardo's "The last supper", in the "Santa Cicilia delle
> grazie" in Milano. They have both survived against very bad odds. After
the
> 2nd world war, all that was left of the church was dirt. Except for the
wall
> where the fresco was painted. To see the pictures how, with a surgical
cut,
> the fresco was saved to future generations is truly amazing. Like if it
was
> meant to be.
> 1977 an enormous restoration work started to clean it from mold and dust.
> They spent weeks and month for every square inch to find the original
paint
> from Lionardo's hand. They finished recently after more than two decades
of
> work.
> The Mozart concerto has a similar, if not so dramatic history. It has also
> survived against very bad odds. The manuscript is possibly for ever gone.
> What is left for us is a version printed in 1803 and 199 bars for a
> bassethorn in G. Since a few decades a restoration work is ongoing. As far
> as I'm concerned it's up to any skilled clarinetist to, out of love,
respect
> and understanding of the piece, give his own version of what he think is
the
> truth. In my opinion it doesn't necessarily include arrangements since the
> main effort should be to present a complete, not a minimized concerto. The
> only contribution will be more mediocre performances of a great piece of
> music.
> Some pieces of art should be sacred. There is only one Mona-Lisa, one
"Last
> supper", one Sistine chapel, one St. Peter's Church and one Mozart
clarinet
> concerto.
>
> I know I'll be accused of being melodramatic but this is truly the way I
> feel.
>
> Alf

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