Klarinet Archive - Posting 000542.txt from 2000/07
From: Gary Dranch <dranchg@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: Daniel Wolff Clarinet Concerto
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 16:00:41 -0400
Tony:
Fair enough. Your comments are well-taken. Our modern age has made minim=
alists of us all. Twenty-five minutes is a fairly long time to stand in fro=
nt of an audience and huff-and-puff away. The Nielsen Concerto, of course,=
is one stamina "bear" at that, since there are no movement breaks. But Dr=
. Wolff, the composer was modelling his concerto after the Classical greats=
(Beethoven and the like, he said with only the slightest hint of conceit),=
and his real model for the work, Copland--and the similarities are strikin=
g and then also wholly different. For Copland was stimulated by Mexican tun=
es/rhythms, whereas Daniel's is Brazilian. I was fortunate to stay at the =
composer's house for the week prior to the performance, since I was coached=
by him. Prior to my arrival, and throughout the entire genesis of the wo=
rk, I did have my input--"this is what I'd like--a work that is truly Brazi=
lian in character, etc., etc.". When I got the work in January, I struggled=
with a lot of it--to be truthful. First, I didn't think it was virtuostic=
enough--and in the true sense of a concerto like Nielsen's--it isn't. The=
n, I kept asking Daniel (and this is all thru the miracle of email, since D=
aniel is writing 9,000 miles away in Porto Alegre, Brazil), what about thes=
e "licks"--is it jazz, or Bassie-style (laid-back), or what? And Daniel did=
n't know what the h-ll I was talking about! "Please explain", he would writ=
e. Then when I finally was there with him n Brazil, it finally dawned on me=
about how I was "clipping" all the ends of the two-slurred-plus two-tongue=
d articulated figures, and they were meant to be long--full-value, and not =
in the least bit syncopated--this is Brazilian-folk-style--a la "Peixinghui=
na", the national folk music of Brazil. So I finally got the style right i=
n the performance--(he/they said--Brazilians), and this was a great persona=
l challenge and subsequent victory for me--to overcome my American cultural=
myopeia! This long winded-response didn't answer your question entirely ab=
out the length--but it does say that Daniel's work is entirely conventional=
and conservative in the classical sense. I think where he has succeeded i=
s that there is /was this crying need for and gap in the concerto repertoir=
e this past century. And maybe he has helped to fill in the void a bit. Al=
so, I believe the work may have general audience appeal (it passed must amo=
ngst well-educated musicians I have played it for, and musical "hicks" like=
my father-in-law, alike). So that is something--it is not a snobby, ivory=
-tower work, but capable of being performed by a talented student or profes=
sional, and a good solid chamber orchestra (with people who can play in rhy=
thm).=20
Finally, here is Daniels' bio: (Thanks, Tony for your remarks,
Regards, Dr. Gary Dranch
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
DANIEL WOLFF - COMPOSER / GUITARIST
Composer and guitarist Daniel Wolff is one of the leading Brazilian musicia=
ns of the younger generation. Experienced as both composer and arranger, he=
has had his works performed by the WREN Orchestra of London, New York Cham=
ber Soloists, Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, Santa F=E9 Guitar Quartet, T=
heatro S=E3o Pedro Chamber Orchestra, ULBRA Chamber Orchestra and Camerata =
Consort, of which he was Conductor and Artistic Director between 1991 and 1=
994. He was also responsible for the arrangements of the show Beatles in Co=
ncert, with which he toured throughout southern Brazil. His guitar arrangem=
ents have been recorded in the United States by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Berta =
Rojas, Thiago de Mello, Sharon Isbin, Paul Winter, resulting in a nominatio=
n for the Grammy Awards in 1999. He has also published articles on arrangin=
g in periodicals in England and the United States.
Wolff obtained both his Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees from th=
e prestigious Manhattan School of Music, studying in the class of Manuel Ba=
rrueco. He is a recipient of the Helen Cohn Award, given to the doctoral st=
udent with the most outstanding performance. During his stay in the United =
States, Wolff played in master classes with some of the leading guitarists =
of the world, including Julian Bream, David Russel, Roberto Aussel and the =
Assad Brothers.
Mr. Wolff was the first prize winner of both the Mozarteum Guitar Contest a=
nd the Villa-Lobos Guitar Competition. In 1997 he won the 25th Artists Inte=
rnational Competition, which resulted in his debut recital at New York's Ca=
rnegie Recital Hall. Such awards have enabled Wolff to pursue a successful =
career as both soloist and chamber musician. He is the only guitarist to ev=
er win the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists Competition. He h=
as performed in major cities in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Austria and the=
United States, appearing as soloist with the Montevid=E9o Chamber Orchestr=
a, the Contemporary Music Ensemble of New York, the Porto Alegre Symphony O=
rchestra, the Theatro S=E3o Pedro Chamber Orchestra, the S=E3o Paulo Univer=
sity Symphony Orchestra, the ULBRA Chamber Orchestra and the Pr=F3-M=FAsica=
Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed with eminent guitarists Carlos Ba=
rbosa-Lima and Jorge Morel.
Wolff began his musical studies at the Art Institute of the Brazilian Feder=
al University, where he was featured soloist with the UFRGS Youth Orchestra=
at the age of fifteen. Shortly after, he was accepted as a student of Arge=
ntine guitarist Eduardo Casta=F1era and started composition studies with Cl=
@-----. In 1990 he was nominated as The Best Guitarist of the Year=
by the critics of the Zero Hora newspaper. He obtained his Bachelor of Mus=
ic degree from the Uruguayan University Music School in Montevid=E9o, study=
ing with virtuoso guitarist Eduardo Fern=E1ndez, Wolff was also a student o=
f the renowned guitarist Abel Carlevaro and composer Guido Sant@-----.
Wolff began teaching at the age of fifteen, when he was hired as a guitar t=
eacher by the Montenegro Arts Foundation. He is very much in demand at musi=
c festivals and seminars, having taught master classes at the City of S=E3o=
Paulo Music School, Belo Horizonte's M=FAsica de Minas, International Musi=
c Laboratory (Porto Alegre), and at the University Music School in Montevid=
@-----. Wolff has been a faculty member of the Brazilian Federal University s=
ince 1991, where he teaches both guitar and chamber music.
=20
=20
------Original Message------
From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subject: Re: [kl]Stanford clt cto/Daniel Wolff
Gary,
Sorry, I don`t know the Stanford either, but I know the sonata. First and
last movts quite romantic. But I can`t take "folk" music or <folk style>,
metamorphosed as <serious composition>, which is what the middle movt seems
to be. I do believe Stanford was a product of a little too much "academic"
conformity,
which thrived in the British Iles 125 years ago; his music not containing
the final "bite" that is required
to transform a competant composer into a great originalist.
I for one, would indeed be interested in listening to the Brazilian clari.
concerto.
BUT - - -as you say, it consumes 26
Mb, and is 25 min. duration. My observations over the last 20 years is that
opera apart, most serious orchestral new music seems to be of shorter
duration than earlier 20th cent. composition. Chamber music also. I can
immediately think of only Ben. Britten and Gorecki (spelling?) who have
written long instrumental scores. There must be a few others alive today,
whose music will probably, and unfortunately have to wait until the 22nd
century before their music is heard. And not by them!!!
I think I am beginning to peceive that serious, young/modern instrumental
music is beginning to metamorphose into what I would term "intellectual pop
music". We are continually witnessing
young minds being unable/incapable of <sustaining> interest for more than =
a
few minutes - the "short attention" span syndrome, due to the crass
bombardment of media hype/crap. Is this afliction affecting and infiltratin=
g
the younger serious music audiences? Can <they> only sustain interest in th=
e
"film" music type
"quick fix" sound byte 5/10/15 minute compositions? We do see and hear an
enormous amount
of that kind of composition - <serious> composition. Is it affecting the
composers also? Am I right in this perception?
It`s wonderful when a serious composer <can say> enough in his music to
sustain the audience`s
attention for 25 min. or more, but in this instance, for an unknown (outsid=
e
South America) composer
to write 25 minutes of solo concerto, is this perhaps a project of folly, t=
o
"hope" the rest of the world`s
young audiences` will be able to enthusiastically "take this music home wit=
h
them".
After <that> 24 1/2 min. opus,could we have a short biography of the
composer please? Will he allow it on Klarinet?
Finally, praise in it`s ultimate, to you Gary, for preparing and performing
this project. I hope it succeeds.
Please be assured that the aim of my rantings has not been to critisize, bu=
t
perhaps to only encourage debate.
Best Wishes,
Tony W.
----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Dranch <dranchg@-----.net>
Subject: RE: [kl]Stanford clt cto
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