Klarinet Archive - Posting 000612.txt from 2000/07

From: "Antoine T. Clark" <clariguy@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] enthused musings upon Mozart Concerto
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 08:43:35 -0400

In my opinion, I feel that students should reserve works like the Brahms
sonatas, Brahms quintet, and the Mozart to when they have a security in
their technique. I don't think my teacher knew this, but when I was an
undergrad, other students and I would discuss when he would let us play the
Brahms sonatas. We felt that when he would let us venture on to these
pieces it meant that he believed that we were mature enough to play such
works. They were viewed as being harder then any Weber, Stamizt, or crazy
technical piece.
To me it would be frustrating to teach any young student ( one who has
not mastered the fundamentals in his or her playing) a piece where the
technical parts of it would not let the student get the sense of the musical
parts, i.e.. phrasing and the overall idea of a piece. Of course the most
experienced player has to work on technical runs but I am referring to
having an understanding of a piece in a musical sense and having a maturity
to play the style in which the composer intended.
One thing that I appreciated in my teacher is that when studying the
Brahms sonatas and the Mozart concerto he did everything to teach me things
outside of notes. I did not work on the Brahms or Mozart until I was a
junior. I learned the Mozart as a senior in high school but did not realize
its sheer difficulty until that junior year. Mozart felt so transparent. The
smallest mistake felt horrible. By junior year my technique did not hinder
me too much from expressing myself.
I feel Weber is hard but it is technique, show pieces , they are works
in which a student can learn to be technical, and tools to teach technique.
But Mozart and Brahms are far harder in my opinion, jewels reserved for
students when the fundamentals are down and when the technical parts of the
piece are not a problem.
I know several students in my area that are really talented high school
students, but still if I was any one of them at their age, I would save such
pieces to when I were older. The day I come can come close to sounding as
effortless playing the Mozart as Marcellus does will be a great day for me.
----- Original Message -----
From: <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subject: RE: [kl] enthused musings upon Mozart Concerto

> At 02:05 PM 7/18/2000 -0700, you wrote:
> >College kids may hate going back to it. So what? College kids hate
> >everything. Throw you favorite recording du jour at them, and point out
> >that until they sound like Marcellus/Schifrin/de
Peyer/Pay/Hacker/Neidich,
> >they have a bit of work to do.
>
> Alas, isn't this true?
>
> Sincerely,
> Roger Garrett
>
>
> Roger Garrett
> Professor of Clarinet
> Director, Symphonic Winds
> Head, Recording Studio
> Illinois Wesleyan University
> School of Music
> Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
> (309) 556-3268
>
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