Klarinet Archive - Posting 000969.txt from 2000/07

From: Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re:Learning practices (was Mozart's wife and Carl Maria We
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:28:02 -0400

Well, Dan, I'll wait patiently for the fur to fly (I love instigating controversy!),
but my initial (wonderfully intelligent) question begs another one (and I guess I'll
ask Greg Smith along with others who'd care to reply to answer this one: what is
meant by the Chicago sound? Also, if there's a Chicago sound, what about the
Philadelphia sound and especially the Cleveland (Szell sound)? I assume it has
something to do with section balances, sonorities emphasized and others subdued,
articulations...?

Anyone want to take this one on?

P.S. Dan, glad you like me. Ooohhh, the notion of being your centerpiece ... ooh la
laaahh!

Audrey

Daniel Leeson wrote:

> Audrey, in life one waits for a person as intelligent as you, a person
> who hears something that makes little sense (such as American sound,
> French sound, German sound, central Bulgarian sound, etc.) and who says,
> "This makes little sense."
>
> However most people are afraid to ask the question, "I don't
> understand. What is this all about," and the reason why is that it is
> so uncomfortable to be standing up when everyone else is sitting down.
> So I like you and you should consider yourself a special person for
> seeing through this crap about national sounds.
>
> The very idea that a German player has a special nationalized sound that
> derives from the training, the nationality, the food, the garlic, the
> pronuciation of vowels, the kind of clarinet employed, is so rich in
> fairy stories that I have no idea why it is perpetuated.
>
> But wait. There are going to be at least 10 postings that contradict
> this thesis, and these players will assert the exact opposite. They
> will swear that they hear a difference, their wife (or husband) hears a
> difference, their chicken hears a difference, even the Polish ambassador
> who only plays accordion hears a difference.
>
> I will help you every now and then, but I want you to be the centerpiece
> of saying "Explain in what objective ways the following two things: (1)
> what are the precise characteristics of this nationalistic difference,
> and (2) from what is this difference derived.
>
> You and I will soon be surrounded by dead bodies, all hoisted on their
> own petards. The problem is that the idea has become legend in clarinet
> land, and a legend is a very difficult thing to kill. Clarinet players
> can be killed by the barrelfull, but no legend ever dies.
>
> Now let us see the war of the National Sound begin again. It has come
> up on this list about 5 times in 10 years, the last time was about 4
> years ago and I was hoping that it had been speared for good. But I was
> foolish and naive. Your great grandchildren will hear of it too.
>
> Dan
>
> Audrey Travis wrote:
> >
> > David
> > What exactly is meant when people talk about an"American" sound or a "German" or
> > French" sound? I've never had this explained. Could you take a stab at it,
> > please? And could you, or anyone else, please try to describe each of these
> > sounds?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Audrey
> >
> > HatNYC62@-----.com wrote:
> >
> > > Now, all of the American
> > > orchestras eventually became what we now recognize as "American Sounding."
> > > But they did so at different rates. Philadelphia scrapped its German roots
> > > very early on, under Stokowski. But Chicago remained heavily German until the
> > > early 50s.
> > >
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> --
> ***************************
> ** Dan Leeson **
> ** leeson0@-----.net **
> ***************************
>
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