Klarinet Archive - Posting 000782.txt from 2000/08

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: [kl] Phrasing with the harmony -- or not.
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 20:06:30 -0400

In his excellent post on the third movement of Beethoven 8, Ken Shaw
said, in part:

> PHRASING IS BASED ON HARMONY

> Harmony is the basis of phrasing. A chord is like a bone in the
> skeleton. Changes of chord are like joints. The muscles have a shape
> and can move parts of the body only because they are attached to the
> skeleton. To understand how phrases work, you must know what the
> underlying harmony is and what it's doing.
>
> Thus, you should take a pencil and look at the harmony in the score.
> Put in a vertical mark every time it changes. These marks will show
> you where your phrases begin and end, or at least change direction.

I think it's worth while disagreeing with this bit, but in a very
specific way.

Phrasing is one of three structures in classical music. Each of them is
independent, and contends with the others.

The other two are harmony and metre.

Sometimes, phrasing and harmony coincide. But sometimes, phrasing, as
indicated by slurs, goes against harmony. And sometimes, metre, as
indicated by the barline, goes against harmony, too.

To play classical music well, we need to be able to achieve a
coherent balance between these three structures. Our playing may tilt
the emphasis toward any of them. Thus, when Ken says that the final D
in the clarinet part of Beethoven's third movement shouldn't be
emphasised because of the harmony, one could argue that it *should* be
emphasised because of the metre.

Doing that also allows you to play the final G in a gestural way that
*justifies* it, even though it's quiet.

And when Ken says, it has to be quiet because the minuet begins again
'forte', and you want the difference, you'd have to say that there are
many ways to show that difference.

Like, in the attack of the top G. If you play it not too 'pingily', but
'swept', then the beginning of the recapitulation is sufficiently
different. Doing that is helped if you *show* the D-b 'shape' that
precedes it.

In my previous post about this, I talked about 'craziness'. Perhaps
that gave the impression that I think that following the slurs, or
the metre, is an unusual thing to do.

But I think we should always give the slurs, and the metre, their part
in the drama. They're just as important as the harmony.

I just meant that in this solo we might make them 'star' a little more,
to good effect.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

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