Klarinet Archive - Posting 000064.txt from 2000/09

From: "Rien Stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] An interesting story about Schoenberg
Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 18:11:52 -0400

------@-----.BA22D8A0
charset="iso-8859-1"

Not all directors know, what they are doing. In order to learn to play =
the clarinet I joined a wind band: in our country these bands often buy =
the instruments and then give those to their members to use them freely, =
and unrestricted. With the first windband I joined (indeed: to have the =
instrument available ...) was a conductor I considered to have "wooden =
ears". With another youngster (I was thirty years old at that time) I =
agreed to play a certain passage a full tone higher - to transpose it a =
full tone. Obviously this man noticed something was wrong, but didn't =
know, what. He let us play the whole piece (Cerfontaine: Spring =
Overture, a beautiful, but pretensionless work), and then remarked he =
had heard some awkward harmonies. Could everyone please play the right =
notes? When I asked him, he said something like "Nonono, you did it all =
right, and most of it was correct, but in some passages the trumpets =
were completely out of tune". This conductor had a conservatory =
education! But this was thirty years ago, and I think, knowing the level =
of teaching of todays Dutch conservatories, this is almost impossible =
today. (Never say: "never"!!!!!!)

Kind gfreetings

Rien

------@-----.BA22D8A0--