Klarinet Archive - Posting 000665.txt from 2000/10

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] And while we are at it ...
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 10:35:46 -0400

Neil, one of the things about improvisation for music of this period, is
that there are restrictions, too. For example, one would not be
expected to exceed the range of a clarinet of that period. Using your
argument, one could play an altissimo high C and then justify its
presence on the basis of improvisational liberty.

In effect, it is not an argument to suggest that "if he had it, he would
have used it" (though you did not use these words, of course).

Incidentally, the same problem exists for the Mozart piano and one can
see in Mozart's music how he sometimes got himself into knots finding
ways to cleverly present a variation on a certain theme while,
simultaneously, not exceeding the range of the piano in use. You can
also see at which points in his life he got access to a new piano,
because, suddenly, there is a higher note for him to use. He even
mentions which pianos had a new range for him to exploit.

But all of this notwithstanding, you have to justify the use of any note
on the clarinet above high D (for music of that period), and that
justification needs more than "it's a nice thing to do."

Dan

Neil Leupold wrote:
>
> --- Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net> wrote:
>
> > So I ask the question: what is the defense for the use of high G in K.
> > 622? In the absence of any autograph material in which that note is
> > found, I suggest that we have no business playing that note, and its
> > presence in any performance of K. 622 is contraindicated. The
> > probability is very much on my side that Mozart never wrote it!
>
> ....And if somebody hits a G over the course of an improvisational
> flight of fancy within the Mozart, per your repeated proclamations
> that improvisation in the Classical period was more commonplace
> than is reflected in modern performance? What then? Mozart may
> indeed never have written notes that high on the instrument. Were
> those notes not *possible* for the clarinet in the mid- and late
> 1700's? If they were, then it seems that it would be possible --
> and justified -- to hear an improvisation or two that actually uses
> them. The only apparent contraindication, if what I'm implying above
> rings true ('could be completely off base), would seem to be the press-
> ure of social conformity, i.e.; even if the notes were playable in
> Mozart's day, they were not frequently used or heard and, hence,
> most players avoided them in an effort to not rock the boat.
>
> -- Neil
>
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--
***************************
** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
***************************

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