Klarinet Archive - Posting 000848.txt from 2000/11

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Interpreting versus playing
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 10:45:56 -0500

"Neil Leupold" <leupold_1@-----.com> said

> The silliness of your personal comments aside, Tony, I certainly
> *do* admire players who make the clarinet seem like an easy instru-
> ment on which to make music. Leister, Stoltzman, Shifrin, and Combs
> are names that come readily to mind. There are at least a couple of
> sides to the issue. There's the clarinet itself, a mechanical tool
> subject to physical laws, with technical demands to be addressed.
> There's also the musical side, which draws in all kinds of consid-
> erations about style and performance practice and composer intent,
> etc.
>
> Naturally, technique for technique's sake is not a musical activity,
> but absent technical development on the clarinet it is not possible
> to make music with it. Perhaps you and others will disagree with me
> on this, but it has been my experience that the more technically pro-
> ficient a player becomes, the easier it also becomes for that player
> to express themselves musically. It almost seems self-evident. This
> is not to say that the music itself should be made to sound effortless,
> unless that is what the composer had in mind. Since so much of music
> involves the establishment and resolution of psychological tension, ef-
> fortlessness from a psychological standpoint would seem to be counter-
> intuitive to the musical aesthetic. A technical master can make a
> piece of music sound like a walk in the park and, at the same time,
> completely defile the composer's intent, creating an utterly dif-
> ferent and invalid piece of music using the exact same notes.
>
> Most of the members of Klarinet are not professional players, much
> less technical masters of the clarinet. I'm certainly neither. Per-
> haps you, Tony, are technically perfect on the instrument and are at
> liberty to focus 100% of your energy on emotional and musical consid-
> erations when you play. I direct much of my writing on Klarinet to
> the issues of basic technique and fundamental musicianship because I
> believe that many members share my desire to continuously improve
> those areas in their playing as I do in mine. I've received enough
> positive feedback to know that my posts, and my intentions, are well-
> received. I'm also not musically unsophisticated for choosing to fo-
> cus my time in this area, having played for 22 years, including prior
> and current orchestral & chamber activities throughout the U.S., and
> having trained with several first-rate major-orchestra players while
> earning my performance degree.
>
> All of this having been said, maybe I'm just a little perverse in
> that I actually derive a discrete pleasure from the pursuit of tech-
> nical effortlessness on the instrument. I can't imagine that I'm
> the only one. And when I take the fruits of that labor with me to
> rehearsals and performances, I experience greater freedom to realize
> the intentions of the composers's music in front of me, drawing more
> readily than I otherwise might on all of my knowledge about music
> history, style, and performance practice, using my ear to guide the
> process, of course. All of this is afforded me for having struck a
> balance in practice between technical development and musical sensi-
> tivity, even if that balance is not reflected in my contributions to
> the Klarinet list. Obviously I'm not the only one who chooses to di-
> rect their posts more commonly toward certain areas of the clarinet
> world. Doing such a thing makes a contributor no less valid or val-
> uable than somebody who purports to wax erudite on nearly every sub-
> ject line in the header. Perhaps the opposite.
>
> One final thing, Tony. Whatever you think or feel about me, about
> an issue, or about anything else on the list, I wish you would dis-
> continue your repeated use of harsh obscenities such as:
>
> > Wickens, used to call "the great fucking unheard."
>
> Nobody else has publically commented on this, but with regard to those
> who find it objectionable, again, I can't imagine I'm the only one. Pon-
> tificate and lambaste away, Tony, but keep language like this offline.
> I'm sorry I had to repost it in order to make my point.
>
> -- Neil

I SAY - TONY PAY, WHY DON`T YOU JUST PISS OFF, AND GO AND SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR
LOCAL HOME FOR THE DECAYING. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN,
AND I AM DISGUSTED AT YOUR ATTITUDE, YOUR DISGRACEFUL TREATMENT OF LIST
MEMBERS, AND YOUR TOTAL LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEANING OF GRACE. I
DON`T BELIEVE THAT IT IS A ZANY SENSE OF HUMOUR; YOU SEEM TO POSSESS A REAL
NASTINESS. YOU BRING TO THE WORLD A DESPICABLE IMAGE OF BRITISH CONTRIBUTION
TO MUSIC, WHERE TOLERANCE IS CONCERNED. I WONDER HOW THE MUSICIAN`S UNION
WOULD REACT IF THEY COULD SEE HOW YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE KLARINET
WORLD. I WONDER HOW YOUR FELLOW COLLEAGUES, OR EVEN THE MUSIC PRODUCERS WHO
BOOK YOU WOULD REACT IF YOU TREATED THEM IN A SIMILAR MANNER. DON`T BOTHER
TO POST TO TELL ME THAT YOU DO.

I apologise to the list for this outburst, but I cannot continue under these
awful and unpleasant conditions. I originally subscribed to help me thru` a
period of medical supervision, which is still continuing. I havn`t been able
to contribute recently, partly due to Mr Pay`s re-emergence. I would ask
Mark Charette to please step in
and re-evaluate what kind of exchanges are to be encouraged in klarinet.
Would it, (as I have mentioned before)
be of value if every contributor were to submit a précis, (not more or less
than 50/60 words?) of their own life and work, thus giving all subscribers
the chance to appreciate/appraise their contact/post with other members in a
much more personal and befitting way. This could/should? be automatically
posted to all. It would also make for quite interesting reading, and would
indeed help to moderate animosity, which as we have witnessed, can stem from
even the most(?) respected of artistes. We would not have been lambasted by
the pro player, (I forget his name) who suddenly appeared out of nowhere,
then disappeared again, a few weeks ago, had this "précis" been in place.
Best,
Tony W.

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