Klarinet Archive - Posting 001153.txt from 2000/12

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Julius Baker vs. Zoon
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 13:48:37 -0500

Neil,
I did not make myself as clear as what I should have, - sorry. Yes,
youngsters do have idols whom they wish to emulate. I think that`s natural.
I do not disagree. You say you were coming up to12/13 with your infatuation
with Meyer`s playing, and who can`t be infatuated at that age? My thinking
was that gtg is not 13 years old. But if you look again at my text about
students who are just showing signs of <big talent>, that was intended to
mean 18-21 year olds. I`m sorry, that part was unclear. I would hope that by
that time, those 18-21 year olds <will> have disposed of, in a sensible way
this idea of "worship". One would hope
that by that age they would be well on the way to developing their <own>
individuality, having already listened to the plethora of C.D.`s available,
thus recruiting their own "tit-bits" from <that> experience, (and) those of
their peers (at college) to personalise the approach to their own
development. If that <doesn`t> come from within, then just <another>
clarinettist is churned out in the end. This may indeed not manifest itself
until age 25 or 30. But I hope you now get my drift, which <was> vague at
first, and which of course does have almost as many alternative approaches
as what we have students.
So much more mail to read - are you happy?
Best,
Tony W.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil Leupold" <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] Julius Baker vs. Zoon

> --- Tony Wakefield <tony-wakefield@-----.net> wrote:
>
> > And continuing: you are not way out of your league in this list - you
are but
> > <new>, and you have to get to know us, as we do you. Do NOT disappear to
> > lurk again. Stay in touch to voice your opinions. Do that intelligently
and
> > we will have one more guy to speak to.
>
> Actually, I think Mr. Gallant has been around on the list for a few years.
> I've been around for nearly seven, and I seem to remember posts from him
> dating back at least a year or two, if not more. I could be mistaken.
>
> > Finally, would you allow me to express how <I> feel about all our
"finest"
> > instrumentalists. I don`t think any of the adjectives we apply -
brilliant,
> > perfect technician, style, taste, musicianship, ears, flexibility etc
are
> > suitable ones to apply to any of them.
>
> <snip> and:
>
> > I say to all students who are just beginning to show signs of big
talent,
> > don`t place <anyone> on a pedestal. Extract something of worth/value
from
> > whoever you admire, then continue to work hard in your own quest for,
not
> > perfect perfection, (because that way will bring lots and lots of
anguish)
> > but a <competence>, and a level head, which will securely carry you
thru`
> > your career.
>
> Oh, I must disagree Tony, especially with respect to young musicians, who
> are more likely to cultivate fantasy and dreams in their minds than
adults.
> I started playing clarinet when I was around 8 years old, but I didn't be-
> come truly inspired about the instrument for another 3 or 4 years...when
> I heard Sabine Meyer play Weber's Concertino for the first time on KDFC
> radio in San Francisco. Those fifteen minutes (or however long it was)
> were a revelation for me, an epiphany, and suddenly I realized how in-
> credibly much I wanted to play like she did. Her technical and musical
> polish were beyond my ability to conceive, and she truly was a "goddess"
> to me in those days. Not long after hearing that recording, I heard an-
> other one (now quite famous for its flash) that boggled my mind even fur-
> ther: Stoltzman's rendition of Rossini's Intro, Theme, and Variations.
> I spent days afterward denying to myself that it was humanly possible
> to produce the high C with which he had modified the very end of the
> piece. Granted, neither of these pieces of music is particularly pro-
> found -- certainly not the Rossini -- but to my young ears, the feats
> of musical expression and blazing fingers that Sabine and Stoltzman
> demonstrated were easily enough to lend them the status of clarinet
> deities -- husband and wife in the firmament of the gods, as it were.
> And so they reigned supreme for a few months, until Papa Leister came
> along and blew the doors wide open on the whole issue...
>
> These players and others were sources of incalculable inspiration for me
> when I was growing up. Daydreaming as an 11-year old about being on stage
> someday, playing Weber's Concertino, but with Sabine Meyer's sound coming
> out of my instrument...this was the kind of inspiration that spurred me
> steadily onward through middle school and high school, straight into an
> undergraduate degree in clarinet performance. At my worst moments of
frus-
> tration, when I was just seconds away from smashing my instrument to
pieces
> against the practice room wall, I'd hit "play" on my Walkman and listen to
> one of the Gods playing Galanta or Pines or Ginastera -- pick one: Wright,
> Combs, Drucker, Meyer, Leister -- and it was like receiving a transfusion
> of new oxygen rich blood. It wasn't discouraging -- it was electrifying,
> largely based on how dearly I idolized these people who I so very much
> wanted to emulate.
>
> I doubt my experience is unique, or even terribly colorful compared to
> some others' stories about who their first clarinet gods were. I still
> fantasize about and idolize these players, with the addition of dozens
> of others whose level I will never reach. I certainly don't see how
> my adoration for their playing could be detrimental to my own progress.
> Fantasy and dreams are an important part of any person's growing process,
> I think. We have to envision things far beyond ourselves, things that
> seem impossible or forever out of reach, in order to stretch what we
> believe to be our own potential. All the better if there are actually
> models of that potential already extant, available for us to appreciate,
> examine, and aspire to.
>
> -- Neil

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