Klarinet Archive - Posting 000634.txt from 2001/04

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: [kl] More on Revelli
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:11:33 -0400

Someone wrote:
There were many, many of these "quartermaster-type" bandmasters back in the
time you are talking about, but this was a whole other time in America and
even American musical history. Back then it was much more acceptable for an
accomplished conductor to be a "tyrant" as you say.

Dan Leeson wrote:
I do not suggest for one minute that this is true, only that this is the
way the world perceived band conductors; i.e., "they may be big cheeses in
Ann Arbor, but put them in front of the Detroit Symphony and have them
conduct Rite of Spring instead of a Sousa march, and watch them fall
apart."...............As a result of this unfortunate perception,
conductors like Revelli were a great deal more vulnerable than is
imagined. Thus, they behaved like petty tyrants (which is what orchestral
conductors were thought to be)
out of a sense of inferiority, not out of ego.

My response:
I was trying to think of what the problem was in this argument and couldn't
come up with it. Maybe it was the pizza my kids forced upon me, or the
beer that I had with the pizza. But a good night's sleep always helps.

I am sure that in any walk of life, there are people who wish they could be
one thing but are not - so they behave in a way that they think will allow
them to be seen as the thing they wish they were. Dan's statement that,
true or not, the world believes band conductors may have behave like petty
tyrants because that is what orchestral conductors were thought to be - out
of a sense of inferiority, not out of ego, might be true for someone
somewhere, but it was not true for many. I don't think it was true for
Revelli.

Tony Pay's comments regarding how conductors get the job done is more
useful in determining why Revelli chose the path he did. This was the only
way he knew how to get the results he wanted and expected. Period. I
would assume that his frequent observations of Toscannini with the NBC
Symphony heavily influenced him as a young man.

The part that I was trying to remember was - Toscannini achieved superior
results with the NBC Symphony Orchestra - through being a tyrant yes, but
more because he was a very good musician and an adequate technician with a
baton. The parallel with Revelli is evident. Anyone who heard Revelli's
public school bands as well as his university bands (those recordings of
the Hobart High School Band in 1933, 34, and 35 when they were winning
national championships - playing for Sousa, Pryor, and Goldman - are
absolutely amazing) knows that Revelli was a musician of high
regard. Anyone who heard Revelli sing to his band knew that he was a
musician of high regard.

My thoughts are split between sadness that he often resorted to tactics
that, by today's standards, are unacceptable in order to achieve the
results that he got, and admiration for what his bands sounded like. The
admiration is bolstered by my opportunities to have had many fantastic
visits with Revelli in many different settings after he retired. I notice
that the people who are interested in him are those who met him in the '80s
when he was very active guest conducting. When he guest conducted the
Michigan Band in 1980, 81, 83, and 86 - he was very, very impressive -
without any of the described tactics I had heard about. My guess is that
he mellowed and no longer had any direct responsibility to achieve with a
particular band. That didn't lesson the performances. That band played as
well or better for him than for their regular conductor - because he drew
it out of them. Very impressive.

And so I drone on and on...........

I really have enjoyed the stories of Revelli - anyone who has more and
wants to share - either privately or on the list is still encouraged to do
so. I'm aware that many may be tiring of it by now - much more than me.

Best wishes,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Clarinet Professor
Director, Symphonic Winds
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
Phone: (309) 556-3268
Fax: (309) 556-3121

"A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes
another's."
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825)

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