Klarinet Archive - Posting 000726.txt from 2001/09

From: Virginia Anderson <assembly1@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: cage Knocks
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:38:50 -0400

on 20/9/01 9:15 am,Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay) wrote:

> You surprise me. Of what does your subsequent mock consist, then?

Tony, your sensible, academically correct, and calm defence of 4'33" puts me
to shame and proves that you're a thoroughly rounded guy. I've got some of
your work on Mozart and such which was broadcast by the Beeb on cassette and
have enjoyed it a lot.

The Cage Sonata works well as part of Cage's oeuvre in general: a couple of
years ago Linda Merrick played it as part of _Musicircus_ at the Barbican,
and very nicely she did, too (I was about twenty feet over playing Wolff in
a group run by Ian Mitchell, so we made a kind of clarinet-heavy corner).
It was lovely to take in the room and hear bits of Cage - old and new -
floating about amidst the regular noises of the Centre.

Sorry, 'fatuous' for the Bernstein Sonata is a bit strong. I'm just tired
of people making uninformed comments about the music which I've made my
life's work, especially if I read it at 7.30 am before I've had my coffee.
The Bernstein is a student work, however (albeit the work of a student
genius). The kind of Latinish second movement is unconvincing. It's a very
derivative, pale attempt at the Great American style which was so vibrant at
the time, and it's weak Bernstein as well. I can understand why it's
programmed so often, especially for student recitals (the technical and
musical demands are reasonable) and there isn't enough of clarinet music
from this style which can be played by clarinet and piano (unless one counts
the piano reduction of the Copland concerto, which is technically harder to
play). Of course, your mileage may vary.

Also, for those who asked, 4'33" is written as three movements, marked in
Roman numerals: I, II, III. Each movement has a given duration (all of
which add up to 4'33") and the word "Tacet". From the first performance
David Tudor signalled the start of each movement by closing the lid over the
piano keyboard, raising it at the end. I've followed this by putting the
mouthpiece cap on during movements and laying the instrument down in my lap.
This comes from the "band" version we did for the festival in 1982: pretty
much every player had done wind bands in the past, so we used the convention
of school wind band discipline. The ready signal was given at which
everyone placed their instruments up for action (for instance, clarinets and
trombones perpendicular, bells on knee), then at the signal to begin, people
placed their instruments in the "at ease" posture (clarinet, capped, lying
along the lap, mouthpiece pointed nearly ahead). Because I wanted to
participate, I "conducted" from the stand as leader/concertmistress. Of
course, these are all suggestions rather than prescriptions, part of the
performance practice and performance history of the work, and are given to
show that there is a lot to be considered before embarking upon a
performance (and thus is part of critical criteria for assessing such a work
- even for aesthetic judgement of the work itself).

Movements are usually interspersed of breaks suitable to any multi-movement
work, with similar relaxations. I draw the line at faking maintenance
common to sound pieces, such as drawing condensation/spit out of the
mouthpiece, fuddling with the reed, for the same reason that this work
diverges from the actions of a mime (a good point brought up by Bill
Wright). A mime is making a similacrum of real activity, whereas performing
4'33" is making real activity itself, i.e., performing a piece of music. A
performer has to concentrate with his or her entire being, to control the
sonic space which he or she creates through marking the framework of Cage's
instructions (and the audience participates, for good or for ill).

The "band" version of 4'33" was the climax of the Classic Masterworks of
Experimental Music, after an afternoon session of mostly Scratch Orchestra
and Fluxus simultaneities and a long evening concert. In my youthful zeal I
had programmed far too much that night by including Terry Riley's _In C_ and
Frederick Rzewski's _Les Moutons de Panurge_, both marathon early minimal
classics. Our lips were hanging off by the time the Cage came up. Despite
it being early October, it was hot that Saturday night and the doors were
open, both at the back of hall and back stage throughout the performance.
As we performed, we let in for the first time that night the sounds of the
evening: the stereos of nearby dorms, the cheers from the distant football
stadium (suitable sounds for a university "band"). Our fatigue was lifted
and we left the venue with our feet a little bit above the ground.

Cheers,

Virginia
--
Virginia Anderson
Leicester, UK
<vanderson@-----.uk>
Experimental Music Catalogue: <http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk>
...experimental music since 1969....

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