Klarinet Archive - Posting 000346.txt from 2001/11

From: "Gregory Smith" <Gregory@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Music and instruments of different nationalities
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 13:17:50 -0500

Hi Tony,

It didn't occur to me right off that this would already be done by =
nature in the "period" instrument realm. But of course it makes perfect =
sense when dealing with matters of authenticity!

The other sections in our orchestra are not following this practice =
for various reasons of which there are many - the 'basson' example you =
gave is a good one and to a lesser extent this applies to both flute and =
oboe.=20

Some listeners ARE hard pressed to tell the difference at times =
(even Barenboim admits to this sometimes although I suspect that it has =
more to do with the exact passage in which one would be comparing the =
two). Also I suppose that Larry's and my training and sound concept =
guide us a long way towards making a sound that is a bit more like "us" =
than our instruments. That aside, I and my colleagues do hear a =
justifiable difference for such a practice and in solo and soli passages =
this becomes more evident.=20
=20
Collectively speaking, when the clarinets are not heard in tuttis, I =
suppose that this difference is diluted to such a huge degree that it =
really doesn't matter much except to us. I know that there are perhaps a =
purist or two, especially on this list that might disagree with this =
analysis though.

Best to you,

Greg

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Gregory Smith =20
Clarinetist
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mouthpiece Handcraftsman
=
2737 Hurd Avenue
Evanston, Illinois. 60201-1209 USA
1.847.866.8331
1.847.866.9551 (fax)
Email: Gregory@-----.com (NEW)
Website: www.gregory-smith.com
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----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Tony Pay" <Tony@-----.uk>
Subject: [kl] Music and instruments of different nationalities

> On Wed, 7 Nov 2001 21:09:43 -0600, Gregory@-----.com said:
>=20
> > As far as I know, we are the only orchestra that is observing this
> > practice at the request of our music director, Daniel Barenboim who =
is
> > also a strong believer in the difference between "national sounds"
> > especially when applied to differing repertorie. He wants to =
preserve
> > and even highlight these distinctions. It really is fascinating to
> > hear it in practice.
>=20
> > There are many differences in the two systems (that help us produce
> > totally different sounds, even from the same player) that are too
> > numerous to mention here. We've adapted to them on a gradual basis
> > working up to playing recitals and chamber music on each - again
> > depending on the repertorie. But in the orchestra, Larry Combs and I
> > for instance will play La Mer on the first half on our French
> > instruments and Wurlitzer (Oehler) instruments on let's say the =
Mahler
> > 5th on the second half of the concert. Or on just the first half of =
a
> > concert, a Beethoven Overture played on the Wurlitzer (Oehler) =
system
> > instruments followed by Ravel's LaValse on the French
> > Buffet-Klose'/LeBlanc instruments.
>=20
> What do you do about bassoons?
>=20
> The reason I ask is that when Barenboim took over the Orchestre de =
Paris
> in the 1970s, he was very keen to get rid of the 'basson' -- or at
> least, some of the players of the basson -- in that orchestra. At =
that
> time, it seemed to him sensible to move over to the 'fagott', because
> all the good playing he'd encountered was on that instrument.
>=20
> But I recently went to direct a concert with the wind section of a
> younger French orchestra, and found that the basson was nevertheless
> still alive and well in France. They were playing on quite new =
Buffets.
>=20
> > If any other clarinetists are doing this on a regular basis in a =
full
> > time orchestra it would be interesting to hear about since I'm not
> > aware of its practice elsewhere.
>=20
> I believe the Philharmonia has used bassons for French music, but
> the players are not all that keen, because they think it compromises
> their technical excellence. That may be more in their perception than
> what is evident to outsiders, of course.
>=20
> We do all that in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and John
> Eliot Gardiner's Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique does too;
> though of course neither of them could be considered 'full-time'
> orchestras. The 'period' French orchestras, like the Orchestre des
> Champs Elysees, do it too.
>=20
> The OAE plays Berlioz on French instruments (earlier, non-Boehm French
> instruments, though), and more recently Mahler, Bruckner, Glinka and
> Borodin (with, by the way, the absolutely stunning young Russian
> conductor Vladimir Jurowski), on German instruments. For this last,
> both I and the second clarinet used (Seggelke) copies of the
> Ottensteiner instruments that belonged to Muehlfeld, which are still =
in
> the museum at Meiningen.=20
>=20
> What is said about playing on French and German instruments by =
listeners
> is that although you might, depending on the circumstances, sometimes =
be
> hard put to distinguish a few notes on a French clarinet from a few
> notes on a German clarinet, nevertheless the cumulative effect of a
> whole wind section simultaneously changing instruments from French to
> German is quite another matter.
>=20
> We haven't tried doing that actually *within a concert*, like Greg's
> section has though, because although it's quite possible on the
> clarinet, it's much more difficult for the oboes and bassoons. So we
> just don't mix German and French music in programmes.
>=20
> But it's getting more and more difficult to avoid it....=20
>=20
> Tony
> --=20
> _________ Tony Pay =20
> |ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
> | |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN artist: http://www.gmn.com
> tel/fax 01865 553339 =20
>=20
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