Klarinet Archive - Posting 000580.txt from 2002/07

From: "Michael Bryant" <michael@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Scholarly Research in English Clarinet Music
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 17:15:05 -0400

Fine, as far as it goes. May I commend Stephen Banfield's biography
(Faber 1997)? The title of Chapter One is 'From Padua to Harrowgate'.

I attended a short talk at the Stockholm Clarinet Conference
by Libby Larson in which she retold the suggestion, allegedly
from someone senior at OUP, that the English had only one music
tradition and did not know enough to realise (if she had understood it
correctly) that it was an entirely false and misleading statement.

Other work: Dr Jane Ellsworth in Ohio, for whom I provided the Walthew
Clarinet Concerto (1902), completed her dissertation in 1991, entitled
'Clarinet Music by British Composers, 1800-1914', and Dr Spencer Pitfield
in Sheffield completed a similar thesis in 2001, for whom I provided a
generous handful of previously unpublished British clarinet sonatas.

"" I know that this area of study (English clarinet works) is lacking
compared to let's say the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, but are there
no authorities in this area on this list?""

Ah! Perhaps not, but the manuscript score of Sussmayr's Concerto (movement)
for basset clarinet is in the British Library! How and where did it come to
be written? Sussmayr was helping Mozart put 'La Clemenza' together in
Prague, (Parto, parto?)

""Arnold is English.>> > Thank god.""

I think that God and Arnold have not been on speaking terms for eons.

MB
Robert wrote Sunday, July 21, 2002 5:35 PM
Subject: [kl] Scholarly Research in English Clarinet Music

Snip>>Dr. Stephen Keith Johnston is the clarinet professor here
> that is guiding me through my studies. His DMA work was on Louis Spohr
and
> has, over the years, developed a keen interest in England and Charles
> Villiers Stanford.
>
>
> <<English? Stanford was Irish, but Germanic in style and influence.>>
>
> Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) was born and raised in Dublin,
> Ireland. He studied with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig and Friedrich Kiel in
> Berlin. Stanford was key in establishing the "English Style" through his
> influence on his students and was a major player in bringing about the
> "English Renaissance" in the late 19th century.
>
> Stanford, according to Grove, is considered an "English" composer for all
> intents and purposes.
>
> <<Finzi's family was Italian/Sephardic.>>
>
> Gerald Raphael Finzi was born in London and died in Oxford. There are few
> examples of more quintessentially "English" composers. One's lineage does
> not necessarily imply a categorical placement into compositional style or
> their historical import. Finzi was English wherein his personal life and
> music are concerned. Finzi was an "English" composer.
>
> <<Arnold is English.>>
>
> Thank god.
>
> <<Three stylistically divergent composers.>>
>
> Ah, the beauty of English music. Eh?
>
> I certainly appreciate the quiz, but would like to move on to a more
direct
> conversation about needs in research concerning English clarinet music
and,
> more specifically, about these composers
>
> Is there anyone who is knowledgeable in the area of my questions AND who
is
> willing to offer suggestions concerning them? From my experience on this
> list before, I was often pleased to find people who had first hand
knowledge
> and experience with a wide variety of topics clarinet. I know that this
> area of study (English clarinet works) is lacking compared to let's say
the
> Mozart Clarinet Concerto, but are there no authorities in this area on
this
> list?
>
> <<For other theses - some on British subjects - it might me helpful to
look
> at UMI's lists and visit Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology-Online at:
> www.music.indiana.edu/ A search on 'clarinet' last week provided 77
> replies, three of British topics.>>
>
> I certainly appreciate this reference. I was not aware of it and I will
> spend more time perusing it. The same number of (77) replies came back at
> me for a simple search of "clarinet" in the keywords. If you know of
other
> sources of scholarly works in this area that I can search online, I would
> certainly appreciate those references as well.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Robert Andrew Moody
>

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