Klarinet Archive - Posting 000157.txt from 2002/08

From: "Gene Nibbelin" <gnibbelin@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Movers and shakers (and "dancers")
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2002 22:39:06 -0400

Dear Avrahm -

As usual, you are 100% correct in your comments on excessive movement.

All this discussion of movement while playing reminds me of a long-ago
violin recital (by a well known artist, whose name I don't remember) in
which the artist not only moved unbelievably (even for a violinist) but also
whose facial expression could only be described as the natural reaction to
someone's having placed a large amount of limburger cheese inside his
violin. Neither his movements nor his facial expression contributed to the
enjoyment of his recital.

>From a thread of several months ago: The silly "ballet dances" of certain
prominent conductors always raised the question in my mind concerning the
ability of the orchestra members to keep from laughing out loud. However, I
learned the answer to my question while playing in our local volunteer
orchestra several years ago. Our conductor was not usually "over-active" in
rehearsals, but turned loose in a concert setting, LOOK OUT!!! It was this
experience that showed me that the professionals in the orchestra were not
laughing at the conductor's antics because they were too busy trying to find
the beat and the cues.

Best regards,

Gene Nibbelin

-----Original Message-----
From: Avrahm Galper [mailto:agalper@-----.com]
Subject: [kl] Movers and shakers

Movers and Shakers

There are players who like to move a lot to show that they are involved in
the music.
Every nuance has to be indicted by some gesture.
This also happened at the beginning of the clarinet era.
Comments were made by the critics of those days.
I myself do not like extra motions.
I once went to hear a clarinetist who used a lot of motion.
As matter of fact the clarinet always did a little dance in the mouth to
indicate involvment.
At the concert I eventually closed my eyes. The interesting thing was that
the playing did not seem that expressive
When Heifetz arrived on the scene in New York, some critics accused him of
playing coldly. He did not move at all.
But when you listen to his recordings, the impression is quite different.

Abe Galper

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