Klarinet Archive - Posting 000558.txt from 2002/09

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] My attempt to formalize my unstructured ideas
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 14:30:07 -0400

Keith, with the recognition that I am speaking against myself, I want to
say that I think much of what you said is correct. There are so many
variables that have changed in playing over the past 200 years that it
is hard to argue that the substitution of one pitched clarinet for
another significantly reverses the impact of the 1000 other things that
have changed the character of sound of an orchestra during this same
period of time.

But you have to start somewhere. And as I indicated in a previous note,
the world of clarinetdom (which is the only one that really interests
me) is out of control with respect to this issue. Anyone is free to do
as they wish. (You know the old saw: "If everyone is somebody, then
nobody is anybody.") Even if every clarinetist immediately began playing
only on the pitched instrument called for, I don't think that the
deviation of sound of contemporary orchestras would snap back to what it
was at the time of that composition's creation.

But because I cannot fix the problem at this moment doesn't mean that
the free wheeling way the clarinet world treats pitched instruments is
not a worthy topic of conversation. Playing a C clarinet when called
for is not going to make the typical symphony sound like a period
orchestra. But when that C clarinet is playing, its distinct sound
character is presented for all to hear in its personal dress, something
that cannot be accomplshed when it is not used. It is the presumption on
the part of many clarinetists that this is not a significant issue that
is the thrust of my charge, not that we will all now dress in powdered
wigs, have instruments that play at A-450, and all made of boxwood.

p.s. As a separate issue, did you order a basset horn such as the one I
have or to what extent will it differ? Bore for example? And are we
going to do the Gran Partitta in Santa Fe over the next few years????

Keith wrote:
>
> Dan
>
> I agree with most of what you say. I've read your various articles on
> the use of the clarinet intended by the composer, and am aware that if I
> play a Bb part on an A (which I won't do unless I really cannot manage
> the fingering in the original) or worse, a C part on a Bb, then I change
> the orchestral palette in a way that I cannot assume would satisfy the
> composers' intentions. And I have a basset clarinet, and a basset horn
> on order, as you know.
>
> But the missing part of your argument that causes me to pause, is that
> there have been many other changes in clarinets and in other
> instruments, which the composer likewise was unaware of when
> orchestrating. You and I both play or have played soprano, basset horn
> and bass parts on modern Boehm instruments; we've picked narrow bore
> basset horns but in the bass case, the bores are also much larger than
> the historical instruments. I recently played a bass from around 1900,
> which was used in the LA symphony in the first part of the 20th Century.
> Its bore was much narrower, and the sound in the clarinet register was
> VERY different from my modern Buffet. It sounded more like a soprano
> clarinet rather than the saxophony character of modern basses in that
> register (there was less difference in the chalumeau). This struck me as
> a MUCH wider difference than that between a modern Bb and A bass. I also
> had the fortune to learn the clarinet on a "simple" (Albert) system.
> When I changed to Boehm, I immediately perceived the different tonal
> quality (especially of the C above the staff), even though I was very
> inexperienced at the time. If you didn't have so many holes drilled in
> your basset horn it would sound different.
>
> Of course, the period instrument movement takes this argument all the
> way. Tony Pay once said on here that the effect of a single period
> instrument was not necessarily very apparent, but the effect of a whole
> ensemble was very different. So even if we are true to the composer's
> intentions in the choice of our instrument, the context in which it is
> heard is very different.
>
> So I would argue that the choice of instrument length, whilst important,
> is but one of the factors that contribute to expressing the composer's
> intentions. I agree it should not be selected arbitrarily. But I reserve
> the right to play and enjoy modern instruments and orchestras as well as
> proper period ones!
>
> Keith Bowen
>

--
***************************
** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
***************************

---------------------------------------------------------------------