Klarinet Archive - Posting 000203.txt from 2002/11

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Why Bb? (was: reverse Mozart)
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 13:25:39 -0500

William Semple wrote:
> Here we go again. Daniel Leeson writes:
>
>
>>How your a clarinet of particular pitch responds to you is a matter with
>>so many variables beyond those of the clarinet itself (your body, your
>>teeth, your sinuses, for example) that how you perceive the physicality
>>of playing would appear to have no standard or even, for that matter, be
>>standarizable.
>
>
>>It's like talking about whether Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto is a
>>better piece than Brahms' 2nd. It's all in the mind of the beholder.
>
>
> To say that one piece is not better than another because its merit is
> strictly in the mind of the beholder belies the unassailable fact that over
> time, certain orchestral pieces, through public opinion, critical notice,
> and adoption by the musical community, ARE considered superior works (sic.,
> "better").

I think that "Yes We Have No Bananas" is a better piece than Beethoven's
9th symphony. The fact that you and 30,000 others think the opposite is
a nice thing, but does not make it true. Goodness, greatness, and other
things that are not really definable, is not a function of popularity or
democracy. It is, as I said earlier, in the mind of the beholder.

>
> I think the issue regarding schools of playing is also a fair one. Surely,
> the traditions at the Vienna Philharmonic as opposed to Chicago are
> distinctive enough to merit discussion; surely various approaches to playing
> an instrument can be accorded the same privilege.
>

Give me 10 specific things in which the traditions of the Vienna Phil
are measurably different from those of the Chicago Symphony. And they
must be measurable. If they are not, you have no business suggesting
that a distinction between the two exist. And while we are at it, what
exactly do you mean by "various approaches to playing" within the
context of Vienna and Chicago?

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