Klarinet Archive - Posting 000559.txt from 2002/11

From: CGBeale@-----.com
Subj: [kl] McLane's Description of His Sound
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 23:56:27 -0500

Russell Harlow wrote:

I asked David Weber recently how Ralph McLane spoke
about sound and concept of sound. He told me that McLane
( said by many to have had one of the most beautiful of
clarinet sounds) talked about "Gold" and "Silver" in the tone,
it had to be like "Chocolat" you had to be able to reach up
and touch the sound.

In Reminiscences he wrote for the Grenadilla Society issue of McLane's
recording of the Brahms Trio, David Weber also wrote:

"He [McLane] would grab my arm sometimes as we were playing and he'd say,
"You have to feel the tone; it has to grab. There has to be substance in the
core. It has to be a wet, supple sound" (as opposed to dry and hard)."

When I listen to McLane's recordings and compare his sound with some other
clarinet sounds I've heard, I think I can understand why he used the words
"grab", "substance in the core", "wet" and "supple". Given McLane's
reputation for interpersonal skills I can imagine that he would have had some
choice words for anyone who asked him to define in words precisely what he
meant by those words. However, I suspect he could have demonstrated what he
meant.

Also, did you know that McLane's teacher, Gaston Hamelin, "...used a nasal,
vibrato-clad quality of tone..."? Those are not my words but those of Pamela
Weston which she penned for the September 2002 issue of The Clarinet
magazine. It never occurred to me to use those words to describe Hamelin's
performance of the Debussy Premier Rhapsodie, his only recording.

Clarence Beale

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