Klarinet Archive - Posting 000764.txt from 2003/02

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Shepherd on the Rock
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 15:36:00 -0500

On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 21:36:41 -0800, deal5@-----.net said:

> Your comments on the Sibelius are telling. I too have purely
> emotional, or is it physical, responses to music which make me well up
> with unexpected tears. (Schubert is often a provoker) Emotionally, I
> cannot do the diminuendo that we have been discussing in The Shepherd
> on the Rock in bars 14 to 13 from the end. To me it's a bit too
> precious, almost a conceit to lose energy at this spot. You CAN make
> it work, but is it right?

You know, Arturo, if we were together with clarinets in our hands, I bet
we could easily agree -- well, perhaps not agree, but I think you'd be
less unhappy about what I'm proposing, even if you still wanted your
crescendo. The trouble is the word, 'diminuendo', which I would have
been better off not using, because it has the wrong connotations:
'precious', 'conceit', 'lose energy' and so on.

Let me try one last time.

Shout at the top of your voice, "I LOVE you!"

("I HATE you!" would be an even better example, perhaps, because it
contains no hint at all of any of the connotations you mention above.
But it doesn't fit with the Schubert, so...)

Now, notice that the end of the syllable 'I', just before 'LOVE', is
different from the beginning of the syllable 'I'.

What is the difference? Is it lighter? Do we 'do a diminuendo' on the
'I', in order to do whatever we do during it? (You might want to say,
well yes, but....)

Now, do the same thing, but this time hang about on the 'I', so that
whoever it is you're saying it to has to......WAIT for the 'LOVE' to
arrive.

"I.......LOVE you!"

(You can try the same thing on "I........HATE you!" if you want to
really confuse anyone else in the house:-)

It's whatever happens on the 'I' as you say the phrase at full throttle
that I'm after on that Eb in the Shepherd.

A comma works too, if -- and I agree only if -- it's done right:

"I......, LOVE you!"

And in the Shepherd, the arrival on the E natural/LOVE moment is a
collaborative effort between all three players. The fact that our ear
is drawn to the soprano towards the end of our 'I' helps, I'd say.

What do you think?

Tony
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