Klarinet Archive - Posting 000554.txt from 2003/07

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: ClarinetFest
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 12:24:52 -0400

Michael=A0Norsworthy wrote:

Shall we continue playing the same handful of pieces at EVERY
ClarinetFest?

No, we should not. In fact, my post included an important statement:

"The opening performance with a wide variety of percussion + clarinet
was great fun. =A0 It was real music."

I really enjoyed this above-mentioned piece of music, which was artistic
and contemporary and fun. I *do* get bored with hearing the same old
stuff, and like most of us, I write music for myself on occasion. I
can tolerate an *occasional* piece of atonal or serial or whatever. My
complaint was *too much of it*, and too much that lacked identifiable
melody or harmony or meter of any sort (to my ear, at least).

You may be interested in a quote from an off-list conversation between
me and someone else. Perhaps this will give you a more complete idea
of why I complained. I'll quote only my portion of the conversation
since it was off-list:

"It was the lack of melody [I should have said 'and meter' as well] - of
notes that connected with each other - that made it ugly (to me). =A0
Two ladies sitting next to me were ooh'ing and aah'ing about how
creatively he used his instruments. =A0 They said such things as: "He
knows exactly where to place his bell on the drumhead in order to get
exactly the sound he wants, doesn't he? exactly how rapidly to draw his
bell across the membrane, isn't he creative?", etc etc etc. =A0 I kept
my silence as long as I could, but eventually I had to ask one of them:
"Doesn't it matter to you whether the notes form a melody or not?" =A0
They gave me the most sour look. =A0 I suppose I was out of line to
interrupt their conversation uninvited, but music requires melody of
some sort. =A0 Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo may have some strange
stuff, but you can hear a musical structure in it."

I also enjoy the Libby Larsen compositions that I've heard, which are
blends of synthesizer + acoustic clarinet. The same for "Five Seasons"
by Eddie Daniels, and it doesn't bother me that he mic'ed (miked) his
clarinet this year. But these pieces are 'real music' by anyone's
definition. There was (imo) enough stuff this year that wasn't 'real
music' to (as I"ve stated already) drive me out of the auditorium on one
occasion.

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