Klarinet Archive - Posting 000633.txt from 2004/01

From: "John P. Varineau" <jvarineau@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] [clarinet] Articulation for the END OF TIME
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:14:25 -0500

After many, many performances of the Quartet for the End of Time over the
past 25 years, I've once again decided to revisit the issue of the
articulation markings in the clarinet part vis-a-vis the bowing in the
string parts. I'm trying to wipe the slate clean of years of various
interpretations from various performances and, as ever trying to get at
what the composer wanted.

Has anybody out there done a careful study of this? Does anybody know of
any decent resources? (I've done a search of Klarinet and to my shock,
this seems to be unplowed territory!) Does the new book by Rebecca
Rischin cover this?

If you've performed the complete work, you've probably noticed that the
clarinet has staccato and slur markings which are not reflected in the
string parts. And there is a fair amount of inconsistency throughout. The
two primary movements for this are the Intermède, and the Danse de la
fureur, pour les sept trompettes. The articulations in Fouillis
d'arcs-en-ciel are virtually 100% consistent, making the inconsistencies
in the other movements even more troublesome.

There can be several explanations for these discrepanicies. I list a
few:

1.) Messiaen knew what he was doing when it came to string bowing and
clarinet articulation, so he gave those articulations to the clarinet in
order to
a.) enable the clarinetist to fit in with the string bowings or b.)
contrast with the string bowings. Either choice will lead to extended
discussion between string and clarinet players because as practiced
today, these articulations and bowings do not match.

2.) Messiaen did not know what he was doing when it came to string
bowing and clarinet articulation leading to a.) and b.) above and
producing even more heated discussion.

3.) The markings were inserted by somebody else who knew what they were
doing, with the blessing of the Composer, leading to a.) and b.) above
and producing more talk time during rehearsal.

4.) The markings were inserted by somebody else who did not know what
they were doing, but with the blessing of the Composer, ibid.

5.) The markings were inserted by a clarinetist who was trying to match
the sound coming from the strings, who either a.)did or b.) did not know
what was going on. These markings by the clarinetist were then inserted
into the printed parts and handed down as gospel from then on.

6.) And on and on, producing all sorts of interesting philosophising
during rehearsal, but not much progress

John Varineau
Associate Conductor, Grand Rapids Symphony
Conductor, Grand Rapids Youth Symphony

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