Klarinet Archive - Posting 000649.txt from 2004/01

From: Tony@-----.demon.co.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] [clarinet] Articulation for the END OF TIME
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 20:22:24 -0500

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:05:05 -0500, jvarineau@-----.com said:

> 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.

You can, of course, listen to a disc of the composer playing the work. I'd
say that doing that is enough to convince you that our attempt to give the
best performance of a piece is not necessarily wholly about identifying 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.

To my mind, this problem is simplified by accepting that different markings
in different parts need not be thought of as 'discrepancies'. For example,
Stravinsky quite often creates clarity in a legato line by writing staccato
in another, unison part. The result of mixing the sounds of two players
obeying two different notations is what he wants. An extension of this
notion can apply here.

The phenomenon goes much farther back, of course. Mozart, for example, very
often writes different slurs in different parts. It's highly naive to
attempt to rationalise *his* slurs.

> 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.

Your (a) and (b) are not the only way of thinking about it, as the
Stravinsky example shows.

But I accept that a discussion -- or at least, a choice -- is almost always
involved. Just as the balance between the staccato player and the legato
player in the Stravinsky example allows of different results in practice, the
choice between the various blends of clarinet staccato and string legato in,
for example, 'Sept Trompettes' in a particular performance is what will
determine the character of the bars in which those different notations
coexist.

Of course, whether that character contributes to a coherent vision of the
piece can only be judged in context.

> 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.

It seems to me that all of these are unlikely, given the history of the
piece, and the obvious care with which the edition was produced.

But I could be wrong, and I would be interested in hearing anything you
discover.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.demon.co.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Documentation is for people who can't read.

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