Klarinet Archive - Posting 000249.txt from 2004/05

From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: [kl] Re: sound--character
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 07:08:45 -0400

On 11 May, ferengiz=E2de dani=EAl shawqy <rab@-----.de> wrote:

> I am still searching for the real clarinet sound and probably allways w=
ill.

It's interesting that we search. I'd say, along with you, that being in =
this
state of search is a part of being committed to an instrument.

I said recently that I don't discuss my colleagues here. But that's not
because I don't have opinions about how they play. It's rather because I=

have too strong opinions about how they play, being a clarinet player mys=
elf.

Benjamin Britten apparently played through all of Brahms's piano music ev=
ery
few years just to convince himself that there was nothing worthwhile ther=
e.=20
Now, I think this opinion of Brahms is just silly, and probably you do to=
o.=20
But it may not have been silly for Britten. Part of being a composer, fo=
r
some composers, may consist in rejecting what *isn't* interesting music f=
or
them, in order to find their own voice. It's certainly true that there a=
re
some very fluent composers, at home writing pastiche in many styles, who =
seem
to lack individuality in their own music.

Similarly, I expect my professional oboist friends to be quite opinionate=
d
about oboe sound, and reserve the right myself to be attracted to some
clarinet playing and repelled by other clarinet playing, simply on the ba=
sis
of whether or not I think it sounds like *my* 'clarinet'. In fact, it's
essential that I have the predisposition to do this in order to play: as =
I
do, I'm constantly checking and evaluating what I hear against an 'ideal'=
(I
prefer that word to your word, 'real') clarinet sound, always of course i=
n
the context of what else is going on.

The tragedy is, of course, that my own playing very seldom lives up to th=
e
ideal of *my* 'clarinet' -- so I'm in a constant state of dissatisfaction=
:-(

I do my best not to allow all that to influence my judgement when it's no=
t
appropriate -- as when I'm judging a competition, and someone plays in a
style that I don't happen to 'like' -- and I actually count my awareness =
of
my own partiality with regard to the clarinet as a *plus* in assessing
whether or not I'm a good and impartial judge. Being aware of the proble=
m is
the best any of us can do. =20

> A good clarinet is essential (my old F.A. Uebel and the Kruspes may com=
e
> closest, an O. Hammerschmidt is somewhat newer but also quite good) yet=
as
> I said, without perfect mouthpiece (long facing!), reed and even
> reed-twine, no chance in hell.

I think you're pushing it a bit here with the reed-twine;-)

> This is a bit like in ancient Chinese aesthetics, were a certain
> calligrapher is known to have drowned himself in a well after his favou=
rite
> ink maker died. Good ink was not merely black, it was supposed to have =
an
> allmost mysterious quality. People were using ink 500 years old, made
> according to standards long since forgotten by contemporary ink makers,=
who
> were still extremely good as far as I am concerned.

It's easy to be fooled by this sort of thing, of course, even if you don'=
t go
so far as to top yourself.

Since you mention Chinese calligraphy, there's also the story of the Zen
calligrapher who produced a 'perfect' sketch with a broken pencil-stub;
incidentally showing the other character in the story, a crippled old wom=
an,
that her imperfect body didn't determine the quality of the life she live=
d --
that that life *could* be 'perfect', notwithstanding.

> It seems important to retain the highest possible criteria, even if the=
y
> are hardly met with in everyday life.

Absolutely.

> But still I have no doubt, Muehlfeld's Ottensteiner clarinetts are much=

> closer to the "real" clarinet sound then anything made today...

They certainly have some very desirable qualities -- as well as some
imperfections. (I own a pair of reproduction Ottensteiners, copied from
Muhlfeld's, and have played and recorded on an original Ottensteiner.)

> ...and, again, I can't conceil the fact that I often don't even recogni=
se
> as a clarinet when I hear people on Boehm system instruments. Sounds so=

> alien. Some sound like two different instruments, depending on whether =
they
> play chalumeau or clarino registers. I have heard Boehm practicioners w=
ho,
> from the clarino alone, I assumed it was a tarogato or Heckel-clarinet =
they
> where playing...

I don't really believe this -- you can tell when it's 'some clarinet or t=
he
other' even if, as in my experience above, it isn't *your* 'clarinet'.=20

Tony
--=20
_________ Tony Pay =20
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd tony.p@-----.org
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artist=
s
tel/fax 01865 553339
=20
... Mental Floss prevents Moral Decay.

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