Klarinet Archive - Posting 000371.txt from 2004/08
From: Andy Raibeck <klari_1@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] K. 581 performance practice
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 23:35:53 -0400
Dan, thank you for your thoughtful reply. It does indeed place things in
perspective.
> Now if none of the players has the imagination to create
> intelligent (and not overdone) improvisations, then maybe you
> should consider doing the Weber quintet which requires much less
> imagination than 581).
What do you think of modern performances of 581? I own several recordings,
including Tony Pay's. They mostly all take the repeats, but in following along
with the score, I don't notice any improvisation (except for the little cadenza
that Tony adds near the end of the fourth movement, just before the main theme
is reprised). I also heard it played live at this year's Oklahoma Clarinet
Symposium, and though I didn't have the score to follow along, I don't believe
there was any improvisation; yet it was a lovely performance.
While I have not your expertise in this matter, it does seem a bit harsh to
effectively say, "if you can't improvise then don't play the piece", and thus
deny the joys of playing Mozart to many. (And for what it's worth, Weber just
doesn't do it for me.) But with that said, I can't deny that the ability to
improvise on those repeated passages would make things more interesting.
> It always amazes me that players of the 20th century don't know
> very much about what 18th century players did, and nowhere is
> this more true than in the use of repeats.
Let me take a moment (or, rather, a few moments) to give you some background on
myself. I studied the clarinet from the 7th through 12th grades. I started
taking private lessons in... I think it may have been 9th grade. I studied for
a year with Ken Legace, then for three years with Henry Larsen, both at the
Hartt College of Music. My instruction did not include much in the way of music
history, but was focused more on learning the instrument, with some study of
the literature. I suspect that, for better or for worse, my experience is not
unusual in this regard. After graduating high school in 1980, I *almost*
majored in music, and at the time had to decide between invitations to attend
the University of Connecticut as a computer engineering major or the Hartt
College as a music major. I opted for computers, and despite thinking that I
could still play on the side, my clarinet ended up gathering dust for the next
22 years.
In 2001, overhearing a chance conversation between two colleagues at work, I
learned that one of my colleagues played viola in The Foothills Phil, a local
intergenerational orchestra here in Tucson, AZ. For whatever reason, that
rekindled my interest in playing, though I did nothing further with it for
another year. In the summer of 2002, I dusted off my clarinet and started
playing again, and have been rapidly making up for lost time. I have the good
fortune to be able to study with Carol Christofferson, who is not only a fine
musician, but a wonderful educator. She not only coaches me on my playing, but
I have recently started down the path of learning music theory, history, and
pedagogy (I'd like to teach at some time in the future). At this time I am
preparing for an end-of-year recital that will feature the Castelnuovo-Tedesco
sonata.
Bearing all of this in mind, I do not know why you should be amazed at my lack
of 18th-century performance practice. I'm sure that many players are in my same
situation. Reading this list, asking questions, and participating when I think
I have something of value to add (off-topic posts notwithstanding) helps
further my understanding.
> Did you really think that those repeats were there for looks????
If I did, do you really think I'd have bothered to ask in the first place?
Thanks again,
Andy
http://mail.yahoo.com
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