Klarinet Archive - Posting 000611.txt from 2004/08

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart Quintet Question for Dan and Tony
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 19:18:40 -0400

In general and in several specifics, I'm in agreement with what
Tony said. But I also want to add some general rules that are
consistent with his (and my) thoughts.

The more elaborate the music, the less the opportunity for
invention.

The faster the music, the less the opportunity for invention.

The purpose of invention is to decorate the music, not the
performer.

The presence of a repeat, in and of itself, does not mean that
one is obliged to invent. It is simply an invitation that one may
chose not to always accept.

Less is always better than more.

Like good jazz improvisation, it takes a long while to get it
right. It is unlikely that one will do it well the first time
round.

Because most classically trained musicians do not get any
training in classical improvisation, it is not surprising that so
few do it well.

The purpose of improvisation is not to make the music more
beautiful (though that will happen if the player is sensitive and
successful). Few of us are in a position to make Mozart's music
more beautiful, particularly with a skill that requires
instantaneous creativity. The pupose of improvisation is to
allow the performer to become part and parcel of the creative
process.

Concentrate on things that go to the tonic. Every time Mozart
winds up on the tonic, think of six different ways to do exactly
that.

A simple problem to thing about. The 4th measure of 622 has the
clarinet going from a C to a B-natural. How many ways can you
think of to get from C to B-natural by inserting one note?
Here's one -- go up to the d and then to the B-natural. Now find
10 ways to do that with the insertion of one note. Probably 7 of
them are not so hot. Then figure out how to get from C to
B-natural with two notes, three, four. Now trill on the C and
then find a graceful way to get to the B-natural. When you get
done with that exercize, you may have found a dozen things you
like, and a gross of things you don't like.

You have made a beginning.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Shaw, Kenneth R. [mailto:krshaw@-----.com]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 2:37 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Mozart Quintet Question for Dan and Tony

For Dan and Tony -

I've re-read the discussion of repeats in the Mozart Quintet but
am
unclear on whether you would repeat the second half of the first
movement. Repeat? Or no repeat?

If you would repeat, and observing Dan's distinction between
ornamentation and invention, where is invention possible in the
second
half?

The descending arpeggio figure from the clarinet's first entrance
becomes the subject of a development by the strings, with the
clarinet
doing only simple ascending and descending arpeggios. It's
tempting to
try something different there, but the texture is so thick that,
for me,
it would be difficult to invent anything that wouldn't make the
passage
indigestible.

I'm also unsure about the rest of the second half. Mozart
already makes
variations from the first half, and there are none of the
semi-blank
sections that Mozart left, for example, in his piano concertos,
where he
merely left a few guidelines and made it up as he went along
during the
performance.

And to re-ask the question, if I find no opportunities for
invention in
the second half, does that mean that at least when I perform it,
I
shouldn't amek the repeat?

Best regards.

Ken Shaw

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