Klarinet Archive - Posting 000664.txt from 2004/08

From: henderk2@-----.ca
Subj: RE: [kl] (DerHirt auf dem Felsen) /Shephard on the Rock
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 14:44:06 -0400

Mr Leeson:
As usual, your insights are thoughtful and useful. I have indeed played the
piece, and under guidance of a teacher who really loved it..but that was many
years ago!
Thanks again!

Ken H

Quoting dnleeson <dnleeson@-----.net>:

> While this work is invariably performed with the voice and
> clarinet standing as equal solo coparticipatns, I think that the
> clarinetist should be sitting and not in a particularly prominent
> position either. While it is a prominent voice, of course, the
> solo belongs to the singer. It is she who conveys the text and,
> by her body gestures and expressions some elements of the meaning
> of what she is singing about. As an obligatto part, the clarinet
> need not be thrust into the limelight as if he or she shared it
> fully with the solo voice.
>
> I must ask you a question. Since you have chosen to inquire of
> this list if anyone has insights into the piece, can I assume
> that you have not played it? If that is the case, I urge you to
> find a teacher who can share the work with you, and make sure
> that the teacher has played it too. And failing that, try to get
> hold of the recording with Benita (or Caterina) Valente, Harold
> Wright, and Rudolph Serkin.
>
> I also point out that the work is still from the period in which
> invention was expected. The first 3/4 of the piece is an
> opportunity for the clarinetist, but in the last 1/4, the allegro
> has almost no opportunity for invention.
>
> The toughest note occurs when the clarinetist opens up the
> allegro and plays the them. The high note "e" is the one to
> watch. There is a terrific fingering that allows one to go from
> the g to the e, it involving the a-flat key played with the ball
> of the left hand pointer finger, but I have forgotten if anything
> else is up or down. It's been a long time.
>
> The several trills in the slow section demand your attention.
> When these trills were played in the late 1800s, it was the
> custom to start them slow and get faster. That is a Brahmsian
> trill and, in my opinion, has no place in the music of Schubert.
> There the execution of the trill was immediate but not like a
> speeding bullet.
>
> Good luck. It is exquisite music.
>
> Dan Leeson
> DNLeeson@-----.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: henderk2@-----.ca
> [mailto:henderk2@-----.ca]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 10:56 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] (DerHirt auf dem Felsen) /Shephard on the Rock
>
>
>
>
> I've been asked to play the Schubert "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
> (Shepherd on the
> Rock)" in a friend's vocal recital. Does anyone have any insights
> or advice to
> share?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Ken Henderson
> Truro NS Canada
>
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