Klarinet Archive - Posting 000141.txt from 2004/10

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mahler
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 23:03:39 -0400

Mahler may not have been crazy, but he did spend time on Freud's couch, no?
It seems at least reasonable to pose the question. I'm fairly sure I've
read there were times where Mahler himself felt he might be mentally ill.

I do believe there are numerous examples in Mahler's music where he, for
lack of a better term, "stretched" the rules of orchestration. I can't name
chapter and verse, but I recall a low C on the piccolo, perhaps a low Bb on
the flute and perhaps a few notes below the range of one or more string
instruments (I'm thinking viola, but I can't be sure). I'm currently
without my scores (and don't relish the task of searching through them,
anyway) so perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the subject than I can
confirm or correct me. It does make one wonder.

One theory may be he really didn't care about the limitations of his
present day instruments (under the Beethoven-esque "My job is to write the
music, not worry about whether it can be played or not" theory). Another
theory is that he may have had musicians with experimental instruments. Low
Bb flutes are not unheard of, for example. My suspicion is, since Mahler
lived in a time of great change in instrument technology, he may have
simply assumed instruments would continue progressing to meet his musical
requirements. I find it unlikely that he merely made a mistake, but I
consider it a possibility. I find even more unlikely that he did these
things because of mental illness, but anything is possible.

Anyway, I just don't buy the the composer is always right philosophy. Good
luck playing Bolero on Ravel's indicated instrumentation. Composers make
mistakes. More importantly, copyists make lots of mistakes. I would
suggest, however, people had better be able to make a good case to justify
changing what the composer wrote. Reasons like "There is no evidence to
show this instrument ever existed except on paper" (Ravel and his F
sopranino saxophone) work well. As I undoubtedly learned from Dan many
years ago the first time I was a member of this list "Mahler would have
done it this way if he had access to [insert instrument]" just doesn't cut it.

Mark's question "Why write for A clarinet in 6 flats when there are other
options?" seems valid. Certainly tone color is a potential answer, but are
there any other possible reasons? Mahler appears to have had difficultly
with the instrumentation/orchestration and revised it many times, isn't it
possible an error could have crept in?

-Adam

At 11:58 AM 10/5/2004 -0700, Dan Leeson wrote:
>Mark, I think that anyone who approaches Mahler's music with a
>hypothesis that Mahler was crazy and did not know what he was
>doing is in serious trouble. I have played Mahler 5 with six
>clarinets on a number of occasions including the two bass
>clarinets, though I did not have a D clarinet. I had to use an
>E-flat and transpose.
>
>There is not a shred of evidence that Mahler chose those
>instruments for any reason other than his knowledge of orchestral
>sound and what those clarinet types contributed to it. Now you
>if have some other information about his motivation, I'd like to
>hear it. Alternatively, you might play the work, get some
>experience in it, and then share your thoughts with us.
>
>Right now, you are not in a position of advantage with those of
>us who have had the privilege of playing that work, sometimes on
>multiple occasions over a period of 30 years.

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