Klarinet Archive - Posting 000795.txt from 2004/10

From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart, Don Giovanni, and Tony Pay
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 12:27:16 -0400


-----Original Message-----
From: dnleeson [mailto:dnleeson@-----.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 10:15 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] Mozart, Don Giovanni, and Tony Pay

It is not the only case of him writing for clarinets in this key.
There is one section of one of the Handel arrangements that also
puts the clarinet sin 4 flats, but by that time, it was legal so
he did it.

I advise the list that Keith Bowen (whose note is below) did the
Non piu di fiori witha soprano at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, and did a very splendid performance of it, too. That's
why he was so interested in Tony's perspective of the piece.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

Dan,

After listening to Tony's wonderful performance of Non piu di fiori this
week, I went back and watched the video I had taken of Keith Bowen's
performance last year at UNLV...and my initial impression of his work was
confirmed. Keith did a wonderful job...as well as the student vocalist and
the wonderful accompanist provided by UNLV.

Thanks to Tony for keeping Mozart so alive and vital for all of us. He is
both thoughtful and clever....and a player of the first degree. It's nice of
the BBC to post these past concerts. It allows far more exposure and
opportunity for audience world wide.

As far as Mozart "with a beat"....

(Seems to me) If children are enrolled in a music class and a teacher
introduces "classic" music (from any time period) composed by the best
composers, and the instructor believes that they must introduce this music
using a distortion of the original music, (say by adding a funky beat),
something has been missed in the educational process. I don't believe that
baiting and switching is the best way to make ANY kind of sell.

Children know early on the difference between classical forms of music and
popular forms of music. Trying to get children/people to
like/enjoy/understand/perform the form opposite from their comfortable and
normal experience is not something a formal curriculum is set to accomplish.
If the kids are in a class....a formal music class (say band) and the
curriculum for this class is well thought out and well executed, the kids
will have exposure to many forms of music. Most good public school
curriculums include introduction of music from different historical times as
well as from different cultures. (This is not to say that many band
directors follow a quality curriculum...even if it's handed to them on a
silver platter) I would encourage instructors to introduce all forms of
music/art in their original construction. If the kids want to go on to be
writers, composers, arrangers or performers....if their teachers have done
what they are entrusted to do...(what they are mostly responsible for)...the
teacher will have empowered their students by giving them the fundamental
tools needed for working in whatever area of interest they might have.
Hopefully, in the end, also help the student establish the discipline needed
to get the job done...what ever job that may be. Even if that job is to sit
at a desk and enjoy listening to Tony Pay play Mozart on period instruments
(without a funky beat). I thank my former teachers for having left out that
part about Mozart using a drum kit backup. It might have marked me for life
and left me with certain distorted expectations when I was listening to Tony
perform this week.

"Hey Tony, how come you didn't play it with a beat. Ya know, like I heard it
performed in school when I was a kid"? I can hear the demands now....

And as an aside...(not Mozart): My impression of the New World Symphony has
completely changed now that I've seen it performed (the "right" way) on the
marching field at half time. I never knew that this work was originally
written for football half time shows! How dare they (the thieving
arrangers?) make such a rockin' piece of music into movie music after the
fact! ;-)

My question is: are teachers still entrusted to teach...or are teachers
expected to just be exclusively entertaining?

Forest Aten

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