Klarinet Archive - Posting 000409.txt from 2005/02

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] to Dan Leeson - diminutions
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 13:28:38 -0500

It is difficult to conclude that a double dot over a half note
would be an invitation to improvise on that note. There are
several things that mitigate against, but anything could happen I
suppose.

If that really were Mozart's intention, then one wonders why he
does not use the diminution abbreviation more. Wherever else he
uses it, its meaning is obvious in context.

Also, there is not much you can do with a half note in terms of
improvising on it. Mozart improvisations are more attuned to
material that is repeated, and also to connect the ends of large
leaps.

Finally this: I can't find any Mozart work that comes to my mind
that uses that symbol in such an isolated fashion which also
occurs in a way where improvisations would be suitable. He uses
that symbol as an abbreviation for repetition EVERYWHERE,
including for the basset horns (for about 4 measures straight) in
the theme of the sixth movement of 361.

Bottom line, your idea is a novel one and I salute you for it,
but I don't think it works

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Ormondtoby Montoya [mailto:ormo2ndtoby@-----.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 10:05 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] to Dan Leeson - diminutions

Dan, while I was searching for something else, I chanced upon an
article
in Harvard Music Dictionary about diminutions.

What caught my eye was the combination of:

(a) "diminution" has the same effect as the double dots that you
noticed
in the Winterthur fragment, and

(b) diminution was occasionally considered to be an allowed form
of
ornamental improvisation. The dictionary article is more than a
page
long and discusses aspects of this in detail.

My thought is: Could Mozart have used the double dots (instead
of
writing out separate notes) in order to indicate that a small
amount of
improvisation was invited?

The dictionary's article does not mention a double or quadruple
dot
notation, but the article made me think about the possibility?

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