Klarinet Archive - Posting 000155.txt from 2005/03

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] German sound
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 22:09:06 -0500

I would think this brings up an important point. A certain style can become
part of a "region" simply because of a particularly popular and or
effective teacher/player. I can't say that I ever hear a player and think
"German" or "French" or "American", but people who studied with the same
teachers (or grand teachers) certainly have very similar characteristics.
This seems obvious at face value.

What makes today so much more varied versus 100 years ago is the ease of
mobility people have. I can hop on a jet and be in England in 5 hours. I
can hear any number of schools of clarinet playing 10 miles away in NYC. It
is relatively reasonable for me to study with anyone in any part of the world.

Add to that the ubiquitousness of high quality recordings and it seems
silly to try characterize a sound in terms of region in today's world.
We're certainly long past the days of one region having one school of
thought to which most everyone subscribed.

I can, however, imagine a time (prior to recording technology) where the
difference between a German clarinet player and a French clarinet player
was very obvious to the few people who regularly traveled and listened for
such things. Perhaps what Dan rails against (rightfully so) is the last
vestiges of a bygone age.

-Adam

At 07:40 PM 3/3/2005 +0000, sarah elbaz wrote:
>When I speak English I sound like an Israeli. When I speak Hebrew I have
>a French accent.
>When I speak French I have a teribble accent. But when I play the
>clarinet.... I sound like my teacher (who was born in Germany).

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