Klarinet Archive - Posting 000214.txt from 2005/03

From: ormo2ndtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: RE: [kl] German sound
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 15:08:02 -0500

Dan wrote:

> was Simeon Bellison a German player
> because he executed on an Oehler system,
> though born and trained in Russia, and
> eventually wound up in the NY Phil in his
> middle age? Is Giora Friedman a French
> player though born in South America, raised
> in Israel, and later in life became a
> spectacular klezmer artist? How are these
> cases defined?

For me, this is the key question. Are you interested in examining the
*sound* or the performer's life history?

Are you interested in whether *any* sound can be meaningfully named with
words --- even with a totally contrived named such as "muofrast"? This
amounts to the same question as whether "dark" is a useful word when
discussing timbre. Or are you interested in whether a particular life
history affects the musicians' sounds?

===
I think that most of the discussion here is caused by not separating
these two questions. They are different issues!
===

Given the mobility that is (and was, even in Mozart's time) available to
human beings, the 'life history' approach does not make sense to me.

I think VPO is a particularly good example because (as far as I know)
they put real limits on how a musician is allowed to play. Yet I'm
sure that they receive applications from all over the world. So the
issue is whether their sound can be named reliably, not whether their
members come from a particular geographical area or culture.

You've already pointed out to me that Mozart wanted to be considered
German despite his Italianate upbringing. Which is he? Italian or
German? Yet... do his compositions have a unique 'Mozart-ean' sound?

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