Klarinet Archive - Posting 000271.txt from 2005/07

From: Wayne Thompson <wthompson222@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Balance in Chamber Music
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 22:43:45 -0400

List,
I don't know if this is a large question or a trivial
question; you all can tell me. As I've described
before, I am an amateur, with a little chamber
experience at University thirty years ago. I haven't
a teacher to talk to about this.
I heard David Peck and others perform the Schubert
Octet the other night at a concert of the San Luis
Obispo (California, USA) Mozart Festival. I wanted
more clarinet; I wanted to hear more articulation from
the clarinet. David Peck, by reputation, and from
what I heard, is a wonderful player; I do not want to
criticize his playing. But to my taste, the clarinet
was too lagato, and too 'sweet'. It did not match the
1st violin when it seemed the music was contrasting
the two voices; it did not seem to me to even have the
prominance or clarity of the bassoon when the winds
were playing together.

My questions:
Is it common for clarinets to not play out enough in
chamber works with strings?
I'm thinking that perhaps, due to the nature of the
strings, that a group that feels balanced to the
performers, may not be balanced at a distance. Or
that the clarinet timbre doesn't carry with distance
as well. Or, being a festival, the group had too
little rehearsal time to find the correct balance. Or
maybe Mr. Peck simply misjudged? Or, finally, perhaps
I like clarinets so much, I want them over played. I
heard Michelle Zukovsky play in a church a few years
ago in San Diego, and I remember wishing she were
louder, also. I wonder if often clarinet players err
on the side of softness more than they err on the side
of projection?

Wayne Thompson

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