Klarinet Archive - Posting 000273.txt from 2005/07

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fbjacobo@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Balance in Chamber Music
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 23:21:35 -0400

Wayne,
Your questions can be taken a few ways, but It sounds to me like you
want to hear the clarinet more than the music. That is a valid desire
and not to be belittled. However, it has been my experience that when
performing with strings, the clarinet is almost always too loud. If
David Peck managed to stay under the strings, BRAVO FOR HIM! In the
Schubert Octet, the clarinet part is often supposed to be supporting
the strings (specifically the violin) so you shouldn't be really aware
of it more than any other instrument.
Chamber music is about playing in balanced ensemble - not solo. The
musical lines and ideas are paramount. Soloism should rarely rear its
ugly head. If you want to hear more clarinet, you must go to a clarinet
recital or seek out pieces such as the Weber Quintet, which has a huge
clarinet part.
Just a note: In most German Romantic chamber music, the violin has the
premiere roll unless the clarinet is specifically featured, such as in
the Brahms Quintet - and even then, the violin part is virtually as
important as the clarinet part. Thus, in the Schubert, the clarinet
part isn't supposed to be that prominent.

Fred Jacobowitz

Kol Haruach Klezmer Band
Ebony and Ivory Duo
On Jul 25, 2005, at 10:42 PM, Wayne Thompson wrote:

> 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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