Klarinet Archive - Posting 000207.txt from 2006/10

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Improvisation and ornamentation example
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 11:24:48 -0400

I posted a musical example of classical improvisation and
ornamentation yesterday but there has not been any reaction to
it. That's surprising since the subject appears to be of rising
interest for players on this list. I remind you: the link is
http://www.woodwind.org/voi_che_sapete.wma.

One of the factors of significance in this example is because it
is such a simple form, not unlike that of the slow movement of K.
622; you have a very simple melody, a more active middle section
in which the emotions become more passionate, and then the return
to the original melody. Another factor is the fact that the
melody is deliberately unornamented in its original form -- it
couldn't be more simple -- and the tempo is not fast, both of
which give the greatest invitation and opportunity for
imaginative improvisations. A third is that the middle section,
where the singer's breathless emotions are more active in the
original music itself, is very much less ornamented precisely
because its original form is perceived as being sufficiently
elegant and the invitation to improvise is withdrawn at that
point. And the fourth is that there are at least 10 examples of
the prosadic appogiatura in which the end of a phrase is almost
never directly delivered; i.e., there is invariably a deliberate
dissonance that precedes the very consonant ending, which is a
musical way to show that love has a little sourness to go with
the sweet.

If you are not familiar with the original and unornamented aria,
get hold of a copy of Voi Che Sapete as sung by Cherubino in
Marriage of Figaro and listen to the two performances back to
back. It is a song about love sung by a 16 year old boy who has
no idea what is happening to him. He is changing but doesn't
understand the nature of the change. And he is asking two mature
women to explain what is going on.

Finally this: a prosadic appoggiatura (which can be very roughly
translated as "prose that leans upon" is achived when a dissonant
note in inserted in front of a consonant note at the end of a
phrase. For example, if the passage is a simple scale heading
towards a final C, namely "G-F-E-D- C" a prosadic appogiatura
could be inserted before the C and the passage would become "G F
E D D C" with the final D offered after the harmony has changed
for final C. That is what causes the delicious dissonance.

You can learn a lot form this aria. That is why I chose it.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

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