Klarinet Archive - Posting 000092.txt from 2008/07

From: "Daniel Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Once again, a C clarinet issue
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:50:59 -0400

Tim, somehow I am unable to grasp the center of your concern.

On one hand, I have said and continue to say that player created
ornamentation was (and should be today) a part of a performer's bag of
tricks.

On another hand, I try to make players aware that the instrument called for
by the composer is not one of the variables that the performer should feel
free to change at will.

The first item is a matter of performance practice. The second is a matter
of the character of the instrumental sound.

I don't see the contradiction that you allude to. Help me out here and
explain the matter a bit better. Maybe then I will be able to get to heart
of what is troubling you.

Dan Leeson
dnleeson@-----.net
SKYPE: dnleeson

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Roberts [mailto:timr@-----.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 3:45 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Re: Once again, a C clarinet issue

On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:00:37 -0700, "Daniel Leeson"
<dnleeson@-----.net> wrote:
> As part of his discussion, Sean indicated that he had recorded the three
> works on B-flat clarinet instead of the requested C clarinet.
> ...
> Knowing Sean remarkable performance capabilities and his skill to
transpose
> from C clarinet with his eyes closed, I still want to dwell on that
matter.
>
> Even with Sean's outstanding abilities, there is one thing that he is
unable
> to carry over in his performance on B-flat clarinet. Specifically I am
> referring to the unique sonic character of the C clarinet. On the B-flat
> instrument it will be melifluous and sweet to be sure, but it will not
sound
> like a C clarinet, an instrument with a very unique voice.
> ...
> It is true that the request for a C
> clarinet was based almost entirely on the key of the composition, not on
an
> arranger's preference for C clarinet's sound, but that still flies in the
> face of what the arranger requested.
>

I'm glad this subject came up again, because I've been meaning to ask
what is actually a rather impertinent question.

We have heard Dan in the past espouse the need for embellishment in
Mozart-era compositions, saying in rough paraphrase that an 18th Century
composer expected the performer to be almost as much a part of the
music-making as the the composer.

It strikes me that this statement is in direct contradiction to the
position that the composer's choice of instrument is sacred above all.

How do we reconcile this? Does the composer really have the last word?
Should the performer be making fundamental decisions? Where do we draw
the line?

--
Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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