Klarinet Archive - Posting 000247.txt from 2008/11
From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] After Drucker
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:48:35 -0500
On 9 Nov, "Doug Sears" <dsears@-----.net> wrote:
> Tony, please, could you explain what you mean by the "presentation model of
> what being a musician is"? And what the better model is that you
> presumably have in mind?
Thanks, Doug.
I'd written:
> > ...what does 'play circles round' mean, anyway?
> >
> > It's all part of this CRAP, PRESENTATION MODEL of what being a musician
> > is. VERY American in style.
First of all, I want to say something about how 'EXCELLENCE OF PLAYING in a
style' relates to the CHARACTERISATION of a style. I'll argue, perhaps
seemingly paradoxically, that there is something important about a style that
is not necessarily well-characterised by the best exponents of that style.
Here's an analogy: although many of you won't have played both French and
German clarinets, you'll at least be aware that they have different
characters.
But, interestingly, the best players of each instrument don't make such a
difference very apparent. A Karl Leister or a Sabine Meyer, playing on
German instruments, differs from excellent players of French instruments
primarily because of their personal take on the music they play. The fact
that they play a different system is not so obvious.
Whereas, common-or-garden German players sound much more different from
common-or-garden French players. That's because the difficulties of playing
the German instrument are different from the difficulties of playing the
French instrument -- the instruments GO WRONG in different ways. And you can
hear this 'going wrong' more clearly in less expert playing. (I remember
Leister telling me, "But, *I* am not a GERMAN clarinet player!")
Now, in talking about national styles in a much more general way, independent
both of instruments and even of music itself, this idea can yield an insight,
I think.
Consider two opposite poles of how orchestras are conceived: consider the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and contrast it with any American orchestra of
your choice.
The VPO regularly raises hackles on this BBoard. And I would say that's
because it has a particular model -- a system -- of how an orchestra should
be constituted, that is at odds with the American model. It is essentially
generated from within; there is a strong element of apprenticeship involved,
and often a strong line of succession between orchestra members and their
pupils.
What that has meant is that it's difficult for an outsider to enter the VPO.
And -- what outrages particularly the Americans here -- it has also meant
that there are very few women in the VPO. I don't know why exactly that is;
but I can imagine how the system makes the process of their entry more
gradual than it is in the rest of the world, even if in the end, it will be
inevitable.
Contrast this with the American system. Auditions behind screens; the idea
of there being a BEST player to be established by such auditions; EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY for everyone regardless of sex, colour or creed.
Now, how do these two systems go wrong?
Well, in the first case, there's obviously the danger of nepotism, of
discrimination, and of racism. There's the danger of the system being
controlled by 'the worst sort of Viennese' -- rather than the best sort of
Viennese.
But in the second case, there's the implication that we may take seriously
the incoherent notion of someone being able to 'play rings round' an
incumbent -- that WHAT THEY CAN DO IN ISOLATION is the most important thing.
We may then go on to think the 'player of rings-around' to BE MORE WORTHY OF
THE INCUMBENT'S PLACE. In short, there's a danger that the system may come
to be subject to the ignorant mouthings-off of 'the worst sort of American'
-- rather than the best sort of American.
This is a very important danger, because it trivialises what an orchestra --
and music -- is all about. For all its faults, the Viennese system
understands and embodies the subtlety and integrity of musical performance.
It doesn't mistake 'being able to show off effectively' with 'being able to
contribute to an organic whole'. It makes the relational nature of the
orchestra paramount.
I don't say that good American orchestras actually follow the letter of what
I called the 'American system', and I don't want to suggest that what I've
called the attitude of 'the worst sort of American' is exclusive to America.
It lives all over the world. But it lives, perniciously, particularly in
societies -- like America -- that honour individual enterprise and ambition,
and particularly in societies that market individual success.
I have myself made some solo recordings, and done a bit of solo work. Yet,
I'd say that those things are the least of my achievements in music. (I
don't even like some of them.) What I think of as my best work is almost
invisible to most of the people on this list. It includes trying to play (by
turns) supportive and principal roles in orchestral and chamber music. It
includes being PROUD of being inaudible on occasion. It includes working
towards understanding something of the style of a piece, so as not to ruin
what others do. And it includes being despondent when some broadcast or the
other reveals me to have failed to do any of that.
So, I'm horrified to read here -- for example -- of the adoption by some
American bands of the principle that a player down the line can at any time
challenge the current first-chair player to a 'solo-duel'. And I deplore the
acceptance and even applauding of chamber-music performances in which (to my
mind) the performers play, not the music, but primarily their instruments,
effectively showing off trivial aspects of their skills to the detriment of
the whole.
It's not that I want to pat myself on the back, or blame others.
It's just that how we habitually speak shows how we think about music, which
in turn influences how we play; and we should notice that. I count myself
fortunate to have been properly brought up.
Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE
tel/fax 01865 553339
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