Klarinet Archive - Posting 000354.txt from 2009/01
From: "Antoine Clark" <ACLARK020@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Simple Gifts
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:27:53 -0500
For all of you who were curious about the Inauguration Quartet being
prerecorded or not here is an article from the Columbus Dispatch. This
article came out today. Enjoy!
Not 2 Be Missed
Inaugural quartet was prerecorded
Saturday, January 24, 2009 2:56 AM
By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The revelation that millions of people who saw the inauguration
of President Barack Obama were actually listening to recorded music instead
of the actual performance of the Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman-led quartet has
prompted comparisons to lip-synching and such infamous cases as Ashlee
Simpson's Saturday Night Live debacle and perhaps music's most famous
pantomimes, Milli Vanilli.
But Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on
Inaugural Ceremonies, said she doesn't understand what the fuss is all
about.
"I think this is a whole lot of nothin'," she said yesterday. "These are
world-class performers who are playing in 19-degree weather, and the
technical requirements of their instruments made it impossible for them to
have their music amplified and know that it would be in tune. So they made,
what I think, was probably a difficult decision to play to tape."
Cellist Ma, violinist Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and Metropolitan
Opera clarinet player Anthony McGill performed Air and Simple Gifts, a piece
arranged by John Williams.
Florman said they were indeed playing their instruments (in 28-degree
weather) and not miming their moves. But those who saw the event heard a
track they recorded days before the inauguration.
Don Mischer of Don Mischer Productions, which produced the pre-Inauguration
"We Are One" concert, the past few Super Bowl halftime performances, and two
Olympic ceremonies, said some kind of recorded music is often used at major
events, especially when there are poor weather conditions.
"The main thing is that you want the music to sound good, and there are some
conditions in which the music will not sound good," he said.
Florman said everyone performing at the inauguration, from Aretha Franklin
to the U.S. Marine Band, recorded a version of their performance as a
precaution; that is typical for such events.
But Franklin sang My Country, 'Tis of Thee live, and the band also performed
live.
Mischer recalled his production of the opening ceremonies at the 2002 Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City featuring Ma in a performance with Sting.
Although Sting's vocals were live, what viewers heard was a recorded
performance by the cellist.
"Yo-Yo has got a Stradivarius cello that's worth ... $2 million or $3
million," he said. "We had snow falling that night, we had 17-degree
temperature, we had the wind blowing as high as 20 mph, and that's a very,
very risky environment in which to play an instrument like that and expect
it to sound good. And it's not like someone else played the music; Yo-Yo
played the music."
Mischer said that despite a torrential downpour during Prince's 2007 Super
Bowl performance, the rocker sang live and even played his wireless guitars
live, but the percussion was piped in because of the rain.
Best Wishes,
Antoine Clark
Adjunct Professor of Clarinet/Saxophone
Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
www.kenyon.edu, http://www.kenyon.edu/x17004.xml
Music Royale, Instructor of Woodwinds, Powell, OH
614.793.2222
www.musicroyale.com
Cell: 614.446.4884
Email: clark.919@-----.edu
Bio and Recordings found at: http://www.ilike.com/artist/Antoine+Clark
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom McKay [mailto:tjmckay@-----.edu]
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 6:26 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Simple Gifts
Fred
That sounds great to me. Two different pianists I know asked me today about
doing the inauguration piece, but I would be glad to try the one you
mention, because I was also a bit underwhelmed at first hearing.
Tom
On 1/24/09 6:09 PM, "Fred Jacobowitz" <fbjacobo@-----.net> wrote:
> Tom,
> I have no idea about the Williams, but I know a truly beautiful and
> inspired piece for clarinet, cello and piano. My wife and I (both
> pros) were quite underwhelmed by the Williams, and I was disappointed
> at how poorly the clarinet was treated (musically, that is). If you
> want a folk song setting, we have a real tearjerker arrangement of
> "Shenandoah" by a HS Science teacher (!!) in Pennsylvania named
> Debbie Finestone. Audiences swoon and the parts are easy. While the
> piece is unpublished, I have a recopied manuscript, and the composer
> would probably be flattered beyond belief to have anyone interested
> in performing it.
>
> Fred Jacobowitz
>
> Kol Haruach Klezmer Band
> Ebony and Ivory Duo
>
> You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note.
> ~Doug Floyd
>
> On Jan 24, 2009, at 5:54 PM, Tom McKay wrote:
>
>> Concerning the Air and Simple Gifts (John Williams) performed at the
>> inauguration: Does anyone know if score and/or parts are or will be
>> available? Or how to find out?
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
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