Klarinet Archive - Posting 000136.txt from 2009/10

From: Michael Nichols <mrn.clarinet@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] New articles published on the web!
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:02:05 -0400

Jonathan Cohler (in his article on Brahms) wrote:

"This is significant, because, with relatively few notable exceptions,
in the subsequent 100 years, very few clarinetists used vibrato, and,
as a result, expressiveness in clarinet playing went through a long
fallow period."

There are more than a few people who would disagree with that
statement, I think. :-)

Now, as for Muhlfeld, it may very well be that Muhlfeld did use
vibrato, but I would be surprised if he employed continuous vibrato.
I question whether Muhlfeld's use of vibrato was limited to the
"gypsy" section of the Adagio mvt. of the quintet, since the unnamed
person Brymer cites seems to have been referring specifically to the
gypsy section of the Adagio and there is apparently some support for
the notion that Brahms asked for *that specific section* to be played
with vibrato by the entire ensemble. (I read a web article at
http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/brahms/brahms.htm that cites
another reference for this proposition--I have not consulted the cited
reference, but it sounds like a legitimate one, at least--it would be
worth following up on.) That would also suggest that Brahms did not
expect the ensemble to play with continuous vibrato, since he
specifically had to ask the ensemble to use vibrato in this particular
section. It would also more easily explain how the listener Brymer
mentions in his book would have had occasion to compare Muhlfeld's
vibrato to that of Joachim (since Joachim was not in the habit of
using much vibrato).

Further, there is additional evidence that Brahms did not favor the
use of continuous vibrato (at least in string playing) because of what
he wrote to Joachim about his fondness of open strings (which is cited
as a footnote to the web article I provided a link to--in this case,
however, we can be confident that these are Brahms' own words, since I
found the letter in a book of Brahms' letters published by Oxford
University Press: "Johannes Brahms: life and letters," on page 499).

Anyway, that's just a theory of mine, but it seems at least as likely
as the theory that Muhlfeld used continuous vibrato in his playing.
Most violinists of that day would not have used continuous vibrato--we
know Joachim didn't because he taught against its use (and you can
listen to recordings of Joachim on YouTube and hear the lack of
vibrato [and frequent use of portamento] for yourself). HOWEVER, it
does seem plausible to me that Brahms might have suggested that the
gypsy portion of the quintet be played with vibrato as a special
effect to make it sound more mysterious or "gypsy-like," especially on
the long, sustained notes in that section. That would explain the
comment in the Brymer book while not ignoring the fact that continuous
vibrato was not part of the usual performance practice of the day.

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