Klarinet Archive - Posting 000142.txt from 2009/10

From: Michael Nichols <mrn.clarinet@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] New articles published on the web!
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:43:13 -0400

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 9:57 PM, Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.org> wrote:
> At 3:02 PM -0500 10/12/09, Michael Nichols wrote:

> My article didn't discuss "continuous" vibrato, because, first and foremost,
> it is a meaningless term. Nobody does now, or has ever employed, a
> "continuous" vibrato on any instrument (except perhaps the motor-driven
> vibraphone :-)).

Well, OK. I'll concede that that the term "continuous vibrato" isn't
that descriptive, but it is the term that I've seen used the most
often for the technique. We could always make up a new name for it,
such as "habitual vibrato" or "non-ornamental vibrato" or something
else. I think you know what I'm talking about, though--it's the
customary use of vibrato on all or most sustained notes.

> The quote refers to three independendent things about Muhlfeld's playing.
> The reference to vibrato has nothing to do with the gypsy section of the
> piece. Neither does the "fiery technique" for that matter. By extension of
> your logic, the "fiery technique" and "warm tone" comments would apply only
> to the gypsy section as well, and this clearly makes no sense.

Well, I still question to what extent Brymer's source is recalling the
performance as a whole as opposed to particular portions of the
performance, specifically the gypsy section. The thing is that we
don't know for sure, and we can't be sure of how accurately Brymer has
quoted his source (it is hearsay, after all). I think the comment
about "fiery technique" was, in fact, a recollection of the
performance of the gypsy section of the quintet, because that seems to
be the one spot in the piece where the clarinetist gets to really
display *fiery* technique. Sure, there are a few quick runs here and
there in other parts of the quintet, but that section is, in my
opinion, the only part where the word "fiery" really seems to apply.

And while, as you say, the gypsy section is characterized by a lot of
quick runs (where no perceptible vibrato is possible), those runs are
pretty much all preceded by sustained notes, which I think might sound
more gypsy-like if played with vibrato--in other words, I see a
musical reason for using vibrato at that particular section of the
piece (similar to the reason I would want to play the opening solo in
Rhapsody in Blue with vibrato--and there, as with the Brahms quintet,
you don't play the gliss with vibrato, but the high C you do). So, if
we assume this other source I mentioned is correct and Brahms
specifically asked for the ensemble to use vibrato in this section of
the piece, perhaps this section is what Brymer's source is referring
to when he talks about Muhlfeld's use of vibrato. It would certainly
help explain why Muhlfeld's vibrato was "wide." Most of the time I've
heard classical music tastefully played with vibrato (that includes
your recordings), the vibrato has been relatively narrow. A wide
vibrato would seem more appropriate to ethnic or popular music,
or...classical music intended to evoke a particular ethnic or popular
style (such as a gypsy style).

For instance, Muhlfeld's use of vibrato in this context might have
been somewhat like your interpretation of the Bernstein Sonata mvt. 2
I recently watched on YouTube, where you make use of an occasional
heaviness in the articulation/accents and portamento between notes (as
well as vibrato of varying width) to evoke a jazz style. It's
"classical" music (although perhaps "art music" is a better term to
use for Bernstein), but because it contains some elements of popular
music, a performer might want to apply some of the techniques employed
in popular music in order to bring out the popular-music flavor, which
is what you did. It doesn't mean you always play that way--I've heard
some of your other recordings, so I know you don't apply that sort of
"jazzing up" to Hindemith or Brahms, for instance. I think it's
possible Muhlfeld's use of vibrato in that performance of the quintet
may have been along the same lines.

In any case, Brymer's source (at least as relayed by Brymer) never
says that Muhlfeld customarily used vibrato (which is what your
article appears to assume); all he says is that during that particular
performance Muhlfeld played with a fiery technique, a warm tone, and
vibrato. We don't know from this eyewitness how Muhlfeld would have
played the Sonatas or the Trio, for instance.

So, assuming Brymer's source is reliable and Muhlfeld did employ
vibrato during that performance of the quintet, I'm offering an
alternative explanation for why he might have done so--namely, that
Brahms asked him (and the entire ensemble) to play that way during the
gypsy section to give it a more ethnic flavor or a mysterious feel.
So perhaps it was not Muhlfeld's vibrato that inspired Brahms, but it
was Brahms who told Muhlfeld to use vibrato when performing this piece
(or at least this section of the piece).

That might not give someone a historical basis for playing ALL of
Brahms' music with "habitual vibrato," but it *does* suggest that some
use of vibrato in the quintet was not only contemplated or approved by
Brahms, but actually requested of the performers by the composer
himself.

(On the other hand, if you want to play all of Brahms' music with
vibrato, I see nothing inherently wrong with it, even though it's not
what I would do. There's no law against artistic license--and, after
all, even those who strive for historically-informed performance do so
because they make a conscience choice to.)

> Your reference here says that during one of the first readings of the
> Clarinet Quintet, "Brahms suggested that the entire quartet make use of
> vibrato in the central section of the Adagio to create a mysterious effect."
> This in no way implies that he didn't want vibrato elsewhere.

No, but it does suggest that the players were not using vibrato as a
matter of course throughout. If the players in the ensemble
customarily played with vibrato, there would be no need for Brahms to
ask for a particular section to be played with vibrato. It also
suggests that Brahms would have approved of at least some other
sections of the piece being played largely senza vibrato, because
otherwise Brahms could have simply asked for the players to play with
vibrato throughout.

> By his later years, Brahms himself was asking for vibrato in his
> music, neatly and specifically documented by an eye- and ear-witness to a
> run-through of his C-Minor Piano Trio with his friends, the great violinist
> Joseph Joachim, and Hausmann.

Yes, and there are apparently places in some of Brahms' pieces where
he specifically wrote in an instruction to use vibrato. Of course,
for Brahms to write in an instruction like that suggests that he did
not assume that everyone would use vibrato throughout his music, which
was the point I was trying to make. It's the opposite of, say,
Copland's giving an instruction to string players not to use vibrato
because regular use of vibrato on sustained notes on strings was
customary by Copland's time. I wasn't trying to say that Brahms hated
vibrato, just that he didn't expect performers to employ it all the
time and that he was also fond of the sound of (obviously vibratoless)
open strings.

All of this just shows that the situation was and still is more
complex than "vibrato is good" or "vibrato is bad." Vibrato is a
technique, like any other, and it can be used well or poorly; likewise
it can be overused or underused.

The truth is, neither you nor I were there to hear Muhlfeld, so we
don't really know what his playing was like. Maybe he used "habitual
vibrato" as part of his customary performance practice. I don't know.
For all I know you could be entirely right.

But, at the same time, I don't think that one person's recollection of
one performance of one piece is enough to tell us about the way
Muhlfeld played on other occasions or to tell us that it was
Muhlfeld's vibrato that inspired Brahms to write his clarinet pieces.
Indeed, there are alternative explanations (such as the theory I just
presented) that are consistent with the evidence, but that do not rely
on the assumption that Muhlfeld customarily played with vibrato. So
we really can't conclude that Muhlfeld customarily played with vibrato
based just on the evidence we have.

Brymer's source *does* suggest that someone might want to employ
vibrato somehow in performing the quintet, though. To me, the most
logical place to do so is in the gypsy section, where it might enhance
the ethnic flavor of the music. From the cello.org reference I cited,
it seems that may have been Brahms' intent where the quintet was
concerned.

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