Klarinet Archive - Posting 000159.txt from 2009/10

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] New articles published on the web!
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:43:59 -0400

>On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 9:13 AM, Taylor, Noel <r.n.taylor@-----.uk> wrote:
>> You know, this was quite an interesting discussion and, although I
>>have nothing to contribute to it, I am a bit sorry to see it ending
>>in this way. It certainly was, with all due deference to Dan's
>>amazing erudition, a pleasant surprise for me to read an extended
>>discussion about something historical other than K622.
>>
> > Noel
>

I am happy to continue the discussion of any of my articles with
anyone who wants to discuss things logically. I am not interested in
the ad hominem nonsense.

My article on the Brahms Trio, if you have a chance to read it,
contains a great deal of information supporting the generally favored
hypothesis that Muhlfeld used vibrato in his playing.

Mr. Nichols chose to pick on one small piece of information, i.e. the
quote from the Brymer book, of the eyewitness who said that Muhlfeld
used a "big vibrato". (There are many other pieces of information
that Mr. Nichols never discussed or even mentioned.)

Mr. Nichols then insisted that it was possible/reasonable that this
one piece of information could be interpreted to mean that the
vibrato applied only to the few measures of the gypsy section where
Muhlfeld used the Bb clarinet. Secondly, he cited a third-hand source
which referenced an as yet undisclosed source, saying that Brahms
told the quartet (not Muhlfeld, by the way) to use vibrato in the
middle section to create a "mysterious" effect.

Mr. Nichols then claimed that a reasonable interpretation of these
isolated statements prove that it is possible that Muhlfeld did NOT
generally use vibrato but rather just in these few measures of only
the Brahms Quintet (and not in the Sonatas, he posits).

I pointed out that such a conclusion is ridiculous, because all of
Mr. Nichols premises are either wrong on their face, not a logical
deduction, or ridiculous when followed through to their logical
conclusions.

1. Incorrect Premise: The quote from the eyewitness does NOT say that
Muhlfeld used vibrato only in the few measures of the gypsy section.
It says simply that he used a "big vibrato" that was "much bigger
than Joachim's and as big as the cellist's".

2. Illogical Deduction: The third hand quote that Brahms told the
QUARTET to use vibrato in the middle section to create a "mysterious"
effect, does not in any way imply that Brahms assumed no vibrato
elsewhere. It simply shows that he wanted a "mysterious" vibrato in
the middle section.

3. Incorrect Premise: Mr. Nichols claims that vibrato was not in
widespread use at this time. As Styra Avins, noted Brahms scholar,
points out in the passage I quoted in a previous message, vibrato was
in common use at the time of the Quintet, and even Joachim was
teaching it to his students, one of whom recorded the Brahms Concerto
around this time and who used vibrato extensively. Many other
scholars have also documented this fact.

4. Unreasonable Conclusion: The conclusion that Mr. Nichols wants so
desperately to draw, that Muhlfeld didn't actually use vibrato on a
regular basis, but rather only in this one section of this one piece,
and only there because Brahms told them to do so (although the quote
doesn't say anything about telling Muhlfeld, it says he told "the
quartet") is ridiculous on its face.

5. Illogical Deduction: The quote about Brahms enjoying "a few
opening strings" does not in fact support Mr. Nichol's desired
conclusion but rather supports the opposite, i.e. that vibrato was
used liberally elsewhere and that's why "a few opening strings" were
a nice relief from time to time.

6. Failure to Address the Bulk of the Evidence: Finally, none of this
addresses all the other copious evidence which I presented in my
article in support of the logical conclusion that Muhlfeld used
vibrato liberally in his playing. If you read the article, you will
see quotes by Brahms, Clara Schumann, as well as information about
Muhlfeld's background, his work, his musical training, where and in
what organizations he played, and many other tidbits, which when all
put together make it very clear that, as the eyewitness said, he used
"a big vibrato" and it was one of the three most striking aspects of
his playing.

In fact, if you read all the evidence that I presented, it is quite
clear that you would have to come up with quite a bit of pretty
strong evidence to the contrary to make any sort of case that he
didn't use vibrato regularly. Why would he NOT use vibrato after
all? It was in common use in Germany, in France, in the UK, and on
every instrument of the day.

Best regards,
--
Jonathan Cohler
http://jonathancohler.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonathan-Cohler/54146714115
http://youtube.com/cohler59

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