Klarinet Archive - Posting 000182.txt from 2011/05
From: "Keith Bowen" <keith.bowen@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Seeking CD that demonstrates suggested embellishments
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 09:47:54 -0400
Vann,
The blanket is not a classical blanket; it is much more true for baroque
(though even then, not always). During the classical period, the norm for
the trill changed, from starting on the note above to starting on the note.
The trill was extremely important in the classical period; not only the
trill itself, but also the preparation (vorschlag) and termination
(nachschlag). There is even evidence that northern Germany had a more
metrical approach than southern Germany, Austria and France (where they
taught accelerating trills). And with most aspects of decoration and
performance style the rule is "it is done this way, unless it isn't".
The treatises of Tuerk, CPE Bach and Quantz devote literally hundreds of
pages to trills. However, these are of limited value for classical since
they all essentially write about music in the baroque tradition. And Tuerk
and Bach are specifically about keyboard and warn that wind is different.
The wind ornamentation tradition comes much more from singers. So don't play
anything that you can't sing.
I think that a useful distinction is between harmonic and melodic trills. If
the upper note of a trill is part of a suspension, [e.g. a 4-3 suspension
with the local harmony, i.e. the upper note of the trill is a fourth above
the tonic note and the principal note is a third] then the upper note is
part of the harmonic movement and should be the starting note. If not it is
probably decorative. This is the basis for the rule that you quote, ie use
the upper note when approached from above, the principal note when
approached from below. To find exceptions to this you need to look at the
score and analyse the harmonic progressions. Or use educated ears!
I wrote a paper on clarinet ornamentation, derived from study of
contemporary clarinet instruction manuals, which I will email you or anyone
else interested. A big tome on the subject is Clive Brown, Classical and
Romantic Performing Practice (Oxford).
Another thing that emerges from the manuals, which we discussed on the list
a few weeks ago, is that they are clear that the principal note should be
the stronger. So you have to find a fingering that allows this while
remaining well enough in tune. One often hears trills on modern instruments
in which the upper note blares out due to its construction (Clarion G to A
for example) and this has to be dealt with, for example by lifting the
finger only slightly for the trill. It's pretty clear from the manuals that
a classical clarinettist would have spent weeks learning how to trill. In
modern pedagogy we spend about ten minutes.
On the example you give from bar 70, I'd agree with you in approaching from
below. But would not the dramatic effect be still more heightened,
sometimes, by ending the trill with a turn?
Ken has argued why he would not embellish the second F-D. Dan has argued why
he would. Both are arguments, based upon certain approaches to the music;
there is no right or wrong, and a very good rule is never to do it the same
way twice. It's true that embellishments are not random and need to respect
the harmonic and melodic structure, but nor are they fixed. Learning an
embellishment and doing it that way all the time, as if it was written in
the music, is almost certainly not stylistically correct. The most you
should learn, or pencil in, is the local key (which may not be obvious from
the single part).
Keith
-----Original Message-----
From: Vann Turner [mailto:vjoet@-----.net]
Sent: 27 May 2011 12:53
To: The Klarinet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [kl] Seeking CD that demonstrates suggested embellishments
Hi Ken,
Thanks for starting me on proper analysis. I appreciate your direction.
Now, for the trills. It seems to me that a blanket "in classical you start
from the note above" is only sometimes true. I appears to be variable. In
measure 70, the B trill is a leading tone resolving to C. If you start it on
C, the dramatic motion to its resolution is diminished; so to my ear, the
trill should be started on the B.
Indeed I've read that in general that in the classical period when a trill
is approached from above, the initial note is the higher note; when
approached from below, the initial note is the note itself. Not a hard and
fast interpretation rule, but in general.
On a personal note, we've got a pretty good clarinet trio that meets in
Knoxville TN Sunday afternoons. Want to make it a quartet. Just played 2
Mozart Divetementos (2 and 6) and a Boufill trio for a high school. If you
have any interest in checking us out, drop me an email off-list.
Best wishes!
Vann Joe Turner
----- Original Message -----
From: "K S" <krsmav@-----.com>
To: "The Klarinet Mailing List" <klarinet@-----.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 5:53 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] Seeking CD that demonstrates suggested embellishments
> Vann Joe Turner says:
>
>> Some months back a respected contributor to this list wrote the
>> following:<
>
>>When Mozart writes a line you have to look for repeated material. Look at
>>the third measure of the first clarinet entrance. "F-D, F-D C-B-natural."
>>That repeated F-D is an invitation for you to do it differently on the
>>repetition."<
>
> Vann Joe -
>
> I would definitely would NOT embellish the second F-D phrase.
>
> The Mozart Concerto is built on a pattern of Short + Short + Long -- a
> short phrase, a second short phrase repeating the pattern of the first
> phrase, and a third phrase twice as long, repeating the pattern at
> half speed. Thus, in the first movement, F-D, F-D, C-B.
>
> The second movement begins C-F-A-A-G-C. The pattern is repeated.
> Then it's elaborated at double the length. Then it's done again:
> G-C-A-C, G-C-D-A, C-E-D-C-C.
>
> In the third movement, after the opening bars, it's C-B-A-A, A-G-F,
> F-E-D-C-B-C-C#-D, which is not an exact repetition but uses the same
> mechanism.
>
> The first two iterations set up the expectation that the third will be
> the same, and listeners are surprised to hear something different.
> Composers do this all the time. One of my favorites comes from a
> World War I song:
>
> [And then we'll] [E-F-F#]
> Bury the hatchet, [G-G-F-E-G]
> Bury the hatchet, [E-E-D-C-A]
> Bury the hatchet in the Kaiser's head! [G-G-F-E-G-C-D-E-C-D]
>
> Mozart does this frequently, and part of learning the Clarinet
> Concerto is recognizing where he "buries the hatchet."
>
> Any ornamentation in the second F-D phrase keeps the pattern from
> being set up and spoils the device.
>
> In the recap of the first movement, Mozart adds a small ornament:
> C-D-C-B. There's no prohibition on making this more elaborate -- say
> C-D-C-B-C-E-D-C-B, but I think Mozart's own subtle decoration works
> fine.
>
> Ornamentation isn't done at random. You need a harmonic and
> structural reason to use it, and you must be careful not to mess up
> something else that's going on.
>
> Ken Shaw
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