 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: William Funk
Date: 2000-05-14 20:23
Is there a list on this site - or elsewhere - of "essential" clarinet recordings? What would be ideal is one that contains the best performances for the major clarinet pieces.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-14 21:16
William Funk wrote:
-------------------------------
Is there a list on this site - or elsewhere - of "essential" clarinet recordings? What would be ideal is one that contains the best performances for the major clarinet pieces.
-------
I've asked quite a few scholars for this kind of thing - and to a person they've been reluctant to name any. When you're talking top talent - and debate on whether something has to be historically correct to be considered "essential" or whether a highly inaccurate but musical performance could be considered "essential" - there's stylistic differences that appeal to one person but not to another. Even going back just a few decades one can find recordings of some of the virtuosos of the era that are so stylistically different than what we expect today that they'd be laughed out of some of today's competitions.
The library in most countries or states may have a large repository of music - check with them and listen to as many clarinetists as you can. That's what has been suggested to me time and again, and while sometimes I've had to wait a while to get the recording - it's free.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-15 01:01
As a musician, there are no essential recordings. Although I am a clarinetist, I still enjoy listening to all music. If you were to write up a list of essential recordings, you would be shutting yourself out on different types of music. I love listening to music. I also love playing all varieties of music.
There are famous clarinetists out there, but as one of my teacher's told me, "You shouldn't just be listening to clarinet music." There are more things out there!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: steve
Date: 2000-05-15 21:50
I agree with Kim's idea about no recording being essential, and one should listen to all music, but good recordings can form a basis for a jumping off-point for communication, sort of like a commonly studied collection of literature...in my field, chemistry, there are "standard" textbooks that must be a part of your knowledge and a large collection of "classic" research papers from the last 100 years that everyone should read to be considered "educated" in chemistry...sort of like a body of knowledge one can quickly refer to, but certainly not be limited to/by...when one talks about fine brass section playing, most people reference Reiner/Chicago recordings of R. Strauss, or beautiful clarinet playing, Mr Marcellus/Cleveland/szell on mozart Concerto..."essential" recordings are good for getting on the same page with folks...
s.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-15 22:18
As far as clarinet recordings, my teacher refers me to Karl Leister, David Shifrin, and Charles Neidich. These are good, but there are other clarinetists that you can refer to such as Stoltzman, etc. No recording is essential since all recordings should and are used as reference materials. You wouldn't choose one reference over the other would you?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: steve
Date: 2000-05-16 13:43
kim said:
You wouldn't choose one reference over the other would you?
ahhh...excellent point....it depends...what information do I need to access and why? Again, in my field chemistry, a certain approach to the synthesis of complex molecules is embodied in the "classic, essential reading" publications of a chemist who was at harvard from 1940's till his death in the late '70's...using his papers as reference materials allows me to formulate a start for my thinking to solving a complex synthesis problem, and then letting my thoughts take flight...using a reference as a jump-start intellectual framework...for this problem, the body of work of a certain chemist at Ohio State who uses a brute force approach would not be useful as thought-inspiring reference materials...
in the clarinet world, I would ask, what have clarinet players who play in different schools (traditions....I disagree w/ Dan L...they still exist) of clarinet playing done with the Brahms trio, musically and technically...I would then assemble essential reference material....recordings (not limited to..I'm always on the lookout for a new reference) by Leister, Stoltzman, Sidney Forrest, and Reginald Kell, and carefully listen to them, noting differences and similarities....then, in consultation with a mentor/teacher, ask what do these references mean...where do we go from here?? I'd bet we'd get into heated discussions involving the approaches of Kell vs Leister, and maybe shed new light on playing this beautiful piece...that imho, is what reference material is for...do your research, get up to speed, then take off!!!
in the music world, we have references infinitely better than printed material...real recordings!!!! how do you describe a tone color...you can't you have listen to the reference...!!!!
but I agree...the more you listen, the better...but you have to sift through the info to find what's useful to you in any given situation...
s.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
