Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-04-21 08:21
John Kelly quotes me, and asks whether Muhlfeld's background as a violinist may have led him to use vibrato on the clarinet.
I certainly don't know the answer, this is just speculation....
Muhlfeld is reported as having played the clarinet with vibrato. This may have derived from his violin playing, but we can't be sure. In making this assumption, we should remember that the continuous use of vibrato by violinists is a 20th-century development. It is far from clear whether Muhlfeld would have used continuous vibrato even on the violin.
My supposition - and it is no more than a supposition - is that Muhlfeld's background may have influenced his clarinet playing in all sorts of ways: not just vibrato but his phrasing, use of dynamics, accuracy of intonation.
So far as I am aware Brahms only wrote five chamber pieces for wind instruments: four for Muhlfeld plus the trio for violin, horn and piano. The horn piece was probably inspired by Brahms's early training as a horn player; the clarinet pieces were clearly inspired by Muhlfeld. Brahms would have heard dozens of orchestral clarinet players: there must have been something very distinctive about Muhlfeld's playing to draw Brahms out of retirement to write for him.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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