 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gigaday
Date: 2009-10-13 19:37
Attachment: slurs.jpg (9k)
Please see the attached music notation.
My teacher says that the phrases in measure 1 should always be played as if they were written as in measure 2. This doesn't seem quite right to me, I have checked various references but can't find a definite answer.
Can anyone enlightened me please?
Tony
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-10-13 20:44
I'd say that it depends on the style of the music and the tempo of the piece. For example- if it was an allegro from the 18th century, I could imagine it being played like that. If it was a Rachmaninov adagio then perhaps not!
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-10-13 21:43
Usually it would be the other way around. A composer might write it one way in measure 1 and expect you to phrase it the same way afterwards. The fact that even the rhythm has been changed in the 2nd measure makes me think they should not be played the same way. I'd have to see the entire piece though to say for sure but the way your teacher said to play it doesn't make sense to me from seeing the first two measures. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-10-13 23:22
"Essentially", that is how it should be. At the end of the phrase, you want tehre to be a slight break. However! Don't end abruptly. The problem with that notation is it almost tells you to stop abruptly. Try to end quickly but make it flow with a slight taper at the end of each phrase. Almost as if the note slowly fades away.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-10-14 06:44
Is this an actual piece where the two bars follow each other? In that case I would agree with Ed.
I had assumed that this was just a music example where bar 2 was an illustration of how bar 1 should be played. If this is the case then I would say it depends on context (see my first answer).
Re-reading your original question, I would have to disagree with the statement that they should "always be played" in that way. It really depends on context. From which piece is this?
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Author: gigaday
Date: 2009-10-14 07:32
Thanks to all for your input.
The 2 bars are just an example and don't come from any piece.
I was prompted to ask the question because my teacher suggests that I play with the distinct break in pieces where it seems really inappropriate to me.
For me, if the piece has a legato feel I would phrase just by tonguing at the start of each slur, if it's a bit lighter perhaps by just going lighter on the last note of each phrase and if it's a jolly baroque piece with the full break between each phrase.
In particular, I am practicing the Adagio from the Mozart Concerto and he is suggesting the very distinct break phrasing pretty well throughout which seems very wrong to me. Not at all how I have heard it recorded.
Tony
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-10-14 11:05
To put a break that cuts half the note at the end of all slurs in all contexts at all tempos is very bad advice.
However, it is possible (don't know without hearing you) that your articulation is so slight that it just sounds like a slur with no break at all, and your teacher is telling you to do something past what he really wants (knowing that you usually gravitate toward the more connected phrasing), and he expects that you may end up with what he really wants. From a teacher's perspective, that is possible.
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Author: srattle
Date: 2009-10-14 11:39
Most likely your teacher is looking for different ways to get you to phrase off, rather than powering through the phrase. This notation at least requires that you wont completely connect the whole bar.
I think actually writing it out like that makes it look pretty extreme, but maybe just come away a little from the second 8th note to indicate that there really is a break in the slur.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-10-14 13:23
gigaday- I agree with you regarding how you would mark the phrases in different ways depending on what kind of music it is. More importantly- seeing that you are working on Mozart's concerto- theorists from the late 18th century would also agree with you. A few decades before Mozart's concerto was written there is an article on this subject in Sultzer's Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste by JAP Schultz. He did not consider an actual break in the sound the only way of marking the articulation. He says that you can either take value off the last note, or you can make a diminuendo and then start the next phrase somewhat louder again. And there are of course many variations between the two which provide a range of options depending on the style and character of the music.
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