 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-09-27 18:13
As has been discussed on this forum in the past, for years now there has been a trend towards homogenization of the sound of orchestras and the gradual elimination of national, regional or ethnic qualities in the sound and styles of orchestral players.
Twenty years ago I could hear a bar or two of an orchestra playing on the radio, and at least identify the nationality of the group, if not their exact identity. It was so much easier when, for example, the Berlin Phil had Leister on clarinet and Lothar Koch on oboe --- two notes out of either player and one could guess the orchestra with certainty. When Drucker was principal clarinet in the New York Phil, no other orchestra sounded like them; same with Gigliotti in Philly, etc. But no more!
So I was very pleased with myself today and wanted to brag a little. Turned on the car radio at lunchtime, caught the middle of the Adagio from Khatchaturian's "Spartacus", and somehow (I don't know how) "Scottish National Orchestra" popped into my head after hearing some of the oboe and clarinet playing. I was right!
Just a short ramble; no real content to this post. ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
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Author: salzo
Date: 2010-09-27 22:32
Any idea how old the recording was? Probably at least twenty years old.
Not only orchestras, but clarinetist these days all sound the same.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-09-27 22:55
salzo wrote:
> Not only orchestras, but clarinetist these days all sound the
> same.
Maybe because all use the same type of instruments, the same mouthpiece, reed, embouchure and "school" of playing.
Or - who knows - the recording and post-production technology has, uhm, evolved.
--
Ben
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2010-09-28 00:52
to my ears nobody plays Strauss waltzes like the viennese......but apart from that?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-09-28 01:01
On Czech Philharmonic recordings from 50 years ago, the clarinets had an unmistakable "outdoorsy" tone, like a shepherd playing in the woods. One top player, Jiri Stingl, sounded more like a kazoo than a clarinet.
French oboists favored a thin, narrow tone - Pierre Pierlot for example - and horn players sounded a lot like saxophones, with a distinct vibrato.
For English clarinetists, think Reginald Kell and Jack Brymer.
Russian orchestras, at least in Tchaikovsky, gave over-the-top, roller coaster performances, with blatant brass playing.
But today, everyone sounds basically the same.
Ken Shaw
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2010-09-28 01:04
Strauss waltzes are one of the biggest tells. Every region plays them differently, usually grossly stereotypical of their area. Most of my identify-the-orchestra-on-the-radio successes are from Strauss waltzes. Chicago was my first win, got it pretty much from process of elimination.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-09-28 13:08
Listening on the radio, I can often identify a von Karajan recording from his later period because the tone quality sounds excellent, the technical aspects of the playing are first-rate but his tempos are unbearably s-l-o-w and p-o-n-d-e-r-o-u-s. And if it's excellent playing, a fairly modern recording, taken lickety-split (especially if it's a Beethoven symphony), I'll often be right if I guess Gardner.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: weberfan
Date: 2010-09-28 14:33
I guess we're mostly in agreement so far: orchestras these days are hard to differentiate by their sound, or the sounds of their principal players.
I listen to WQXR, out of New York, and what I find is not so much that the sound of these ensembles is homogenized ---you really won't find that so much from listening to the radio---but that I DO recognize orchestras and styles because the station's playlists include fine, older recordings that I, myself, own.
The Brahms or Beethoven recorded by Szell in Cleveland in the '60's is easy to pick out. Or Bernstein, or von Karajan, or Solti or Reiner, etc., etc.
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