 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2012-06-27 15:38
Hi All:
I had to chime in on the YouTube recording of Eddie's Copland Concerto.
First off, Eddie & I are very close friends and I admire his playing and musicianship! I've heard him perform live many times and we've played together and attended Juilliard at the same time.
That said, I personally think Eddie sounded like Eddie, just great! It was Eddie's "Copland Concerto", a new updated version. Let's call it Copland/Daniels Concerto, and I'd be happy!
Secondly, I've performed the Concerto many times, but my most memorable performance was with Aaron Copland in a NYC recording studio in the early 1980's. Benny was asked to play the Concerto for the movie "Love & Money", but he turned it down & suggested they call Michael Webster, who was up playing in Rochester NY, nearby. Michael also turned down the recording date with Copland for the movie score (maybe not his thing?). I was their third choice & jumped at the chance to work with Copland and record his great Concerto for the movie. Unfortunately not all of the Concerto was finally used in the film, but the opening and bits and pieces are all there. BTW the film was a bust, but the music was great!
So, finally, Copland sat down with me in the recording booth and said, do want you want & I'll follow you. He wanted me to freely interpret his written notes, so I added a little here and there, and Copland made some suggestion, and loved it. We did a few different "takes", but the more I went off the page, the more he seemed pleased. So I believe Copland would have been amused and pleased with Eddie's new take on his Concerto.
That's only a guess on my part, but knowing Copland's feelings about the more free interpretations of his Concerto, I think he and Eddie would have had a ball putting it together!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084274/fullcredits#cast
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
Post Edited (2012-06-27 15:47)
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Author: Lorenzo_M
Date: 2012-06-27 16:40
cool story. I also felt the same way about the performance, well mostly. I explained already (in the other thread) where I felt it got a little off-tangent, but personally, I pretty much loved what he did.
And I think the Adagio has never sounded better, but that's just me.
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2012-06-28 11:40
I haven't listened to the performance so I have no opinion either way but I think that, given the story above from John Moses we can be pretty sure that Copland was happy for the performer to have considerable freedom and would therefore probably not have objected to what Eddie Daniels has done.
Vanessa.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2012-06-28 23:59
I appreciate John's post and always value his input. I enjoy Eddie Daniels musical skills, but as I posted in the related thread, I think this piece went far beyond being Copland or being relevant to the work.
As to what Copland himself would have liked, I don't think any of us can give an opinion on that. I am not any kind of authority on Copland, but I suppose we should explore whether Copland allowed or suggested freely improvising over any of his music. To take liberties with the composer's notes and to completely rewrite or re- compose the work are two very different things in my mind.
This has all certainly been an interesting and stimulating discussion with lots of varying perspective.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2012-06-29 11:27
Thanks John. First hand experience is always refreshing when opinions abound.
Bob Draznik
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2012-06-29 12:18
John, thanks for sharing this with us.
I'm not sure it was well-known to the public while Copland was alive, but after his death, the stories about his dementia started to come out. Did you notice any signs of it while you worked with him? If I remember correctly, he was beginning to limit his conducting appearances in the early 80s.
I recall reading once that Copland visited a university clarinet studio (I forget which one) when he was in his 70s and no longer composing. A student asked him if he'd write a second concerto. Copland was amused and flattered, but he said he just couldn't do it. It really would have been something if Copland had written it, or even fragments of a second concerto.
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