Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-11-05 23:58
Tony,
I am saddened that you took my comments in the wrong way. I was not trying to defend anything that was written in the Clarinet article, but merely providing a little factual context and background about the author in case you didn't know who he was. I fully agree with you that practicing dentistry, playing modern jazz clarinet, or continuing to play well at an advanced age do not insure that anyone will be correct in an analysis of the science behind legato production. Actually, I would rather expect that someone with your background in math and your performance interests in classical music and experience getting period instruments to work might well do a better job of scientifically accounting for legato.
Nor do I uncritically accept all the advice and explanations offered by Bonade to his students. I mentioned Bonade only to indicate that I recognized adherence to many of his received ideas in the article--not as a endorsement of them. I studied with one of Bonade's last pupils after he graduated from Julliard, and I can tell you the many times that both of us laughed about how quickly his students found fault with his teachings and obiter dicta and energetically departed from them! My teacher, like many of Bonade's students, used to hide their favorite mouthpiece from him and played the one he recommended (actually required) only while he was watching. Many of them thought his advice on reeds and embouchure tended towards the production of a nasal and reedy sound and they went quite the other way towards Kaspar mouthpieces, reeds shaped from thicker cane, and so on. Some felt his advice on articulation resulted in a picky, unpleasant staccato, and they found more relaxed ways to articulate. The list of deviations from Bonade's advice goes on and on. So please don't think that American players have enshrined Bonade's every word and idea as doctrinal truth.
Many of the players well respected today in America have gone a long way from the original Bonade camp. Morales, Anthony McGill, Julian Bliss (who studied in England, Germany, and American), Stephen Williamson, at al, have pursued their own conceptions of how to play the clarinet. Even American players like Harold Wright did not always follow prescriptions such as beginning the tone by withdrawing the tongue from the reed; for some entrances and in some passages, I am told, Wright used very delicate glottal articulation, which either Bonade or some of his more ardent disciples considered verboten.
I'm sorry that you had a bad time with your suggestion for an article in the ICA journal. I, for one, would like to see them publish your views at length, and I'm sure many others on this list would also. If that is not possible, I'd like to see your views collected in book form. Have you considered publishing a set of collected essays on the clarinet? If you do plan to, I will happily pre-subscribe.
Post Edited (2017-11-06 02:53)
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