 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rob Maeda
Date: 1999-06-29 00:54
I have been learning about national "schools" of clarinet playing (German, French, English, and American). People say that the German style is darker, the French style brighter, etc. I was just wondering if anybody could recommend some recordings by various clarinetists to demonstrate these schools to a beginning student (me ). My teacher suggests that I listen to some German, French, American and British performances to not only understand the differences, but to decide what kind of tone I really want to achieve. With a finite supply of money, I was hoping to get some help selecting a few CDs.
Thanks a lot,
Rob Maeda
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Author: HIROSHI
Date: 1999-06-29 02:05
My recommendation:
1)German:Karl Leister,2)English:Gervase de Payer,Reginald Kell,3)French:Michel Alignon,4)Italian:Cahuzac(is he a French? very old recording),5)American:Harold Wright,Stanley Drucker.You can search what clarinetists recordings are available at CDNow:http://www.cdnow.com/
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-06-29 05:14
Good French players would be Garvase de Peyer, Paul Meyer, or Jaques Lancelot.
For German, i would recommend Sabine Meyer or Deiter Klõcker.
English, I prefer Thea King. But she sounds more like the mainstream "American" style. Other performers would be Reginald Kell, Janet Hilton, and Emma Johnson.
And for American players.... you've got ssssooooooo many to choose from.
As for CD's by any of the performers. They all have several if not many. So any one would be adequate.
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Author: Dave Spiegelthal
Date: 1999-06-29 13:58
Daniel wrote: ..."Good French players would be Garvase de Peyer, Paul Meyer, or Jaques Lancelot."
I think Mr. de Peyer would be quite surprised to discover he was a French player.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 1999-06-29 15:45
Dave Spiegelthal wrote:
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Daniel wrote: ..."Good French players would be Garvase de Peyer, Paul Meyer, or Jaques Lancelot."
I think Mr. de Peyer would be quite surprised to discover he was a French player.
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Chuckle. Maybe French style.
Check the Klarinet Archives for some lively debates on the different "schools". The consensus is that there's been a _lot_ of fuzziness in the demarkation this century, if there ever _was_ any demarkation prior to that.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-06-29 15:56
Here's a reference to a blind test, created and graded by Dan Leeson (Mozart scholar & clarinet player), administered by Clark Fobes (clarinetists & mouthpiece maker) and taken by Jim Freeman, clarinet professor, on determining nationalities by their sound:
<B><A HREF=http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1994/11/000230.txt>http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1994/11/000230.txt</A></B>
Freeman scored 50% right.
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Author: ted
Date: 1999-06-29 17:29
I agree that it's a good idea to listen to various artists to get a good idea of tone you wish to achieve even if we can't define the sound as "French, German, British, US.".
Also tone is only what the note sounds like in the center of the duration, but the beginning (attack) and end.
Though all English players won't sound like dePeyer (who uses a big bore Eaton clarinet), he certainly has a very distinct (expressive) style and MANY recordings, some of which can can get really cheap.
Karl Leister (German) plays a German-system clarinet and Walter Boeykens (who I think is German) but plays on a Boehm system are both superb players with wonderful tones in my opinion. However, their tones are different from each other.
Paul Meyer (French) has excellant technique, but I don't find his tone as distinctive as some, which is not necessarily a negative.
There are a lot of American recordings. the recording of Stoltzman, Drucker, Shifrin, ... are all different and distinctive in my opinion when concentrating on the tone.
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Author: STuart
Date: 1999-06-29 18:06
This is very interesting! I must say I hear all these people more as individuals but this style thing is important. Why have we limited a WORLD of clarinet to 4 countries? Why does Western Europe dominate the classical canon? Is a German clarinetist better for German music?
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Author: ted
Date: 1999-06-29 21:02
STuart wrote
"This is very interesting! I must say I hear all these people more as individuals but this style
thing is important. Why have we limited a WORLD of clarinet to 4 countries? Why does Western
Europe dominate the classical canon? Is a German clarinetist better for German music? "
Apparently France has the Paris Conservatory and England has the Royal Acadamy both of which produce many world class clarinetist. So it wouldn't be far-fetched for the players coming from the Paris Conservatory to sound similar since they have have the same instructors pushing their ideas on tone, phrasing and technique. ...same for the Royal Academy. I don't know if other countries have famous schools for clarinet that produce so many good players.
Concerning your other comment, one of my favorite recordings of the Mozart Concerto was played on a modern French clarinet by an American.
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-06-30 00:40
ted wrote:
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Apparently France has the Paris Conservatory and England has the Royal Acadamy both of which produce many world class clarinetist. So it wouldn't be far-fetched for the players coming from the Paris Conservatory to sound similar since they have have the same instructors pushing their ideas on tone, phrasing and technique. ...same for the Royal Academy. I don't know if other countries have famous schools for clarinet that produce so many good players.
Germany has a couple high class music schools (can't recal their name right now.
The U.S. has Eastman, SFC, NEC, UNT, UM, MS, CIM, CCM, and some others...
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Author: Mario
Date: 1999-06-30 13:54
Here are my observations (based on much reading, listening, thinking).
1 - Individual differences matter more than country of origin, as it is for personality and character of people.
2 - However, there are some patterns that seem to pre-dominate when one compare styles with each other (the same hold for cultural traits found in people pf variopus countries)
3 - In general, Germanic styles tend toward the dark, reserved, understated side of the range that can be produced by the clarinet. Great representative of this school of playing are German Masters such as Leister.
4 - In general, latin sound tends toward the brilliant, the veloce, the flute-like fluidity. The French school (with Masters such as Cahusac) is the best instance of this approach.
5 - None of these schools are "complete" and often leave to be desired.
6 - Now, I am about to make a very contreversial statement: A new school is emerging: the American school: Germanic darkeness with French fluidity. Americans like melting in pots to pick up the best of the culture of the many immigrants to the US. The early American Masters came from abroad and imported many different styles with them. Over the last 2 generations, some choices were made which resulted in the combination of styles. Who on this Board does not dream of having a deep, dark sound as a basis that can be made brighter on demand when the piece demand it (for instance, to play French music). And who does not dream of reaching the flute-like fluidity that we get out of a Paris Conservatory education.
I like the American way of playing the clarinet immensely.
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Author: Rob Maeda
Date: 1999-06-30 17:31
First off, I'd like to thank you all for your valuable insights. After reading what you have posted I have purchased some CDs. I can definitely hear some details you were pointing out. But, I still wonder about whether or not we can all achieve such a variety of tones. What I mean is, how much of what we call the German sound can be attributed to the clarinetist's selection of instruments (mouthpieces, and reeds included)? Can a really great player, play with the German style, then switch to a more French style at will?
Thanks a lot,
Rob
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-06-30 23:03
Rob Maeda wrote:
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First off, I'd like to thank you all for your valuable insights. After reading what you have posted I have purchased some CDs. I can definitely hear some details you were pointing out. But, I still wonder about whether or not we can all achieve such a variety of tones. What I mean is, how much of what we call the German sound can be attributed to the clarinetist's selection of instruments (mouthpieces, and reeds included)? Can a really great player, play with the German style, then switch to a more French style at will?
Thanks a lot,
Rob
Rob -
It's easier to make a "German" sound on an Oehler clarinet, a "French" sound on a Buffet, and an "English" sound on a large bore Boosey & Hawkes, and up until fairly recently (25 or 30 years ago), these sound conceptions were quite strong. Find some recordings by Leopold Wlach, the great principal clarinetist in the Vienna Philharmonic 30 years ago. Then listen to Jost Michaels, who was even more "Germanic." Compare them with, say the French players Jacques Lancelot and Ulysse Delecluse, and with the English players Reginald Kell and Jack Brymer. Then, for a real ear opener, listen to something by the Czech player Jiri Stingl.
These distinctions have become more and more blurred, and, if you want to know the absolute truth, the great players can make any instrument sound any way they like. Listen to recordings of Wagner made by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. Robert Marcellus made the characteristic thick, creamy "German" sound on his Buffet, simply (hah) by knowing what he wanted and being able to do it. And when he played Ravel, he made the light, bright "French" sound, too.
To play in a professional orchestra, you don't need just a good tone. You need many good tones, with all kinds of shadings to match the music, the people you're playing with and the conductor's preferences. It's one of the things I work hardest on.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Marcy
Date: 1999-07-15 22:00
Thank you Rob for asking this question and thank you to everyone that responded. I too needed some information about all fo this.
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