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Re: Is Barret Obsolete?

Author: chrisoboe
Date: 2008-01-07 04:16

i was not forgetting alex klein when i wrote earlier; but if you think he was "trained" at oberlin, then i think you are a bit mistaken. he was an amazing player when he was in high school in brazil and a degree from an american school was just a formality. in fact richard killmer tells the story of a phone call he received from jimmy caldwell after alex's audition: "dick... you're not gonna believe it... jesus christ just walked out of my office, and he plays the oboe."

but you bring up a good point, alex klein is an amalgam of 2 different schools: he combines the tight focused sound prized by ray still with the broad connected legato style espoused by elaine douvas. this is the essence of what i was saying earlier... do you think that he, klein, sits around and writes numbers into his music because tabuteau did? no! he plays what makes musical sense. that is all i am saying. barret, ferling, brod, gillet, etc are all great tools, but in the end one must play for one's self, and not slavishly trying to play a line that tabuteau or mack might have agreed with.

about 'right and wrong things': are you going to say to albrecht mayer or dominik wollenweber that they are playing music incorrectly? subtle differences between schools of playing are of no concern to most audience members who can scarcely tell an oboe from a clarinet. however, you are most certainly correct about needing to conform to north american styles of playing, but that does not mean that one must COPY what went before. creativity does not equal "playing out of left field", it simply involves generating new and different thoughts. do you think thomas stacy plays his english horn solos the same way night after night with the new york phil? to someone as creative as him, it would be torture. but you can bet that everynight his solos always make the utmost musical sense.

i am not saying that you throw away your books and dance on anyone's grave... only that these men (tabuteau, jdl, mack, etc.) were creative and inventive during their time here and it would be insulting to their legacy not to continue to do so.

Post Edited (2008-01-07 04:18)

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Is Barret Obsolete? new

ohsuzan

2008-01-04 15:40