The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Reginald Kell on The Jazz Clarinet

Author: brycon
Date: 2015-07-07 03:32

Eric,

Thanks for the thought-provoking post!

(Of course, if you want more traffic, you may need to include a run-down of Kell's equipment--I'm dying to know, did he use a synthetic or a metal ligature????)

I just saw that the complete Decca set you mention is on Spotify; I'll be doing a lot of listening this week.

Just a few scattered thoughts:

1. Very interesting point on sonata-form. I'd like to back it up with a story once told to me by Carl Schachter. Schachter and some other musicians had been helping Murray Perahia with a recording session, listening to takes and giving feedback on what worked well/didn't work so well. On one of the minuet-type pieces, everyone concluded that the repeat of the A section wasn't up to par, so Perahia told the sound engineer to just duplicate the take of the first A section.

It turns out that the engineer had already done it--everyone had just listened to the take of the first A section tacked onto the end of the form. And it sounded wrong, despite sounding perfectly fine at the opening of the piece.

So I think you're right to say that sonata-forms require something from the performer. It's a very dramatic form, which is why it worked so well in Mozart's operas, and performers should be sensitive to how they treat the repetitions of the thematic/tonal areas.

2. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Deryck Cooke book. I'll only preface my own thoughts with a quote from Wimsatt and Beardsley's The Verbal Icon: "And the history of words after a poem is written may contribute meanings which if relevant to the original pattern should not be ruled out by a scruple about intention."

3. I like the distinction you make between curator and artist. I once played for a clarinetist in a fairly large US orchestra who told me that one should only play what's on the page and nothing more. I just can't believe that anyone with any knowledge of music could think this way.

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics