Klarinet Archive - Posting 000527.txt from 1996/03

From: niethamer@-----.BITNET
Subj: Re: Stravinsky's "Three Pieces" (Mazzeo article)
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 15:17:25 -0500

On Mon, 18 Mar 1996, Nils Olaf Solberg wrote:

> I'm busy helping a friend out with a paper about Stravinsky's three pieces
> for solo clarinet.
> Does anyone know where I can find info about these pieces, preferably an
> analasys?
> If anyone has something interesting in electronic form, I'd be greatfull to
> recieve it via the net.
>
> All info is of interest!!

I've been meaning to post this article for some time, dating back to the
flurry of stories about the "program" of the Stravinsky "Three Pieces".
This has been shamelessly lifted from "The Clarinet", May/June 1991, from
Mazzeo's Musings, which I always enjoyed. Re-reading this article
reminded me why.

I'd just like to digress from the topic for a moment to comment about
Mazzeo and his contribution to the clarinet world. I first got to "know"
Mazzeo in High School (just after the invention of the printing press, it
seems!) when I read his articles in the Selmer Bandwagon magazine. I
collected these into college days and beyond, and was delighted to
replace them with the book, "Excellence and Artistry" when it was
published. This book collected most of the Bandwagon articles along with
various others. Mazzeo also published a pamphlet for Selmer
regarding scale practice, which was encyclopedic. It listed many scale
books beyond the "regulars" that we all use, provided methods for their
effective use, and introduced *me* to the book I still swear by - Hamelin
"Gammes et Exercises" (sp??), which is a part of my daily practice routine.

Mazzeo obviously had to be a fine performer to play all those years in the
Boston Symphony. His articles display a love of music, not limited to the
repertoire for clarinet, and a passion for sharing his expertise with
others through his teaching. He was interested in instrument design (no
matter what you think of the Mazzeo system), and in his spare time, he
set up the BSO pension system. What a giant!

Enough of my digression! Below is the article Re: Stravinsky's "Three
Pieces".

*************************************
PAGE 8 "The Clarinet" MAY / JUNE 1991

Mazzeo Musings
Senes II, ~Jo. 23

by Rosario Mazzeo

Sometime in, or shortly be-
fore, 1950 while Serge
Koussevitsky, our con-
ductor, was still alive, Igor Stravinsky came to
spend a week with the Boston Symphony in a
program of his music. It included his famous
Le Sacre du Printemps. I was both the
orchestra's bass clarinenist and its personnel
manager and, more to the subject in hand, I had
already many times performed his Trois
Pieces pour Clarinet Solo. Indeed I must have
played them in at least 50 performances. Inci-
dentally, the first performances of these pieces
(1919) was by my immediate predecessor, pic-
colo clarinettist (Edmond Allegra) whom I
succeeded in that position. In 1939, I became
the orchestra's bass clarinettist.
During orchestra rehearsals Stravinsky had
been most complimentary about my playing.
Additionally, since my office was within a few
feet of the conductor's room, we had many
occasions for conversations during his time
with us. Needless to say, I soon brought up the
subject of the three pieces, and he very kindly
spent a long session going over them measure
by measure, with very clear editing comments
about my playing of them.
He spoke at some length concerning the
"over-theorizing" or "excess individual inter-
preting" of performances of these solo pieces.
He admitted that each performance was bound
to contain aspects of that performer's styles
and beliefs, but was especially negatively
critical of those who suggested that the writing
followed any studied theory or patterns. In-
stead, he said that the written notes would
speak for themselves, as long as the players
adhered to the written text (with the exception
of one misprint). He merely wrote what he felt.
He emphasized that the pieces were written
for Allegra, who was by no means a jazz
player. Later, after hearing Cahuzac (certainly
one of the finest virtuosi) play these pieces, he
suggested some changes in the general attitude
and style. It would appear that nothing in his
writings, or heard directly from him, would
indicate that he either expected or desired a
"jazz" performance. I have heard many re-
cordings and performances, and certainly
found no "jazz" consensus. He was happy to
have any type of player perform them, pro-
viding he could cope with the problems. When
his complete works were recorded under his
own supervision, it was Guy Deplus, one of
France's outstanding soloists, who was cho-
sen.
Of course there is no question but that the
pieces were influenced by the jazz music of
that period. After all, Stravinsky had heard a
good deal of jazz. But as Anton Swenson had
quoted in his splendid book about analytical
techniques (see footnotes), Stravinsky says
".. .Jazz - has exerted a time-to-time influence
on my music since 1918..." What Stravinsky
said to me then (1948/59?) was that whatever
he had been influenced by while writing the
clarinet pieces was clearly set forth by his
music symbols and words, which in fact are a
universal language. Therefore, if a performer
would really do everything indicated in the
text, the net result would be what he, the
composer, intended. He likened it to two
people saying the same words, but with dif-
ferent accents. If one wanted to call some of it
"jazz," well, he could. He repeated that he had
written in musical terminology, for people
who can read musical terminology. Thus if
they do just that, and with sufficient expertise,
the result should be a performance he would
expect to like.
I have, of course, read all writings I could
find which discussed this music. There is no
quarrel with the differing opinions about it, but
I am satisfied that he felt that his printed
symbols spoke for themselves.
The dedicatee who commissioned these
pieces (Werner Reinhart) was an enthusiastic
clarinet player and generous supporter, but the
clarinet was not his central life. Therefore,
certain of Stravinsky's printed breathing indi-
cations were in excess of what a virtuoso-type
professional would need, and indeed
Stravinsky felt that some of these did impede
the melodic and rhythmic flow. He said
bluntly that if any professional could read
music well (and he presumed that such players
could!), the results would be what he intended,
particularly regarding the rhythmic drive and
long Iyrical phrases. Thus what he indicated,
and what I then played for him according to
those instructions, resulted in a broad smile
and "That's the way, that's the flow I meant."
By the way, the use of the A and Bb clari-
nets was indicated so that the proper character
of each piece would best be portrayed, espe-
cially the quietness of the first, and the bril-
liance of the third movement. The text that
follows is based on my markings in my copy
at the time. It was the J & W Chester Ltd.
edition of 1920. All references are to it.
One of my life's many thrills reached a high
point this last summer when, in Switzerland, I
was invited to go to the Reinhart Collection in
Winterthur, where a former pupil (Jurg Fehr)
had made arrangements for me to examine the
original manuscript of Mozart's clarinet con-
certo. We descended to a remote sub-base-
ment of the library there, where for an incred-
ible hour I had the privilege of a note-by-note
examination of the score. I had never held a
manuscript of Mozart in my hands, let alone
one for the clarinet. The library director, not-
ing my ecstasy, disappeared for a few minutes,
then retumed with a big smile, and with music
in his hand. This he then passed over to me.
Imagine my amazement when I discovered it
to be the Stravinsky pieces. I was wild with
excitement and spent another half-hour going
over them note by note.

End part 1

   
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