Thoughts from an Orchestral Clarinetist, Solo Clarinetist, Clarinet Teacher, Clarinet blogger
The clarinet is such a versatile instrument. It is well known in jazz music, Klezmer (spirited secular Jewish music), German polka bands, and is often used in Indian music.
Here is an article describing the use of clarinet in a “classical” Indian music concert in Islamabad, Pakistan!
David was one of the CSO’s biggest fans and supporters. He believed in the validity of every individual musician in the orchestra, and he was a boon to us all during the difficult times last year. During my numerous discussions with him about the CSO crisis, his frank and direct tone never failed to also be supportive. He will be missed.
Link to full memorial article in Columbus Local News.
There’s nothing quite like a day with nothing to do but practice. First of all, it doesn’t happen often. Second, it’s like any other day practicing. Which is to say, like no other day before.
Does Sisyphus feel different each day he pushes the boulder up the hill, only to find it at the bottom again the next day? I say he does.
Perhaps it’s just me, but each time I play the instrument, I can’t believe I can play it. It seems new. I re-invent the way I play every day, partly to be sure I’m not slipping into bad habits, but partly because there is always something new to learn about the intricacies of playing the instrument.
Some of the questions I ask as I play are:
Am I playing with my whole body? Are my feet in touch with the ground? Are my hips free? Is my neck free? Am I voicing naturally? Am I doing ANYTHING I couldn’t do “forever”, meaning, is it nearly effortless? Can I play a double high “C” at any given moment? Can I crescendo or diminuendo indefinitely at at any point? Can I easily move any note from any other note without compromising hand position?
Today I also paid close attention to issues of pain which often plague my body when I play: lower back, neck, shoulder and jaw cracking. This is not debilitating pain, but persistent and potentially serious if not addressed. I probably stretched and reset my body position as much as I practiced, trying to bring length and poise to the natural physical engagement of playing. It paid off. At one point near the end of a 3 hour practice session I gained enough physical poise to play without pain for an hour straight.
But the big question is, can I build all these questions into one overall “answer” which stays put from day to day?
So today I felt like I did a good job of pushing that boulder up the hill, and at the end of the day, it felt like it might stay there. But I can pretty much count on it being somewhere near the bottom again tomorrow. And so it begins again.
Buzzing Reed has been reviewed in the blog Clarinet Cache! Check it out!
Clarinet Cache is both a blog and a regular column in the journal The Clarinet. In the column, we track clarinet-related web content and explore several items in-depth. Here, we provide links to those items and much, much more. Clarinet Cache is authored by Kellie Quijano and Rachel Yoder
They post every few weeks or so on various topics from the clarinet world. Stop by and have a look. It’s a clean, well organized site with lots of useful, informative and interesting articles.
Tuesday February 24 is Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. Pete Fountain will kick off the festivities leading more than 200 members of his Half-Fast Walking Club (say the hyphenated word slowly!) through the city streets. He’s been doing it every year (except 2006) since 1961!
Fountain, 78, is still playing clarinet with youthful energy. Here he is playing “A Closer Walk with Thee” with “Amazing Grace” thrown in the middle.
Pete uses his air in the most natural way, big and relaxed, like a musical sigh. He plays with his whole body. Like most jazzers, he vibratos with his embouchure, which helps control his air stream. It’s no wonder people never tire of hearing him. It sounds so easy. And that’s why he can still do it at his age.
Here Pete playing with Jimmy Valentine, a clarinetist whose quartet plays in the Quad Cities area on the Mississippi River along the border of Iowa and Illinois. Valentine is a decade younger than Pete. This video is from 1994, and as Jim describes it on his YouTube channel, “I can’t tell you how much fun and a thrill it is to sit in with your idol!” That must have been intimidating! Jimmy does fine after a slow start.
In other clarinet news, the late Anthony Gigliotti’s young widow has been arrested for severely abusing their 16 year old son. Full story here.
2009 is also the 100th anniversary of Benny Goodman’s birth (May30, 1909).
This post is addressed to anyone and everyone in Columbus who wants to see the Columbus Symphony survive and thrive.
The Art of the Turnaround, by internationally famous arts revival expert Michael Kaiser, is a must read for anyone in Columbus who wants to see the CSO through the continuing crisis. The book has detailed descriptions of each of his 10 basic rules, with longer chapters on Kaiser’s successful turnarounds with the Kansas City Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance, American Ballet Theater, Royal Opera House and The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
The musicians have given back a huge sum toward the effort of invigorating the CSO. Additionally for my part, I have ceased writing critically of the organization.
To nudge CSO leadership in the right direction, I list the 10 “rules” suggested by Kaiser as a critical foundation toward healing a sick arts organization. I hope we can all agree to the proven value of these foundational conditions for moving forward. Some are obvious, but others go against current thinking used to help the Columbus Symphony.
If you are in a position to help the CSO, or can influence someone who is, please consider getting this book and reviewing Kaiser’s ideas. We need all the help we can get!
The CSO chorus humbles me as a musician. They are so disciplined and full of musical and technical vigor that it embarrasses me that they do it for free.
This weekend’s concerts featured Chas Wetherbee playing the ethereal Lark Ascending of Vaughn Williams, with Ronald Jenkins conducting, and four excellent solo singers. But the real star of the show was the chorus.
I didn’t play the Hadyn Lord Nelson Mass, so I heard it from back stage. I could barely hear the orchestra, but the chorus came through loud and clear through the shell. (The chorus is packed up against the back of the stage, so they were closest to me backstage)
Throughout the piece, the CSO Chorus stayed at the front end of the beat, leading the rhythm forward, as they should. Their energy never ceased, their dynamics were always rich and varied. I’ve always known they were good, but I wanted to note it here for the record.
Of course, any mention of the chorus’s quality cannot be complete without mention of Ronald Jenkins, who for years has maintained and developed this world class group. In this concert, Ron was chorus master and conductor, and he succeeded in both commendably.
Although the Haydn would have been plenty of singing to satisfy anyone, the program included three other gorgeous works with chorus: Britten’s The Building of the House, Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music and as an encore, Copland’s The Promise Land. Their focus never let down. The music making was full of passion to the last note!
Thank you CSO Chorus, for your years of high quality and spirited music making. You keep my ego in check!
