Clarinetist and Teacher, Contributions And
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2012 William Blayney - clarinetist and teacher, contributions and influences on clarinet playing in the twenty-first century Branko Pavlovski Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Pavlovski, Branko, "William Blayney - clarinetist and teacher, contributions and influences on clarinet playing in the twenty-first century" (2012). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2502. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2502 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. WILLIAM BLAYNEY – CLARINETIST AND TEACHER, CONTRIBUTIONS AND INFLUENCES ON CLARINET PLAYING IN THE TWENTY- FIRST CENTURY A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Branko Pavlovski B.M., Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia, 1998 M.M., National Music Academy, Bulgaria, 1999 M.M., Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia, 2003 May 18, 2012 DEDICATION To my parents, Jadranka and Dobre ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express gratitude to my major teacher, Prof. Robert DiLutis, for his invaluable insight and help during the writing of this document, as well as the understanding and support he has shown me throughout my doctoral studies. I am additionally thankful to the members of my doctoral committee Dr. Griffin Campbell, Dr. Sarah Bartolome, Prof. Carlos Riazuelo and Dr. Malcolm Richardson for their time and advice, especially to Dr. Griffin Campbell who was very helpful as a reader with his comments and suggestions. I also would like to express special gratitude to Mr. William Blayney for his willingness to donate his valuable time and his generosity in kindly providing me information, documents and photos and making this monograph possible. I would like to express my appreciation to all Blayney’s students and colleagues, who were very kind in granting their time for the interviews. I would like to acknowledge the constant support and encouragement of my parents and my sister during these years of intensive study. Finally, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues for their enthusiastic support and help for this project Anthony Kniffen and Melanie McCall, Frank and Nancy Mulhern, Mikel Ledee, Melissa Morales, Vasil Cvetkov, Holiday Durham, Joel Ayau, John Coppa and Katie Young. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDMENTS................................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND...............................................................8 CHAPTER THREE: INFLUENCES............................................................................................21 Donald Blayney.............................................................................................................................21 Ignatius Gennusa...........................................................................................................................23 David Weber.................................................................................................................................25 CHAPTER FOUR: HISTORICAL RECORDINGS... ...............................................................30 CHAPTER FIVE: THE TEACHING OF WILLIAM BLAYNEY..............................................35 General Philosophy.......................................................................................................................35 Clarinet Choir...............................................................................................................................42 Recommended Course of Study...................................................................................................43 Reed and Mouthpiece...................................................................................................................46 Breathing and Breath Support......................................................................................................48 Embouchure..................................................................................................................................51 Tone..............................................................................................................................................56 Tonguing.......................................................................................................................................69 Warm-up.......................................................................................................................................81 Scales and Exercises.....................................................................................................................83 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION.................................................................................................84 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................................85 APPENDIX A: SELECTED STUDIES.......................................................................................89 APPENDIX B: DISCOGRAPHY................................................................................................96 APPENDIX C: LECTURES ON GREAT CLARINETISTS OF THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY AND THEIR RECORDED LEGACY...................98 APPENDIX D: BLAYNEY’S PROMINENT STUDENTS.......................................................99 APPENDIX E: PHOTO AND DOCUMENTS..........................................................................100 iv APPENDIX F: LETTER OF PERMISSION...............................................................................115 VITA............................................................................................................................................116 v ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to document the life and teaching of the American clarinetist William Blayney who was noted for the beauty of his tone and expressive playing. He is representative of the French clarinet school, and through his teaching he carries on this tradition of fine clarinet playing to another generation in the United States. Blayney’s wide range of experience extends from playing with the Atlanta and Seattle symphonies, to opera and ballet companies in New York, Atlanta, Baltimore and Seattle, to playing on Broadway and on movie soundtracks such as Die Hard III and Disney Studio re-scorings of classical cartoons. Blayney has taught at the Peabody Conservatory Preparatory Department, Baltimore School for Performing Arts, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC.) The purpose of this study was to present Blayney’s teaching approach to clarinet and his contribution to the dissemination of the French school’s pedagogical ideas, as well as his influence on today’s clarinetist throughout United States. This study can be useful to the clarinetist who wants to develop a good tone as a foundation on which he can build other aspects of his playing, such as legato, articulation, phrasing, and technical facility. The monograph consists of six chapters. Chapter one presents a short history of the French school of clarinet playing and its influence in the United States. Chapter two provides biographical information about William Blayney concentrating on his education, performing and teaching career. Chapter three examines the significant influences of his teachers, Donald Blayney, Ignatius Genussa and David Weber. Chapter four researches his interest in historical recordings and the recorded legacy of the greatest clarinetists of the Twentieth-century. Chapter five summarizes the essentials of Blayney’s teaching. The document concludes with a bibliography and appendices. vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION William Blayney is highly regarded as a soloist, clinician, and clarinet pedagogue.1 He is noted for the beauty of his tone and expressive musicality. Blayney is proving to be a beacon for the reinstatement of the French school of clarinet playing and teaching in the United States. In fact, he represents the “old French school” of clarinet playing, which was playing in the style of Henri Lefébvre, Louis Cahuzac, Gaston Hamelin and Daniel Bonade. Through his teachers David Weber and Ignatius Gennusa, both students of Bonade, Blayney has strong connections to the French school of clarinet playing. Bonade was the direct connection to the Paris Conservatory and the most famous representative of the French school of clarinet playing in the Americas in the twentieth century. The invention of the Boehm system clarinet