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QUEENSLAND CONSERVATORIUM GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY THE MOZART BASSET CLARINET CONCERTO K.622: CURRENT PHILOSOPHIES ON FORMING AN INTERPRETATION Justin Beere, Bmus. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment Of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Music with Honours October 2009 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this work has not previously been submitted in whole or part by me of any other person for qualification or award in any university. I further certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, this dissertation contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the dissertation itself. Signed ………………………………. Date ………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my ever-patient supervisor Dr Scott Harrison for his guidance and assistance through this project. The study would not have been successful without the very generous case study subjects and my sincere thanks go to Paul Dean and Craig Hill who were so willing to take part and taught me so much in the process. I am indebted to the Librarians of the Queensland Conservatorium and Dr Stephen Emmerson for ideas on content and resources. Gregg Howard and Dr Brydie- Leigh Bartleet were critical in the early phases in assisting with process and formatting issues on projects of this scale. Finally, I would like to thank dear friends Gwenneth Lippiatt, Joy Conolly, Stewart Kelly and David Ouch for their tireless assistance in proofreading, formatting and many early morning discussions on philosophy and content. iii ABSTRACT Mozart’s writings for the clarinet and historically related instruments provide some of the richest and most studied and performed repertoire in the clarinettists’ canon. Mozart’s final instrumental concerto, K622 for the basset clarinet and orchestra has remained one of his most popular works. There is a significant amount of ambiguity surrounding the work, given that Mozart’s autograph is lost and that there is limited information available on the construction of basset clarinets of the late eighteenth century. Given this ambiguity, attitudes to interpreting the work have evolved significantly over the two centuries since its composition. It is the central aim of this study to gain a sampling of contemporary scholarship and prevailing attitudes towards K622 by analysing performances by Paul Dean and Craig Hill, arguably Australia’s two finest living exponents of the work. These performers both have relatively recent studio compact disc recordings, which will be deconstructed and analysed. The author will then interview each subject discussing their opinion and solutions to score ambiguities. Chapters three and four will present the case studies. In chapters one and two, a framework for the new research will be built around a thorough literature review of current scholarship and research on the history of the piece as well as a brief overview of the arguments and implications of historically informed performance. The aim of the research is to provide a thorough starting point for any student learning this concerto, containing a brief but highly credible sample of current interpretive trends by two leading and respected soloists. iv CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of Contents v List of Musical Figures vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Literature Review 4 Chapter 2 Foundations for Performance Analysis 9 Chapter 3 Case Study A – Craig Hill 17 Chapter 4 Case Study B – Paul Dean 29 Conclusion 38 References 42 Bibliography 44 Appendix A 46 Appendix B 47 Appendix C 48 Appendix D 49 Appendix E 50 v LIST OF MUSICAL FIGURES Figure Page 1. Leopold Mozart’s definition of whole and half tone trills. 13 2. Example of the main note trills from 1/224-5 and 1/310 13 3. Leopold Mozart on shaping trills 14 4. Detached articulation in bars 1/69, 1/73 and 1/95 19 5. Chalumeau articulations in bars 2/54,and 3/307-13 19 6. Hill’s articulation at 1/143 and 1/148-9 20 7. Hill’s slurring at 1/87-90 and 1/202 - 205 22 8. An alternative suggestion of 1/87 – 90 and 1/202 – 205 22 9. Hill’s non-harmonic articulation bar 1/61 22 10. Hill’s extempore ornamentation bar 1/176 – 179 23 11. Appoggiatura trill – bars 1/74 24 12. Appoggiatura trill bar 1/74 24 13. Eingänge no. 1 – bar 1/127 25 14. Eingänge’s 2 (1/315) and 3 (2/58) Hill’s interpretation 25 15. Hill’s register emendation bats 1/331-334 26 16. Hill’s emendation suggestion 3/311-313 27 17. The Basset ‘B’ natural, bars 1/295, 3/146 – 8 27 18. Pamina – bars 1/115 – 17 30 19. Papageno and Sarastro – bars 1/169 – 173 30 20. Dean’s articulation in 1/87-90 32 21. Dean’s slur placement at 1/110-112 32 22. Dean’s articulation in bars 1/6-8 33 23. Dean’s only use of extempore ornamentation at 2/23 34 24. Dean’s Eingänges 34 25. Dean’s register transposition bar 1/326 35 26. Dean’s register transposition bar 1/331-333 35 27. Dean’s register transposition bar 1/337 36 28. Dean’s slow movement transposition bar 2/54, 2/56 36 29. Dean’s Rondo melodic transposition 36 vi Introduction Clarinettists are indebted to Mozart, whose compositional fluency and idiomatic writing style undoubtedly brought the clarinet into focus during his career. For centuries Mozart’s music and his relationship with the clarinet have intrigued both performers and scholars alike, especially in relation to the Clarinet Concerto in A, K.622. Since the first performance of this work in 1791 by Austrian clarinettist Anton Stadler, it has ascended a place in the repertoire, to be arguably the finest and indisputably the most performed clarinet concerto; a central pillar for any maturing student or professional soloist. Given that the work’s original autograph is lost (Rice, 2003) and the instrument for which it was intended is now seldom used in performance (meaning its key system and sound are virtually unknown), arguments concerning the concertos palaeographical authenticity and its subsequent interpretative representations have become a multi-faceted scholarly debate. It is crucial that the modern performer is not only aware of the musical practices of the composers’ time, but is also knowledgeable of the many ways of interpreting the manuscript. The fundamental ideologies of historically informed performance in many ways conflict with common practices of modern performance, causing points of contention for the aspiring interpreter. It is within the context of this ambiguous history that the central question of this research arises. In the two centuries since the works’ composition, leading interpretations of the piece have evolved in line with current scholarship and taste. This evolutionary process continues and it is the aim of this dissertation to compare and contrast interpretations of this concerto by renowned contemporary Australian clarinettists Paul Dean and Craig Hill to assess a sample of current scholarship and trends. In developing the framework for the project, the following methodology has been employed. A thorough literature review was undertaken to ascertain the existing knowledge in the field. It was evident from this review that a number of musical devices could be explored, and these are detailed in chapter three. The main part of the study was conducted through fieldwork, with two exponents of the clarinet concerto. I therefore employed a case study methodology (Stake, 1995) to explore the themes. These performers were chosen because they are Australian musicians to whom the study had ready access, the recentness of their recordings of the work, and the contrasts apparent in their interpretation according to the musical devices described in chapter 3. They were, in this sense, a convenience sample (Bradburn and Sudman, 1988). The case studies were approached from two perspectives: a preliminary analysis of the recordings was undertaken to establish how each performer approaches indefinite points within the score. The second stage involved semi-structured interviews with each subject to explore the themes from the literature, the musical devices, and material from the recording analysis. This style of interview was chosen because in "an informal interview, not structured by a standard list of questions, the interviewer can choose to deal with the topics of interest in any order, and to phrase their questions as they think best" (Nichols, 1991, p. 131). Semi-structured interviews can also reveal a “richness of data” (Oatley, 1999, p. 1) and this can cause the material to be viewed through different lenses. Each case is therefore presented using the devices as a thematic tool, and conclusions drawn about possible performance practice for clarinettists. The project had approval from the Griffith University Ethics Committee (GU Ref No: QCM/15/09/HREC). The 2003 ABC Classics Hill performance is on period basset clarinet in ‘A,’ with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, a specialist eighteenth century period orchestra. This will be used to illustrate a historically informed performance. The second case study examines Paul Dean’s performance on the modern ‘A’ clarinet with the Queensland Orchestra, which was released by Melba records in 2009. This recording will provide an example utilising modern instruments. Analysis of these recordings will aim to draw connections and highlight differences between the artists’ ideas and their approaches to the concerto and also to gain further insight into the differences or similarities between the two schools of playing. To the best knowledge of the author, studies of this kind have not yet been undertaken. Etheridge’s text, “Mozart Clarinet Concerto: The Clarinetist’s View,” touches on areas of the interpretive process of eight renowned European clarinetist’s 2 recordings of the twentieth century, however, conclusions arise from Etheridge’s own interpretive investigation (Etheridge, 1983).