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In Reply to: Yes on one; no on two. posted by markrohr on March 19, 2007 at 12:05:19:
at least for flute players, although there is and probably always will be plenty of controversy on the general topic of vibrato, and not just for 17th and 18th century music. The most insightful and funniest treatise on vibrato (including when not to use it) I have ever read is in Comment J'ai Pu Maintenir Ma Forme, or How I Maintained My Form (or, How I Stayed In Shape) by the great French flutist Marcel Moyse.Moyse, perhaps the most famous and influential flutist of all time, lived from 1889 to 1984, worked with and personally knew Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, and was in the orchestra for the 1913 world premiere performance of Le Sacre du Printemps, among other things. He was old enough to remember a time when vibrato was much less prevalent (though apparently not entirely absent), and considered by many to be in very poor taste.
However, Moyse himself, though he did a great deal to bring a lot of baroque music back into the standard repetoire, had no interest in the "historical performance practice" movement he lived long enough to see, and would dismiss playing without vibrato, or even playing on original baroque instruments, as ridiculous.
Follow Ups:
. . . when the subject is winds. I should have made clear I was talking about strings.With winds/vibrato I find it slightly weird that the flute, oboe, EH, and bassoons (not to mention saxophones) are allowed to sing, whereas the poor clarinet is not, according to some people's tastes.
There are a few classical clarinetists who use vibrato, but still the majority do not.
"Imagine Benny Goodman without vibrato! ;-)"That's why I stressed "classical".... [-;
Although in my recollections, Goodman didn't use it the few times he did classical.
Good point. The whole issue of the clarinet and vibrato (or lack thereof) is an interesting one, but I guess a bit arcane for this discussion group.Meanwhile, for a classical clarinettist with seriously heavy vibrato, listen to David Oppenheim in the Brahms clarinet quintet with the Budapest String Quartet, if you haven't already. I'd be interested in your opinion.
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