STRAVINSKY, Igor

3 Pieces for clarinet

No. 1. Sempre piano e molto tranquillo. Quarter note = 52

Paul Meyer, guest professor

Petr Vasek, student

Prof. Meyer begins his lecture explaining that he felt the performance has not been adequate regarding the date of the composition of the piece. All the musical aspects are correct, but he misses more expression, and tuning can be also improved.
Resuming the beginning of this first piece, Meyer indicates that the sound should be “fuller” and legato, singing like a tenor.
The professor points out some tuning issues, among others such as phrasing, timbre and sound quality, or dynamics. Paul Meyer also recommends the student to feel more positive while he performs the piece.
About the sound, in professor’s opinion it should be like coming from mountains, very even and more atmospheric. He also talks about interpretative styles which don’t fit with his idea of high-quality sound. For the professor, it must not be so open, and he mentions and plays examples from other pieces with a similar sound.
Besides, he advises the student to be more relaxed and focused on sound, without moving and doing anymore but at the same time controlling internally the air and breathing.
The student needs time to achieve all of that, but to begin with, he can practice the breathing trying not to take too much air brusquely and playing longer.

Language: English