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• 1 2025-01-13T07:04:15-08:00 VCS Vol. II no. 18 Molto moderato mit ruhigem Gefühl 5 Embodied analysis and discussion plain 2025-01-13T07:51:36-08:00

  Overview

  This song-like study is the first to invite a more general exploration of tempo modification in differently characterised sections. It also raises a different problem of articulation than no. 15, namely that Baermann introduces individual staccato dots on the final notes of slurs. The question posed is whether these indicate that the note should be tongued, or shortened, or have some other sort of emphasis. Baermann’s inclusion of a breath mark in the middle of a the long slur after letter C is further evidence that his slurs are principally indications of phrasing and momentum rather than strict legato. It is also notable that, unusually for Baermann, the breath indications in this study fall frequently on the barline, reinforcing the regularity of the phrasing structure and giving the piece a feeling of simplicity.
  
  [Final recording as score-follow or audio track with image of score]

  Player’s guide: key ideas to explore

  • Experiment with different characters of tonguing as well as note length for dots alone (’T’) versus dots under slurs (‘D’, with more air across the reed and perhaps more legato into the following note). Accents can further be treated with attack, or weight, or lengthening, or any combination, depending on their context. For instance, consider the variety of attacks that can be employed in section from A to B.
     
  • The indication 'con dolore' at letter B can be taken as an invitation for a change in tempo, with a sobbing character on the ornamented notes.
     
  • Baermann’s inclusion of a breath mark in the middle of the long slur after C would seem to suggest that the crescendo and hairpin might be accompanied by a ritardando after that point, with the preceding part of the phrase moving forward in tempo or already holding back.

   

  Research reflection

  Like the other studies in this set, the approach to this was developed over a series of sessions during 2024 as Daniel and I evolved our approach to Baermann’s musical language and duo playing in this context. The work on this study focussed on overall tempo/timing feel and the integration of expressive techniques inspired by vocal and string performance.
  
  My overall trajectory with this was from an initial conception of it as relatively simple and peaceful in a steady, moderate but resistance-free tempo, and towards a more resistant tempo feel, partly inspired by the example of the Wendling Quartet’s 1929 recording of the poco Adagio movement from Haydn op. 76/3.
  
  
  At Daniel’s suggestion, and also in order to make my better sense of Baermann’s breathing/phrasing marks and accents (fz and sfz), we also experimented with greater flexibility and quasi-vocal affects in the mid section con dolore - most of which translated into more exaggerated rubato in the clarinet.
  
  In the final cycle of preparation for the October 2024 recording, I experimented with slowing the tempo down somewhat and incorporating far more space and differentiation between phrases, as well as practicing holding the sound longer at the ends of phrases and before breaths. I had earlier been interpreting Baermann’s dots at the ends of slurs as a kind of detachment, leading to some relatively light phrasing, but at this point it struck me that these could also be inflected in a way that resembles a portato stroke on a string instrument - which by definition would be relatively elongated and with the emphasis towards the mid-point, and certainly with more individual emphasis than if the note simply concluded the slur. This approach to the articulation mark opened up a new possibility in terms of timing and phrasing, with notes marked this way both leant on and pointing somewhat towards the next gesture.