Hello David. Great job on a very convincing miniature - I mean that in a grand way! I am a big fan of Analog sound. I love that golden sound of LPs. Hey, I use a home-made tube amplifier for my bedroom. If the piano was mostly in tune, then some of the "out of tune" sound might be due to the wow and flutter from tape recorders, especially if they were spec'd above 0.15%, or if you used cardiod mics too close with a less than ideal off-axis response - as some notes are in perfect tune, and some are not.

Hi George,

Chris and Monica were kind enough to put up these two Ravel recordings for me. Your observations are correct. Back in the days I used a Nakamichi CR-2/CR-1 two-head cassette tape deck, two close-in Nakamichi MD-300 electret small diaphragm electret condenser mics (with the batteries in the mics) with cardioid capsules and a third mic behind them but with an omni-directional capsule for ambient sound. So there was probably more wow and flutter on that tape deck than would have been the case with reel-to reel. Also, I was mis-advised and should never have been doing close-in recordings at the rim of the piano, as they're more appropriate for jazz and pops. Apart from those issues though, analog sound was definitely warmer and richer than digital sound. As far as digital recording goes, I think my current setup is far superior to the old equipment, more compact, has more headroom, and delivers a natural, uncolored sound.

David

Rachfan wrote:


Thank you for that interesting inspiration, David, I will try to get a recording of that piece.



Yes, I agree absolutely. His style seems so versatile (and eclectic, too). The second theme of the first movement of the Sonata for clarinet and piano, which is much slower than the first theme and the reprise, by the way, seems neo-romantic to me, indeed! May be "neo-romantic" characterizes his style in the first and second movement still adequater than "neo-classical". I like his individual and very expressive style very much!



Thank you, David. I will do my very best (like the buttler in "Dinner for one" , sorry, I always have to think of that end, when I hear this english sentence ) and I will probably play that sonata with two clarinetists, first with a pupil and second with my colleague, I also have recorded the jazz-pieces recently. So, we have a double chance to get a recording here.



So, it´s your special and valuable merit, that you have made him here alive to us! Thank you once more.

Hi Andreas,



There are several on YouTube.



It's always a great pleasure!

David

Poulenc has the knack of imitating witout ever sounding derivative. Does not the slow movment of the piano concerto sound like it might have been written by Mozart before progressing to a more modern idiom without ever sounding like patchwork, but like the logical conclusion of the first statement.

He is a world apart from Stravinsky, who has yet to convince me of the validity of his Pulcinella, for example.

Hi Richard,

Yes, I think that Poulenc, being very improvisatory in his approach to composing could drop into Baroque for a few moments, neo-classicism along the way, and then have moments of unbridled romanticism. Yet, he would always do these changes in style with a great deal of originality and cleverness. Another composer who comes to mind was Doynanyi who could regale listeners with such imitations using parody-like paraphrases. The American composer Amy Beach too was able to incorporate some lengthy Baroque moments into her otherwise late romantic style in chamber works, and did so very convincingly. Not all of the composers are capable in doing this in my opinion or have the inclination to do so. I think it's probably a special talent.

David