Word: instrument
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...pleasing contrast to all of this was the lucid, sensitive playing of clarinetist Harold Wright in the best of the three compositions performed. Here was a performer who cared enough not only to master the technical problems for his own instrument, but also to bring forth some sense of the compositional beauty of the music at hand: Brahm's 'honorable mention' for the evening. Dynamic markings were tastefully observed; phrases were si un out to their intended length, and, quite often in dialogue with the cello, passed gracefully to Neikrug, who, taking the opportunity to be heard, broke the continuity...
...pianist, inappropriately armed with an instrument designed to combat a full orchestra, obviously wins, unless he can be persuaded to restrain his superior forces; second place usually goes to the violinist, by virtue of the brilliance of his upper register. In third place is the cellist, ironically playing perhaps the most expressive of the three instruments. And the composer is fortunate, indeed, if he receives an accidental honorable mention somewhere in the midst of the bellicose uproar...
Myth tells us that the god Apollo, whose instrument was the lyre, was challenged to a musical contest by a coarse satyr named Marsyas, who had learned to play the flute. Marsyas lost, and Apollo skinned him alive. In our day, this draconian triumph of reason over instinct has been reversed: Marsyas, the unrepressed goat-man, has won; the Rolling Stones are one of his incarnations. Unlike the Beatles-the very prototype of nice English working-class lads accepted everywhere, winning M.B.E.s from the Queen-the Stones from the start based their appeal partly on their reputation as delinquents. They...
McLaughlin is a master at this. He attacks the music on its most spiritual level: that is his reason for playing. His notes are choppy and quick, and he plays in phrases. This style is adopted by Jerry Goodman the violinist. Goodman exploits his instrument's traditional use as a lilting, lyrical stringed instrument, and also the complete range of options opened when the violin is electrified. Therefore he's able to play both lyrically, and acidly, and he can also use the violin as a rhythm instrument under McLaughlin's guitar. Jan Hammer, the keyboard man, plays the piano...
...which each member plays short phrases, or frills, over that theme, or a variation. The continued emphasis is on speed, and on ensemble playing: guitar-violin, or guitar-violin-piano, resulting in a fusion of musical minds that is spiritual. Above all, each member exploits the possibilities of his instrument to the fullest...