This Saturday’s Columbus Symphony Orchestra performance will highlight one of the CSO’s own musicians.
Saturday’s concert, “The Classical (And Jazzy) Clarinet,” features clarinetist David Odom. Odom is the assistant professor of clarinet at Auburn University, and is the principal clarinetist in the CSO as well as the Atlanta Opera Orchestra.
Due to scheduling conflicts, this interview was via email. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When did you get serious with playing the clarinet?
I didn’t get serious about the clarinet until high school, which is often the case for wind players (unlike string players or pianists). I don’t remember why I chose the clarinet, but it ended up being the perfect choice. My mother scored a clarinet for $45 and the rest is history. I entered competitions and participated in as many festivals as I could. I was very competitive and enjoyed playing music, but was always nervous to play in front of people. Yet I did it at every opportunity. I still get nervous today, but over the years you just learn to deal with it and not let it get too much in the way of things.
Since this concert is called “The Classical (and Jazzy) Clarinet,” did you get some jazz training as well? Where did you study jazz?
The concerto is not a jazz piece per se, though there certainly are elements of jazz and other non-classical music genres. It was written for Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing” who did a lot to help give jazz a wide-reaching respect it deserved. During this time, everyone knew the popular band leader and he was a household name. Unlike many jazz musicians, Benny had classical training. He was quite a musician and gained the attention and respect of many classical composers (such as Copland, Bartok and Arnold). In this concerto, Copland incorporates jazz idioms (music found in the swing halls, clubs and bars) into a classical composition (music found in the concert hall). This really symbolizes the clarinet’s having one foot in each realm, as did Benny. This is one of, if not the, most popular and accessible clarinet concertos of the 20th century. Whether your tastes are classical or jazz, there is something for everyone.
Is there a hierarchy with instruments within an orchestra? I mean, does a violin have more, um, sex appeal than the tuba?
That is certainly a loaded question. I suppose the answer depends on who you ask, and since you have asked me I feel compelled to ask how anyone can possibly find an instrument with more appeal than the clarinet? Although I’ve always said that if I had to do it all over again, I would play the cello. I love the cello. I’m sure there a plenty of people that are attracted to the sound of the tuba. To each his own.
If there is, where does the clarinet fall?
One of the great things about playing in an orchestra is the fact that each instrument has an important role at all times and we all share responsibility. But the roles are ever-changing. Right now I’m just a member of a chord supporting the violin solo, all the sudden I have the solo and need to carry over the entire orchestra. We all get the chance to be at the top, if only for a fleeting moment (as is the case for the viola ... sorry guys). Liken it to football ... the quarterback has a job, the kicker has a job and so on. Sometimes your on the field, sometimes off the field ... all the while working together as a team toward a common goal. A win ... which in our case means sharing great music and high artistic standards with the Columbus audience.
What’s on your iPod? What are you listening to now and who?
My iPod is typical in that it has anything and everything on it. The fact that you can buy a song or two online without having to purchase an entire album has opened my eyes to all sorts of music. I often rely on my students to help keep me current, though I often question their taste. I’m sort of into Diana Krall right now.
Is there a clarinetist that you really, really like?
There are many clarinetists out there that are fantastic, too many to name. Oddly enough, I rarely ever listen to other clarinetists. I used to listen to others all the time, and found myself burdened with trying to be “something else,” to sound like that person, to articulate like that person and so on. I ended up being a very poor imitation of someone else. Once I quit doing that, I was able to sound like me, which is different from anyone else. No one can do a better job of sounding like me that can I. When I need inspiration, I typically listen to many instruments, and I often gravitate to singers, which has greatly affected my approach to playing. The voice is the most natural and beautiful of all instruments and aside from purely technical passages, my own playing owes a lot to the recordings and performances of the great singers.
Who is writing clarinet repertoire today?
The clarinet continues to be a popular source of inspiration to composers, particularly in the area of solo repertoire, and I have a great interest in supporting the composition and performance of new works for clarinet. I recently had the opportunity to work with one such fan of the clarinet, David Maslanka, a leading American composer most known for his wind music. I took part in the commission and premier of a new work for solo clarinet and piano entitled “Eternal Garden,” an emotionally charged work that places huge demands on both performers. He finds the clarinet to be highly suited to conveying emotion and imagery with its range and dynamic capabilities and exploits these aspects to the fullest. During one session in preparation for a performance, Maslanka stated that I was not loud enough in one phrase. Three runs later and playing as loud as I possibly could (and I can play loud), I still was not loud enough. In a sense, he was stretching the limits of what is considered possible, which is in part how performance technique evolves. Later this season I’ll be performing another recent composition by David Gillingham, one of his recent works for clarinet, piano and wind ensemble. There are technical passages in the work that would surely have made my teacher’s teacher’s eyes pop, and generally speaking, this is the nature of contemporary compositions.
