The fastest journey

In my clarinet practicing, I’ve been working on Andre Messager’s Solo de Concours.  As is the case for most works on YouTube, there are many recordings with many different interpretations--some faster, some slower, some in between.  The faster they go, the more detail tends to be lost. By its nature, music hangs in the air for only as long people continue to play. It’s like a journey with silence at the end.  As I work on putting my own spin on the Messager, I wonder: should the journey be faster or more interesting. Fast can be interesting. Of course, the end of the music comes more quickly.  But is it the shortest or most quickly told tale that we talk about time and time again? Tales with strange, unexpected happenings always catch in our memory the longest. So, I’ve decided to take more time telling this tale, and make it one worth telling.