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The Wiedoeft Style
In terms of our popular culture, Rudy Wiedoeft inhabits a sort of never-never land somewhere betwee
n Ragtime and Swing. But in a larger sense, the essence of his style is classical, in the great European tradition. To understand the Wiedoeft style, just listen to a great violinist play Bach. Notice especially the bowing of the 16ths: down-up-down-up. The sound is full and sustained but the articulation has a bell-like clarity because of the changing direction of the bow. Wiedoeft coined the term "Legato-Staccato" to illustrate this concept for the saxophonists.
There is an inherent rhythm and weight relationship to the bow arm, a kind of melodic, flowing rhythm that pervades fine Baroque performance. Play the running 16ths of a Handel Allegro with this melodic rhythm, then play it absolutely even, like Ragtime. It just sounds wrong. The same with Wiedoeft. "Saxema" and "Saxophobia" should be played in this melodic string style, not in a four-square, straight duple, like Ragtime, and not triple, like Swing.
The nemesis of this style is cuteness. Think of that great clarinet glissando opening Rhapsody in Blue -- it's such a delicious musical moment. But it's not, by any stretch of the imagination, cute.
Wiedoeft's music should be played with the same sense of fun and exuberance: always a stream of melody, always packed with energy, and always classical. It has an infectious, joyous beauty, and was meant to give pleasure.
