Performing Controlled Indeterminacy in Leo Brouwer's “Sonata Mitología De Las Aguas No. I, Para Flauta Y Guitarra”

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PERFORMING CONTROLLED INDETERMINACY IN LEO BROUWER’S SONATA

MITOLOGÍA DE LAS AGUAS NO. I, PARA FLAUTA Y GUITARRA

Hector Javier Rodriguez, B.M., M.M.

Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

May 2021

APPROVED:

Thomas Johnson, Major Professor Paul Leenhouts, Committee Member Bradley Bennight, Committee Member John Holt, Chair of the Division of Instrumental Studies Jaymee Haefner, Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music John Richmond, Dean of the College of Music Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School

Rodriguez, Hector Javier. Performing Controlled Indeterminacy in Leo Brouwer’s

“Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I, para flauta y guitarra.” Doctor of Musical Arts

(Performance), May 2021, 35 pp., 18 musical examples, 1 appendix, bibliography, 43 titles.

Leo Brouwer’s Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I for flute and guitar, first published in

2017, has taken its place as an important twenty-first-century addition to the flute and guitar duo repertory. I provide a brief historical context for the work, followed by preparation guides for guitar alone and duo passages. My preparation guides include exercises and rehearsal strategies, focusing on those passages of the work that include controlled indeterminacy. The study of indeterminacy in music is unusual in the pedagogy of the classical guitarist; this leaves guitarists unprepared for dealing with pieces, especially chamber works, that use improvisation or aleatoric music as a primary element. I take a multifaceted approach to facilitate the realization of the indeterminate sections of the work; this includes demonstrations of my traditional music notation transcriptions and other rehearsal strategies and the application of music performance study systems by James Thurmond and Marcel Tabuteau. This document aims to provide guidance to creating an organic, natural aesthetic in the actualization of Brouwer’s groundbreaking work.

Hector Javier Rodriguez

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ...... iv

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Purpose ...... 1 Biography of Leo Brouwer ...... 1 Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I ...... 7

CHAPTER 2. LEO BROUWER’S SONATA MITOLOGÍA DE LAS AGUAS NO. I ...... 8 Form ...... 8 Editions ...... 8 Aleatoric Elements ...... 9 Guitar Performance Guide ...... 9 Movement I: Nacimiento del Amazonas ...... 9 Movement II: El lago escondido de los Mayas ...... 11 Movement III: El Salto del Ángel ...... 12 Movement IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba ...... 14 Duo Performance Guide ...... 16 Movement I: Nacimiento del Amazonas ...... 16 Movement II: El lago escondido de los Mayas ...... 20 Movement III: El Salto del Ángel ...... 22 Movement IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba ...... 22

CHAPTER 3. ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR PREPARING ALEATORIC MUSIC ...... 25 Thurmond Note Grouping ...... 25 Tabuteau System ...... 28

CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSION...... 30

APPENDIX: LEO BROUWER, SONATA MITOLOGÍA DE LAS AGUAS NO. I PERFORMANCE INDICATIONS FROM 2020 EDITION...... 31

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 33

iii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Page

Example 1: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, m. 5 (with 3 “alternative rhythm” exercises)...... 10

Example 2: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, mm. 36-38 (published notation)...... 11

Example 3: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, mm. 36-38 (with note groupings)...... 12

Example 4: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 51. (exercises including “alternative rhythms”) ...... 12

Example 5: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, m. 34 (with 2 “alternative rhythm” exercises)...... 13

Example 6: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, mm. 36-38 (published notation)...... 13

Example 7: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, mm. 36-38 (guitar part including note groupings)...... 14

Example 8: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 1-3 (published notation)...... 15

Example 9: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 1-3 (standard notation transcription)...... 16

Example 10: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 17-26 (exercise – flute part simplified to provide downbeats only)...... 17

Example 11: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 44 & 46 (published notation)...... 19

Example 12: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 44 & 46 (transcription with standard notation)...... 19

Example 13: Leo Brouwer, II Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 40 (published notation)...... 20

Example 14: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 40 (standard notation transcription)...... 21

Example 15: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 3 (published notation)...... 23

iv Example 16: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 3 (standard notation transcription)...... 24

Example 17: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 11 (as published, with fingerings for both hands, followed by an exercise with Thurmond Note Grouping principle applied)...... 27

Example 18: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 40 (standard notation transcription, and with Tabuteau Number System principles applied to dynamic level and to pacing the ritardando)...... 28

v CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Purpose

Leo Brouwer’s Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I for flute and guitar, first published in

2017, has taken its place as an important twenty-first-century addition to the flute and guitar duo repertory. In the lecture portion of this recital, I will provide a brief historical context for the work, followed by preparation guides for guitar alone and duo passages. My preparation guides include exercises and rehearsal strategies, focusing on those passages of the work that include controlled indeterminacy. The study of indeterminacy in music is unusual in the pedagogy of the classical guitarist; this leaves guitarists unprepared for dealing with pieces, especially chamber works, that use improvisation or aleatoric music as a primary element. I will take a multifaceted approach to facilitate the realization of the indeterminate sections of the work; this will include demonstrations of my traditional music notation transcriptions and other rehearsal strategies and the application of music performance study systems by James Thurmond and Marcel Tabuteau.

This lecture recital aims to provide guidance to creating an organic, natural aesthetic in the actualization of Brouwer’s groundbreaking work.

Biography of Leo Brouwer

Leo Brouwer (b. 1939) is an invaluable asset to the history of modern classical guitar and arguably one of the most influential figures in the classical guitar community. He serves in various roles such as virtuoso guitarist, composer, orchestral conductor, author, and lecturer.

After sustaining an injury to the middle finger of his right hand during the early 1980s, Brouwer limited his performances as a guitar soloist in public. Since that time, he has turned his focus to conducting as well as to composing and arranging. Through his creation of musical pieces that

1 are technically and interpretatively appropriate for all levels of study, Brouwer has updated and

expanded the body of repertoire for the guitar considerably, such that he is widely hailed as the most important living composer for guitar.1 In his own words, although his primary source of

inspiration is the Cuban folklore of his home country, Brouwer’s topics frequently originate

from other continents. Brouwer wrote, “the composer should also be an ethnologist

since music is not just a function but changes the world and his whole existence. A composer

lives among people, borrows from them, expands his personal culture, as well as that of his

country, tries to innovate as an inventor, and finally is united with the long line of creators that

existed before him. That should be the line of life of a composer.”2

In 1961, Brouwer heard the Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzystof

Penderecki and Zyklus für einen Schlagzeuger by Karlheinz Stockhausen, each performed at the

Warsaw Autumn festival of that year.3 After quickly studying the compositional methods that

captivated him, Brouwer performed in 1964 at the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, his

Sonogram I for prepared grand piano. It was the first indeterminate work performed in Cuba and

the first indeterminate work by a Cuban composer.4 Of the Cuban musical landscape of the time,

Brouwer wrote:

La vanguardia en Cuba tiene resuelta la doble problemática del compositor actual: la libertad de creación y la “razón de ser” de esa libertad inmediata: el público. La participación constante del creador en las tareas sociales y profesionales con su obra y, por otra parte, la reacción favorable de un público—no prejudiciado o casi virgen-

1 Constantinos Chizaris, Leo Brouwer: A Penetrating Insight into the Life and Works of the Composer. (N.p.: Lulu.com, 2018), 7. 2 Ibid 3 Radames Giro, Leo Brouwer: Del rito al mito (Havana: Museo de la Música, 2009), 55. 4 Leo Brouwer, Leo Brouwer: Gajes del oficio, trans. Hector Rodriguez (Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2004), 55.

2 propone una situación ideal como punto de partida para la formación de una cultura propia sin paralelo histórico.5

[The avant-garde in Cuba has solved the double problem of the current composer: the freedom of creation and the “reason to be” of that immediate freedom: the public. The constant participation of the creator in social and professional tasks with his work and, on the other hand, the favorable reaction of an audience—not prejudged or almost virgin— presents an ideal situation as a starting point for the formation of a culture of its own without historical parallel.]

Significant to the study of Brouwer, and especially of his view of the basic principles of aleatoric, improvisatory, and open forms, are the collection of articles “The music, the Cuban, and the innovation.” In these articles, Brouwer describes chance or indeterminate elements as

“the most important factors in the freedom of art: the joint creation of the composer and the performer in the performance.”6 Brouwer also discusses the mathematical basis of chance music, which includes the calculation of probabilities and the notion of the relationship between space and time. According to Brouwer, the composer finds in “open forms” the highest degree of freedom and unlimited fantasy, the way to express the most sacred impulses of the nature of man.7 Of aleatoric improvisation in music, Brouwer wrote the following:

Se ha discutido hasta lo exhaustivo si la música más trascendente es la detallada hasta en sus menores elementos, o aquella otra que, fundamentada en la fuerza creadora momentánea, llega con su vitalidad a la práctica de lo más auténtico. En esta dicotomía reside precisamente la esencia de la obra creadora. En el extenso panorama de 1a mitísica contemporánea hay grandes figuras alrededor de las cuales han girado innumerables creadores. A su vez las obras más representativas se convierten en puntos culminantes de la composición musical que son examinados minuciosamente a partir de sus elementos técnicos, olvidando muchas veces el entorno de gran trascendencia—circunstancia filosófica, social, política—que rodea a estos artistas, como es el caso de Cuba en la actualidad.

El universo interior del compositor, por una parte, es la compleja formación de mundos conceptuales, teóricos, de disciplina formativa, de academia, de información. Todo esto

5 Leo Brouwer, Leo Brouwer: Gajes del oficio, trans. Hector Rodriguez (Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2004), 67. 6 Leo Brouwer, La Música, lo Cubano y la Innovación (Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1982). 7 Ibid.

3 es rechazado en lo consciente para dar paso al “encantamiento”, al inconsciente, a la necesidad interior, al mundo alucinante que nos atrapa desde niños. Debo señalar que en este siglo, cuando ocurren—casi en paralelo—los más grandes progresos científicos en la historia del hombre, donde se llega a los cambios sociales más radicales, la llamada inspiración, o se da por vencida o asiste a nuevas fuentes.

He aquí la raíz del problema. la inspiración ha cambiado de ropaje, no sólo ha cambiado, sino que se ha escindido en dos fases sustancialmente opuestas: la fantasía más abierta y desbordada, por un lado y el rigor científico, por el otro. Desde ahí, el hombre controlado por la civilización, se vuelve a sus fuentes originarias y a sus impulsos primarios. El compositor encuentra en las “formas abiertas” (open forms) un camino a estas necesidades.8

[It has been thoroughly discussed whether the most transcendent music is that which is detailed down to its smallest increments, or that other music, that…comes with its vitality from the most authentic practice. In this dichotomy lies the essence of creative work. In the extensive panorama of contemporary music, there are great figures around whom countless creators have revolved. At the same time, the most representative works of contemporary music become highlights of those musical compositions that are meticulously examined based on their technical elements, often forgetting the environment of great transcendence—philosophical, social, political circumstances—that surrounds these artists, as is the case in Cuba today.

The inner universe of the composer, on the one hand, is the complex formation of conceptual and theoretical worlds, of formative discipline, of academia, of information. All this is often rejected in the conscious, giving way to the “enchantment,” the unconscious to the inner need, the hallucinatory world that has enchanted us since childhood. I must point out that in this century, the greatest scientific advances in the history of man have taken place... Advances in which you either reach the most radical social changes, the so-called inspiration, or you take them for granted…

This is the root of the problem: inspiration has changed its clothes; not only has it changed, but it has split into two substantially opposing phases: the more open and overflowing fantasy, on the one hand, and scientific rigor on the other. From there, a man controlled by civilization returns to his original sources and primary impulses. The composer finds in the “open forms” (open vs. forms) a way to satisfy these needs.]

On the incorporation of improvisation in the compositional process, Brouwer wrote:

La improvisación, como parámetro elemental de esas estructuras, es, a mi entender, suficientemente importante como para exigir un analísis que se le ha negado…Parece que el espíritu científico que nos caracteriza ha olvidado que los factores casuales encajan en las teorías físico-matemáticas de la probabilística, revolucionando las matemáticas modernas y a la ciencia como finalidad.

8 Brouwer, Leo Brouwer: Gajes del oficio, 58.

Hasta ahora, en nuestro siglo, el concepto de improvisación sólo había encontrado campo en ciertas manifestaciones del folklore, con sus limitaciones propias encaminadas a una exposición virtuosísima del ejecutante, sin plantear, aparentemente, soluciones más complejas en cuanto a la música y no al instrumento. El jazz varió los élemenlos no sólo melódicos, sino también armónicos, contando a su favor con el lenguaje tonal empleado en la música desde siglos atrás. Es lógico que el arte de la improvisación perezca en los momentos en que la técnica musical encuentra sus máximos codificadores, en donde no escapa ningún detalle a la metodización, a la clasificación musicográfica. Así Bach retornó al arte de la improvisación en el momento en que la erudición musical llegaba a su clímax de enquistamiento, de ahogo. De igual manera los contemporáneos encuentran una senda común cuando la acumulación de sutilezas instrumentales de “orfebrería” orquestal y de arquitectura minuciosa en lo formal—llega a su último punto de saturación mediante el postimpresionismo alla Ravel, las estructuras formales bartokianas o el serialismo de Anton Webern.

Al analizar el camino, siempre en espiral ascendente, de los hombres y sobre todo de la obra de éstos, se encuentra que, por contradictorio que parezca, las ideas fundamentales que hay que expresar son muy pocas. Creo que se pueden sustanciar en unas cuantas obras de cada época que marcan pauta, incluso para los “estilos.” ¿Cómo fundir 1a improvisación al lenguaje actual? El intérprete tiene que plantearse una problemática diferente al concepto puro de interpretación, afiliado a sus gustos personales. Sirvámonos de dos grandes: Chopin y J. S. Bach, monumentales improvisadores. Chopin, romántico. Sus frases son un todo en el que prima la idea lineal (melódica), pero tratada cual una idea de conjunto, como la visión de un paisaje visto con un enfoque romántico, donde las imágenes tienen necesariamente que ser bellas aunque no sean veraces. Bach, todo claro, bien trazado. Líneas independientes pero mezcladas con orden, como correspondería a un exterior del Canaletto, donde la perspectiva, trazada también por Leonardo u otros prebarrocos, anuncia el orden de los planos, ángulos o dimensiones de la arquitectónica.

Las leyes básicas de la improvisación chopiniana bordeaban lo esencial del espíritu romántico en música: la línea melódica acompañada de “lo demás.” Bach improvisaba a partir del motivo esencial—la bordadura barroca y su extension—la secuencia en un mundo de reiteraciones constantes donde al alcanzarse una pulsación, ésta no se abandona, se sopena de detener el pulso del movimiento constante (tesis barroca esencial).9

[Improvisation, as an elementary parameter of musical structures, is, from my perspective, important enough to demand an analysis that has been denied to it…It seems that the scientific spirit that characterizes us has forgotten that casual factors fit into physical-mathematical theories of probabilities, revolutionizing modern mathematics and science as a purpose.

9 Brouwer, Leo Brouwer: Gajes del oficio, 59.

5 Until now, in our century, the concept of improvisation had only found a field in certain manifestations…with its own limitations aimed at a most virtuous exposition of the performer, without proposing more complex solutions regarding music and instrument. Jazz varied not only melodic elements but also harmonics... It is logical that the art of improvisation perishes in the moments in which musical technique finds its maximum encoders, where no detail escapes methodization, the music/graphic classiﬁcation. Thus, Bach returned to the art of improvisation at the time when musical scholarship reached its climax of encystment, of suffocation. Similarly, contemporaries find a common path when the accumulation of instrumental subtleties—of orchestral “goldsmithing” and meticulous formal architecture—reaches its final saturation point through post- impressionism as with Ravel, formal Bartokian structures, or serialism such as in the case of Anton Webern.

In analyzing the path, always in an upward spiral, of men, and especially of their work, it is found that contradictory as it may seem, the fundamental ideas that must be expressed are very few. I think they can be substantiated in a few words from each era that set the standard, even for “styles.” How can one merge improvisation with current musical language? The interpreter must consider a different problem from the pure concept of interpretation, allied to his personal tastes. Let us use two greats: Chopin and Bach, monumental improvisers. First, the case of Chopin: phrases are all such that the linear (melodic) idea prevails but in which the voices are musically treated as a whole idea, such as the vision of a landscape scene with a romantic approach, where the images must necessarily be beautiful, even if they are not truthful. In the case of Bach, all is clear and well traced: independent lines, while mixed, never lose their sense of hierarchy, as would correspond to an exterior of the Canaletto, where the perspective, drawn by Leonardo or other pre-Baroque, announces the order of the plans, angles or dimensions of the architecture.

The basic elements of Chopin's improvisation bordered on the essentials of the romantic spirit in music: the melodic line accompanied by the rest. Bach improvised from the essential motif—using baroque ornamentation—and its extension—the sequence, in a world of constant reiterations where when a pulse is reached, it is not abbreviated.]

Brouwer's oeuvre would not have likely acquired its significance for classical music if he had limited himself to experiments. He has also worked in the area of film music (composing such scores as that for the famous film Like Water for Chocolate) as well as in the area of traditional music, which for Brouwer has roots in the cultures of Cuba, Spain, and Africa. In combining these musical traditions with modern media, improvisational elements, influences such as that of monumental improvisers (as Brouwer calls them) Bach and Chopin, and finally refashioning them, Brouwer creates his sound universe.

6 Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I

Brouwer defined Sonata Mitología de las Aguas as his first sonata for flute and guitar.

The 2009 premiere of the work, given prior to its publication, was accompanied by a choreography and lighting design especially conceived for the occasion by the work’s dedicatee, guitarist Sef Albertz, and by lighting designer Jürgen Maak.10 Brouwer was present at this concert, which coincided with the celebration of his 70th birthday. As stated by Brouwer, “The composition is a sort of sound film about the powerful elemental force of the waters of the

Americas … we have the Amazon! This music is thinking about it.”11

In fact, the music of this monumental sonata is a kind of musical tour of Latin America, with depictions of its most representative landscapes, characters, and cultures. The first movement is entitled “Nacimiento del Amazonas” [The Birth of the Amazon River (Brazil)]; the second is “El Lago Escondido de los Mayas” [The hidden lake of the Mayas (Central America)]; the third movement is “El Salto del Ángel” [Angel Falls (Venezuela)]; and the final movement is

“El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba” [The Güije, Goblin from the Rivers of Cuba]. Each movement's musical setting includes sections of controlled indeterminacy for either the guitar or flute part alone or for flute and guitar together.

10 Birgit Hendrich, “Meine Musik ist eine der Möglichkeiten.” Leipziger Volkszeitung: 3. 11 Ibid.

7 CHAPTER 2

LEO BROUWER’S SONATA MITOLOGÍA DE LAS AGUAS NO. I

Form

An important while fundamental word of advice to performers of this piece – check the

form of each movement and prepare your scans or additional photocopies accordingly. Each

movement contains multiple measures that include repeat signs, and movements II and IV

include da capos, something rather typical of the works of Brouwer. Brouwer uses the da capo in

this sonata to refresh our memory and promote a greater general understanding of the material. In

the words of the composer, “The contemporary musical work is discontinuous always, and in my

music, this element for creating is always there…I compose as if chatting with you or discussing or thinking about concepts…sometimes you stop your thinking, and then you return to the previous idea.”12

Editions

In many of Brouwer’s works, one will find numerous editions, a comparison of which

yields slight note and indication differences between them. This is the case with Sonata

Mitología de las Aguas No. I, for which there are three official published editions: a limited

edition from March 2017, with only 100 printed copies, the next from October 2018, with 200

copies, and the most recent one, from July 2020, with 50 printed copies. The first edition did not

include printed parts with the score, while the second and third editions do. Few note revisions

exist between the official printed editions, although the typography is cleaner and more

comfortable to read with each successive edition—one indication in the flute part appears in the

12 Leo Brouwer, Thinking Ibero-America: Leo Brouwer in conversation with John Williams and Steve Goss. Last modified May 26, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhGBq3YgyHA&t=1862s.

8 2017 edition, in mvt. IV, m. 70 (explaining that the flutist should use breath tone for the note) is omitted in the 2018 and 2020 editions, though these editions included an open triangle above that note. Interestingly, the composer's performance notes were not provided until the third edition of the work (please see the appendix).

Aleatoric Elements

Crossan, Lane, White, and Klus pointed out that “improvisation represents the meeting point of planning and opportunity, comprising a blend of strategy formulation and implementation.”13 As it represents a primary element of the work, the careful examination of

and planning for those sections of Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I that include

indeterminacy is crucial to giving a successful performance. Most of the indeterminacy in this

work falls into broad categories: passages that are to be repeated ad libitum, passages in which special effects can be selected by the performers ad libitum, passages that should accelerate or slow down ad libitum, and sections written senza misura (without meter). During the

performance guide section of my lecture, I will spend a significant portion of my time discussing

these aleatoric sections of the work. For some of these sections, I have provided a standard

notation transcription that utilizes meter signatures and standard rhythmic notation, while those

elements are absent from the score. I will also include fingering suggestions for selected guitar

sections and will provide exercises designed to break down difficult passages to their essential

elements.

Guitar Performance Guide

Movement I: Nacimiento del Amazonas

13 Crossan, M., Lane, H., White, R.E., and Klus, L., The Improvising Organization: Where Planning Meets Opportunity, Organizational Dynamics, 24(4): 20-25.

9 Brouwer emphasizes the importance of direction. It is a concept to which he frequently returns in his masterclasses. For example, the opening phrase in mvt. 1, m. 1 should move toward the C-sharp5 on beat 2. The following repeated notes should move further away, as the performer gradually decreases their volume until the next block chord's appearance, in m. 1 beat

4. I found the passage in mvt. I, m. 5 to be one of the trickiest for the guitar in this movement.

For the right hand, I suggest starting the pattern with m (medio - middle finger) and then alternate between i (índice - index finger) and m. In the left hand, the fingerings were not provided; however, it is clear that Brouwer intends the passage to be played in the third position.

For the acquisition of mechanical and aural fluency in this measure, I suggest using an alternative rhythm practice technique, as shown in example 1.

Example 1: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, m. 5 (with 3 “alternative rhythm” exercises).

In exercise 1, the guitarist will play the notes in their proper order, inserting rests between each pair of notes. Using this stratagem, the guitarist can narrow his rehearsal focus to the finger movements needed for each note pair. In exercises 2 and 3, the notes are played in their printed order, but the rhythmic alteration in these cases is an alternation of fast and slow. It is important to practice the notes in groups in this way, without intervening silences between note groups, as this is most beneficial for committing the passages to aural and muscle memory. For this reason,

10 I find these “alternative rhythm” exercises to be of great benefit in building speed and

consistency, and in my preparation of the piece, I applied these techniques to additional

passages.

Movement II: El lago escondido de los Mayas

In mvt. II, m. 3, Brouwer calls for left hand alone and suggests either the fourth or fifth string for the repeated B4s. I recommend playing the ostinato B4 on the fourth string for two

reasons: it will be brighter than the fifth string and more comfortable for the performer.

Regarding the percussion part in m. 15, play it on the top of the guitar near the rosette, striking

with the pads of the middle and ring fingers. This will allow the guitarist to keep the fingers

close to the strings, which will be of great benefit in m. 25 on beat 4, where the sixteenth note arpeggio figure is indicated. It is helpful to create note groupings for mm. 36-38 that are printed quasi senza misura. A comparison between the printed score and a copy of the guitar part, including my note groupings, can be seen in examples 2 and 3.

Example 2: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, mm. 36-38 (published notation).

Example 3: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, mm. 36-38 (with note groupings).

I found m. 51 to be somewhat challenging here because of the slurs as well as the necessary shift from the tenth position to the twelfth position, in the middle of a quintuplet. I created some alternate rhythm exercises for this passage, as shown in example 4.

Example 4: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 51. (exercises including “alternative rhythms”)

In masterclasses, Brouwer often speaks about the way to voice strummed chords. He asks the performer to emphasize the uppermost note of the chord and recommends a circular motion in the right hand, akin to the shape of the rosette. This advice can be beneficial in the execution of the final chord of movement II and for subsequent chords that require strumming.

Movement III: El Salto del Ángel

In mvt. III, m. 34, Brouwer suggests using first and second finger for the sextuplets, and,

12 after trying the option of using second and third finger instead, I find that Brouwer’s suggestion

works most effectively for me. Example 5 includes a practice exercise I wrote in service to gaining fluency of the sextuplets in mvt. III, m. 34. These exercises provide an additional example of ways to incorporate alternative rhythm practice into the preparation of this work.

Example 5: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, m. 34 (with 2 “alternative rhythm” exercises).

It is helpful to create note groupings for mvt. III mm. 36-38. A comparison between the printed score of mm. 36-38 and a copy of the guitar part, including my note groupings, can be

seen in examples 6 and 7.

Example 6: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, mm. 36- 38 (published notation).

Example 7: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt III: El Salto del Ángel, mm. 36- 38 (guitar part including note groupings).

The suggestions from mvt. II regarding percussive passages can be applied to mvt. III, for

the section from m. 66 through the end of the movement (m. 74).

Movement IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba

Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I contains only one extended cadenza for the guitar alone, in the opening of movement IV, from rehearsal 1 to rehearsal 3. The guitar cadenza begins with an ostinato pattern of a repeated G4. Brouwer writes the specific location of these notes alternating the G4 from the fourth string with the open G4 of the third string. I found that using a fingering of p (pulgar – thumb), m for the figueta (alternation of either p, i, or of p, m) helps to achieve a more fluent and light articulation. I suggest playing the following B-flat4 with the index finger, then continue with the figueta pattern. The following C-sharp5 can be played with the middle finger – this note slurs next to the G4; use the fifth fret. In m. 4, I suggest playing the

F-sharp3 very short and played with a rest-stroke (also known as apoyando, a stroke that moves through the string and rests on the adjacent string), and I suggest that the following G4 be played by hitting the G4 as a “hammer-on” (striking the note with the left hand alone). The downbeat of

14 m. 5 should be played with a rest-stroke to bring out the sforzando. It is important to keep the tremolo very quiet in the background and just bring out the patterns which interrupt this effect, almost giving the impression of multiple performers, and heightening the programmatic element of the Güije that sneaks out from the river. The accented notes depict the attempts of the Güije to frighten people by jumping out at them.

The published version of this cadenza section is shown in example 8, and example 9 is my standard notation transcription of the same music, including my suggested fingerings.

Example 8: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 1-3 (published notation).

Example 9: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 1-3 (standard notation transcription).

Duo Performance Guide

Movement I: Nacimiento del Amazonas

Arguably, the essential general consideration for guitarists when performing in

16 collaboration with flutists is to be aware of the flutist’s need to plan their breaths. The attention dedicated to carefully planned breathing by seasoned flutists can serve to enhance our understanding of natural phrasing as guitarists. While some breaths can be taken in tempo, others will require slight temporal adjustments, even in collaborations with professional-level flutists.

Example 10: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 17-26 (exercise – flute part simplified to provide downbeats only).

17 It is helpful for the guitarist to copy in all the flutist’s intended breath marks on their score, especially in cases that represent an opportunity to demonstrate finely tuned ensemble

coordination. For example, in Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I in mvt. I mm. 17-26, the flute

accompanies the guitar with an ostinato triplet passage. The guitarist must be sensitive to the fact

that the flutist will need to create time for breaths in these measures and likely plan to breathe on

most bar lines. A rehearsal technique I recommend for mvt. I mm. 17-26 is for the guitarist to

rehearse his part as printed, while the flutist plays only the first note of each printed triplet. This

will assist the guitarist in his ear training of what happens on the downbeat of each quarter note

in the measure, as shown in example 10, and proves a practical intermediate step before the duo

incorporates the flutist’s triplets as printed.

In the following section, mvt. I, mm. 27-36, in which the flutist has the primary material,

and the guitarist plays an ostinato accompaniment of triplets, I recommend the same rehearsal

approach: in rehearsal, the guitarist will simplify his figure, only playing the first note of each

triplet, while the flutist plays the printed melodic material. It is important for the guitarist to play

many of the harmonics in duo portions of the work close to the bridge, particularly the ones

played on bass strings because this will provide more clarity and will prove beneficial in

avoiding balance issues with the flute. The first harmonics played with the flute appear in mvt. I,

m. 8 and represent an example of harmonics that should be played near the bridge. The closing

of mvt. I includes aleatoric elements (rhythm and repetition), as shown in example 11. In mvt. I,

m. 44, marked senza misura, note the spatial notation here – the guitar should sound first in this

passage, and the flute should join on the second guitar sixteenth note. The offset entrance is more

clearly indicated in m. 46, where the flute begins first, and the guitar has a sixteenth note rest

printed in parenthesis.

Example 11: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 44 & 46 (published notation).

Example 12: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. I: Nacimiento del Amazonas, mm. 44 & 46 (transcription with standard notation).

19 My rehearsal suggestion for this passage is to create groupings for the printed notes that make sense to each performer, resulting in a gradual slackening of tempo, as indicated by

Brouwer. Following the staggered entrance, these measures do not present any moments that need to be lined up vertically until the release to silence in each measure, so this section can be somewhat individual until each release is cued. Example 12 illustrates one possible grouping for the notes in these measures.

Movement II: El lago escondido de los Mayas

In the pre-publication edition of the work, mosso is indicated for mvt. II, m. 12. This tempo change is appropriate; I suggest it even for duos working from scores in which it does not appear. In m. 34, the flutist may have greater success in matching pitch with the guitarist on the unison B-flat4 if the flutist fingers either A4 or A-flat4 for the tongue ram, instead of the printed

B-flat4. In mvt. II, m. 40, similarly to mvt. I, m. 44, note the spatial notation – the guitar should enter one sixteenth note prior to the flute. In this excerpt, the guitar fingerings are included in the published “Ediciones Espiral Eterna.” However, fingering suggestions are not provided for the right hand, and they are not provided for the ad libitum repeats, which are left to the performer.

Example 13: Leo Brouwer, II Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 40 (published notation).

20 Examples 13 and 14 are, first, the published version of m. 40 from Sonata Mitología de las

Aguas No. I, mvt. II, a flute and guitar duo cadenza, followed by my standard notation

transcription of the same music, including guitar fingerings for both hands, in which the excerpt is extended to four measures.

Example 14: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. II: El lago escondido de los Mayas, m. 40 (standard notation transcription).

21 Movement III: El Salto del Ángel

Interestingly, in mvt. III, mm. 46-47, some recorded performances continue the guitar ostinato printed in mm. 40-45. This is not printed in any of the editions of the work in mm. 46-

47. However, as it is recorded this way by duos who have worked with Brouwer on this piece, it is an option that duos can discuss and decide upon together.14 I do not recommend continuing the

guitar ostinato in mm. 59-60. Allow those measures to remain flute solo as printed. In the pre- publication edition of the work, mosso is indicated for m. 66. As with the corresponding place in mvt. II, this tempo change is appropriate; I suggest it even for duos working from scores in which it does not appear.

Movement IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba

Following the opening solo guitar cadenza that we have examined previously, this movement goes into an extended section marked cada instrumento independiente, as shown in example 15. In this section, the two voices alternate in what results in a sort of lively conversation. To facilitate the execution of this section, I have transcribed it in standard notation, as shown in example 16.

14 Leo Brouwer, Mitología de las Aguas (Ediciones Espiral Eterna: 2014), CD.

Example 15: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 3 (published notation).

Example 16: Leo Brouwer, Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt. IV: El Güije, duende de los ríos de Cuba, reh. 3 (standard notation transcription).

24 CHAPTER 3

ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR PREPARING ALEATORIC MUSIC

In the final portion of my lecture, I discuss additional strategies for transitioning from the printed material of Brouwer’s Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I to playing an organic, improvisatory-sounding realization of the indeterminate solo and duo material. I describe and demonstrate the application of principles outlined in two music performance systems: James

Thurmond’s note grouping performance study system and the numerical parameter system of

Marcel Tabuteau.15

Thurmond Note Grouping

James Morgan Thurmond (1909-1998) was a military bandsman and music professor

who once headed the Navy School of Music in Washington, D.C. Among his contributions to

music education is a music textbook entitled Note Grouping. In the first three chapters of Note

Grouping, the important elements of basic rhythmic concepts underlying the study of musical

expression (motives, arsis and thesis, and the bar line) are detailed.16 As stated by Kerrissa

Silverthorne, “Dr. Thurmond wrote that in ancient Greece, the importance of short syllables in verse (in music, the smaller note-values) was recognized. His theory of note grouping is that the arsis or weak note (upbeat) of the motive or measure (in an iambic meter) is more expressive musically than the thesis (downbeat). By stressing the arsis ever so slightly, the performance of music can be made more satisfying and musical.”17 Mathis Lussy believes that “the factor

15 Andrea Paz, “Approaching Improvisation in Classical Guitar, Leo Brouwer’s ‘Paisaje Cubano Con Tristeza’ - Estratégias de estudo para a obra Paisaje Cubano Con Tristeza, de Leo Brouwer.” https://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/approaching-improvisation-leo-brouwers-paisaje-cubano-con- tristeza-estratégias-de-estudo. 16 James Thurmond, “The Future of the Bandworld.” Bandworld IV, no. I (August 1988): 20. 17 James Thurmond, “The Future of the Bandworld.” Bandworld IV, no. I (August 1988): 20.

25 generating the feeling that the upbeat or arsis pulsation has a life-giving characteristic, and the downbeat a quality of relief from tension, can be traced to the physiological mechanism of breathing. In breathing, there are two movements –inspiration and expiration. Inspiration personifies action – expiration, repose. The former is symbolized by the upbeat and the latter by the downbeat.” 18 Indeed, Thurmond asserts that if one is to execute music properly, with

emotion and expression, he must superimpose an arsis-thesis group in order that the active or

moving note (which must always be thought of as being first in the group) is followed by the

passive or restful one, and always in this succession. Thurmond cautions against the systematic

over accentuation of the first beat in the measure (or thesis) in serious music, which he says is at

the root of unexpressive playing.19 This is a most delicate procedure, and if done improperly, it

may easily lead to playing that sounds quite ludicrous. The line that can be drawn between

excellent playing and true artistry is very difficult to define. Each of us knows when the

expressive playing of a performer stimulates us, but few of us can explain the reasons for this

stimulation. In employing this concept, therefore, one should not think that it can be used without

the musically good taste that goes hand in hand with excellent technical development, artistic capability, sensitivity to intonation, and scholarly analysis of the music. However, as it has been

shown that the arsis quality is one of the most effective expressive qualities in music, an

important thing to do is to “lean” on the arsis ever so slightly. This does not mean mechanical,

regular accentuation of the first note of every group. After one is familiar with the true outlines

of the note groups and the expressive qualities of the music, it is still up to one to properly

coordinate motives, phrases, sentences into a rational whole, playing each according to its

18 Ibid. 19 James Morgan Thurmond, Note Grouping (Lauderdale: Meredith, 1991): 33.

26 inherent importance in the musical passage. There is no shortcut to artistry. Note grouping can

help, the same as technique, analysis, and temperament, while it is no cure-all. It must be used by

an intelligent, sensitive performer capable of great imaginative artistry. If this concept only helps

prevent mechanical over-accentuation of the theses, it will have done its part. To illustrate the

application of Thurmond’s performance study system, I will demonstrate an exercise I have

written based on mvt. 2, m. 11 of Brouwer’s Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I, as shown in

example 17. By way of further explaining this passage, Brouwer provided guitar fingerings for

the left hand that are very idiomatic for the guitar. However, the right-hand fingerings are not

provided. For the sextuplet in mvt. II, m. 11, I suggest the sequence of p, m, i, a (anular – ring

finger), m, a, followed by the alternation of i, m – to be repeated until the end of the passage.

Again, the Thurmond idea utilized in this exercise is that of forward momentum to each group's

first note followed by a subtle relaxation at the arrival point, the thesis of each group. Example

17, exercise 1, superimposes rhythms onto the printed notes to clarify Thurmond’s note grouping strategy.

27 Tabuteau System

Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966) is considered by many to be the founder of the American school of oboe playing; among his many accolades, he served as principal oboist of the

Philadelphia Orchestra (1915-1954) at the time when that orchestra served as the model for

American orchestral wind playing. He also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music (1925-1954).20

Tabuteau developed a numerical system for establishing the parameters of musical elements such as crescendi, decrescendi, accelerandi, and ritardandi.21 This may seem a basic skill set, but it

20 Marcel Tabuteau, First-Hand. Last modified, 2017. https://marceltabuteau.com. 21 Andrea Paz, “Approaching Improvisation in Classical Guitar, Leo Brouwer’s ‘Paisaje Cubano Con Tristeza’ - Estratégias de estudo para a obra Paisaje Cubano Con Tristeza, de Leo Brouwer.” https://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/approaching-improvisation-leo-brouwers-paisaje-cubano-con- tristeza-estratégias-de-estudo.

28 becomes highly valuable as a rehearsal technique for arriving at a similar interpretation of aleatoric musical elements when performing chamber works. I will demonstrate an application of the number system of Marcel Tabuteau to Brouwer’s Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I mvt.

II, m. 40. For this measure, that is printed senza misura, I have applied Tabuteau’s number system to both the ritardando and the diminuendo, as shown in example 18.

29 CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION

This lecture recital provides a brief historical context as well as a preparation and performance guide, focusing on the passages of controlled indeterminacy for Leo Brouwer’s

Sonata Mitología de las Aguas No. I para flauta y guitarra. As the collaborative performance of indeterminate material presents the greatest challenge in the work, this constitutes a large portion of my discussion. My ultimate goal is to provide a logical, multifaceted approach for performers in transitioning from reading the printed materials provided by Brouwer to creating a compelling realization of them in a live performance setting.

30 APPENDIX:

LEO BROUWER, SONATA MITOLOGÍA DE LAS AGUAS NO. I PERFORMANCE

INDICATIONS FROM 2020 EDITION

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Discography

Baumbach Duo. Legenden. QBK, 2017. CD.

Brouwer, Leo. Mitología de las Aguas. Ediciones Espiral Eterna, 2014. CD.