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Dissertation in Music Performance by Joachim C. Angster A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (Music: Performance) in the University of Michigan 2020 Dissertation Committee: Assistant Professor Caroline Coade, Co-Chair Professor David Halen, Co-Chair Professor Colleen Conway Associate Professor Max Dimoff Professor Daniel Herwitz Joachim C. Angster [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2563-2819 © Joachim C. Angster 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to members of my Doctoral Committee and to my teacher Professor Caroline Coade in particular, for making me a better musician. I also would like to give special thanks to my collaborators Arianna Dotto, Meridian Prall, Ji-Hyang Gwak, Taylor Flowers, and Nathaniel Pierce. Finally, I am grateful for the continuous support of my parents, and for the invaluable help of Anna Herklotz and Gabriele Dotto. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iv FIRST DISSERTATION RECITAL: Program 1 Program Notes 2 SECOND DISSERTATION RECITAL: Program 18 Program Notes 19 THIRD DISSERTATION RECITAL: Program 27 Program Notes 28 BIBLIOGRAPHY 40 iii ABSTRACT This dissertation pertains to three viola recitals, which were respectively performed on 2 October 2019, 20 January 2020, and 9 March 2020. Each recital program embraced a specific theme involving little-performed works as well as staples from the viola repertoire, and covered a wide range of different musical styles. The first recital, performed with violinist Arianna Dotto, focused on violin and viola duo repertoire. Two pieces in the Classical and early Romantic styles by W. A. Mozart and L. Spohr were presented in parallel with two pieces from the twentieth century in the Neo-Classical style by Ernst Toch and Bohuslav Martinů. This program explored repertoire from different aesthetics and techniques by demonstrating how composers from the twentieth century renewed traditional musical forms in terms of their own original vocabulary. The second recital, performed in collaboration with pianist Taylor Flowers and singer Meridian Prall, offered a comparative experience of Johannes Brahms’ two viola sonatas, Op. 120, No. 1 and 2, with his Two Songs, Op. 91. The program explored the historical context of each work, highlighting the intrinsic and philosophical connection between the sonatas, as well as the particularly personal nature of the songs, written as a present for a close friend. iv The two pieces presented in the third recital program, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Viola Op. 147 and Alfred Schnittke’s String Trio (1985), were written shortly before their respective composers died or were on the precipice of death, and I believe both pieces evoke the way these composers confronted their own mortality. The continuity between the two composers’ musical language is apparent in this program, governed by a bleak and somber character pierced with luminous and elusive moments of hope. The performance involved collaboration with violinist Arianna Dotto, cellist Nathaniel Pierce, and pianist Ji-Hyang Gwak. v FIRST DISSERTATION RECITAL JOACHIM ANGSTER, VIOLA ARIANNA DOTTO, VIOLIN Wednesday, October 2, 2019 Walgreen Drama Center, Stamps Auditorium 8:00 PM Duo for Violin and Viola no. 1 in G Major, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart K. 423 (1783) (1756–1791) Allegro Adagio Rondeau. Allegro Arianna Dotto, violin Divertimento, op. 37, no. 2 (1925) Ernst Toch Vivace Molto (1887–1964) Adagio, Espressivo Molto Flott und Lustig Arianna Dotto, violin Intermission Duet for Violin and Viola in E Minor, op. 13 (1808) Louis Spohr Allegro Moderato (1784–1859) Adagio Tempo di Minuetto Arianna Dotto, violin Duo no. 1 for Violin and Viola (“Three Madrigals”), Bohuslav Martinů H. 313 (1947) (1890–1959) Poco Allegro Poco Andante Allegro Arianna Dotto, violin 1 FIRST DISSERTATION RECITAL: PROGRAM NOTES DUO FOR VIOLIN AND VIOLA NO.1, K.423 (1783) – W. A. MOZART (1756–1791) Between 1750 and 1825, many composers including Carl Stamitz (1745-1801), Ignatz Pleyel (1757-1831), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812), and Louis Spohr (1784-1859) composed violin and viola duos.1 During this period, the popularity of the violin, as well as the development of the viola, led to an increase in the demand for repertoire. In fact, the viola made significant progress as a solo instrument with contributions from such composers of the Galant and Classical styles as Alessandro Rolla and Carl and Anton Stamitz. David M. Bynog notes that the former “composed more than twenty concertante works for the viola.”2 Important sonatas and concertos were also written by Dittersdorf, Vanhal, Druschetsky, Hoffstetter, and Hoffmeister among others. Their reputations, however, were “overshadowed by the superior genius of Haydn and Mozart; consequently, their works fell into neglect and were forgotten during the 19th century.”3 Mozart was a violist himself and largely contributed to the development of the viola repertoire. Haydn had already popularized the instrument by including it in the new genre of the string quartet, but Mozart used the viola not only as an accompaniment for filling the harmony but also for its particular color and technical possibilities.4 In his string quartets, the viola parts became increasingly independent, technically challenging, and musically interesting. With the Symphonie Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, composed in 1779, Mozart treats the viola as the equal of the violin, creating a constant dialogue between both instruments. The virtuosic and leading quality of the viola part represents a significant step in the development of the instrument, requiring the player to overcome unprecedented technical challenges, like for instance reaching the seventh position.5 In Mozart’s late chamber music from the years 1783 to 1791, especially the Piano Quartets (K. 478 and K. 493), the “Kegelstatt” Trios for Clarinet, Viola, and 2 Piano (K. 498), and the String Quintets with two violas (K. 515, K. 516, K. 593, and K. 614), his “fondness for the middle voiced instrument is most evident.”6 The two duos for violin and viola from 1783 (K. 423 and K. 424), of which you will hear the first, were also composed in this period, eight years before the composer’s death. In the summer of 1783, Mozart traveled to Salzburg so that he might introduce his new wife Constanze to his father. This was his first return to Salzburg since he had definitively broken free of his exclusive and draconian contract with the Archbishop of Salzburg Hieronymus Colloredo two years earlier and moved to Vienna. Wolfgang and his father Leopold had both had longstanding troubles with their employer Colloredo due to his difficult personality, his reforms in Salzburg which were detrimental to court-music and university theatre, and their conditions of employment.7 After multiple attempts to find employment elsewhere in Europe, Mozart had a final and stormy interview with Colloredo which ended with his dismissal and a “kick in the behind…by order of our worthy Prince Archbishop,” as he wrote to his father.8 Indeed, Mozart had expressed his fear of being arrested by the archbishop upon his return. During his visit, Mozart met with Michael Haydn, Joseph Haydn’s younger brother and Colloredo’s court music director. A student of Michael Haydn later told the story that his teacher had fallen ill and, unable to finish a set of six duos for violin and viola commissioned by the archbishop, he risked not receiving his salary. Mozart supposedly went home to compose the outstanding two duos, giving them to Michael Haydn two days later for him to present as his own.9 As the story goes, the archbishop did not notice the ruse and particularly praised the pieces Mozart had written. This account has however been challenged by scholars for several reasons, the principal one being that it would have been unlikely for the archbishop to demand consignment of the completed duos by a strict deadline.10 3 While a skillful player of both the violin and the viola, Mozart preferred the latter (having participated in a number of "quartet parties" during his early Vienna years with none other than Vanhal, Dittersdorf, and Joseph Haydn), which is particularly apparent in the way he wrote the G major Duo. Unlike the Sinfonia Concertante written four years later, where the orchestra functions as an accompaniment for the two soloists, the instruments in these duos need to perform both roles. The composer achieved this by treating them equally, the viola answering each of the violin’s interventions in a seamless exchange and participating in the musical discourse instead of merely accompanying the main themes.11 The first movement, which features a continuous, sparkling and lively sixteenth-note interplay between the instruments, is characteristic of Mozart’s recent innovations in his treatment of sonata form, such as the introduction of completely new material at the beginning of the development. The dialogue between violin and viola often resembles a duel or, as Spieth put it, “a cheeky game of cat and mouse.”12 The “amoroso” character of the second movement evokes a lyrical aria, while the Rondo displays virtuosity and humor, interrupted by a darker minor counterpoint. Mozart had just finished his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio at this time, which explains the particularly operatic quality of this G major Duo. Also noteworthy is the highly inventive variety of the accompaniments in the second movement, in different paces and rhythms, as well as its dynamic shifts and sforzandi. 4 1 Potur also cites “Michael Haydn (1737-1806), Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni, Giuseppe Maria Cambini (1746-1825), Pietro Nardini (1722-1793), Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841), Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824), and many others.” According to Franz Zeyringer’s 1985 “Literatur für Viola,” 41% of existing duos for violin and violas were written during this period by more than seventy composers.