Howard Ferguson's Contributions to Piano Literature and Pedagogy
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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE HOWARD FERGUSON‘S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PIANO LITERATURE AND PEDAGOGY A DOCUMENT SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS By NICOLE ELIZABETH BIGGS Norman, Oklahoma 2011 HOWARD FERGUSON'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PIANO LITERATURE AND PEDAGOGY A DOCUMENT APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC BY © Copyright by NICOLE ELIZABETH BIGGS 2011 All Rights Reserved. HOWARD FERGUSON‘S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PIANO LITERATURE AND PEDAGOGY Table of Contents List of Illustrations ................................................................................................ vii Musical Examples ............................................................................................. vii Tables ............................................................................................................... viii Abstract .................................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1. An Overview of Howard Ferguson‘s Musical Achievements .............. 1 Purpose of the Document .................................................................................... 8 Need for the Study .............................................................................................. 9 Procedures ........................................................................................................... 9 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 10 Organization ...................................................................................................... 11 Literature Review.............................................................................................. 13 Ferguson‘s Musical Scores ........................................................................... 14 Ferguson‘s Books and Music Editions ......................................................... 15 Autobiographical and Biographical Sources ................................................ 18 Books ............................................................................................................ 19 Journal Articles ............................................................................................. 21 Reviews of Ferguson‘s Work........................................................................ 21 Dissertations .................................................................................................. 22 Recordings .................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2. Biographical Sketch of Howard Ferguson (1908–1999)..................... 25 Howard Ferguson‘s Early Musical Study ......................................................... 25 Compositional Years and the London National Gallery Concerts.................... 28 The Later Years: Books and Editorial Writings ............................................... 35 Chapter 3. Howard Ferguson‘s Solo Piano Works: Historical Perspectives and a Hermeneutic Approach to the Piano Sonata Opus 8 and the Five Bagatelles Opus 9............................................................................................................................. 40 Overview of Musical Hermeneutic Analysis in Preparation for Exploring Ferguson‘s Solo Piano Works ........................................................................... 41 Compositional History of Howard Ferguson‘s Piano Sonata .......................... 44 A Hermeneutic Approach to the Piano Sonata................................................. 45 Piano Sonata, Movement I: Allegro inquieto ............................................... 47 Piano Sonata, Movement II: Poco Adagio ................................................... 56 Piano Sonata, Movement III: Allegro non troppo ........................................ 58 Performance and Pedagogical Considerations: Piano Sonata .......................... 63 iv Compositional History of Ferguson‘s Five Bagatelles ..................................... 64 A Hermeneutic Approach to Howard Ferguson‘s Five Bagatelles .................. 65 Bagatelle No. 1 in A Minor .......................................................................... 66 Bagatelle No. 2 in F# Minor ......................................................................... 69 Bagatelle No. 3 in G Minor .......................................................................... 71 Bagatelle No. 4 in E Minor ........................................................................... 74 Bagatelle No. 5 in Bb Major ......................................................................... 76 Performance and Pedagogical Considerations: Five Bagatelles ....................... 80 Chapter 4. The Pedagogical Significance of Howard Ferguson‘s Musicological Writings for the Oxford University Press ............................................................. 82 Keyboard Interpretation from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century (1975) and Style and Interpretation: An Anthology of Keyboard Music (1971) .......... 84 Keyboard Duets from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century (1995) .............. 91 Preparatory Exercises in Score Reading (1931) .............................................. 94 Chapter 5. A Survey of Howard Ferguson's Editorial Contributions ................... 97 Ferguson‘s Views on Music Editing ................................................................. 99 Ferguson‘s ABRSM Editions and other Collections ...................................... 102 Intermediate Single Composer Collection: ―Easier Piano Pieces‖ ............. 104 Intermediate Multi-Composer Anthology: ―A Keyboard Anthology‖ ....... 106 Performance Editions of Advanced Repertoire .......................................... 110 Scholarly Editions of Advanced Baroque and Pre-Baroque Keyboard Literature ..................................................................................................... 112 Ferguson‘s Reviews ........................................................................................ 114 Ferguson's Journal Articles ............................................................................. 117 Chapter 6. Howard Ferguson‘s Contributions to Piano Literature and Piano Pedagogy: Summary, Recommendations for Further Study, and Conclusion.... 120 Summary ......................................................................................................... 120 Early, Middle and Late Periods of Ferguson‘s Musical Activity ................... 121 Recommendations for Further Study .............................................................. 126 Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 130 Books .............................................................................................................. 130 Dissertations .................................................................................................... 131 Selected Reviews ............................................................................................ 133 Selected Journal Articles................................................................................. 137 Selected Recordings ........................................................................................ 138 Appendices: Ferguson‘s Publications ................................................................. 139 Appendix A. Published Compositions ............................................................ 139 Appendix B. Ferguson's Music Editions ......................................................... 141 Appendix C. Anthologies................................................................................ 147 v Appendix D. Reviews ..................................................................................... 149 Appendix E. Journal Articles .......................................................................... 154 Appendix F. Books ......................................................................................... 156 Appendix G. Complete Listing of Ferguson's Compositions ......................... 157 Appendix H. Published Works by Ferguson Arranged by Category .............. 163 Appendix I. Boosey and Hawkes Copyright Notification .............................. 162 Appendix J. IRB Notification………………………………………………..163 vi List of Illustrations Musical Examples 1a. Chopin Sonata no. 2, Movement IV: mm. 1-7 ................................................ 46 1b. Ferguson Sonata, Movement III, coda, mm. 124-134 .................................... 47 2. Sonata, Movement I, introduction and cyclical motive, mm. 1-6 .................... 48 3. Sonata, Movement I, extended pedal technique, mm. 21-22............................ 49 4. Sonata, Movement I, theme 1, mm. 23-50 ....................................................... 51 5. Sonata, Movement I, theme 2, mm. 76-91 ....................................................... 52 6. Sonata, Movement I, development material, mm. 131-141 ............................. 53 7. Sonata, Movement I, mm. 156-179 .................................................................. 55 8. Sonata, Movement II, mm. 1-17 ....................................................................... 57 9. Sonata, Movement III, introduction and theme 1, mm. 1-16 ........................... 59 10. Sonata, Movement III, theme 2, mm. 34-45 ..................................................