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About Leigh Howard Stevens Masterclass with Leigh Howard Stevens “Stevens has revolutionized the playing of the instrument.” TIME Magazine November 22, 2014 Leigh Howard Stevens’ repertoire ranges from Renaissance music and the Preludes and Fugues of J. S. Bach, to original marimba works written by contemporary composers expressly for him. Much of this Tips to prepare you for unaccompanied literature was considered technically and musically impossible by one player until the Marimbists’ Guide to Performing Bach / J. S. Bach Suites development of Mr. Stevens’ new system of four-mallet technique. Percussionists and marimbists worldwide have adopted his revolutionary approach and his book on the subject of four-mallet marimba technique, 1. You will eventually look like what you eat. You will eventually sound like what you listen Method of Movement, has been translated into six languages. to. To learn the powerful speech patterns of the Baroque style, skip the otherwise amazing It is difficult to find a single aspect of marimba technique, repertoire or design that has not been profoundly famous artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Pablo Casals and , and go right to Baroque changed by the work of Leigh Howard Stevens. From “Stevens Grip” to the types of motions used to play players. For the best sound, buy the CDs — don’t waste your money on compressed files such the instrument; from the length and material of the mallet handles to the wrapping and stitching of the heads; as mp3s. Here are some great CDs to get you introduced to the style. from the first height-adjustable all wooden marimba frame in the 1980’s to the first fully-tunable resonators in , Guitar: Chaconne (EMI Classics version) the 1990’s; from one-handed rolls and baroque ornaments to the use of contrasting roll types; from the early polyphonic Helble Preludes to the works of John Serry, David Maslanka and Joseph Schwantner to his own Pieter Wispelwey, Cello: (6 Suites, Channel Classics) original compositions and transcriptions. Eduardo Egüez, Lute: (2 volumes of Bach, MA Recordings) Considered “revolutionary” at the time, many of these concepts and developments are now used routinely by Hille Perl, Gamba: (start with “Doulce Memoire” DHM) players and teachers around the world, and in fact, have become synonymous with contemporary marimba Rachel Podger, Violin (Sonatas & Partitas, Channel Classics) playing. It is no exaggeration to say that Leigh Howard Stevens has not just been at the cutting edge of the development of the marimba in the last 30 years – he has been the cutting edge. 2. In the Baroque style, a steady tempo never will embarrass you. Pushing and pulling, “tempo This fresh approach to music making on the marimba has greatly expanded the instrument’s compositional rubato” will, or at least should embarrass you. Steadiness allows you to be more expressive with possibilities, stimulated composer enthusiasm for the marimba’s use in solo and and ultimately all the other tools at your disposal and for the harmonic changes to produce a discernable led to a series of more than thirty world premiere performances by Mr. Stevens. The first performance rhythm. of Raymond Helble’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra by Leigh Howard Stevens and the Denver Symphony in 1980 was a milestone in the development of marimba literature. His digitally recorded all-Bach 3. Generally, the tempo of the first measure is the speed limit for the entire movement. album has been greeted with rave reviews for its artistry by magazines as diverse as Stereophile and Billboard. You risk sounding out of control and “immature” if you speed up even a single click on the Devoted marimba lovers have sprung up all over the world – both players and general public – converted metronome. Pulling back a bit is OK in the right places. by Leigh Howard Stevens’ solo recitals, hundreds of college campus appearances, concertos with symphony orchestra, European concert tours, masterclasses and radio and television appearances both here and abroad. 4. You MUST learn the difference between tempo variation and rhythmic manipulation He has been featured in Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, , and appeared on (contraction and expansion of notes from their precise mathematically “correct” lengths). National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and Voice of America’s internationally broadcast, New York, New York. His celebrated musicianship, imaginative programming and exciting performances have inspired Strange, but percussionists are generally uncomfortable being “expressive” with rhythm. If critical acclaim and standing ovations in forty-eight of the United States and 18 other countries. Mr. Stevens asked to play more expressively, we generally just play the rhythm more and more precisely, or introduced the marimba to The People’s Republic of China in a televised performance that reportedly reached with more accents, or greater dynamic contrast. Lengthening and shortening certain notes — an audience of 800 million viewers. manipulating rhythm — is not in our playbook. See my Marimbists’ Guide to get a start on this In addition to performing exclusively on an extended-range Malletech Marimba of his own design, he serves essential musical skill. as a consultant and conducts educational masterclasses for Malletech. Mr. Stevens taught for many years at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, where he was Professor of Marimba. He has been awarded 5. Trills almost always begin on the upper neighbor, not the notated pitch. This introduces a nine U. S. Patents for musical instrument design. Leigh Howard Stevens was elected to the Percussive Arts dissonance / tension that is resolved when you complete the trill on the principal pitch. If you Society Hall of Fame in 2006. start on the written pitch, then you have already given away the punch line. Mr. Stevens can be heard on past releases of the Delos, Musical Heritage Society, Musicmasters and CRI record labels, as well as current releases on Resonator Records. 6. “Pronounce” this music with various combinations of slurred and articulated groups of notes. Think of it like “carving up” the notes into smooth (legato/slurred)SUITE and sharper III SUITE III Johann Sebastian Bach BWV 1009 Exercise 1 Transcribed for Marimba by BWV 1009 Transcribed for Marimba by Leigh Howard Stevens Leigh Howard Stevens (articulated/evenly-struck) groups. Slurring on the marimba requires very special mallets with Edited by Dominik Sackmann Edited by Dominik Sackmann no contact sound and a loose outer wind. If your Préludemallet can’t produce a soft, almost inaudible Prélude œ œ sound without attack, it will never produce a convincing? 3 slur.œ œ œ œ ? 3 œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 4œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3 œ œ œ œ 3 3œ2 œ œ œ œ 3 œ2 2 œ1 2 1œ œ œ2 œ 2 œ1 2 1œ œ œ2 œ 7. Find the implied counterpoint in lines. In Bach, a continuous string of notes is usually 4 4 not a “melody.” Strings of pitches are made up of shorter little groups of melodic shapes and œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ figures that “talk” to each other. ? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2

8. Find the bass lines and control their dynamic7 shape — don’t just “plunk” them evenly. 7 œ œ Mix up the feminine and masculine resolutions. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœœœœ œœœœ œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ #œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ 2 œ 2 œ 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 9. Learn the style by studying and working out of my Marimbists’ Guide to Performing Bach plus 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 listen to at least 100 hours of specialized Baroque10 playing over the course of a year. You 10 œ œ should then have the background to begin to make? good#œ musicalœ œ decisions “byœ ear.”œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ ? œ œ##œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 (sim) 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 (sim)

10. You’re standing at the bottom of a 5-octave13 marimba and you’re not going to use the top 13 half of the instrument for the next five minutes. If you’re not going to use soft mallets now,œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ #œ œ œ ? œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ when will you? There is not a note in these Bach Suitesœ thatœ won’t sound great with my LS1s or œ LS5s — or perhaps on an occasional movement with the LS10s. All three models also fulfill the requirements for a mallet that slurs easily, as described in item 6 above. Exercise 2 Prélude Prélude œ œ 11. Remember that the slurs in the original text of ?my3 publishedœ œ œ editionœ œ were intended for ? 3 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 4œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ cello. Had JSB composed a version of this music for marimba,3 it is likely thatœ heœ would have œ œ 3 3 œ œ œ œ œ 3 œ 2 œ1 2 1œ œ œ2 œ 2 œ1 2 1œ œ œ2 œ slurred it completely differently. 4 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2

7 7 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ The two attached exercises from the opening of? Suiteœ III, differ inœ slurring,œ œ both#œ fromœ œ eachœ œ œ œ œ? œœœ œ œ œ œ#œ œœ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ other and from the published text. Exercise 1 has marked phrasing/slurring2 primarily on the 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 beat, Exercise 2 has marked phrasing/slurring primarily off the beat. Neither is “correct”3 3 or2 2 2 3 2 3 2 (sim.) 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 (sim.) “better” and there are many other viable groupings10 for these same twelve measures. After 10 œ œ mastering the two exercises you can combine elements? of#œ both.œ œ Perform each groupœ œ œ withœ œa œ #œ œ œ #œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ?œœ œœ œœ#œœ œœœœ œœ œœ œœ œœœ #œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ slight, moderate, or pronounced diminuendo to create the effect of a bowed connection.œ The œ œ œ first note of the group should give you enough “dynamic headroom” to decrescendo to the 13 13 end of the group. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ #œ œ œ ? œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ