Phantasy Quartet of Benjamin Britten, Concerto for Oboe and Strings Of
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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 5-May-2010 I, Mary L Campbell Bailey , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Musical Arts in Oboe It is entitled: Léon Goossens’s Impact on Twentieth-Century English Oboe Repertoire: Phantasy Quartet of Benjamin Britten, Concerto for Oboe and Strings of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Sonata for Oboe of York Bowen Student Signature: Mary L Campbell Bailey This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Mark Ostoich, DMA Mark Ostoich, DMA 6/6/2010 727 Léon Goossens’s Impact on Twentieth-century English Oboe Repertoire: Phantasy Quartet of Benjamin Britten, Concerto for Oboe and Strings of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Sonata for Oboe of York Bowen A document submitted to the The Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS in the Performance Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music 24 May 2010 by Mary Lindsey Campbell Bailey 592 Catskill Court Grand Junction, CO 81507 [email protected] M.M., University of Cincinnati, 2004 B.M., University of South Carolina, 2002 Committee Chair: Mark S. Ostoich, D.M.A. Abstract Léon Goossens (1897–1988) was an English oboist considered responsible for restoring the oboe as a solo instrument. During the Romantic era, the oboe was used mainly as an orchestral instrument, not as the solo instrument it had been in the Baroque and Classical eras. A lack of virtuoso oboists and compositions by major composers helped prolong this status. Goossens became the first English oboist to make a career as a full-time soloist and commissioned many British composers to write works for him. This document examines the result of Goossens’s impact on his contemporaries and English oboe literature by focusing on Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Concerto for Oboe and Strings, and York Bowen’s Sonata for Oboe. In addition, it explores why Goossens’s playing style was so different than his predecessors, as well as how it shaped the compositions written for him. Each work examined shows the characteristics of Goossens’s style found in the work and discusses the resulting influence it had on English oboe literature. Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Mark Ostoich, who served not only as my advisor but also as my primary teacher since 2003. I would also like to thank Dr. bruce d. mcclung and Professor Rodney Winther who have served as my reading committee through this process. I want to particularly thank my parents who have always stood behind me and have encouraged me to keep going even when I did not want to. I would like to sincerely thank my husband, Jason, for his tireless enthusiasm for this project as well as for my success. I extend my thanks to my former teachers Dr. Rebecca Schalk Nagel for her guidance, Tess Miller for her kindness and inspiration, and Frank Miley for both introducing me to Goossens and for being there for me when I need him. Finally, I would like to thank the publishing houses of Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press, and Chester Novello for allowing me to reprint excerpts from the three pieces discussed in this paper. COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS Bowen, York. Sonata for Oboe and Pianoforte, Op. 85 Copyright © 1943 Chester Music Limited. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. Britten, Benjamin. Phantasy, Op. 2 © Copyright 1935 by Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd. Reproduced by permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Used by permission. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Concerto for Oboe and Strings © Oxford University Press 1947. Extract reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Table of Contents PREFACE...........1 CHAPTER 1. BRITISH MUSIC AND THE OBOE ...... 3 The Land Without Music .......3 Folksong in English Music.......8 Oboe Music in England before 1930 ......12 2.GOOSSENS’S INFLUENCE....... 19 Stylistic Playing Features of Goossens.....19 Tone Quality........19 Vibrato........27 Long Musical Lines.......30 Imitation of the Human Voice .....32 Tone Coloring.......34 Imperceptible Changes in Breathing and Phrasing . 38 Soloistic Approach to the Instrument.....43 British Oboe Music After 1950 ......48 The Importance of the Pieces to Be Examined ....52 3. PHANTASY OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN...... 59 Background and Reception .......59 The Oboist as Soloist in the Quartet Setting .....61 Evidence of Goossens’s Virtuosity in Britten's Quartet: A Performance Guide 63 Sustained Melodic Lines......63 Vibrato........79 Technical Passages Requiring Agility ....84 Important Non-Virtuoso Elements .....88 Summation of the Evidence of Goossens’s Influence . 94 4. CONCERTO FOR OBOE AND STRINGS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 95 Background and Reception .......95 The Oboe asa Soloist.......97 Evidence of Goossens’s Virtuosity in the Concerto....99 Long Musical Lines.......99 Technical Virtuosity .......113 Vibrato........125 Shifting Between Octaves and Registers ....131 Limited Dynamic Variation ......138 Important Non-Virtuoso Elements .....142 Summation of the Evidence of Goossens’s Influence . 150 5. SONATA FOR OBOE AND PIANO OF YORK BOWEN . 152 Background and Reception .......152 The Oboe as a Soloist With Piano ......154 Evidence of Goossens’s Virtuosity in the Sonata....156 Long Musical Lines.......157 Vibrato........170 Technical Virtuosity in a Soloistic Approach to the Oboe . 178 Imperceptible Changes In Breathing.....186 Non-Virtuoso Elements and Other Difficulties in the Sonata . 191 Constant Fluctuation of Rhythm....192 Stylistic Contrasts......195 Interaction Between the Oboe and Piano . 201 Summation of the Evidence of Goossens’s Influence . 207 CONCLUSION..........209 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........211 DISCOGRAPHY OF LÉON GOOSSENS’S SOLO RECORDINGS . 218 WORKS WRITTEN FOR LÉON GOOSSENS ......220 List of Musical Examples PHANTASY OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN FIGURE 1.1...........64 1.2...........65 1.3...........66 1.4...........67 1.5...........69 1.6...........70 1.7...........72 1.8...........74 1.9...........75 1.10 ...........77 1.11 ...........78 1.12 ...........79 1.13 ...........80 1.14 ...........81 1.15 ...........83 1.16 ...........84 1.17 ...........85 1.18 ...........86 1.19 ...........89 1.20 ...........91 1.21 ...........92 CONCERTO FOR OBOE AND STRINGS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FIGURE 2.1...........100 2.2...........101 2.3...........102 2.4...........103 2.5...........104 2.6...........105 2.7...........106 2.8...........107 2.9...........108 2.10 ...........119 2.11 ...........110 2.12 ...........111 2.13 ...........112 2.14 ...........114 2.15 ...........115 2.16 ...........116 2.17 ...........117 2.18 ...........119 2.19 ...........120 2.20 ...........121 2.21 ...........122 2.22 ...........123 2.23 ...........124 2.24 ...........126 2.25 ...........126 2.26 ...........127 2.27 ...........128 2.28 ...........129 2.29 ...........129 2.30 ...........130 2.31 ...........132 2.32 ...........135 2.33 ...........136 2.34 ...........145 2.35 ...........147 2.36 ...........149 SONATA FOR OBOE AND PIANO OF YORK BOWEN FIGURE 3.1...........158 3.2...........159 3.3...........160 3.4...........162 3.5...........162 3.6...........163 3.7...........164 3.8...........167 3.9...........168 3.10 ...........169 3.11 ...........176 3.12 ...........180 3.13 ...........182 3.14 ...........184 3.15 ...........205 1 Preface The name Léon Goossens is one that oboists learn at a young age. When working on oboe literature, particularly English oboe literature, students see his name so often at the top of the page as the dedicatee that it becomes synonymous with English oboe literature and playing. Goossens was the first English oboist to be successful as a full-time soloist and was the muse for the oboe compositions of his contemporaries. The amount of English oboe music prior to his career in contrast to the dramatic output written during his lifetime is extraordinary and shows the interest English composers had in writing for solo oboe that had not been seen since the days of the Baroque era. While there are books and articles about Goossens’s life and career, there has been little discussion of his relationship to the British composers who composed pieces for him to perform. His legacy of inspiration has been passed down mostly orally and assumed as fact. The three works discussed in this document, the Phantasy Quartet of Benjamin Britten, Sonata for Oboe of York Bowen, and Concerto for Oboe and Strings of Ralph Vaughan Williams, have such importance in the oboe repertoire that it is curious secondary literature rarely discusses the relationship Goossens had with the composers. I examine these three works to show how Goossens’s idiomatic style of playing is found in each of these works as well as to explain the significance of these elements in the development of the art of oboe playing. With these three pieces, each of a different genre, I intend to bring to light the elements of Goossens’s style of oboe playing that influenced the piece and illustrate the resulting effect it had on compositional style in twentieth-century English oboe literature. I examine each piece by looking at the melodic themes, virtuosity of the oboe part, and any important stylistic features (i.e., folksong, dance music material, pastoral qualities) that are 2 typical of the English musical renaissance of the early twentieth century. I then examine elements of the work that highlight the characteristics of Goossens’s virtuoso playing, such as lyrical and pastoral melodic passages that showcased his revolutionary tone color, sustained passages requiring strong breath control or circular breathing he was known, and where the trademark of his playing, vibrato, would have been most noticeable. I will then examine technical passages that allowed him to display his virtuosic facility of the instrument. I will also describe any non-virtuoso elements of the work characteristic of Goossens’s playing style, one of which being technical and difficult low register passages that require secure control over the instrument.