A 492Rol Ardmore, Oklahoma

t1,uf PROBLEM OF THE ARRANGLvENT FOR TWO PIANOS OF IBERIA BY I. ALBENIZ THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State Teachers College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By Virginia L. Bivens, B. M. A 492rOl Ardmore, Oklahoma August, 1947 t1,uf PROBLEM OF THE ARRANGLvENT FOR TWO PIANOS OF IBERIA BY I. ALBENIZ THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State Teachers College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By Virginia L. Bivens, B. M. A 492rOl Ardmore, Oklahoma August, 1947 49269> 379 N71 no.9%6 TABLE OF CONTEN' Author: Bivens Title: Arraniement for two piano of Tberia by L. Albeniz Chapter c~r 4 Chap te r color : 8846 other- theses I. TWO PIANO PLAYING AND PERFOF Remarks : match II. DISCUSSION OF ARRANGEMENT A III. DISCUSSION OF MIUSIC FOR TWO- IV. ARRANGEMENT OF TRIANA . Biographical! Notes on I. The Iberia Suite The Arrangement for Two Discussion: Melodic Elements Rhythmic Elements Harmonic Element s Keyboard Distribution BIBLIOGRAPHY . 43 APPENDIX.. ......... .. .. .. ... 47 Listing of the Two-Piano Library of Virginia L. Bivens and Rebecca Love Entriken Key to Publishers Triana by I. Albeniz (Solo Arrangement) iii CHAPTER I TWVO PIANO PLAYING AND PERFOR MRS As evidenced by concert and radio programs within the past three decades there has come about a widespread re- vival of interest in two piano playing, a phase of art much older than is generally believed. The earliest known published work for two keyboard instruments is one found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (page 202 of the printed edition edited by Vvilliam Barclay Squire) composed by Giles Farnaby, a sixteenth century English composer. 1 Nearly all of the great composers of keyboard music have composed fbr this medium or adapted for it music of another medium ranging from simple folk tunes to suites of sym- phonic proportions. Many who have been fine performers at the piano have taken great delight in duo playing either in concert or for diversion. Notable among these performers have been endelssohn and Moscheles, Schumann and Brahms, Chopin and Liszt, Carreno and d'Albert, Rose and Ottilie Sutro,2 Gabrilowitsch and Bauer, Rosina and Josef Ihevinne, Guy Maier and Lee Pattison, Jacques Fray and airio Braggiotti, 1Grove's Dictionary of Music and Muhsicians. 2 Rose and Ottilie Sutro, born 1870 and 1872, respect- ively, in Baltimore, Maryland, were the first players for, whom the term "duo-pianists" was used, according to Pres- ton Ware Orem, "About Pieces for Two Pianos," The Etude, LVI (September, 1938), 565-566. 1 2 and Leonard Shure and Karl Ulrich Schnabel. Ethel Bartlett Rae Robertson, Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin, Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff, Rudolph Gruen and Frances Hall, Vera Brodsky and Harold Triggs, Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Ringo, and Whittemore and Lowe are duo-pianists who are outstanding at the present time. be- The writer has actively engaged in duo playing and cause of her interest has selected this medium for study. The study has led to the discussion of the adaptation of material and the arrangement in the succeeding chapters. CHAPTER II DISCUSSION OF ARRANGEMENT AND TRANSCRIPTION The literal meaning of "transcription" is "written across"; in freer terminology it is "the musical counter- part of literary translation." The terms "arrangement" and "transcription" are used synonymously by nearly all musical dictionaries. However, even then, there is often a distinction made, an arrangement being considered to ad- here strictly to the original text while a transcription admits of creative participation on the part of the ar- ranger, ranging from the simple transference of musical medium to the complete reworking of a composition with additions and modifications.2 The writer in cataloging the material in her library of music for two pianos has taken this latter distinction for the basis of classification, and in this sense will hereafter refer to the adapter as the editor. In many instances this writer's opinion is in direct variance with the terminology used by the editor on printed copies. An example of what the writer considers an arrangement for two pianos is the Romance, Op. 44, No. 1, by Anton 1 Leonard Borwick, Grove's Dictionary of iMusic end Mu- sicians, I, 120; WI-li Apel, Harvard Dictionary, p. 54. 2Ibid. 3 4 Rubenstein, arranged by Prince Sergei Walkonsky, one of Rubenstein's personal friends. This composition, originally written for piano solo, has closely adhered to the solo version, the only additions being octaves which broaden and intensify the melodic lines (necessary when two instruments are used), and one measure of a cadenza-like figure. On the other hand, the same composition as adapted by Silvio Scionti is definitely a transcription, since he has added counter-melodies, changed harmonies, and extended the original work. An example of complete change of medium is Debussy's Fetes, an orchestral work transcribed by Maurice Ravel for performance on two pianos. Another example termed a transcription by the writer is the Sonata 4L. 34 bis by Johannes Brahms, written as a quintet for strings and piano and later transcribed by the composer for two pianos. In this the main object seems to have been to balance the work of the two pianofortes. Some- times the first pianoforte and sometimes the second has the original pianoforte part for pages to- gether, and sometimes for a few bars at a time, but whenever the nature of the passage admits of it the materials are distributed evenly between the two instruments. There are some changes -- such as the additions of a bar in two places in the first movement, and the change of an acciden- tal in the last -- which must be referred to critical considerations, an.d have nothing to do with the arrangement. The technical changes in the arrangement are the occasional development of a free inner part out of the materials of the original without fur- ther change in the harmonies, the filling up of rhythm-marking chords of the strings, frequent reinforcement of the bass by doubling, and which is especially noticeable, frequent doubling of both melodies and parts of important figures. It 5 is this latter peculiarity which especially marks the adaptation of certain tendencies of modern pianoforte-playing to arrangements -- the tendency namely, to double all the parts possible, to fill up chords to the utmost, and to distribute the notes over a wider space, with greater regard to their tonal relations than formerly, and by every means to enlarge the scope and effective power of the instrument, at the same time breaking down all the obstructions and restrictions which the old dogmas of style in playing placed in the way of its development.3 While this work is truly a transcription, so well has its composer set it for two pianos that it is generally thought of as being an original work for that medium. Some examples of incorrect usage of the terms "arrangement" and "transcription" may be found in the follow- ing: Juba Dance by R. Nathaniel Dett, transcribed for two pianos by Edouard Hesselberg; Golliw s Cake Walk, by Claude Debussy, transcribed by Leon Roques; Liebesfreud by Fritz Kreisler, arranged by Marie Edwards von Ritter; M7 Heart Ever Faithful from The Pentecost Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Nicolai Ivednikoff. The first named composition is originally for piano solo; the editor has set it for two pianos which involves no change of medium and has made no essential changes. The same is true of the Golliwog's Cake Walk. Therefore the writer has classified them as arrangements. The Liebesfreud was written for solo violin with piano accompaniment; the editor has set it for performance on two pianos which changes the melodic medium, and has in many places thick- ened the texture by additional and new harmonies. The 3 Leonard Borwick, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Mu- sicians, p. 123. 6 Bach aria is originally for soprano solo with orchestral accompaniment; the editor has changed the medium of the entire composition and set the melody in such a way as to be suitable for performance on the keyboard but not vo- cally. For these reasons the writer has classed these latter two compositions as transcriptions. CHAPTER III DISCUSSION OF MUSIC FOR TWO PIANO PROGRAMS After the research regarding arrangement and transcription was done by the writer, she thought it would be of value to index and classify her library in accordance with her resultant conception of the terms before making an arrangement for two pianos. The building of a library of two piano music may be approached from any one of several standpoints. The writer's library was begun from compositions accumulated from participation on local music club programs. The ini- tial numbers were necessarily those which appealed to per- sons of average musical taste, not cultivated musicians. To these were added those compositions used on a weekly sustaining radio program. Here again the audience had to be catered to, to a certain extent. But realizing that no one enjoys that with which he is not familiar, compositions of genuine musical worth with as much popular ap- peal as possible were included. From this sort of begin- ning materials used for recital programs of classic stand- ards, as well as many modern contemporary publications, have increased the library to its present proportions. After making comparisons with the indices of two piano 7 8 libraries , the music of several colleges and larger public including a list- writer thinks she is fully justified in to the field ing of her library in a document pertaining of duo piano music.

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