Freedom in Interpretation and Piano Sonata No. 7 by Sergei Prokofiev
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Freedom in Interpretation and Piano Sonata No. 7 by Sergei Prokofiev -A comparison of two approaches to piano interpretation- Nikola Marković Supervisor Knut Tønsberg This Master’s Thesis is carried out as a part of the education at the University of Agder and is therefore approved as a part of this education. However, this does not imply that the University answers for the methods that are used or the conclusions that are drawn. University of Agder, 2012. Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Music Table of Contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................5 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................6 1.1 About the topic........................................................................................................6 1.2 Research question and aim for the project ............................................................6 1.3 Methods..................................................................................................................7 1.4 Structure of the thesis.............................................................................................8 2 The composer, the performers and what lies between....................................................9 2.1 Prokofiev – life and creation...................................................................................9 2.2 Sviatoslav Richter and Glenn Gould ....................................................................13 2.2.1 Sviatoslav Richter – tragedy and power...................................................14 2.2.2 Glenn Gould – ecstasy and intellect.........................................................16 2.2.3 About the recordings.................................................................................18 2.3 Interpretation and freedom...................................................................................19 3 Analysis of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no. 7........................................................22 3.1 The Seventh Sonata.............................................................................................22 3.2 First movement – Allegro inquieto.........................................................................25 3.2.1 Form analysis...........................................................................................27 a) Exposition/opening.....................................................................27 b) Development..............................................................................28 c) Recapitulation............................................................................30 d) Coda..........................................................................................32 3.2.2 Analysis of the performances....................................................................33 a) The time – tempo and agogics...................................................33 3 b) The sound – dynamics, polyphony, articulation and pedalling....37 c) Overview and conclusions..........................................................39 3.2.3 Performer's perspective............................................................................39 3.3. Second movement – Andante caloroso...............................................................40 3.3.1. Form analysis..........................................................................................40 3.3.2 Analysis of the performances....................................................................44 a) The time – tempo and agogics...................................................44 b) The sound – dynamics, polyphony, articulation and pedalling....47 c) Overview and conclusions..........................................................49 3.3.3 Performer's perspective............................................................................50 3.4 Third movement – Precipitato...............................................................................51 3.4.1 Form.........................................................................................................51 3.4.2 Analysis of the performances....................................................................54 a) The time – tempo and agogics...................................................54 b) The sound – dynamics, polyphony, articulation and pedalling....56 c) Overview and conclusions..........................................................57 3.4.3 Performer's perspective............................................................................57 4 Outcome of the analyses, discussion............................................................................58 5 Summary. End marks....................................................................................................62 5.1 Summary..............................................................................................................62 5.2 End marks............................................................................................................62 6 Sources.........................................................................................................................64 6.1 Bibliography..........................................................................................................64 6.2 Selected discography...........................................................................................65 6.3 Internet sources....................................................................................................65 6.4 Other sources.......................................................................................................66 4 ABSTRACT This thesis is an exploration in the field of music interpretation. In it, two different performances of Piano Sonata No. 7 by Sergei Prokofiev are compared and analysed. The discussion of findings is conducted in a dialectic way, by confronting two possible solutions to the problems of interpretation of said piece. The thesis employs different scientific methods, relying on analytical and observation methods as the main source of data. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many who deserve my thanks, and this thesis would never be written without their help. Even so, I will limit my thanks to those directly influencing my work on this thesis. I would like to express my gratitude to: -my family, especially my brother, for the loving support through all the difficult times; -the great piano teachers I had the honour to study with, Lidija Stanković and Trygve Trædal; -a very special thanks to my mentor, Knut Tønsberg, for the invaluable advice he gave to me when it was most needed 5 1 Introduction. 1.1 About the topic Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was one of the most interesting composers in the Twentieth century. His piano sonatas are the main part of his creation for the piano, and among them, the Seventh Piano Sonata is one the most interesting and most successful works. It is a favourite among performers and audiences alike. Glenn Gould (1932-1982) and Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) are among the greatest pianists since the invention of sound-recording technologies. They represent two very different approaches to classical music performance. Interpretation is a widely-discussed area. The field of hermeneutics and the fields of communication and language (music language and notation, in this case) are enormous, and the research and discussion in this paper will have a narrower approach to piano performance itself, with no ambition to dwell much deeper into these and other wider fields. 1.2 Research question and aim for the project I have decided to contribute to the important question of freedom in interpretation by: a) presenting a demonstration of my own analyses of performances by two renowned pianists, ascertaining the elements of correlation and disparity between the performances and the score (and drawing certain conclusions from their playing), b) presenting the findings of these analyses in a systematic way, and discussing the reasons behind the differences, and c) explaining my own choices in interpretation of this piece. I believe that my own findings while researching and practising the piece are a very valuable tool for any research on the topic that I may conduct. What I aim to discover by performing these actions is insight into the different ways of approaching the written text, and motivation in different performers for the interpretative changes of the written text. There are many challenges in this process. One of the main ones in uncertainty of any verbal interpretation of a musical content. Even the simplest and most basic elements are always up to discussion and re-interpretation, and it is very difficult to make any final 6 decisions. The other main difficulty is the complexity of Prokofiev's language and multitude of modes of expression. I chose this topic because it enables me to connect areas of my greatest expertise, which are: a) piano performance and its aesthetics. I am currently in my final of the Master's programme in Piano Performance at the University of Agder, and I have played the piano actively and considered different aspects of performance since I was 9, that is to say – nearly twenty years) b) musical analysis, especially music form analysis. Before studying piano performance, I studied