California State University, Northridge Christopher
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE CHRISTOPHER NICKLIN’S GRADUATE GUITAR RECITAL A graduate project in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance By Christopher Nicklin May 2016 The abstract of Christopher Nicklin is approved: Dr.Alexandra Monchick Date Professor Bryan Fasola Date Dr. Steve Thachuk, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page ii Abstract iv Graduate Recital 1 Scintilla 1 Vals Op.8 No 3 & 4 4 BWV 914 6 Grand Overture 9 Fantasia Based on Themes from Verdi’s La Traviata 11 Introduction & Variations sur un Thème de l’pera Der Freischütz 14 Conclusion 16 Bibliography 18 Appendix: Program 21 iii ABSTRACT Master’s Recital By Christopher Nicklin Master of Music in Music, Performance This is a recital and thesis in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music in guitar performance. The works presented in the recital were: Scintilla by Marek Pasieczny, Vals No3 and 4 by Barrios Mangore, BWV 914 by J.S Bach, Grand Overture by Mauro Giuliani, Fantasia based on the themes from Verdi’s La Traviata by FranciscoTarrega, and Introduction & Variations sur un thème de l’opera Der Freischütz by Karel Arnolodus Craeyvanger. In this thesis I give the historical background behind the pieces and composers. Where is it is applicable I also provides details about the scenes of the operas from which the musical themes are taken from. iv Graduate Recital SCINTILLA Scintilla is a work composed by modern guitar composer Marek Pasieczny, and is composed in the style of Arvo Pärt. Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer born in 1935. From 1960 to 1976, Pärt was trying to find his voice in musical composition. He experimented with a variety of different compositional styles. Initially he composed using serialism, but in general found it dissatisfying even though he won various awards for his works. He then started working with a collage technique that entailed inserting well- known music into a serial structure.1 Subsequently, he developed his minimalist style that he is known for today. The beginning of his minimalist style is marked by the piano piece Für Alina in 1976. The piece can be characterized by extremely wide intervals with dissonances that do not need to be resolved. To go along with this, Pärt developed a system called tintinnabuli. Tintinnabuli is a simple compositional tool. It obeys the rule that one note from the tonic triad is always audible throughout the duration of the composition. The rule itself can be broken, but in general persists during a great portion of the composition. Each note in the triad is supposed to represent church bells of the Russian ‘zvon’, a style of music where the bells are not tuned to a scale but rather various pitches that are either higher or lower.2 In Scintilla, notes from the G major triad are used for the tintinnabulation. However, it is the B in the G chord rather than the G that is 1 “David Pinkerton’s Arvo Pärt Information Archive,” accessed April 2, 2016, http://www.arvopart.org 2 Hillier Paul, Arvo Part (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). 1 considered the root considering that note opens and closes the piece. With that in mind the subject of the tintinnabulation is a G major chord in first inversion. For Marek to get his inspiration for the piece Scintilla from Arvo Pärt, he would have needed certain pieces by Pärt to inspire him. The three pieces that he used for inspiration were De Profundis, Für Alina, and Variations for the Healing of Arinushka. In an interview, Marek says he used Für Alina and Variations for the Healing of Arinushka as ideas for mood rather than compositional technique.3 These pieces are showcased in the first and second movements of Scintilla. Marek’s first movement takes the ideas of expansive ranged intervals. This idea stands out throughout the composition from Variations for the Healing of Arinushka. At various moments of each composition high and low intervals seem to be randomly played throughout the piece around the almost static middle voice. In the third movement, it takes the idea of block chords that resemble the slow building and dissonant style of Für Alina. Another idea that Marek takes from Für Alina is the notation of the score. Even though Für Alina was originally written on one stave, he later expanded it to multiple staves to give the voices clarity and uniqueness.4 In this same way, Marek followed the idea even though it is not something naturally seen on guitar. Marek wrote the piece on three staves to give clarity to the voicing. The work De Profundis has the most influence on Scintilla. De Profundis is a piece that has a four part male choir with organ and various percussion instruments, such as bells. In the second movement of Scintilla, the longest movement of the piece, the 3 Pasieczny Marek, (E-mail message to author, March 28, 2016). 4 Ibid. 2 supertitle Psalm is written above it. This is especially important because De Profundis is written using the text from the 130 Psalm of the Bible. The words of this particular Psalm describe anguish. This is something that the second movement captures as the harmonies generate a sense of uneasiness. Arvo Pärt, an Orthodox Christian, has almost exclusively used Latin text in his works. Pärt, however, treats the text in a cold inexpressive view point in contrast to many other composers.5 Marek also based the first four entrances of the voices from the vocal lines of De Profundis.6 The guitar’s lowest string is tuned down to a low G in this composition. This is something that could be considered foolish, considering the guitar has a hard time staying in tune with a note that low. Additionally, the player must also pluck the string near the bridge, otherwise it is almost impossible to hear. The reason why the composition calls for this low string is to resemble the lower register of an organ, which is featured in De Profundis. Marek is clear in his intent of making the guitar mimic a choir, and in addition, when there are multiple notes on one stave, they also characterize the overtone series of church bells. Bells have such a complexity in sound that it can take multiple notes or even chords to give the resemblance of a bell’s overtones.7 In general, De Profundis is a work with anthemic quality; Marek achieves this by constantly building dynamics in this movement while simultaneously not resolving chords. Because of all these various ideas that are worked 5 Maxwell Steer, Music and Mysticism (Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996). 6 Ibid. 7 Hillier Paul, Arvo Part (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). 3 into the piece, it comes across as a work in the style of Arvo Pärt even though the harmonic choices themselves are not in Pärt’s style. VALS Op.8 NO. 3 & 4 Agustín Barrios Mangoré is known as one of the most important guitarist composers in the first half of the twentieth century. It could be argued that as a guitarist he is equal in stature to Andrés Segovia. Being known as a man of culture, he studied many different disciplines, as well as many different cultures. He has been quoted as saying “One cannot become a guitarist if he has not bathed in the fountain of culture”.8 Due to his study of culture, his compositions range in many styles. Barrios pursued his interest in writing folk music of various different styles as well as using European compositional technique. Because Barrios traveled around South America so often, he wrote in the folk styles that he came across after immersing himself in the cultural ideas of the music. However, because he did go to school for composition, he also learned the European style of composing. Vals No. 3 and 4 represent two of Mangoré’s most famous works. These two pieces are part of Barrios’s only opus work. Two other valses accompany this work and had the nicknames Primavera and Junto a Tu Corazón, while Vals No. 3 and 4 do not have nicknames. None of these pieces have any relation to each other than the fact that they are all valses and sometimes share the same form. The first two are more closely related to Barrios’ folk style while the other two have elements that are more in the European tradition. 8 Richard Stover and Agustin Mangore, Vals, Op. 8, No. 3: For Solo Guitar (Melville, NY: Belwin Mills, 1979). 4 Vals No. 3 is a valse in D minor. This valse is written in the European traditional style. In particular this composition is clearly related to the music of Chopin. Barrios valued Chopin’s music and imitated his style in many of his compositions. He even transcribed many of his pieces to the guitar, like Tárrega had also done. The A section of Vals No. 3 is related to Chopin’s prelude in Op 28 No. 4. The fragmented melody in the A section goes back and forth from A to Bb. This can be viewed as related to the weeping gesture in the Chopin prelude moving down in semitones throughout the piece. The other evidence that this piece is inspired by Chopin is the harmonic function of the chords. Not only is it highly chromatic but also most of the chords move only one or two notes at a time. This would parallel the Chopin prelude. The B section of Vals No. 3 ventures away from imitating Chopin.