California State University, Northridge Analysis For
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE ANALYSIS FOR PERFORMANCE: ANALYZING SELECTED WIND BAND WORKS FOR CONDUCTING A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Music in Music in Band/Wind Ensemble Conducting By Jay M. Jarrett May 2016 The thesis of Jay M. Jarrett is approved: Prof. Mary Schliff Date Dr. John Roscigno Date Dr. Lawrence Stoffel, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Dedicated to Azin, my constant source of inspiration and joy. Without your help and support, none of this would have been possible. iii I would like to express my immense gratitude for Dr. Lawrence Stoffel, whose help and guidance has shown me how to be my very best. Thank you for your support and mentorship through these last two years. Your actions of kindness and encouragement will not be forgotten. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 1 BEETHOVEN: ÉCOSSAISE, POLONAISE, AND MARCH IN F 5 Historical Considerations 5 Analysis 7 SAINT-SAËNS/FRACKENPOHL: PAS REDOUBLÉ 11 Historical Considerations 11 Analysis 13 GRAINGER: THEMES FROM “GREEN BUSHES” 17 Historical Considerations 17 Analysis 21 SCHOENBERG/JARRETT: 4 MOVEMENTS FROM: 24 “THE BOOK OF THE HANGING GARDENS” OP. 15 Historical Considerations 26 Analysis 27 MACKEY: SHELTERING SKY 34 Historical Considerations 34 Analysis 36 CONCLUSION 39 BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 v APPENDIX A: Score of Four Movements from: 43 The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15 APPENDIX B: Score for March in F, WoO. 19 60 APPENDIX C: Score for Écossaise, WoO. 22 69 APPENDIX D: Score for Polonaise, WoO. 21 72 APPENDIX E: Recital Program 80 APPENDIX F: Curriculum Vitae 84 vi ABSTRACT ANALYSIS FOR PERFORMANCE: ANALYZING SELECTED WIND BAND WORKS FOR CONDUCTING By Jay M. Jarrett Master of Music in Conducting The conductor’s role in an ensemble goes much further beyond the obvious: beating a pattern, controlling balance and dynamics, and maintaining tempi. The truest role of a conductor is to discover meaning behind the notes, to interpret the music’s message from the composer and convey that to an audience through performance. This role necessitates time spent in preparation, analyzing the music and developing an interpretation through which the music can be brought to life. With good preparation and score study the beating, cueing, and musical gestures all become useful tools in the conductor’s arsenal, and with little or a lack of detailed score study these things can stand in the conductor’s way. The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate the preparatory process as it applies to five varying and contrasting works for wind band: a triptych of marches written by Beethoven in 1810 (March in F, WoO. 19, Polonaise, WoO. 21, and Écossaise, WoO. 22) edited by the writer, Frackenpohl’s arrangement of Saint-Saëns’ Pas Redoublé, Grainger’s Themes from Green Bushes, Four Movements from Schoenberg’s The Book of the Hanging Gardens, arranged for wind ensemble by the writer, and Mackey’s Sheltering Sky. The five works each exhibit unique features and key facets to thoughtfully consider in rehearsal preparation. I will begin with an overview of my process of score vii analysis. Throughout the thesis, I will consider the key historical, harmonic, and thematic features of each piece, using each feature not only to support an analysis of the works themselves, but also to enhance their performance in a master’s conducting recital for which they were chosen. viii INTRODUCTION Score study can best be described as the method in which a conductor approaches a piece of music in order to develop an interpretation that can be utilized for performance. The majority of a conductor’s work is not done in a rehearsal room or performance hall, but rather, in the quiet of their personal study space. This idea contrasts the most obvious image of a conductor actually performing the music; however, it is in fact the place where conductors must focus most of their time and energy. Score study is where the conductor essentially learns the piece: the historical context, the form, and the orchestration choices of the composer, the melodic and harmonic content, and so forth. Legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy describes the score study process as: On the first level, his period of study, the conductor prepares himself both technically and artistically. On this level he must be musician, historian, stylist, orchestrator, and listener. He must study the score so that he “hears” is in his mind. As he does this he evaluates the music and makes a beginning toward balancing the many strands of musical line. He must understand the historical context in which a particular work is conceived, and bring to bear upon the growing interpretive edifice a thorough knowledge of the stylistic requirements inherent in the work.1 Therefore, the purpose of score study is more far-reaching than just understanding the music; it should produce a product that guides decision-making throughout the rehearsal process. According to Frank Battisti and Robert Garofalo in their book Guide to Score Study for the Wind Band Conductor, the process to study a music score must begin 1 Elizabeth A.H. Green, Mark Gibson, The Modern Conductor, xi. 1 fundamentally with the conductor’s approach to score study “as an imaginative musician, a creator, and not simply as a decoder of notation.”2 While the notation as well as the theory behind the notation are both important factors in gleaning a complete understanding of the music at hand, the real focus must remain on artistic expression. Elizabeth Green beautifully and eloquently supports this conclusion through the Credo of her book The Modern Conductor: Music lives only when the notes fly off the page and soar into glorious sound. The performer, the conductor, releases them from bondage through his or her feeling for their message, through the power of the imagination, and by means of the physical technique one devotedly acquires. We build the technique only to ensure that our music can achieve its unforgettable moments, evanescent as they are, before once more returning to its prison of impatient silence.3 Study should be balanced. The vision of music expression should balance and compliment the seeking of knowledge about the score. Too little or too much of either one could have a negative impact on the performance. The process of score study begins, as Battisti and Garofalo suggest, with a process of orienting oneself to the score. This process involves carefully gleaning information from the score regarding its setting, date of composition, composer, possible introductory notes, and any other noteworthy item. Beyond this, the first conception of the music is created with the cursory glance at the first page and consequent leaf-through of the score. From this, the conductor can glean any changes in tempi, meter, key, instrumentation, 2 Frank Battisti, Robert Garofalo, Guide to Score Study, 1. 3 Green, The Modern Conductor, xv. 2 and form that may occur throughout the music. These initial impressions play a key role in the conductor generating the mental concept of music to which Green refers. Beyond the initial orientation process, the conductor must read through and analyze the score, completing a “thorough structural and stylistic analysis of the work.”4 The structural analysis should include: observations of main key areas, the basic form of the piece, tempo relationships throughout the piece and any tempo changes that occur, how each section within the form is phrased, any observed cadential activity, melodic instrumentation, as well as melodic and harmonic language implemented by the composer. This basic information about the music comprises the “nuts and bolts” that essentially make up the music. With this information the conductor is afforded the opportunity to synthesize the music into a personal yet fundamentally accurate interpretation of the composers work. The structural analysis ear makes the “basic features” of the music allowing the conductor to open up to the finer stylistic features; a good structural analysis will empower the conductor to highlight the artistic merits of the music whereas a poor or incomplete structural analysis will inhibit this expression from ever happening. This analysis, done in preparation for the rehearsal process, is executed with the expectation of keeping the conductor from becoming a metronome. The artistic conductor does not simply beat the time, keeping the musicians together in the same place; rather the artistic conductor unifies the ensemble with a clearly defined and communicated musical idea. Eugene Ormandy continues on to describe this phenomenon: 4 Battisti, Guide to Score Study, 3. 3 The second level upon which the conductor functions is the rehearsal, in which he prepares the orchestra both technically and artistically. It is on this level that he acts as a guide to the orchestra, building up in their minds a concept of the work parallel to his own, for the eventual public performance requires an enlightened and sensitive orchestra playing not “under” a conductor, but rather “with” him.5 Each of the following chapters will address the musical selections, walking through the relevant facets gleaned from each piece through score study. Any relevant historical information that constructively impacts the working knowledge of the pieces will be divulged, as well as the key structural features that make each piece stand out as a unique work. For the sake of the length of this project as well as the scope of the pieces involved, I do not intend on listing an exhaustive structural analysis of each piece here. However, by highlighting the historically relevant facts as well as the defining characteristics of each piece, the essential factors of the analytical process will be emphasized.