£^J, ^7 Lisa'igam^ Santa '~ Associate Professor of Flute School of Music
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In Memoriam by Valerie Estes AN HONORS THESIS for the UNIVERSITY HONORS COLLEGE Submitted to the University Honors College at Texas Tech University in partial fulfilbnent of the requirement for the degree designation of HIGHEST HONORS MAY 2009 Approved by: £^J, ^7 Lisa'iGam^ Santa '~ Associate Professor of Flute School of Music V /^o^ ^ DR. GA^ M. BELL Date Dean, University Honors College The author approves the photocopying of this document for educational purposes. ABSTRACT This Honors Thesis proposes the addition of a recording project to standard nation-wide Music Performance undergraduate and graduate curriculum. It begins with an explanation of some deficiencies in collegiate music performance education, namely lack of applied teaching skills and inexperience with recording and editing processes. Such an example follows, including historical and musical context of six elegiac works for flute, practical instruction on playing those works, and recordings of my own performances of these compositions. The pieces performed and discussed are Ken Medema's Rachel's Song, Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano, Torn Takemitsu's Itinerant, Dan Welcher's All the Words to All the Songs, Philippe Gauberl's Sonata no. 1 in A Major for Flute and Piano, and Aaron Copland's Duo for Flute and Piano. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, 1 would like to thank my family for their support during this project and throughout my musical career. They are my first and best audience. 1 would also like to thank Dr. Maijean Purinton and Dr. Richard Verrone, without whose tireless assistance and encouragement this project would not have existed. Finally, 1 would like to express my gratitude to my flute teacher. Dr. Lisa Gamer Santa. She taught me everything 1 know about music and then taught me to create it. HI TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES v TRACK LISTING vi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: Background of Elegiac Music 7 CHAPTER 2: Rachel's Song 11 CHAPTER 3: Francis Poulenc's Flute Sonata 14 CHAPTER 4:/r/«era«r 23 CHAPTER 5: All the Words to All the Songs 28 CHAPTER 6: Philippe Gauberl's Sonata No. 1 in A for Flute and Piano 33 CHAPTER 7: Aaron Copland's Duo for Flute and Piano 36 CONCLUSION 41 BIBLIOGRAPHY 43 IV COMPACT DISC CONTENT X.Rachel's Song (2003) Ken Medema (b. 1943) Melissa Rooklidge, soprano Annie Nichols, alto Daim Coakwell, tenor Taylor Johnson, bass Valerie Estes, flute Gabriel Sanchez, piano Sonata for Flute and Piano (1957) Frances Poulenc (1899-1963) 2. Allegretto malincolico 3. Cantilena 4. Presto giocoso 5./riwerawr for solo flute (1989) Tom Takemilsu (1930-96) 6. All the Words to All the Songs (1996) Dan Welcher (b. 1948) Sonata No. 1 in A for Flute and Piano (1917) Philppe Gaubert (1879-1941) 7. Modere 8. Lent 9. Allegro moderato Duo for Flute and Piano (1971) Aaron Copland (1900-90) 10. Flowing 11. Poetic, somewhat mournful; Lively, with bounce Valerie Estes, flute Gabriel Sanchez, piano LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Epitaph of Seikilos 7 Figure 2: Ken Medema 11 Figure 3: Rachel Evatt 12 Figure 4: Francis Poulenc 14 Figure 5: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge 15 Figure 6: Jean-Pierre Rampal 16 Figure 7: Measure 1 17 Figure 8: Measure 28 17 Figure 9: Measures 45-8 18 Figure 10: Measures 52-4 19 Figure 11: Measure 34 20 Figure 12: Practice Rhythm 1 20 Figure 13: Practice Rhythm 2 21 Figure 14: Practice Rhythm 3 21 Figure 15: Practice Rhythm 4 21 Figure 16: TomTakemitsu 23 Figure 17: IsamuNoguchi 24 Figure 18: Multiphonics 26 Figure 19: Trill Notation 26 Figure 20: Final Bar 27 Figure 21: Dan Welcher 28 VI Figure 22: Philippe Gaubert 31 Figure 23: Paul Taffanel 31 Figure 24: Square 4 35 Figure 25: Aaron Copland 36 Figure 26: William Kincaid 37 Figure 27: Harmonic C Fingering 38 Figure 28: High B-Flat Fingering 39 Figure 29: Measure 143 40 Vll INRODUCTION The purpose of this Honors Thesis is to address what I believe is a deficiency in today's collegiate musical performance curriculum and to provide an example of a project combining a self-produced recording with written instmction in the approach to a set of musical repertoire. This type of project, if used to supplement existing undergraduate and graduate coursework, would allow students develop skills that are requisite to their careers as successful, versatile performers. Students earning an undergraduate degree in instrumental performance are generally required to perform two solo recitals and performance exams called 'juries' at the end of each semester. These performance experiences are certainly useful, but do not require the student to utilize technology or to leam music technology skills. I believe this is a great oversight, since we live in an age in which technology mles a large part of the entertainment industry. The general public gains most of its classical musical exposure through CD's rather than live performances. Consequently, many performers supplement their careers, if not base them, on recording albums. For this reason, I believe that it is important for musicians to have experience in a recording capacity during their undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, music technology is not always a subject that is placed in high importance in most collegiate curriculums. Versatility is a quality much valued in the field of professional music, and as such, it is advisable to expose young musicians to as many performance mediums as possible. Students are often encouraged to be mvolved in solo performances, chamber ensembles, and larger ensembles, but rarely is a student expected to undertake recording projects. Although recordings are at times required for submission to competitions or auditions, the repertoire is usually set and editing is prohibited. These restrictions do not allow the musician to develop the skills needed for choosing repertoire for a CD or operating editing software. Recording in a studio differs from live performances in many ways. Live performances are arranged so that the performer is allowed time to rest between works, which are only played once. Recording sessions hold the possibility of being quite lengthy and require endurance, since one piece may be played several times through. Recording sessions also require more realistic self-criticism than a live performance, because the editing process that follows can be done efficientiy and to the performer's satisfaction. The production of a CD also requires some knowledge of logistical production and marketability that are not usually required for live performances. Professional record labels provide services that would assist with such elements, but it is costly to initiate an agreement with a label. For this reason, many performers choose to self-produce eJbums. Self-producing an albums can save thousands of dollars, but requires ingenuity and practicality. Some tasks to be completed when self-producing include the writing program notes, creation of cover art, and negotiation endless particulars in regard to sale of the finished product. The first step in the process of producing my own album was to choose the repertoire that I would include on the disc. That alone took a good deal of thought and consideration. I wanted the project to have a unifying theme, so I first made a list of broad possible topics. After choosing one, I made a list of possible pieces that would fit the theme. I had to consider audience accessibility, my own playing ability, the difficulty of the piano accompaniment where it existed, appropriate timing of the entire disc, varying time periods from which to draw the pieces, and my personal preference. One great advantage in my favor was that some of the pieces I chose served dual purposes. I performed Aaron Copland's Duo for flute and piano for a competition and used my recording of Frances Poulenc's Sonata for flute and piano as a part of my application to masters programs. I also programmed Philippe Gaubert's Sonata in A Major and Tom Takemitsu's Itinerant on my senior recital. Once I decided which pieces I would play, I had to consider whom I would employ as my accompanist. I had to find a pianist who had the technical, musical, and collaborative ability to play the music I had chosen. I decided to employ Gabriel Sanchez, who is a resident of Dallas, Texas, to play with me because of his knowledge of flute repertoire, his amazing technical aptitude, and his musical sensitivity. All of this planning was done before I even began to prepare the music, arrange rehearsal times, and schedule a recording session with my chosen recording studio. The recording session itself was a new experience for me. I chose to employ my university's recording studio and technician to supervise and edit my recording. As a student, this was less expensive and more convenient for me than employing a private studio off campus, which would cost on averjige over $55 per hour instead of the $10 per hour that I was charged. My chosen pianist lives about 300 miles away, so scheduling rehearsal and recording time with him, as well as reserving the recording studio and someone to supervise recording took some juggling of schedules. Contrary to most of my performance experiences, which have definite dates and times scheduled far in advance, my practice schedule and goals now had to be adjusted to fit the availability of my pianist. For this reason, I was forced to record my music in two installments to facilitate my own preparation and limited rehearsal time with pianist and in the recording studio. Since editing was an option for this project, I was able to approach my performance in a way that did not demand immediate perfection.