Training Creative Violinists: Taking a Page from Baillot's L'art Du Violon
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Training Creative Violinists: Taking a Page from Baillot’s L’Art Du Violon Anna McMichael A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2018 1 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date ……… 3 May, 2018 2 Abstract This thesis analyses Pierre Marie Franҫois de Sales Baillot’s L’Art du Violon (1834). My argument is that the ideas in his treatise, although written in the mid-nineteenth century, are again relevant in training tertiary violin students to become cultured, creative and adaptable musicians. Classical musicians today face considerable challenges in attracting and inspiring their audiences. While maintaining classical music traditions, musicians and arts organisations therefore are experimenting with new forms of delivery: broader themes and genres, multi-media performances, and new technologies. Performers today must draw upon considerable knowledge and skills in order to appeal to audiences, whether in concert halls or in listening to recorded music. How do we prepare musicians, violinists in particular, for such a challenge? Baillot wrote L’Art du Violon during turbulent times in post-Revolutionary France and at a transitional time from Classical to Romantic eras of music. An eminent musician and Paris Conservatoire professor, he sought to provide a firm foundation for his students and to encourage them to tackle diverse musical material. Baillot admonished his students to hone their technical skills, but, notably for the time, he also urged them to develop their own musical identities and to build personal qualities, such as resilience and broad-mindedness. This thesis explores four key themes from Baillot’s treatise that resonate in today’s musical context: first, valuing and researching older traditions including the art of improvisation; second, embracing change and diversity in musical genres; third, experimenting in practice and performance; and fourth, developing the skills necessary for a successful life in music including as an entrepreneurial musician. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr. Goetz Richter, who has encouraged and guided me throughout my studies. Secondly, I would like to thank my associate supervisor, Neal Peres da Costa, for both his encouragement and his performances in my Conservatorium recital. I would like to thank the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the University of Sydney. I also gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the Australian Government in providing me with an Australian Postgraduate Award/University Postgraduate Award. Finally, I would like to thank my mother for her wise suggestions and encouragement, and my children for their support and for their inspiration in so many ways. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of originality 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Table of contents 5 Chapter One: Laying the foundation for a life in music 7 Introduction This thesis: four main themes 10 Chapter Two: Pierre Baillot: his life and times 15 Enlightenment philosophies and the French revolution 21 The Paris Conservatoire and the French Violin School 22 Treatises on playing the violin 24 Baillot’s distinctive contribution to violin teaching 30 Chapter Three: Valuing improvisation in the classical style 31 Baillot on the art of the prelude 35 Accounts of improvising in the Classical Period 41 Treatises on keyboard improvisation 43 Contemporary views on improvisation 46 Chapter Four: The will of the composer 50 Baillot at cusp of transition from Classical to Romantic 51 Truth and beauty and other Romantic concepts 53 Notation in the composer’s voice 59 Baillot as champion of new works 62 Regaining cultural significance 64 Chapter Five: New techniques for the violin 66 Extended bow techniques 67 Extended fingering techniques 69 5 Exploration of Scordaturas 69 Tartini Tones 73 Chapter Six: Baillot as entrepreneur 75 Baillot as concert promoter 77 Introducing Beethoven to Paris audiences 80 Programming and presention 82 Festivals of music 84 Chapter Seven: The art of becoming a well-rounded musician 87 Appendix One: Notes for my D.M.A performance recitals: 93 Performance Project, Recital 1: 27 August 2014 93 Performance Project, Recital 2: 2 September 2016 99 Performance Project, Final Recital: 30 November 2017 102 Appendix Two: Three recital DVDs: 1. Recording of recital 27 August 2014 2. Recording of recital 2 September 2016 3. Recording of recital 30 November 2017 Bibliography 107 6 CHAPTER ONE. LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A LIFE IN MUSIC “If an artist wants to make use of his fecundity, he must carefully prepare the earth, which will make his seeds germinate and prevent anything from diverting them (Pierre Baillot).”1 Introduction My main argument in this doctoral thesis is that tertiary education in violin performance should encourage creativity and diversity in musical engagement. My view is that breadth in a performer promotes creativity. A professional violinist, especially a free-lance musician, as well as building on technical skills, now must engage with a variety of musical genres and performances styles. Excellence in playing the violin calls for imagination in study and performance, either as an in-depth specialist or as a broad and versatile performer. Many professional musicians today must draw upon wide knowledge and entrepreneurial flair in order to attract and retain their audiences. A “portfolio musician” (one whose income derives from several sources and projects), in particular, needs to be resilient, able to cross boundaries, and to integrate varied approaches. Such a musician also must compete with other music-makers for an audience and for funding support. Arts organisations and funding bodies now look for “artistic vibrancy”: imagination, aesthetics, originality, and engagement with contemporary life.2 How can we train violinists to be creative musicians capable of surviving and thriving in a diverse, competitive and changing musical landscape? Performers increasingly are expected to break away from the traditional concert format and to present classical music in innovative ways that reach out to modern audiences in various settings, such as nightclubs, car-parks, flash-mob concerts, and cross-genre collaborations. 3 The increasing interest in Early Music and in Historically Informed Performance also brings a new layer of appreciation to our classical tradition. Celebrated modern violinist performers, such as Hilary Hahn, Pekka Kuusisto, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Nigel Kennedy and Henning 1 Pierre Marie Franҫois de Sales Baillot, The Art of the Violin, Trans. Louise Goldberg (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1991), 354. 2 Australia Council, “Artistic Vibrancy E-book”, accessed 20 May 2017, http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/ebook/artistic-vibrancy/ 3 J.A.R.B. “Can Classical Music Be Cool.” Economist, last modified January 15, 2016, https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/01/music 7 Kraggerud, all push the boundaries of the traditional soloist model to include experimentation. Orchestras, such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Manchester Camerata and the BBC Proms, all ask their musicians to perform in night-club events, immersive concert experiences and multi-disciplinary works.4 In the course of my studies, I have taken to heart the thoughts of Pierre Marie Franҫois de Sales Baillot (1771-1842), which he set out for his violin students at the Paris Conservatoire in his L’Art Du Violon published in 1834.5 My argument in this thesis is that Baillot’s philosophy, although formulated in the very different world of post-Revolutionary France, remains relevant today as a tertiary teaching approach. In his nearly fifty years of teaching at the Paris Conservatoire, and over his long and active performing career, Baillot urged the importance of broad musical knowledge and skills.6 He advocated a pedagogy that explored musical styles and encouraged creative engagement in order to lay the foundation for a sustainable life in music. While he acknowledged that exposure to a multitude of styles may overwhelm a student, he believed that creative seeds would flower later with the growth of experience. In his main treatise, The Art of the Violin (hereafter referred to by its English title), Baillot laid out extensive technical methods for becoming a violinist, but in contrast to many teachers of his and later times, he also strongly advocated broad personal and musical development. He argued that a well-rounded violinist should be able to improvise in the earlier tradition and draw on knowledge of the aesthetics of the past, but also be able to interpret and perform new styles of music. Baillot encouraged his students to sow the seeds for continuing creative growth so that their own musical identity could flourish: “We are convinced that this diversity offers greater opportunity for development of the genius of a young artist who feels in a creative frame of mind.”7 Baillot set lofty goals before his students. He envisaged a successful professional violinist as one in command of great technical skill, able to interpret and to improvise music of the past, but also embracing changing styles as a virtuoso interpreter of new musical genres. 4 Bob Riley, “How orchestras are riding the wave of change”, accessed 7 February, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals- blog/2014/aug/28/orchestras-changing-cannabis-concerts-audiences 5 Baillot, The Art of the Violin.