Composed for Six-Hands Piano Alti El Piyano Için Bestelenen
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The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, April 2018 Volume 8 Issue 2, p. 340-363 THE FORM ANALYSIS OF “SKY” COMPOSED FOR SIX-HANDS PIANO Şirin AKBULUT DEMİRCİ Assoc. Prof. Education Faculty, Music Education Faculty. Uludag University, Turkey https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8904-4920 [email protected] Berkant GENÇKAL Assoc. Prof. State Conservatory, School for Music and Drama. Anadolu University, Turkey https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5792-2100 [email protected] ABSTRACT The piano, which is a solo instrument that takes part in educational process, can take role not only in instrumental education but also in chamber music education as well with the 6-hands pieces for three players that perform same composition on a single instrument. According to the international 6-hands piano literature, although the works of Alfred Schnittke's Hommage, Carl Czerny's Op.17 and 741, Paul Robinson's Pensees and Montmartre and many more are included, the Turkish piano literature has been found to have a limited number of compositions. The aim of the work is to contribute to the field by presenting musical analysis about the place and the importance of the educational use of the works composed for 6-hands which are extremely rare in the Turkish piano literature. As an example, the piece named Sky composed by Hasan Barış Gemici is considered. Analysis is supported by comparative methods in form, structuralism, rhythm, theoretical applications and performance; it also gives information about basic playing techniques. It is thought that this study carries importance in contributing to the limited number of Turkish 6-hands piano literature and researchers who will conduct research in this regard, in terms of creating resources for performers and composers who will interpret the literature. As a result of the research the inner world’s aggression and inspirations from elements like rain, thunder, heart beat that are transformed to piano, which carry symbolic meanings that are composed with tight-knit structure; besides all these mentioned before the dramatic content that is uncovered by the chords of the trumpet section of the orchestra, timpani pulsation and the dance-like movements have been reached. Keywords: Piano education, six hands piano, Turkey, Turkish piano literature, chamber music ALTI EL PİYANO İÇİN BESTELENEN “GÖK”ÜN BİÇİMSEL ANALİZİ ÖZ Solo çalgı olarak çalgı eğitiminde yer alan piyano, tek piyanoda üç icracının aynı eseri yorumlamasından oluşan 6-el piyano eserleri ile sadece çalgı eğitiminde değil aynı zamanda oda müziği eğitiminde de görev üstlenebilmektedir. Uluslararası 6-el piyano literatürüne bakıldığında Alfred Schnittke’nin Hommage, Carl Czerny’nin Op.17 ve 741, Paul Robinson’un Pensees ve Montmartre gibi eserlerin yer almasına karşın Türk piyano literatürünün çok sınırlı sayıda esere sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir. Çalışmanın amacı, Türk piyano literatüründe çok nadir yer alan 6-el için bestelenmiş eserlerin eğitim amaçlı kullanımındaki yeri ve önemi hakkında müzikal analizler sunarak alana katkı sağlamaktır. Örnek olarak, Hasan Barış Gemici’nin Gök adlı parçası ele alınmaktadır. Analizler, karşılaştırmalı yöntemlerle desteklenerek biçim, yapısalcılık, ritim, teorik uygulamalar ve performans; temel çalış teknikleri hakkında bilgi verir niteliktedir. Bu çalışmanın, sınırlı sayıdaki Türk 6-el piyano literatürüne katkı sağlayarak bu konuda araştırma Submit Date: 11.09.2017, Acceptance Date: 16.03.2018, DOI NO: 10.7456/10802100/014 340 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, April 2018 Volume 8 Issue 2, p. 340-363 yapacak araştırmacılara, literatürü yorumlayacak icracılara ve bestecilere kaynak oluşturulması açısından önemli olduğu düşünülmektedir. Araştırmanın sonucunda iç dünyasının agresifliği ve de sıkı formal yapı ile bestelenmiş ve içinde yağmur, gök gürültüsü, kalp atışı gibi doğadan esinlenmelerin piyanoya aktarıldığı sembolik anlamlar yüklenmiş öğelerin işlendiği; bunların yanı sıra orkestradaki trompet bölümü, timpani ve dansa benzer bölümleri dramatik içeriğini açığa çıkardığı bulgulara ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Piyano eğitimi, 6-el piyano, Türkiye, Türk piyano literatürü, oda müziği INTRODUCTION Many composers used piano as a solo instrument in their compositions together with chamber music and orchestral music throughout centuries. There are plenty of 4-hands works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Moszkowski, Godard, Gregh and many more. The basic notion of this type of usage the piano relies on a division of the keyboard into two main sections in which the first pianist plays accompaniment on low register while the second one explores the melodic contour on high register. It is also used in terms of educational purpose while the first pianist is usually the teacher and the second one pupil (Beyer: 30-35, Ereren, 2009: 60, 63-65, 71, 76 and 91). Whereas the anthology of 6-hand piano is extremely rare, because of the limited range available to each player, many of the pieces written for the combination are elementary in nature; many more are arrangements of pieces for other forces (Freischütz Overture is arranged for 6-hands piano by G. Micheuz; F. Schubert’s Auf Dem Waβer Zu Singen and Erlkönig songs are arranged for 6-hands piano by Özgür Ünaldı) (Rare Six Hands Piano, access date 10.01.2010). But there are small number original works and a handful of virtuoso three player groups have emerged in 21st Century. S. Rachmaninov’s Two Pieces for Six Hands: Valse and Romance; A. Schnittke’s Hommage, Tomislav Baynov’s Metrorhythmia 1, Dionysis Boukuvala’s Fantasy on a theme by Steve Reich, Gurlitt’s Six Pieces for Six Hands and etc. It is thought to be Hasan Barış Gemici’s composition Sky as the first example in Turkish 6-hands piano literature which scores and performance note has been able to reach the audience. For that reason this piece was chosen as an example that will be carefully examine in this study. Another reason to work on this topic is the limited amount of scientific investigation about 6-hands piano works. Tracing the database two works have been found in Turkey. The first one is an article entitled as The Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Method on Teaching Six Hands Piano Piece: An Action Research (Deniz, 2015) and the second one is a conference oral presentation entitled as Six Hands Piano in Turkey (Akbulut Demirci, 2016). The aim of this work is to provide musical analysis that will contribute with the importance of 6- hands piano pieces within educational purpose and enriching the Turkish piano literature. The analysis the work is based on comparative methods that are supported by musical form, structuralism, rhythm, theoretical applications, performance, and basic playing techniques. The main approach musical analysis is cooperated with composer himself through online meetings and face-to-face interview held on 3rd of November 2017 (10:00-11:45 a.m.). It is believed that this study will collaborate in the scientific world as an important resource for researchers who want to work on this field, as well as performers who wants to interpret this work and composers considering the limited amount of works done upon 6-hands piano compositions. FINDINGS The entire form of the piece is in Compound Ternary structure, which also resembles to a Quasi Sonata form with Exposition, Development and Recapitulation parts. It also bears two inner parts that expose the Introduction and the Bridge that is presented as Figure 1 below. Submit Date: 11.09.2017, Acceptance Date: 16.03.2018, DOI NO: 10.7456/10802100/014 341 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, April 2018 Volume 8 Issue 2, p. 340-363 Figure 1: The Scheme of the Form of the Piece. The Introduction part starts with a unison passage that portrays composer’s signature (The same signature motive of that piece also exists in composer’s second work Theme and Variations for violin and Piano. The composition is dedicated to Parkan Sanlıkol and is worked out between 14th of September 2017. Its final revision is done in 2018). It has been consisted three main descending notes: B - B♭- G, which is shown as Figure 2 below. These notes constitute the [014] set where on the second bar it turns to A♭- A♮ -E♭, transforming the combination into [017]. Figure 2: The Opening Section of the Piece and Composer’s Signature. The third bar is another 3-note collection of F - D♭- C notes. The corresponding set to these notes is [015]. In this respect, the entire opening segment’s pitch collection is as follow: Figure 3: The Scale that Constitutes the Opening Section of the Piece. The scale given at Figure 3 above is [01234568T] set that belongs to [9-6] category according to Joseph N. Straus’s (1999) list. Figure 4: The Signature Motive at Bar 4. We find the same approach at bar 4 where the signature motive is presented as expansion of the melodic progression, which is shown as Figure 4 above. Submit Date: 11.09.2017, Acceptance Date: 16.03.2018, DOI NO: 10.7456/10802100/014 342 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, April 2018 Volume 8 Issue 2, p. 340-363 Figure 5: The Signature Motive at Bars 7-8 and 9. The prominent repetition of B - B♭- G signature motive is once again presented but now in different combination as shown in Figure 5. Figures 2, 4 and 5 are presenting the composer’s signature in the opening section respectively. The opening section ends with ascending passage that bears whole-tone units.