37? AlBU M. Wt
THE PIANO SONATAS OF RODOLFO HALFFTER:
TRANSFORMATION OR NEW TECHNIQUES?
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State University in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
By
Nancy Lee Harper, B.M.
Denton, Texas
August, 1985 Copyright by
Nancy Lee Harper
1985 Harper, Nancy Lee , The Piano Sonatas of Rodolfo Half fter.
Transformation or New Techniques?, A Lecture Recital Together with
Three Recitals of Selected Works of L. V. Beethoven, M. Ravel. F. Liszt,
R. Schumannr W. A, Mozart, C. Debussy. J. Brahms, and D. Shostakovich.
Doctor of Musical Arts, August, 1985, 36 pp., 49 examples, 7 appendices, bibliography, 49 titles.
The Piano Sonatas of Rodolfo Halffter (b. 1900, Madrid, Spain) represent an important body of literature not widely known nor under- stood for their historical importance and Spanish heritage. The entire
development of Halffter's compositional style, which embraces three
periods of composition, may be traced through these sonatas. The
modes of composition may be seen not to be separate and distinct but
as having inter—relationships which therefore affect the outcome of
Halffter's final dodecaphonic technique. The culmination of his serial
method is found in the Tercera Sonata, op. 30. At first glance, this
work appears to be a radical departure from the former styles. However,
a more in-depth study reveals this sonata to be the logical outgrowth
of earlier compositional techniques, thereby blending diverse, eclectic
elements into a unique and homogenous application, all Halffter's own.
Forced to flee his native country in 1939, Halffter became the
first composer in Mexico to use twelve-tone techniques. Together with
Carlos Chavez, he exerted great influence on the present generation's
group of Mexican composers. Halffter today remains a crucial link in the continuation of the Spanish tradition as exemplified by his former mentor, Manuel de Falla. A brief explanation of Falla s theory of resonance including sketches in Falla's handwriting as well as portions of the unpublished analysis of Halffter's Tercera Sonata are presented, perhaps for the first time.
This study reveals how Halffter manipulates many Spanish elements which are found in the ancient cante iondo and the string tunings of the guitar in addition to the use of acciacaturas and the internal rhythm of Domenico Scarlatti into a personalized idiom which remains apparent
throughout all his compositional styles. An analysis of Halffter s
Tercera Sonata shows that the final period is characterized by a unique
blending of Falla's "apparent poly-tonality" with the twelve-tone system
of Arnold Schoenberg. Tape recordings of all performances submitted as dissertation requirements are on deposit in the North Texas State University
Library•
111 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page DOCTORAL RECITAL PROGRAMS v
LIST OF EXAMPLES ix
Chapter
I. EARLY INFLUENCES 1
II. THE MIDDLE PERIOD 11
III. TRANSFORMATION OR NEW TECHNIQUE? 25
APPENDICES
I. BASIS OF ENTIRE SONATA 37
II. TERCERA SONATA PARA PIANO, OP. 30 38
III. VECTOR ANALYSIS OF SELECTIVE CHORDAL COMBINATIONS 40
IV. TERCERA SONATA TABLE OF SYMBOLS 42
V. FIRST PERFORMANCE DATES OF HALFFTER'S SONATAS 43
VI. ORIGINAL SPANISH SOURCES OF TRANSLATIONS 44
VII. NOTES IN INTERPRETATION IN HALFFTER'S PIANO SONATAS .... 47
BIBLIOGRAPHY 51
IV North Texas State University School of Music
DMA Recital
NANCY LEE HARPER, piano
Monday, October 5, 1981 8:15 p.m. Concert Hall
Sonata in A Flat Major, Op. 110 Beethoven Moderato cantabile molto espressivo Allegro Molto Adagio ma non troppo; Fuga, Allegro, ma non troppo
Sonatine; Ravel Modere Mouv't de Menuet Anime
• Trois Etudes de concert Liszt I II Lamento II La Leggierezza III Un Sospiro
This program is presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts North Texas State University School of Music
Graduate Recital
NANCY LEE HARPER, Piano
Monday, October 18, 1982 8:15 p.m. Concert Hall
Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82 Schumann 1. Eintritt (Entrance) 2. Jager auf der Lauer (Hunter in Ambush) 3. Einsame Blumen (Lonely Flowers) 4. Verrufene Stelle (Haunted Spot) 5. Freundliche Landschaft (Friendly Landscape) 6. Herberge (The Wayside Inn) 7. Vogel als Prophet (The Prophetic Bird) 8. Jagdlied (Hunting Song) 9. Abschied (The Departure)
Sonata in A Minor, K. 310 Mozart Allegro maestoso Andante cantabile con espressione Presto
Masques Debussy Voiles Etude XI - pour les Arpeges Composes Toccata
Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
VI North Texas State University School of Music presents Nancy Lee Harper, Piano in a
Lecture—Recital The Piano Sonatas of Rodolfo Halffter: Transformation or New Techniques?
March 4,1985 8:15 p.m. Concert Hall
Program
Dos Sonatas de El Escorial (1928) 1. d minor 2. A major
Segunda Sonata para Piano, op. 20 (1955) 1. Allegro 2. Andante poco mosso 3. Scherzo 4. Rondo'
Grateful appreciation is extended to the composer for his untiring assistance. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.
VII North Texas State University School of Music presents Nancy Lee Harper, Piano in a Chamber Music Recital
April 1,1985 5-00 n m 5 00 p m Concert Hall Trio in E flat major, op. 40 . . for Piano. Violin and Waldhorn Tmi897) '' Andante; P000 P'" anlmato; Andante; poco piD anlmato; Andante U. Scherzo (Allegro; Molto Meno Allegro; Allegro) HI. Adagio Mesto IV. Allegro con Brio Farzad Khozeln, Violin Bret Seebeck, Horn
INTERMISSION Concerto for Piano, Trumpet Hmiwci, . i . » DmlW •nd Chamber Orchestra. 0p. 35 I. Allegretto; Allegro Vivace; Allegretto; Allegro; Moderate (Attaca) H. Lento; Piu Mosso; Largo (Attaca) III. Moderate (Attaca)
IV. Allegro con Brio; Presto; Allegro con Brio; Allegro con Brio (Cadenza) Presto
assisted by 1st Violins Mary Bellone Anna Dryer Luclnda Adams Shelley Markowski Terice Prelo Vincent Massimino Bass Jennifer Sakebey Mark Cousins 2nd Violins Trumpet KathJeen Hennessey Dennis Johnston Katie Hudson . Jonathan Paul {jp,. Suzanne Schrefl ^ Bkdwd Violas Cynthia Beard Donna Nelson Tamara Sanders Ellen Towniey
Thk
Vlll LIST OF EXAMPLES
Example Page
1. Rameau's derivation of the minor triad . . 6
2. Superpositions derived from a major chord of Manuel de Falla 7
3. Superpositions resulting from the opening sonority
of Fallafs Concerto 8
4. Fallafs Concerto, second movement, measures 4-5. 8
5. Fallafs Concerto, first movement, Halffterfs analysis. . . • 9
6. Fallafs Concerto, first movement, first two opening phrases 10 7. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2/1, measures 2-23 as they appear after Fallafs suggestions and one example before Fallafs corrections (1928-1929) . 11
8. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2: I/measures 1-9 12
9. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. -2: II/measures 1-10 13
10. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2: II/measure 13: "apparent poly-tonality"...... 13
11. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2:
I/measures 20-29. 13
12. FallaTs Concerto, third movement, measures 1-9 ...... 14
13. Beethoven, Sonata op. 2/1; Minuet, measures 1-8 15
14. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, second movement, measures 1-3 17 15. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, second movement, measures 18-20 and Fallafs Concerto, first movement ... 17
IX Example Page
16. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, third movement, measures 1-3 18
17. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado. fourth movement, measures 1-4 18
18. Halffter, Primera Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 1-3 and 28-32 19
19. Halffter, Primera Sonata, second movement, measures 23-27 20
20. Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin. "Minuet," measures 55-58 20
21. Debussy, "Soiree dans Grenade" from Estampes, measures 29-30 20
22. Halffter, Primera Sonata, second movement, measures 1-5 21
23. Falla's Concerto, first movement, last two measures showing generated chords from the tonic triad of D major 21
24. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, first movement, measures 80-81; 106-108 22
25. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, second movement, measures 1-3 23
26. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, third movement, measures 1-6 23
27. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, fourth movement, measures 1-4; 63-66 24
28. Halffter, Primera Sonata, first movement, measures 9; 49; and Segunda Sonata, first movement, measures 83; 16-17 24
29. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 1-4 26
30. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, second movement, measures 1-4 26 Example Page
31. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, measures 1-2 27
32. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, measures 1-4 27
33. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, first movement, closing section 28
34. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, second movement, closing section 28
35. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, closing section 28
36. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, closing section 29
37. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, first movement, measures 16-17 30
38. Halffter, Primera Sonata, first movement, last two measures 31
39. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, the composer's unpublished analysis, measures 55-61 ... 31
40. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, ending of third movement and beginning of fourth movement, the composer's unpublished analysis. English trans- lation in example: "The tones which are lacking [in the twelve-tone row] are those which begin the following movement." 32
41. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, the composer's unpublished analysis, measures 23-26 ... 33
42. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, measures 41-44 34
43. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, measures 50-54 and Halffter, Segunda Sonata, second movement, measures 31-33 35
44. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial/II, measures 11-12 47
XI Example Page
45. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial/II. measures 11-12 48
46. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, second movement, measures 13-21 48
47. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, second movement, measures 1-3 49
48. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 7-18 49
49. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 119-132 50
xn CHAPTER I
EARLY INFLUENCES
It is a curious thing to see a composer totally break away from a
former style of writing, to disavow works, as if that part of himself
were no longer viable, even though at one time that compositional style
played a vital, formative role in his creative life. With the first glance
at Rodolfo Halffter's Tercera Sonata para Piano, op. 30, the culminating
point of his sonata writing, this seems to be the case. The sonata, with
its dodecaphonic techniques, employs the creation of various notational
symbols, tone clusters, and spatial rhythmic indications while featuring
the resonant capabilities of the modern grand piano. Written in 1967,
it is preceded by three large works of the sonata genre, which are at once
rich and experimental in bi-tonal combinations and neo-classic in style."''
Rodolfo Halffter was born at Madrid, Spain, on October 30, 1900.
His father was German, of a "Junker" family from east Prussia. His mother, born in Barcelona, was of Catalan extraction. The oldest of six children, Rodolfo, with his brother Ernesto and his nephew Cristobal, has brought attention and respect to the Halffter name as important twentieth-century composers.
1. The works considered in this study include: Dos Sonatas de El Escorial (1928), Homenaje a Antonio Machado (1944), Primera Sonata para Piano (1947), Segunda Sonata para Piano (1951). and Tercera Sonata para Piano (1967). The composition, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial. was deemed valuable for its position as a precursor to the larger sonata forms which followed. The piece Danza de Avila (1936), although similar in nature and form to Dos Sonatas de El Escorial. was not utilized. Halffter's own words testify to youthful cognizance of his destiny ,
"When was the calling for music awakened in me? From early childhood I
have aspired to be a composer, in order to satisfy ... a vital necessity 2 of my organic being."
As an autodidact, Halffter developed his technique without the
benefit of formal classes. From his mother he received his first instruction at the piano. Harmony lessons were given to him by the director of a military band, Francisco Esbri, a Prix de Rome recipient.
Neither of Halffter's parents encouraged him to become a professional musician, so upon obtaining a bachelor's degree, Halffter gained employ- ment in the Bank of Madrid. In 1931, he married Emilia Salas Viu, from a distinguished family, and in 1932, their only child, Gonzalo, was born.
Halffter's early formative period reflected an intellectual curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge which was denied to him due to a lack of formal training. He attended as many concerts as possible, acquired treatises on harmony and composition, and surrounded himself with those
Spanish composers he most admired, as well as those who were visiting from abroad. According to Halffter, the "hallucinating and mysteriously-sonorous universe of Debussy" and the discovery of Arnold Schoenberg's Treatise of
Harmony in 1920 influenced his first attempts at serious composition.^
2. Antonio Iglesias, Rodolfo Halffter (Su Obra para Piano) (Madrid: Editorial Alpuerto, 1979), 13. All translations from the Spanish are made by the author of this paper. All original Spanish sources appear in Appendix VI.
3. Ibid.. 14. The need of a firm basis, as it happens to all who are self- taught, confronted me often with enormous problems, whose solutions ... I had to guess. However, such inconvenience can be . . . compensated for by the lack of technical-aesthetic prejudices that many teachers in the Conservatories inculcate in the students.
Halffter described his early compositions as "within chromaticism and
tonal vagueness," admitting that for Spain they represented an isolated 5 6 incidence of atonality. He wrote no piano sonatas during that time. It
seems evident, therefore, that Halffter's experiments in a tonally-nebulous world could have easily led him to follow the dodecaphonic path of Arnold
Schoenberg and his adherents. Had it not been for a singular event which occured in the 1920's - the meeting of Manuel de Falla - Halffter might have had the honor of being Spain's first dodecaphonic composer. Instead, the honor was conferred upon him thirty years later by his adopted homeland of Mexico.
Introduced to Manuel de Falla by Adolfo Salazar, Halffter spoke of this encounter in almost religious terms. "Instantaneously I accepted the teachings of Falla which in part represented everything to the contrary which I had believed until that moment . . . Halffter added, "[The adoption of] neoclassicism was a kind of conversion as a result of knowing
Falla."8
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Naturaleza muerta (1922) is the only extant solo piano work from Halffter's early period.
7. Iglesias, op. cit.. 67.
8. Ibid. 61. Halffter continued,
Later, in 1929, in Granada, during my brief stay there, we analized, among other pieces, various sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. Falla's admiration for Scarlatti had no bounds. He admired the freshness of his inspiration and above all, the rhythmical asymmetry of his phrases and periods. Moreover, Falla made me hear the distant rumblings of guitars and popular Spanish songs which emanated, like exquisite perfume, from these sonatas .... With care and patience, Falla . . . examined my first works of composition; . . . I, by myself, never in formal classes, received from the great maestro very valuable counsel which I have never forgotten.^
At about this same time, from 1926-1936, there arose in Madrid a group of poets, artists, architects, writers, and musicians who called themselves the "Generacion del 27." One of the main purposes of this group was to commemorate the tri-centennial anniversary of the death of the Baroque poet, Luis de Gongora (1561-1627). Some of the members included Rafael Alberti, Salvador Dali, Federico Garcia Lorca, Gerardo
Diego, Manuel de Falla, and Adolfo Salazar.
From this large group of various artists grew a clique of composers, calling themselves "el Grupo de los Ocho" (the group of eight). Similar to its French counterpart "Les Six," this Spanish circle included
Salvador Bacarisse, Julian Bautista, Rosa Garcia Ascot, Ernesto and
Rodolfo Halffter, Juan Jose Manteco'n, Gustavo Pittaluga, and Fernando
Remacha. The group, desirous of uniting themselves with current European thought, was dedicated to the discovery of a new nationalistic musical language for Spain. The characteristics dominating the compositions of the "Grupo de Ocho" emphasized a luminosity and clarity typical of the works of Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Soler as well as a brevity of form.
9. Ibid., 50-51. Halffter affirmed the date. April, 1928. For the "Grupo de Ocho," Falla signaled the way to realize its goal.
Several events in Falla's life led him to formulate and refine his compositional techniques: his studies with Felipe Pedrell, his chance- encounter, in 1901, in a second-hand bookstore in Madrid of Louis Lucas' book L'Acoustique Nouvelle, his seven-year sojourn in Paris from 1907-1914, and, finally, his conviction that the ancient cante iondo. or primitive chant, coupled with the inherent capabilities of the guitar held infinite possibilities for the creation of a new Spanish musical language.
Falla's Concerto for harpsichord (or piano), flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and violoncello represented the zenith of his achievements. It has been said about this masterpiece:
In the Concerto he rises so far above concrete materiality that even the rhythms and themes in the familiar Spanish style are used in such an abstract manner that they become universal, so much so that this music has not been nearly so successful with the general public, although it has made a great impression on the more discerning, who have recognized its true value as one of the finest pieces of modern music.
In the Concerto the harmonic language, the internal rhythm of the phrase structure, and the use of ornamentation are important points to the study. From Louis Lucas, Falla took the following principles:
The harmonic sounds can be put in an artificial manner by including real notes in place of harmonics. The first harmonics in their turn may be considered as fundamental notes and so give rise to new harmonics. In such a case they would seem to lie outside the tonality, but they will really be resonant tonal notes of the fundamental note.^
10. Donald N. Morrison, "Influences of Impressionist Tonality on Selected Works of Delius, Griffes, Falla, and Respighi" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1960), 83.
11. Ibid., 85. This harmonic practice of chord generation constitutes the basis of
Falla's "theory of resonance/1 Falla uses the term "superpositions" to 12 describe this practice. It is not unrelated to the harmonic generation of chords formulated by Jean-Philipe Rameau in eighteenth-century France.
Rameau derived the minor triad by the intervallic mirroring of the pitches from the major triad. For example, in a C major triad, the root or fundamental tone is f,C.ff This tone may act as the generator. The interval of a major third above, or the pitch "E," is mirrored to form the pitch
"A-flat" below. Likewise, the interval of a fifth above the generator
"C" (the pitch "G") yields by its mirrored counterpart the pitch "F."
Example 1. Rameaufs derivation of the minor triad.
For*example, Falla derives superpositions from a major triad by adding
or subtracting a perfect, diminished or augmented fifth to any chord member.
12. Nancy L. Harper, "Comments from Rodolfo Halffter," (unpublished interview, Mexico City, May, 1983). Example 2. Superpositions derived from a major chord of Manuel de Falla.
177'?- ^U~^+ili+ i - f fTTWTT^r
The beginning sonority of Falla's Concerto creates
the keystone in the structure of Falla's later music and that of his legitimate successor, Rodolfo Halffter. It consists of a clash between the seventh chord on the tonic of E flat minor, combined with the chord of D major. The resultant phenomenon is what Falla always referred to as "apparent polytonality," for the notes of the chord on E flat. The minor mode is used to provide a common note between the two chords (F sharp or G flat). This is not arbitrary chromatic alteration and constitutes a principle, from which Falla. and Halffter after him, built up a harmonic system capable of great force and evocative power.^
13. Manuel de Falla, Superposiciones. special commemorative edition (Madrid: Carlos Romero de Lecea, 1976).
14. Michael G. Field, Rodolfo Halffter and the Spanish Tradition " The Chesterian XXVII (1953), 7. Example 3. Superpositions resulting from the opening sonority of Falla's Concerto.15
5
The influence of the guitar with its rasqueado. or strummed effects, manifests itself in Falla's harmonic system, while the influence of the cante iondo is also felt in Falla's ornamentation.
Example 4. Falla's Concerto, second movement, measures 4-5.
«/»/' ,ut
tf>-p iki
i/>? mi
(ff temp re) c * i • ^ j. M
15. Nancy L. Harper, "Comments from Rodolfo Halffter," (unpublished interview, Mexico City, April, 1985). Quartal chords suggest the open strings of the guitar.
Example 5. Falla's Concerto, first movement, Halffter's analysis.
poco pesaute
To understand Falla's rationale for imitating the ancient cante jondo, the meaning of that term must be clear. Cante iondo literally means "deep song." It is defined by the Harvard Dictionary of Music as
a highly emotional and tragic song cultivated among prisoners (carcelera), which in turn may have had an Oriental (Arab? Hindu? Jewish?) background. Late in the 19th (sic) century the cante Iondo was adopted, under the name cante flamenco, by the Gypsies, who made it even more expressive and floridT^
Federico Garcia Lorca in agreement with Falla defined cante jondo as
a song tinged by the mysterious color of the first ages .... It is an emission higher or lower from the voice; it is a wonderful vocal undulation that breaks the sonorous cells of our temperate scale, that cannot be contained in the rigid and cold staff of our actual music and opens the air—tight flowers of the semi—tones into a thousand petals. Cante iondo comes near to the warble of the bird, the crow of the cock, and the natural music of the forest and the spring. It is then the rarest example of primitive chant, the oldest of all Europe, that carries with its notes the barest and shivering emotion of the first Oriental races.17
16. Willi Apel, "Flamenco," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974), 318.
17. Eduardo Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla v el "Cante Jondo." (Granada: University of Granada, 1962), 16. 10
An intense internal rhythm shows the influence of the occasional use of asymmetrical phrases found in Domenico Scarlatti's sonatas 18
Example 6. Falla's Concerto, first movement, first two opening phrases. 19
1* jklM#
Falla did not achieve his unique musical expression with the melodic gifts of a Granados or an Albeniz, but rather through strict adherence to various laws and precepts. Instead, he chose to impose upon himself a new compositional procedure for each of his creations.
18. Otto Mayer-Serra, "Falla's Musical Nationalism," The Musical Quarterly XXIX/1 (Jan. 1943), 6n. * -
19. Ibid. 11
CHAPTER II
THE MIDDLE PERIOD
Among the first works which Halffter presented to Falla for review were the two brief sonatas in the style of Domencio Scarlatti, Dos Sonatas 2.0 de El Escorial, op. 2, written in 1928. ' During an interview with Halffter, he reported that Falla was well pleased with these sonatas and suggested only minor changes in a few measures (20, 22, 24, 25, A3, 44, and 48) to 21 reflect octave doublings instead of sixths.
Example 7, Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2/1, measures 20-23 as they appear after Falla's suggestions and one example before Falla's corrections (1928-1929).
S3-3=j• _ —• 0 jm - —_ .. , .. —+—F— -— J tr: v% p * * • - m f
pr\€cL5oJ?e» A©
20. The Escorial was the Spanish summer residence of the royal family in whose charge Scarlatti had worked.
21. Harper, op. tit. (1983). 12
These two monothematic sonatas demonstrate that their form is closely
allied to Scarlattian form, complete with Ralph Kirkpatrick's term "the 22 crux. (I/ms. 20 and 43; Il/ms. 13 and 43.) The crux refers to that
point in each half of a bi-partite Scarlatti sonata in which the closing
material appears. The grouping of Halffter's Escorial sonatas anticipates
Kirkpatrick s observation that Scarlatti's sonatas are frequently written 23 to be performed in pairs. Falla's Concerto is mirrored not only in the
harmonic language of Halffter's sonatas but also in the employment of
ornamentation, irregular phrase structure, performance instructions of
con gioia and flessibile, and in his fondness of hemiola and shifting meters,
Example 8. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial. op. 2* I/measures 1-9.
^1^=== — PIANO mf JIvssibilr
j~««— t 1 if >
22. Linton E. Powell, Jr., Rudolfo [sic] Halffter, Domenico Scarlatti, and Kirk Patrick's [sic] Crux," The American Music Teacher XXV (\TiuW July 1976), 4-7. ~~ V
23s Domenico Scarlatti, Sixty Sonatas, vol. 1, ed. Ralph Kirkpatrick, (New York: G. Schirmer, 1953), vi. 13
Example 9. Halffter. Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2: II/measures 1-10.
tc=±=s=
J bi n artivulufo E
Apj»ona rlt. tempo
sM -zziznidfr^f-
Example 10. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2: II/measure 13: "apparent poly-tonality." &
•: ! m
Example 11. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, op. 2: I/measures 20-29.
Tempo 14
Example 12. Falla's Concerto, third movement, measures 1—9.
Ill
Q.Ce ffl«-wttbiK'. •fhpritndo)
CIjr:n»tto •n Lu
CLAVICEMBALO •O Pianoforte)
*trc.7(:asimo 15
In relating his early experience with Falla, Halffter has spoken of
... the elusiveness of "Don Manuel" who devoted more time to charitable works and religion than to composition and teaching. Often as not, whole precious days of advice and criticism would be lost while De Falla was at Mass or a novena, wrapped in his religious devotions. Undoubtedly commendable, this must nonetheless have exasperated a young composer impatient to show the master his latest efforts.^
In 1932, three years after Halffter's Granadine studies with Falla, he attended a few classes in Barcelona given by Arnold Schoenberg.
Halffter related that Schoenberg never spoke of his own music, but rather that of the great masters - Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Schoenberg's analysis of the works of these composers yielded new insights into their compositions. For example, in the sonata of Beethoven, op. 2/1, Schoenberg explained that the opening three notes of the Minuet constituted the original cell, upon which the entire movement was based. It was immediately followed by its transposition, inversion and retrograde.
Example 13. Beethoven, Sonata op.. 2/1; Minuet, measures 1-8. 25 Menuetto Allegretto i 4 st I 2 4 3
24. Michael Greet Field, "Two World Composer," Americas (Pan American Union)(Washington, Nov. 1955), 10.
25. Nancy L. Harper, "Comments from Rodolfo Halffter." (unpublished interview, Mexico City, May, 1983). 16
Schoenberg stated, according to Halffter, that it was not important that
Beethoven was consciously aware of these relationships but rather that they
did exist. The two or three classes Halffter was privileged to attend had
a lasting influence upon his next compositions.
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the rumblings of the
Second World War not far behind, Halffter and his family fled to Mexico in 1939 where he was offered political asylum and where, in 1940, he became a naturalized citizen. He later taught at the National Conservatory, founded and directed the publishing firm of Ediciones Mexicanas de Musica which also issued an important musical periodical called Nuestra Musica
(whose purpose was to be a voice for contemporary Mexican composers), and later
became administrative chairman of Mexico's Sociedad de Autores y Compositores.
Halffter's next work for solo piano cleverly combines the sonata- type form used by Scarlatti with traditional sonata-allegro form. Written in 1944, Homenaje a Antonio Machado pays tribute to the great Spanish poet who died in France in 1939. Touching and nostalgic, this composition utilizes the verses by Machado both before and in the body of the work.
[This procedure is reminiscent of some compositions by Robert Schumann, written more than a century before Halffter.] Janus-faced, Homenaje looks back to the same harmonic language as the earlier Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, while its forward—looking features is its form. The first movement uses traditional sonata form while the last could be another of the Escorial sonatas. It depicts the Spain of a bygone age. It simultaneously synthesizes the techniques of Falla and the Barcelona—Schoenberg, while presenting a mutation of the Spanish cadence (a-g-f-e: la-sol-fa-mi) which is characteristic of the phrygian mode. 17
Example 14. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, second movement, measures 1-3.
I £ 2 h'4. p
^ r !y# -»«•
MS. I,i. W- -s. of
tar
soL.r^,
Of all Halffter's piano sonatas, Homenaje most openly reflects guitar
tunings (E A D G B E) in its chordal formations. This is again mindful of Falla's Concerto, (see example 5 and 12).
Example 15. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado. second movement, measures 18-20 and Falla's Concerto, first movement.
The third movement, noted for its economy of means — a trait noted
earlier of the "Grupo de Ocho" - powerfully evokes the Spain of Granados
Goyescas ("Quejas o la Maja y el Ruisenor"). 18
Example 16.. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, third movement, measures 1-3.
Lento. A104. The last movement of Homenaje captures the world of Domenico Scarlatti in a bi-partite form. The macro-structure of the entire sonata demarcates an augmented chord through its key scheme. The keys D-flat major, F major, A minor, D-flat major consciously or unconsciously stem from his atonal piano piece Naturaleza Muerta (Still Life) [sic]. Example 17. Halffter, Homenaje a Antonio Machado, fourth movement, measures 1-4. Y en todas partes he visto gentes que danzan o juegan, cuando pueden, y laboran sus cuatro palmos dc tierra. Allegro. Jl. 126. 19 Homenaje a Antonio Machado became a study for Halffter's Primera Sonata para Piano written three years later in 1947. It constitutes an expanded version of the Fallan-Schoenbergian ideas which Halffter had assimilated into his own unique compositional techniques. In the key of D minor, three movements in length, this work also has a feature thus far novel in Halffter's compositions - the linkage of two movements (I and II). The strong opening theme contrasts greatly with a lilting second theme which favors alternating meters of g and g. Example .18., Halffter, Primera Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 1-3 and 28-32. AllegroJeeiso 120) m cantomle e grazwso 20 The second movement of this sonata reveals a mastery of compositional 2 6 technique. Melodic planing," frequently found in the pristine works of another neoclassicist, Maurice Ravel, unfolds in this movement. These parallel chords are present also in the frozen harmonic combinations of Debussy's "Soiree dans Grenade." Example 19„ Halffter, Primera Sonata, second movement, measures 23-27. t men so its sewpre ad ogni quarto Example 20.. Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin, "Minuet," measures 55-58. isi-i-i 1$ i TTJ j // ' r- Example 21. Debussy, "Soiree dans Grenade" from Estampes, measures 29-30. Tempo giusto =y= 26. David Cope, New Directions in Music, 4th ed. (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C, Brown, 1984), 16-17. Cope defines "melodic planing" as "planes or levels of register." 21 Strong harmonic language perhaps influenced by the natural resonance theory of Falla is evident throughout. Another possible Fallan influence is suggested by the opening phrase. Example 22. Halffter, Primera Sonata, second movement, measures 1-5. Moderate cantabilt, mollo upruiivo (J = 80) i-fef tJ ^2. The first notes, D-C -B, may also be compared to the closing cadence of Falla's Concerto which contains the successive chords of D major, C sharp major and B major. Example 23. Falla's Concerto, first movement, last two measures showing generated chords from the tonic triad of D major. m The last movement of Halffter's Primera Sonata para Piano is built around the chords of D minor and E-flat major, recalling Falla's opening chords in the Concerto of D major and E-flat minor. Although Halffter's sonata is dedicated to a Mexican pianist, Miguel Garcia Mora, this work might well have been called Homenaje a Manuel de Falla. 22 Halfft-pr's Seeunda Sonata para Piano, op. 20, of 1951, demonstrates 97 other possible Fallan influences." In the opening movement Halffter experiments with traditional sonata-allegro form. First, he uses_ two ideas for the second theme, thereby creating a second-theme group. Example 24. Halffter, Seeunda Sonata, first movement, measures 80-81; 106-108. J = J .precedence psub\. grazioso e sche?~za nc/o mi? • Secondly, the expected key center for the second theme group occurs not in the related dominant key but rather in a bi-tonal area derived from the sub-mediant, A major. The last key center hovers around F-sharp minor and its resonances, the sub—mediant of A major. Thirdly, the recapitulation begins with the second theme group, omiting the first theme until its appearance in the coda. 27, See Otto Mayer-Serra's article, "Falla's Musical Nationalism," The Musical Quarterly XXIX/1, (Jan. 1943), 1-17. Chords which appear to have added seconds or sixths are actually appoggiaturas and are simi- lar to Scarlatti's use of acciacaturas. 23 The remaining movements include an expressive three part form (ABCABC) with a figure which strongly suggests the rasgueado technique of the guitar, a bona fide Scherzo-Trio in the Classical sense, and a bristling Rondo displaying bi-tonal key signatures (see Examples 25-27). Example 25. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, second movement, measures 1-3. Andante poco mosso, J^=104 J* . •& ^ i " i ^ ,?3-[ J-U -t=- I« i > K -7—• J ft* U r r" p, do Ice J® «i B Sv€().- Example 26-. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, third movement, measures 1-6. Ill Scherzo, J.=138 * (fojpra la m.s. 24 Example 27. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, fourth movement, measures 1-4; 63-66. IV Rondo. J =120 m 82 bassa Occasional quotations from the Primera Sonata reflect an influence upon the Segunda Sonata, all rooted in Falla's Concerto (see Example 12). Example 28. Halffter, Primera Sonata, first movement, measures 9; 49; and Segunda Sonata, first movement, measures 83; 16-17. SOMCK,, fhS Dedicated to that lion of Mexico, Carlos Chavez, the Segunda Sonata para Piano remains perhaps the most successful of Halffter's piano works and is at once a culmination and synthesis of all his earlier sonatas. Michael Greet Field, in closing his review of this composition said: "And if he changes direction, we can be certain that it will be a direction , ii 28 logically chosen, given the value of his former works. 28, Michael Greet Field, "La Segunda Sonata para^ Piano de Rodolfo Halffter," Nuestra Musica, (3rd and 4th trimesters, 1952), 208-211. 25 CHAPTER III TRANSFORMATION OR NEW TECHNIQUE? Only two years, 1951-1953, separate the Segunda Sonata para Piano from alffter's first experiments with dodecaphonic techniques. Apparently after dhering more or less strictly to the procedures of the second Viennese chool in the piano composition Tres Hoias de Album (Three Album Leaves), alffter felt the necessity to reassess them in a freer manner that would more readily express his unique musical language. But did Halffter truly disavow his former Spanish heritage and his relationship with Falla in favor of the teachings of Arnold Schoenberg? Did Falla's death in 1946 free Halffter of a sense of responsibility to the master, or did his death instead suggest to Halffter that the avenue of 'apparent polytonality" had dead—ended? Recalling that his first works were written in the language of atonality, Halffter's words speak for themselves. To his nephew Cristobal, he explained: My position ... is the result of a long evolution because I believe, like you, that folkoric nationalism, which is easily conveyed, represents a blind alley today, and for that same reason it is necessary to search for the national "being" by new roads. New, you understand, for Spanish music. Dodecaphony . . . can be one of these ways .... The mistake of many critics and superficial listeners consists in affirming that all serial music has necessarily to sound like Schoenberg, its genius-inventor.29 Written in 1967 and dedicated to Antonio Iglesias the Tercera Sonata para Piano, op. 30, has been called "an impossible realization" by reviewer 29. Iglesias, op. cit., 195. 26 Uve Frisch.^ His designation refers to the application of old traditional forms based on tonal relationships which are consequently applied by H4lffter to a sonorous universe where there is no tonal center and where all twelve semitones share equal importance. The four movements of this sonata include an allegro, a rondo, an expressive free form, and an impetuous sonata-rondo (for a detailed explanation of the above forms, se^e Appendix II). Example 29. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 1-4. 1. Allegro JV160 PIANO Example 30. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, second movement, measures 1-4. 2. Moderato cantatile J*= 192 5 Py flessibilc 0. Iglesias, op. cit., 219, 27 Example 31. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, measures 1-2• 3. Liberamente j? l.-vibr. vie ted. EJ:ampl e 32. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, measures 1-4. 4. Impetuoso 144 £ duTO € metalUco ow, then, does Halffter combine the qualities of Andalusian rhythmic itality and bouyancy, rich harmonic colors, and graceful ornamentation n this sonata by using twelve-tone technique? Halffter's use of rhythm constitutes one of his main characteristics. An examination of the rhythmic gesture, or repeated rhythmic patterns, in the sonatas reveals Halffter's preference for thetic (downbeat) beginnings and strong endings. In the Tercera Sonata thetic beginnings 28 are clearly evident (see Example 29-32), The ending motives emerge almost as a motto, becoming a Halffterian stamp. Example 33. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, first movement, closing section• x - < ; • •' piu rit. 8 " motto rit. ,«*f ^ -—CL Example 341 Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, second movement, closing section. I'-ZZ 'tr-. * jideeiso ed enerdico -piu rit. rail, e pesante g~ .ii l«? i k#r > > > Example 35. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, closing section. risolvto ritard 8 bassa 29 xample 36, Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, closing section. .1 'V Lento 3. J J 3 p cantabile, espr. (irave # = 72 * h? Inscmr - - J horofondo) Tfnort cresc) vihrare _ alungo 8? bassa. Fondness for frequently shifting meters reveals Halffter's continuing predilection for multimeter. The most radical example is found in the ;hird movement of the Tercera Sonata. Here Halffter abandons the use of meter in favor of real time notation, later alternating clocked time with measured (metered) time. Halffter's preference for multimeter may be related to hemiola, an important characteristic of Spanish music. A traditional approach in the Schoenbergian sense of twelve-tone analysis yields little information. Instead, it creates confusion with regard to row usage. However, a hexachordal examination of the vertical and horizontal adjacencies renders enough information to prompt a hexa- chordal analysis of the former bi-tonal combinations in Halffter's earlier compositions. The results are startling, proving that the Tercera Sonata is indeed still rooted in the natural-resonance phenomenen of Falla's 30 31 ystem." Aural evidence is occasionally found in various sound aggregates such as seventh chords, subtly disguised major or minor triads, and in ialffter's unmistakable rhythms. The first hexachord upon which the entire Sonata is based consists of the pitches D E B-flat F-sharp A F and is semi-combinatorial by inversion.~~ Latent possibilities within this hexachord include major and minor triads on D; a quartal chord formed on the pitches E A D which are found within the open strings of a guitar and which also form a seventh chord; and the potential for five different seventh chords, irrespective of their spelling, using the outer intervals of E D, F E, F-sharp E, F F-sharp, and A A-sharp. A further examination of three-note combinations renders a triad consisting of a half step followed by a minor third whose best normal order may be reduced to the semi-tonal order of 0, 1, 4. This sequence is often found in Halffter's poly-tonal works. Example 37. Halffter, Segunda Sonata, first movement, measures 16-17. o. 1.4 i, 4 -o—*•bo ms- u» ms- /* 31i See Appendix I. 32. Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music, 3rd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979), 180. Forte's labeling is #6-16. 31 Str uctural use of this combination (0,1,4) was also evident in a closing cad ence of Halffter's Primera Sonata. Exa mple 38. Halffter, Primera Sonata, first movement, last two measures. S" m IImk <0, I,** TT I o loor; - bote f^oo+S of (LkoftDS. m S3 iz: tllhli i n bassa.i This type of process is transferred to dodecaphony by- the over- lap ping of row forms in which a tone functions at one level only to take on an Dther function in a succeeding row. This technique resembles the pivot tone or pivot chord function in traditional harmony. A deeper, less obvious, meaning alludes to the principle of Falla's theory of chord generation. Example 39, Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, the composer's unpublished analysis, measures 55-61. n - i 7-it. e pesante tempo :*Mvfrib. si c. 5?i jf ti % jj' |Sf 'if f ff > > ued._ 32 Another way in which Halffter structurally manipulates the row is SImila r to the way in which he combined the first and second movements of th e Primera Sonata, In the Tercera Sonata, the completion of the row form is carried over from the third to fourth movements. Ex ample 40# Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, ending of third movement and beginning of fourth movement, the composer's unpublished analysis, English translation in example: "The tones which are lacking [in the twelve-tone row] are those which begin the^following movement.t? ritard. - — - - - - (?) 5? lassa son i Sou I ^1)1 .\VXC, 'V' I'M tu V ;{>u &X <')•>:? •/••mi CiST ' r: )>• ' 4, Impeluoso 1 uro e metallico 33 An interesting observation appears while comparing the first bass hip is like that of the leading tone to the tonic in tonal music. Whether onscious or note, Halffter's dodecaphonic ideas lie embedded in Falla's apparent poly-tonality." The use of traditional forms within dodecaphony presents no problem f Sonata omits the;opening idea, saving it instead for the coda. The influence of Falla and of cante jondo persists in this work as wlell, but is less obvious in Halffter's approach to ornamentation. While grace notes and broken figures based on the intervals of seconds or their inversions assert themselves, appoggiaturas are employed in a not-so- onventional way, sounding as tone clusters, xample 41. Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, the composer's unpublished analysis, measures 23-26. bbt/i 13 espress. r>WiM^±IT 8? bassa 34 Halffter also searches for new resonant capabilities of the modern grand piano in the third movement of Tercera Sonata, indicating through the use of his unique symbols (see Appendix IV) a greater, yet controlled, freedom of interpretation by the performer than in any of his earlier works. Example 42» Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, third movement, measures 41-44. r Libera mente * teb- Jte "Eed.. 15M Liber amente J Lentissimo PP ca 8? bassa £ed.. Ted.. 16" J $ Xed.. 35 The Tercera Sonata para Piano of Rodolfo Halffter, while indicative of new compositional techniques, is clearly embedded in Falla's theory of resonance, which in turn has its roots in the ancient cante jondo. Compositional techniques used by both Falla and Arnold Schoenberg are skillfully combined by Halffter. The most important transformation in this Sonata, lies in the immersion of poly-tonality into a twelve-tone idiom. While the imposition of tonality upon dodecaphony is not novel - as the works of Berg and the Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41, of Schoenberg testify - the imposition of ordered poly-tonal elements upon dodecaphony certainly must be unique. The "hispanicizing" of both rhythm and ornamentation, as well as Halffter's experiments with form, bears the mark of Falla. There can be no doubt that while Halffter uses new techniques of the twelve-tone system, his employment of them continues to be in the same vein as his earlier works, reflecting a synthesis and a coherent whole, recalling at times, without quoting, some of his former works. Example 43„ Halffter, Tercera Sonata para Piano, fourth movement, measures 50-54 and Halffter, Segunda Sonata, second movement, measures 31-33. pin rit. Tempo I (Impetuoso) m f'ttfalfiICO - m- #1 Tempo I-, A104 36 In April of 1980, the Juan March Foundation of Madrid, in comem- oration of Halffter's eightieth birthday presented two concerts of his music. In the most apt words, Halffter explained his life's search. It is not important which sonorous materials I have used in the different stages of my career, nor the mutations that my musical language has undergone. It is certain that I have never departed from the neo-classic aesthetic belief. For this reason, my evolution presents an evident internal cohesion .... My ascription to dodecaphony is the result of a long evolution. My dodecaphonic music and my polytonal music are, in reference to their aesthetic content, very similar. Practiced with liberty, without scholastic strictness, dodecaphony has permitted me to create a new manner of composing, which . . . well conserves those incriminating characteristics of my tonal works: a melodic line clearly delineated, an incisive rhythm, a transparent texture and an extreme condensation of sonorous material; qualities all of which are characteristic of the music of Falla and his followers.33 Constructing an imaginary situation, Halffter concluded: If Falla were alive and could hear my dodecaphonic works, I am sure that he would be scandalized. He, who believed in the eternal law of tonality, would have refused to admit that there was a certainty of the collapse of tonality. I would have tried to explain to him that my adherence to the twelve-tone system did not represent a substantial change of aesthetic position nor of musical idealogy ^ and that I continued being one of his most faithful servants .... 33, Kurth, Pahlen, "Rodolfo Halffter en la Musica de su Tiempo," Heterofonia XV/2 (April-June, 1982), 35. 34. Ibid. APPENDIX I BASIS OF ENTIRE SONATA 1 10 T o ! , E A'| F# A F G 1 Cff C G* B 1 10! C D G# E G D* ' F B C* A* F^ A 4 F# G# D A* C* B F G E C i/ * 8 A* C F# D F c' D* A B G# E G 5 G A B D A# C F* G# F C1 i*: 9 B C# G D# F# D E A^ C A F G# 7 A B F C# E C I) C,# A* G "7 1 F B G A* F# G# D E C* A C 11 C* D# A F G» E F* C D B G A* 2 E F# C .G# B G A D# F D A* C# 6 G# A* E C D* B 1i C* G A F* D F # # # 3 F G C A C G* [ A* E F D B D # b A has been changed from the original B to facilitate the analysis. 5c-r Pc3 - o, t.S.lo, ? {33.113IJ ZSXfteffi jfjL ii \JL 37 APPENDIX II TERCERA SONATA PARA PIANO. OP. 30 Measure Number Form Row 1 A (Exposition) P0 J9 M10 P8 *9 P10(i) First theme 25 B (Bridge) Pg P, P^ (Series of Prime forms to give the effect of modulation.) 42 C (Second theme Overlap RI^ with P^ group) Use of appoggiatura 55 Overlap P^ with R^, Ig P^ C1 72 D (Development) p4(i) p6 p3 93 B (Bridge) Overlap Pg Pg PQ P^ P5 118 (Recapitulation) Overlap P^ R^ ^ "^9 139 E (Coda) P„ Second Movement A (Rondo) 1 P1 P4 X5 P8 B 23 I9P7RI2 RI1 P4 A' 43 P1 X5 56 C RI5 RI2 72 A" P 1 86 D (Coda) 1 Third Movement Free form E10 P10 I10 E0 E10 P10 R10 P9 P6 P10 P3 0verlap to 4th movement. 38 39 Fourth Movement Measure Number Form (Sonata—Rondo) Row 1 A P3 RI6 P4 RI7 R6 RI1 R0 RIi 27 B RIj Pj Pq PQ 54 A' P3 RI6 P4 67 C RIy R4 fr 2^RIy7 jfh" ^3 UP5 U 107 A" P3 RI6 R5 120 B' R5 ^2 P3 139 D(A"») (Coda) P3 H •P •H rH CO •H 5-i M O o U I I •P I I cj cj CO :s co CO d •H fJ3 s o o i—, r—! i—i 1—1 i—i p—-1 f—1 r—i i—i rH o r-H CO o rH rH rH i—i u r-H CN O r-H CO CO CN • CO o rH 00 ON ON 0 * •» •% •* r~1 1 1 ON 00 00 r- 00 H •s < o H CJ =a= W CO > 1—1 CD CO •H U 4J r-- CN CM CO v£> O O C2O ^ l c£ CN CN 00 00 CO CO CN r—1 0) Ph s CO x: 5h 4J CJ O •rH x: ^ CD o CO CO +J 4H •P CO O 00 5h u •s +J -p 4J CD G CO d CD CD CO d CO d CO d •H 00 •H d d •P CD CD P (D J-4 1—1 d d o S S CO & CO B CO B U M o I I O o I •P o o I CO -P 1—1 r—i 1——1 r—i r—-1 CO rH r-H o o CO CS JH CO cs *—1 •H CD CO 4J 4-3 CO CO •J r-H CO CN o a CH 1 CO CO CN CO o CD 0) Nl I I I 1 CO 4-3 vO vO vo m vo CD U -d X! O JH a =14=' •rH 'H £n 00 =4fc W H CO CD PQ =14? w w x> •H <1 PQ O =44= £ =44= CD Q =14= o •rH =44= =t4= O u Q PQ w *« A w O En CO W Q Q PQ X! =44= En XJ =44= Pn =14= =44= =44= o Q T3 O O O O a PQ CO -P O W O 4-3 O =14= =44= rCl •H X =*t= =14= PQ •H PQ i—I 0-i PQ O (Q O Q O PH < H CO O •H 4-> U =14= CD > CD CD 3 CN vO O CO m LO \—1 CO O O CN rH rQ CO r—1 r—1 •H CD CO 2 CO o PH 4-3 •P * a •* 4-3 4-3 a +J CO a) CO CO a CO a CO. CD C 4J 6 4-3 4-> •P CD 4-3 e CD CD CO CD CO CO CO B CO CD B B > c > CJ a a CD CI CD CD > o o O > o > o o O CO CO CO a CO O CO o o e B S s CO X2 CO CO co co JH nd •p 4-3 "O 4-3 T3 4-3 4-> C a V-< c CO a CO a CO u 3 3, 3 ^3 3 2 u U 0(J 0JC O 01 •H oc •H ojq •H O •P 0 TERCERA SONATA TABLE OF SYMBOLS = note of indeterminate duration = long note of indeterminate duration P = very long note, of indeterminate duration with the palm of the hand, depress, without sounding, I all of the keys - white and black - which are included within the two extreme indicated notes /VWWVU = the musical figure contained in the box will be repeated, ad libitum, as many times as necessary in order to complete the duration indicated in seconds. = a gradual crescendo and accelerando = a gradual diminuendo and ritardando j .th e notes contained within this sign are to be played in a free rhythm, but within the amount of time indicated in seconds the straight line which unites two notes of undetermined duration signifies that they must be played legato, lightly accenting the first note 42 APPENDIX V FIRST PERFORMANCE DATES OF HALFFTER'S SONATAS WORK DATE OF DEDICATION FIRST PERFORMANCE COMPOSITION Dos Sonatas de 1928 I. Rafael Madrid, June 26, 1930 El Escorial, QP« 2 Alberti by Enrique Aroca II. Esteban Salazar y Chapela Mexico City, Homenaie a 1944 Antonio Machado Nov. 29, 1944 ^ Antonio Machado, by Miguel Garcia op. 13 Mora Sonata, op. 16 1947 Miguel G. Mora Mexico City, July 28, 1947 by Miguel G. Mora Mexico City, Segunda Sonata, 1951 Carlos Chavez Aug. 4, 1952 op. 20 by Miguel G. Mora Madrid, Tercera Sonata, 1967 Antonio Oct. 20, 1967 op. 30 Iglesias by Carlos Barajas 43 APPENDIX VI ORIGINAL SPANISH SOURCES OF TRANSLATIONS ^'icu^ndo se desperto en mi la vocacion por la musica? Desde muy joven he aspirado a ser compositor, para satisfacer, por decirlo asi una necesidad vital de mi constitucion organica." ^"La carencia de bases seguras, como les sucede a todos los autodi— dactas, me enfrento a menudo a enormes problemas, cuya solucion, prevista en los buenos textos didlcticos, tuve que adivinar. Sin embargo, tal inconveniente se vio compensado por la falta de prejuicios tecnico—esteticos que, en los Conservatorios, muchos maestros inculcan a los alumnos." . . . acepte' de manera espontcinea sus dogmas que, en parte, represen- taban todo lo contrario de aquello en lo que yo habia creido hasta aquel momento....El neoclasicismo fue una especie de conversion, a raiz de conocer a Falla." 9,M^s tarde (1929), en Granada, durante una breve estancia mia allx, analizamos juntos, entre otras piezas, varias Sonatas de Domenico Scarlatti. La admiracion de Falla por Scarlatti no tenia limites. Admiraba la fres- cura de su inspiracion y, sobre todo, la asimetria ritmica de sus frases y perfodos. Falla, adem£s, me hizo escuchar el lejano rumor de guitarras y de cantares populares hispanicos que emana, como perfume exquisito, de esas Sonatas . Afirmaba don Manuel que Scarlatti, cuya estancia en Espaffa se prolongo alrededor de treinta affos hasta su muerte, por lo que dio y por lo que recibio', en realidad, pertenece a la historia de la musica espafiola del siglo XVIII .... Con paciencia y detenimiento, Falla, 44 45 ademas, examino mis primeros trabajos de composicion; pero, en rigor, yo solo recibi del gran maestro consejos muy valiosos - jamas clases formales que nunca he olvidado." 17 federico Garcia Lorca lo definia, en estrecho contacto espiritual con Falla, como 'un canto tenido por el color misterioso de las primeras edades. Es tan solo un balbuceo, es una emision mas alta o mas baja de la voz, es una maravillosa ondulacion bucal, que rompe las celdas sonoras de nuestra escala atemperada, que no cabe en el pentagrama rigido y frio de nuestra musica actual, y abre en mil petalos las flores hermeticas de los semitonos. El cante jondo se acerca al trino del pajaro, al canto del gallo, y a las musicas naturales del bosque y de fuente. Es, pues, un rarxsimo ejemplar del canto primitivo, el mas viejo de toda Europa, que lleva en sus notas la desnuda y escalofriante emocion de las primeras razas orientales. ^"Y si cambia de direccion, podemos estar seguros de que sera una direccion escogida logicamente, dado el valor de sus obras anteriores. ^"Esta posicion mia, . . . es el resultado de una lenta evolucion, pues creo, como tu, que el nacionalismo folklorico (de acarreo facil) representa hoy un callejon sin salida y que, por tanto, hay que buscar el "ser" nacional por caminos nuevos. Nuevos, se entiende, para la musica espanola. La dodecafonia - que, en el fondo, es un medio de expresion como lo fue la tonalidad - puede ser uno de esos caminos .... El error de muchos crjfticos y oyentes superficiales, consiste en afxrmar que toda la musica serial tiene, forzosamente, que sonar a Schoenberg, su genial 'inventor. 46. 3^". . . - no importa los materiales sonoros que haya utilizado en las diferentes etapas de mi carrera, ni las mutaciones que haya sufrido mi lenguaje musical - lo cierto es que jamas me he apartado, en lo esencial, del credo estetico neoclacisista. Por esta razon, mi evolucion presenta una evidente cohesion interna .... Mi adscripcion al dodecafonismo es el resultado de una lenta evolucion. Mi musica dodecafonica y mi mtasica politonal son, en lo referente a su contenido estetico, muy seme- jantes. Practicada con ibertad, [sic] sin estrechez escolastica, la dodecafonia me ha permitido hallar una nueva manera de componer, la cual, no obstante, conserva vivos los rasgos mas acusados de mis obras tonales: una linea melodica claramente dibujada, un ritmo incisivo, una textura transparente y una extremada condensacion de la materia sonora; rasgos todos ellos caracteristicos de la musica de Falla y sus seguidores." ^"Si Falla viviera' y escuchar^ mis obras dodecafonicas seguro estoy que se escandalizaria. El, [sic] que creia en la ley eterna de la tonalidad, se hubiera negado a admitir que era un hecho cierto el derrumbamiento de la tonalidad. Yo hubiera tratado de aclararle que mi adscripcion al dodecafonismo no representaba un cambio substancial de posicion estetica ni de ideologia musical, y que continuaba siendo uno de sus mas fxeles discipulos . . . ." 3^"Tocar Halffter es tener que tocar absolutamente todo lo que aparece en el papel sin ninguna clase de anadiduras o inexactitudes. Si se omite una nota o se agrega otra, la necesaria transparent queda destruida por completo. Cualquier error se advierte enseguida, porque el compositor presenta sus ideas de manera firme, escueta y desnuda . . . ." APPENDIX VII NOTES ON INTERPRETATION IN HALFFTER'S PIANO SONATAS Performance Practice "To play Halffter is to be obliged to play absolutely everything that appears on the paper without any kind of additions or inaccuracies. If one note is omitted or added, the necessary transparency remains completely destroyed. Such error is noticed immediately because the composer presents his ideas in a firm manner, stripped and free from 35 encumbrances. Ornamentation 36 1. Ornaments are played before the beat 37 2. Ornaments should begin on the principal note Example 44. Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial/II, measures 11-12. 354 Jose Antonio Alvarez, La Musica de Rodolfo Halffter (Mexico City: ; UNAM Cuadernos de Musica 4, 1977), 30. 36. Iglesias, op. cit., 172. 37. Ibid, 79. 47 48 When asked about this, realization (see Example 44), Halffter did not agree with the rhythmic execution that Iglesias has written. Instead Halffter said that he preferred a sharper and slightly delayed articulation of the ornament. Example 45# Halffter, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial/II. measures 11-12. fl. Some ornaments appear as symbols, while others are written into the music. Example 46. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, second movement, measures 13-21. S9-. fiPsab. (i/'PpSuJ}. 49 The Use of the Pedals Clarity and a transparent quality are essential to the performance of a Halffter piano work. Halffter indicates pedaling in specific places for a coloristic effect. EXanPieasuresHl-"ter' S°°a" r»ra Piano, second movement, Andante poeo mosso, Al04 i! m JPj dolce Occasionally he indicates the lack of pedal (see Example 4.8) or the gradual lifting of a pedal (see Example 49}. Example 48. Halffter, Segunda Sonata para Piano, first movement, measures 7-18. ~~ ~ fp, non tegato 50 EXai°PLeasu9;esHn9-£n2r: S°"a':f' P1'"1"- £Irst o j lis _ -w 'V' 1 1 : Jj sad. k. A * -p- k ' b lf ' /re corr/p The lack of further indications suggests that the use of the pedals is left to the discretion of the performer who must allow for the necessary clarity. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books ""ScaT MSS°Ci^,MW;? "" R"d"1f° mm Cuadernos de Aspee ed Gary E wittuch E 8i ds ai s:J?f - - ' " »°° «. Cope, David, New Directions in Music, 4th ed., Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. orown, 1984. "^"G^nfdrlran^:8;^?"61 ^ FaU" Y ^ FOrteUniversityhpress"C1979 ** ^ ™ Hindemxth, Paul, The Craft of Musical Composition. 2nd ed 2 vole. trans. Arthur Mendel, I (Theory). New York: Schott,*1968. Iglel!;:^?ni:;/°d0lf0 Halfft0r CSU °bra Para Pian^- Madrid: Editorial Parrxsh, Carl and John F. Ohl, Masterpieces of Music Before 17SO. New York- W. w. Norton, 1951. ~~ ~~~ Pedrell Felipe, Cancionero Musical Popular Espanol. 4 Vols., Barcelona: Boxleau, n.d. Powell, Linton E., A History of Spanish Piano Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. Articles Apel, Willi, "Fauxbordon," Harvard Dictionary of Music. 2nd ed., W. Apel, ed., Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974, 309-310. , "Flamenco," Harvard Dictionary of Music, W. Apel, ed., 2nd ed., Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974, 317-318! Babbitt,^Milton, 'Some Aspects of Twelve-Tone Composition," Score (1955), Bal y Gay, Jesus, "Rodolfo Halffter," Nuestra Musica. July, 1946, 141-145, 51 52 MusicaTheorv? vol^^Novf 1959?U231-256?niC The°rieS'" Journal of '""chSSSa?"") and the Spanish Ihe ' 'La Sequnda Sonata para Piano de Rodolfo Halffter " Nuestra Musica. 3rd and 4th trimesters, 1952, 208-211. ' 1955> 1Q_14 , "Two-World ComposerAmericas (Pan American Union) Franco Enrique, "Manuel de Falla," The New Grove Dinting m,_-. nnd 20 vols., ed. Stanley Sadie, VI, London: Mlcmillan, 1980, Halffter, Cristobal, "Ausencia y presencia de Rodolfo Halffter en la Musica Espaflola," Heterofonia XV/2 (April-June, 1982), 6-8. I§leSJune A1982)0,9-16 Pian° ^ R°dolf° Halffter»" Heterofonia XV/2 (April- Mayer-Serra, Otto, "Falla's Musical Nationalism," The Musical Ouarterly AAlX/1, Jan. 1943, 1-17. L Orrego-Salas, Juan, "Rodolfo Halffter (Escriche)," The New Grove Diet-inn*™ of Music and Musicians, 20 vols., ed. Stanley Sadie, VIII, London- Macmillan, 1980, 46-47. Pahlen, Kurth, "Rodolfo Halffter en la Musica de su Tiempo," Heterofonia XV/2 (April-June 1982), 24-36. Powell, Linton E., "Rudolfo Halffter, Domenico Scarlatti and Kirkpatrick's ' American Music Teacher. vol. 25 (June-July 1976), 4-7. Raad, Virginia, "Debussy and the Magic of Spain," Clavier, vol. 18/3 (March 1979), 13-15. Shirlaw, Matthew, "The Science of Harmony: The Harmonic Generation of Chords, Journal of Music Theory, vol. 7/1 (Ap. 1960), 1-18. Editions Beethoven, Ludwing von, Piano Sonatas, vol. 1, ed. Claudio Arrau, New York: Peters. Debussy, Claude, Estampes ("La Soiree dans Grenade"), Paris: Durand. , Preludes, vol. 2 ("La terrasse des audiences au clair de lune"), Buenos Aires: Ricordi Americana 53 Falla, Manuel de, Concerto, Paris: Max Eschig, 1928. Granados, Enrique, Goyescas ("Quejas o'la maja y el Ruisenfor"), New York: International Music Co. Halffter, Rodolfo, Dos Sonatas de El Escorial, Madrid: Union Musical Espafrola. .» Homenaje a Antonio, Machado, Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Musica. Naturaleza Muerta, Mexico City: Plural VIII/92, 35-36. _» Primera Sonata para Piano, op 16, 2nd ed., 1979, Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Mdsica. > La Segunda Sonata para Piano, op. 20, Washington, D. C. Pan American Union. } La Tercera Sonata para Piano, op. 30. Mexico City: Colecci<5n Arion (Ediciones Mexicanas de Mtisica). Scarlatti, Domenico, Sixty Sonatas, vol. 1, ed. Ralph Kirkpatrick, New York: G. Schirmer, 1953. Schoenberg, Arnold, Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41, Los Angeles: Belmont Music Publishers, 1941. Unpublished Works Foltz, Roger E., "Pitch Organization in Spanish Music and Selected Late Works of Manuel de Falla," Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 1977. Halffter, Rodolfo, "A twelve-tone analysis of the Tercera Sonata." 1967. Harper, Nancy L., "Comments from Rodolfo Halffter" (Sept., 1982), (May, 1983), (April, 1985). Morrison, Donald N., "Influences of impressionist tonality on selected works of Delius, Griffes, Falla and Respighi: based on the concept developed by Robert Mueller," Ann Arbor, Michigan, University Micro- films, International, 1964. Slight, Charlotte F., "A Survey of Musical Background and an Analysis of Mexican Piano Music 1928-1956," North Texas State College, Master's Thesis, Denton, 1957. 54 Manuscript Falla, Manuel de. Superposiciones. Special commemorative edition, Madrid: Carlos Romero de Lecea, 1976. Recordings Rodolfo Halffter, Obras para Piano, performed by Perfecto Garcia Chornet, piano, EMI (Odeon) B.28229. Tercera Sonata para Piano in Musica para Piano. Maria Teresa Rodriguez, piano, UNAM - 177/178. Sonata para Piano, op. 16 in Musica Mexicana de Concerto, Gerd Kaemper, piano, Compositores Asociados, S.A., CMMC/I.