Emile Jaques-D Alcroze' S Influence on Frank Martin
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EMILE JAQUES-DALCROZE' S INFLUENCE ON FRANK MARTIN: 1924-1937 DANIEL I. RUBINOFF A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO DECEMBER, 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-90332-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-90332-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the creative affinity between Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) and Frank Martin (1890-1974). Martin publicly downplayed Dalcroze's potentially influential role as his teacher, and thus this research avoids attempting to prove that Dalcroze exerted a direct and indubitable influence on Martin. Instead, this study investigates how Martin's compositions of the period have an affinity with the exercises that he learned as a student in Dalcroze's Eurhythmies classes and employed in his own teaching. The dissertation's chief aim is to explore the creative rapport between these two musicians, which is principally found in their similiar approaches to certain rhythmic procedures. Dalcroze was a Swiss pedagogue and composer who started teaching at the Geneva Conservatoire in 1892. At the turn of the century, he created Eurhythmies, a method of education which consisted of bodily movements that were designed to deepen his students' responses to music's rhythmic and expressive parameters. The method attracted musicians, theatre artists, dancers and educators. By 1920, there were Eurhythmies teachers throughout Europe and in Russia and the United States.1 Martin was already an established Swiss composer in 1924 when he publicly praised Eurhythmies as an effective method for training young performers and composers. In his 1926 essay, "La notation du rythme", he discussed some aspects of Dalcroze's method in 1 Eurhythmies was started in Canada by Madeleine Boss Lasserre (1901-1998), who began offering courses in 1925 at the Margaret Eaton School in Toronto. iv the context of his composition, Trio sur des melodies populaires irlandaises (1925). Dalcroze himself praised Martin's orchestral composition, Rythmes (1926), as an example of the rhythmic innovation associated with his method. Martin's rhythmic focus led him to enroll in the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (IJD) in 1926.2 After his graduation in 1928, he became a professor of improvisation and rhythmic theory at the IJD and taught there until 1937. During the period of his studies and professorship (1926-1937), he composed a number of works that resembled some rhythmic concepts in Dalcroze's method and pedagogical compositions. These works include Chanson le petit village (1930), Le Coucou (1930), Chanson en canon (1930), La nique a Satan (1931), Quatre pieces breves pour guitare (1933) and Deux pieces faciles (1937). This research demonstrates that most of Martin's compositions of the period (1924-1937) have an affinity with the following Dalcroze Eurhythmies subjects: 1) unequal beats, 2) rhythmic counterpoint, 3) changing metre, 4) polymetre, 5) anacrusic rhythms, 6) syncopation and 7) rhythmic transformation. 2 The abbreviation IJD appears in the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze's promotional literature and on its website (www. dalcroze.ch). v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to acknowledge three members of the York University Graduate Program in Music who stimulated my ideas and helped to refine my critical thinking skills. Professor Jay Rahn was an inspiring and insightful supervisor who gave generously of his time. He provided detailed feedback, encouragement and expertise at every stage of the process. His eclectic approach to research helped me to investigate Dalcroze Eurhythmies in new ways. My other supervisory committee members also made valuable contributions to this work. Professor Dorothy DeVal read over the entire dissertation and gave me valuable suggestions. Her PhD research seminar helped me to understand the importance of the social context in music scholarship. Over the years, I have benefitted from our discussions on a wide range of shared interests: dance, Cape Breton fiddle music, music history pedagogy and musicianship. Professor Casey Sokol's classes in piano improvisation offered me new ways of looking at Dalcroze's methods. His eclectic teaching style encompasses a vast array of approaches to creativity. A special thank you to Casey for his support and feedback during my comprehensive examinations. Although she was not a member of my supervisory committee, Selma Odom's comments and suggestions have been extremely valuable. Her knowledge of historical Dalcroze research is extraordinary and I am fortunate to have had many long and fruitful conversations with her. Her willingness to share her vast documentary resources saved me untold hours. vi My two research trips to the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva were invaluable. I was fortunate to be granted access to the IJD's Centre international de documentation (CID) by Sylvia Del Bianco, the institution's artistic director. Her generosity made it possible for me to uncover critical archival material. I was also lucky to have the support and advice of Isabelle Hirt, the head of the IJD's archival department. My meetings with master teachers at the Institut gave me valuable insight into the relationship between past and present approaches to Dalcroze pedagogy. Those teachers included Jean-Marc Aeschimann, Malou Hatt-Arnold, Marie-Laure Bachmann, Madeleine Duret, Ruth Gianadda and Christiane Montandon. A special note of gratitude also goes to Jacques Tchamkerten, Dalcroze historian extraordinaire, for sharing his vast knowledge and enthusiasm. Without the support of travel grants and internal scholarships from York University, my travels to Geneva would have been impossible. My journey as a student of Dalcroze Eurhythmies has also influenced my dissertation writing. I will always treasure the excitement of my classes with Donald Himes in Toronto and Robert Abramson in New York. The wisdom and artistry conveyed by Lisa Parker and Anne Farber at the Longy School of Music crystallized many of the key elements in Dalcroze's work. My discussions and correspondence with Ruth Alperson and Jack Stevenson also contributed to my understanding of Frank Martin's connection to Dalcroze and Bernard Reichel. I am also grateful to Laval University professor Louise Mathieu, a master Dalcroze teacher and dedicated Dalcroze scholar. vii I wish to thank Maria Martin, the widow of Frank Martin, for her gracious hospitality and willingness to answer all of my questions with patience and wisdom. She welcomed me into the Frank Martin House in Naarden, the Netherlands, and gave me many precious documents that benefitted my research. A huge amount of gratitude goes to Ferry Joengbloed of the Frank Martin House, who organized my stay in Naarden, introduced me to Amsterdam and helped my research in innumerable ways. I could not have completed this dissertation without the help of Yildiz Habib, a retired French-language translator and amateur choral singer who checked many of my translations of Martin's and Dalcroze's essays. Her meticulousness and ability to dig deeply into semantic issues helped me produce accurate translations and also gave me much insight into the language itself. I wish also to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) who awarded me a generous three-year doctoral fellowship in support of this dissertation. Finally, a special special thanks goes to my wife Heidi and daughter Rose for their encouragement and patience. I dedicate this dissertation to the memory of Donald Himes (1930-2011), a great Dalcroze teacher, mentor and friend. viii