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A Performance Guide to Jean Balissat's Kaleidoscope for Trumpet

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A Performance Guide to Jean Balissat's Kaleidoscope for Trumpet A PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO JEAN BALISSAT’S KALEIDOSCOPE FOR TRUMPET AND PERCUSSION Matthew Douglas Anderson, B. Mus., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2013 APPROVED: John Holt, Major Professor and Chair of the Division of Instrumental Studies Eugene Corporon, Committee Member Keith Johnson, Committee Member Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Anderson, Matthew Douglas. A Performance Guide to Jean Balissat’s Kaleidoscope for Trumpet and Percussion. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), August 2013, 29 pp., 24 figures, references, 24 titles. Jean Balissat’s Kaleidoscope for trumpet and percussion is an important yet widely unknown piece within the trumpet repertoire. A comprehensive performance guide is necessary in order to overcome the musical and technical demands that this piece presents to the trumpeter. The first section of this document provides historical and contextual information about Jean Balissat, his compositional style, and relevant information regarding Kaleidoscope. The second section of this document includes a performance guide to the work. The third and final section provides the trumpet player with a pedagogical guide to performing this work. This guide includes background, contextual, and pedagogical information necessary for an informed and high-level performance. Copyright 2013 by Matthew Douglas Anderson ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank John O’Neal who assisted me in performing this piece. Your talent and willingness made it a pleasure to perform. Additional thanks to Andre Henry for providing valuable input about his world premiere performance of this work. Also, I would like to thank the library at the Geneva Conservatory for assisting with this project. My sincere appreciation goes to my major professor and mentor, John Holt. Your guidance as a teacher and example as a musician continue to inspire me daily. My success would not have been possible without your support and patience. Finally, I want to thank my family for all of their support and encouragement through the years. To my parents, thank you for your ongoing love and support in my musical endeavors throughout my life. To my wife, Erin, thank you for your love, support and patience through this entire process. This would not have been possible without your support! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 State of Research..........................................................................................2 2. CONTEXT ...............................................................................................................5 3. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS ...............................................................................7 Overview ......................................................................................................7 Section 1: Opening – Rehearsal 9 ................................................................8 Section 2: Rehearsal 9-16 ..........................................................................11 Section 3: Rehearsal 16-18 ........................................................................13 Section 4: Rehearsal Number 18-21 ..........................................................14 Section 5: Rehearsal Number 21-End ........................................................15 4. PEDAGOGICAL PERFORMANCE GUIDE .......................................................17 Stylistic Interpretation ................................................................................17 Demanding Intervallic Leaps .....................................................................20 Difficult Fingering Patterns .......................................................................21 Extended Techniques .................................................................................23 5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................26 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................27 DISCOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................................29 iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Jean Balissat’s Kaleidoscope for trumpet and percussion is an important yet widely unknown piece within the trumpet repertoire. A comprehensive performance guide is necessary in order to overcome the musical and technical demands that this piece presents to the trumpeter. This work is the final trumpet work commissioned for the Concours International d’Exécution Musicale and showcases the trumpet as a virtuoso solo instrument with percussion accompaniment. This prestigious contest is of the highest calibre and has had works commissioned by many of the top composers throughout the last century. Kaleidoscope is a demanding work with many technical and musical features not commonly found in standard trumpet literature. There are abrupt changes in style as well as timbre through each section of the piece. This work is extraordinarily difficult and goes beyond the traditional forms and compositional style commonly found within the existing body of trumpet literature. Due to the works exclusive nature and mixed instrumentation, it has not yet secured a place in the standard repertoire or gained recognition from the musical community. A work of this quality and stature needs to be performed in order to promote new musical mediums as well as ensure the continuation and commissioning of new solo repertoire for the trumpet. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1936, Jean Balissat attended the Lausanne Conservatory and the Geneva Conservatory, where he studied harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, piano, percussion and the horn.1 While attending the Lausanne Conservatory, he studied harmony and counterpoint with well-known Swiss composer, Hans Haug, the piano with 1 Patrick Müller, ed. Stanley Sadie, “Balissat, Jean.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., vol. 2, pp. 538-539. 1 Denise Bidal, and horn with Robert Faller. 2 Beginning in 1954, while at the Geneva Conservatory, he attended courses in orchestration and composition with Andre-François Marescotti, conducting courses by Samuel Baud-Bovy, and studied percussion with Charles Peschier3 Balissat taught composition and orchestration at the conservatories of Fribourg (1972- 83), Lausanne (since 1979) and Geneva (since 1986).4 His sense of compositional style developed over the course of his career and is exemplified in his body of works that have been published. While many of his works feature functional harmony and traditional motives found in contemporary pieces, Kaleidoscope stands out due to its seemingly avant-garde nature and unique motives. State of Research There is little information available about Balissat’s compositional style and methodology. However, there are many resources available that shed light on his earlier life and compositional output. The main source of information is a publication published by the SUISA Foundation for Music in Switzerland. This foundation supports projects of Swiss composers as well as publishers who encourage the creative work of Swiss composers.5 Balissat was president of this organization at the time of its publication and included a personal introduction explaining the purpose and use of this book. He writes: The biographies and choice of works figuring in the repertories, the bibliographies and discographies have been prepared by the composers themselves or by their representatives: while this does not necessarily guarantee streamlined presentation, it gives the volume a certain personality.6 2 Swiss Contemporary Composers (Winterthur Schweiz: Amadeus Verlag, 1993), p. 28. 3 Swiss Contemporary Composers, p. 28. 4 Patrick Müller, p. 538. 5 SUISA Foundation. “About Us.” http://www.suisa.ch/en/suisa-foundation/about-us/ (accessed April 19, 2013). 6 Swiss Contemporary Composers, p. 28. 2 The information contained within this volume is basic and is essentially a survey of all Swiss composers. However, it provides biographical facts and a complete compositional output of Balissat. The biographical information about Balissat found in this book is likely to be written by the composer himself. Other research in the field of chamber music yields a host of doctoral dissertations that discuss the trumpet and its use in mixed chamber settings. Kurt Gorman’s doctoral dissertation entitled The Literature for Trumpet in Mixed Chamber Music of the Twentieth Century is a substantial source of chamber music with which to compare this work.7 Several other dissertations stand out that highlight the use of trumpet and percussion as a performance medium. Stephen J. Dunn has written a comprehensive study of 102 published and unpublished chamber works for trumpet and percussion in his dissertation entitled “Trumpet and Percussion Chamber Music for Two or Three Players: An Annotated Bibliography.”8 This document is one of the few sources with information about Kaleidoscope and its importance to trumpet literature. Dunn is very articulate and specific about the technical demands and exact
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