Tempo and Rhythmical Principles Al Rigore and Flessibile in Selected Works by Nikolai Medtner: a Study and Recording

University of Iowa Iowa Research Online

Theses and Dissertations

Summer 2018

Tempo and rhythmical principles al rigore and flessibile in selected works by Nikolai Medtner: a study and recording

Aleksandr Ponomarchuk University of Iowa

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Part of the Music Commons

This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6486

Recommended Citation Ponomarchuk, Aleksandr. "Tempo and rhythmical principles al rigore and flessibile in selected works yb Nikolai Medtner: a study and recording." DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) thesis, University of Iowa, 2018. https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.412riknz

Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd Part of the Music Commons

TEMPO AND RHYTHMICAL PRINCIPLES AL RIGORE, AND FLESSIBILE IN SELECTED WORKS BY NIKOLAI MEDTNER: A STUDY AND RECORDING

Aleksandr Ponomarchuk

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa

August 2018

Thesis Supervisor: Professor Uriel Tsachor

ALEKSANDR PONOMARCHUK

2018

Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

______

D.M.A. THESIS ______

This is to certify that the D.M.A. thesis of

Aleksandr Ponomarchuk has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music at the August 2018 graduation.

Thesis Committee: ______Uriel Tsachor, Thesis Supervisor

______Alan Huckleberry

______Réne Lecuona

______Elizabeth Oakes

______Nathan Platte

To all lovers of Medtner’s music

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my teacher Dr. Uriel Tsachor, who encouraged and guided me through every step of my musical journey at the University of Iowa.

He inspired me to commit to this recording project and helped me to accomplish it in all possible ways.

To professor Rachel Joselson for countless moments of inspiration during our collaboration on Medtner’s vocal works, and for help with editing this paper.

To professor Vladimir Viardo for introducing me to the amazing music of

Nikolai Medtner.

To Wendelin Bitzan for reading the second chapter of this paper and providing me with valuable insights and suggestions.

A special thank you to Ronald Lau for recording and editing of my project, for helping me to produce the Three pieces op. 31, and for assisting in handling the paperwork.

To James Edel for his guidance and supervision throughout the recording process and for help in managing the schedules.

I am very grateful to Bo Ties who tremendously helped me with reading and editing this paper.

My love, Mari, thank you for all your support and encouragement during the crazy times of the last year.

And finally, my deepest gratitude to my mom for her unending love and support on every single step of my life and my musical career.

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PUBLIC ABSTRACT

Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) was a Russian composer, pianist, and piano teacher. His musical output consists of 61 opuses, most of which are compositions for piano. These include 3 piano concerti, 14 piano sonatas, 38 Tales, the 3 cycles of Forgotten Melodies and many other works.

In recent years, interest in Medtner has surged. International festivals, conferences, and competitions dedicated to Medtner have taken place in Europe and Russia, with scholars and performers devoting greater attention to his work. All of Medtner’s piano works are now available on CD. However, the interpretation of Medtner’s works and the implementation of his tempo-rhythmical concepts fil rouge, al-rigore, and flessibile are not fully studied and remain a gray area in performance practice. The importance of tempo and rhythm in the interpretation of

Medtner’s music is evident from his own recordings, published editions of his compositions, his book Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer, and his teaching instructions, as documented by students like Edna Iles.

This project aims to produce a recording, that reflects Medtner’s vision of tempo and rhythm in his selected pieces. This includes compositions, previously recorded by the composer:

Tales op. 20 no. 1 and no. 2 Campanella, Tales op. 34 no. 2, and no. 3, and Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, and works, not recorded by him: Second Improvisation, op. 47, Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, and Conte, op. 31 no. 3.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii INTRODUCTION ...... 1 CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHY ...... 3 CHAPTER II SELECTED COMPOSITIONS BY MEDTNER. THE WORLD OF TALES AND FANTASY...... 8 The Works, Brief Descriptions ...... 10 Fantastic Characters ...... 25 CHAPTER III MEDTNER’S INTERPRETATION OF RHYTHM AND TEMPO. REALIZATION OF THE CONCEPTS FIL ROUGE, AL RIGORE, AND FLESSIBILE IN SELECTED COMPOSITIONS ...... 36 Fil Rouge, Al Rigore, and Flessibile ...... 37 Scope and Contents of the Recording Project ...... 40 Interpretation of Rhythm and Tempo ...... 41 Al Rigore vs. Flessibile ...... 43 CHAPTER IV LIST OF AUDIO TRACKS AND LINER NOTES ...... 52 List of Audio Tracks ...... 52 Liner Notes ...... 54 CHAPTER V REFLECTIONS ON THE RECORDING AND OUTCOMES ...... 58 Recording Process ...... 58 Outcomes ...... 60 REFERENCES ...... 61

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Tonal outline and alternative order of the Second Improvisation, op. 47 ...... 29

Table 2. Interpretation of rhythm and tempo in selected Medtner’s compositions ...... 42

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Tale, op. 20 no. 1, mm. 1-6...... 10 Figure 2. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm.1-7...... 11 Figure 3. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm.8-16 ...... 12 Figure 4. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm. 91-93...... 13 Figure 5. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Introduction, mm.1-7...... 14 Figure 6. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Introduction, mm. 27-30...... 14 Figure 7. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 1, mm.32-35...... 15 Figure 8. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 2, mm.50-51...... 15 Figure 9. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 3, mm. 83-88...... 16 Figure 10. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1 Variation 3, mm. 89-92...... 16 Figure 11. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 4, mm. 135-141...... 17 Figure 12.Improvisation,op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 154-157...... 17 Figure 13. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 164-166...... 18 Figure 14. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 168-171...... 18 Figure 15. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Coda, mm. 172-179...... 19 Figure 16. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm.1-8...... 20 Figure 17. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm. 23-26...... 20 Figure 18. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm. 27-31...... 21 Figure 19. Conte, op. 31 no. 3, mm. 1-2 ...... 22 Figure 20. Conte, op. 31 no. 3, mm.11-13...... 22 Figure 21. Conte, op. 31 no. 3, mm.14-17...... 22 Figure 22. N. Medtner. Tale, op. 34 no. 2, mm.1-4...... 24 Figure 23. S. Rachmaninov. Musical Moment op. 16 no. 4, mm.4-6...... 25 Figure 24. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.1-8...... 26 Figure 25. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.12-15...... 26 Figure 26. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.121-125...... 27 Figure 27. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Theme: Song of the Water Nymph, Motive I mm. 1-4...... 30

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Figure 28. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Theme: Song of the Water Nymph, Motive II, mm. 9-12...... 30 Figure 29. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Winged Dancers, mm. 1-4...... 31 Figure 30. M. Mussorgsky. Pictures at an Exhibition. Ballet of Unhatched chicks, mm.5-8...... 31 Figure 31. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Winged Dancers, mm. 14-16...... 31 Figure 32. Second Improvisation, op. 47. In the forest, mm. 1-4...... 32 Figure 33. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Incantation, mm. 1-3...... 33 Figure 34. Shape of the melodies in the Theme and Variation 12 Incantation ...... 33 Figure 35. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Threat, mm. 1-4...... 34 Figure 36. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Stormy Weather, mm. 9-14...... 34 Figure 37. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Threat, mm. 1-4...... 47 Figure 38. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Caprice, mm. 1-5...... 48 Figure 39. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Charms, mm. 17-24...... 49 Figure 40. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Song of the Water Nymph, mm. 17-24...... 51

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INTRODUCTION

In recent years the musical world has witnessed a resurgence of interest in Russian composer Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951). Many academic studies on his musical legacy have been recently conducted by western and Russian musicologists. International festivals, conferences, and competitions dedicated to Medtner have taken place in Europe and Russia.

Thanks to the many recordings produced around end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, all of Medtner’s piano works are now available on CD.

Hamish Milne was one of the first pianists, who pioneered Medtner’s music in commercial recordings. His first Medtner recording, a double LP set published in 1977, featured the Night Wind sonata. Geoffrey Tozer was also among important contributors to Medtner’s legacy. In the 1990s and 2000s he recorded all concertos, all sonatas, and many other works by

Medtner, including the Second Improvisation op. 47, published on Chandos recording label.

Marc-André Hamelin recorded the complete sonatas of Medtner. Boris Berezovsky is also known for being a devoted Medtner’s advocate. He frequently performs and records works for piano, chamber compositions, and vocal works by Medtner. Berezovsky also founded and assisted with organization of several Medtner festivals.

Despite of Medtner’s growing recognition, the interpretation of his works and the implementation of his tempo and rhythmical concepts fil rouge, al-rigore, and flessibile is not fully studied and remains a gray area in performance practice. The importance of tempo and rhythm in interpretation of Medtner’s music is evident from his recordings, published editions of

1 his compositions, his book Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer1, and his teaching instructions, as documented by his students, notably by Edna Iles.

The goals of this recording project are: 1) to recreate an informed interpretation of the pieces previously recorded by Medtner himself: Tales op. 20 no. 1 in B flat minor and no. 2 in B minor Campanella, Tales op. 34 no. 2, and no. 3, and Improvisation op. 31 no. 1; and 2) to realize the composer’s vision of the principles fil rouge, al-rigore, and flessibile in the recording of the Second Improvisation, op. 47 and miniatures op. 31 no. 2 and no. 3, which were not recorded by Medtner.

To achieve these goals the following materials have been studied and analyzed:

Medtner’s recordings, his book Daily Work, Edna Iles’s Notes on the interpretation of Medtner’s works,2 which contains detailed instructions on interpretation of op. 47, as given to Iles by

Medtner himself.

The first chapter of this paper contains a brief biography of the composer. The second chapter provides a description of the recorded pieces, and the third chapter explains the details of interpretation and the process of application of the abovementioned principles to selected

Medtner’s works. The fourth chapter contains the list of titles to be included on the CD and the liner notes for that CD, and the fifth chapter provides a review of the recording process, and possible outcomes of the accomplished project.

1 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora: stranitsy iz zapisnykh knizhek. [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011.

2 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2. Edna Iles, “Notes on the Interpretation of Medtner’s works,” http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHY

Nikolai Medtner’s musical legacy consists of 61 opuses, most of which are compositions for piano. These include 3 piano concerti, 14 piano sonatas, 38 Tales, the 3 cycles of Forgotten

Melodies and other works. Like Chopin, Medtner used the piano in of all his compositions, including over one hundred works for voice and piano, 3 Sonatas for piano and violin, a Piano

Quintet and other works. Though his works are stylistically close to his contemporaries Sergey

Rachmaninov and Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner has a unique voice. His deeply lyrical melodies are reminiscent of Russian folk tunes, while his mastery in sonata form and contrapuntal techniques reveal careful study of Western classical composers.

Nikolai Medtner was born in Moscow in 1880. His mother, Aleksandra Karlovna, was a descendant of Goedike, a family with many generations of professional musicians. An admirer of

Anton Rubinstein3, she frequently took her children4 to his concerts. She became Medtner’s first piano teacher. Later he continued studying piano with his uncle, Fedor Goedicke.5 The composer’s father, Karl Petrovitch Medtner, from a young age had an interest in German philosophy, literature, and poetry. Among other authors, he deeply revered works by Goethe.

The father’s appreciation had a strong impact on the aesthetic senses of young Nikolai and,

3 Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (1829-1894) – a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor, a prominent figure in Russian musical culture on 19th Century, the founder of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1862).

4 There were six children in Medtner’s family: Emily, Karl, Nikolai, Alexander, Sofia, and Vladimir.

5 Fedor Goedike (1839-1916) - Russian composer, pianist, and piano teacher.

3 perhaps, influenced the future creation of many of his vocal works, dedicated to Goethe and other German authors.6

In 1892, at the age of 12, Nikolai Medtner entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied piano with Anatoly Galli, Pavel Pabst, Vasily Safonov, and Vasily Sapelnikov. He studied theoretical disciplines under the guidance of Nikolai Kashkin, Sergey Taneev, and Anton

Arensky.

During his years as a student and after graduation, Medtner appeared publicly as a pianist, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, and his own works. Medtner was regarded as an excellent interpreter of many works of classical and romantic periods such as

Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto and Appassionata op. 57, Schumann’s Toccata, Bach’s Preludes and Fugues, Chopin’s Etudes, Ballads, Preludes, and Liszt’s Etudes by Liszt. Later he primarily focused on performing his own works, but continued to perform selected works by Beethoven.

Medtner’s piano skills and artistic presentation were highly valued by his contemporaries.

Heinrich Neuhaus7 in the article “The Contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov,” describes his impressions after listening to Medtner’s performance:

…there was a happy feeling that not only the wonderful pianist played, but the great musician, the wonderful composer, that the fingers are completely guided by the musical thought and spirit…that this pianism was spiritualized. It is difficult to imagine a more versatile performance, …in the sense of revealing musical, compositional thought, what we call musical content.8

6 Vocal cycles op. 6, op. 15, op. 18, Geweihter Platz op. 41 I No.1 are dedicated to J. Goethe, 3 Poems op. 12 - to H. Heine. Op. 19 and op. 19a are dedicated to F. Nietzsche.

7 Heinrich Neuhaus (1888-1964) was a professor at Moscow Conservatory, one of the most prominent piano teachers and pianists in the Soviet Union. Among his students were Svyatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Vladimir Krainev, Lev Naumov, Vera Gornostaeva, and many other names. Neuhaus’s book The Art of Piano Playing (1958) is an important contribution to piano pedagogy.

8 Heinrich Neuhaus “The Contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1981), 35.

In 1900 Medtner graduated from the Moscow conservatory with a golden medal. In the summer of that year he successfully performed at the Third International Competition in Vienna, receiving a First Honorary Mention. Soon after that to a big surprise of his family and disappointment of his teacher Vasily Safonov, Medtner decided to quit the career of a concert pianist. From then he dedicated most of his time to composition, but continued to perform in a limited number of concerts in Moscow and abroad.

His First piano sonata in F Minor op. 5 (1896 - 1903) was highly appraised by Josef

Hofmann and Sergey Rachmaninov. According to Karl Medtner, the composer’s father,

Hofmann called the sonata “the most important of all contemporary piano pieces, familiar to him.”9

In 1909, Medtner was invited to the Moscow Conservatory as a professor of piano. After one year of teaching at his alma mater he decided to stop and fully devoted himself to composition. In 1915, he resumed teaching at the conservatory until 1919. He kept a small number of students in his studio. However, the impact of his teaching on the students was significant. Abraam Shatskes, one of Medtner’s students, recalls the special atmosphere in

Medtner’s studio:

Usually the students of Nikolai Karlovich attended his lessons for 6-7 hours…To attend the lessons of Nikolai Karlovich was an unwritten law for us. These classes had a huge cognitive meaning and brought us the greatest pleasure. … after the departure of Nikolai Karlovich from the conservatory, then departure to Bugry, and later abroad, we - his students - continued to meet and engage with each other. It seemed to us that in each of us there is a spark of that creative burning, understanding of the music that Nikolai Karlovich taught…10

9 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 15. 10 Abraam Shatskes, “To the memory of the teacher,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 105.

The years 1914-1918 were very harsh times in Russia. The First World War and the

Bolshevik revolution of 1917 made it very difficult for many people to maintain their normal lifestyles. Medtner left Russia in 1921 with his wife Anna, whom he married two years earlier.

First, they moved to Germany. There Medtner did not find recognition or concert opportunities, so three years later the family moved to France.

In the 1924-1925 season, with the help of Rachmaninov, Medtner undertook a successful concert tour in the United States. In 1927 he returned to the Soviet Union for a concert tour. This was his last visit to his motherland, as later he was denied entry to his country. In 1928 he concertized in England. In 1935, Medtner’s family decided to settle in England. There Medtner found warm support and recognition, and was able to give regular concerts and teach a limited number of students.

The British pianist, Edna Iles, became an important figure in Medtner's life both as a devoted student and a source of information regarding Medtner's teaching. From 1930 to 1950 she took lessons with the composer and diligently wrote notes after each lesson, documenting everything Medtner told her. These notes later became part of the Edna Iles Medtner Collection

(EIMC), and in many ways informed and inspired this recording project.

During the Second World War, Medtner lost his income from German publishers. The financial hardship was accompanied by the composer’s declining health. During this difficult period, Edna Iles generously helped him and his wife by hosting them in her parents’ house in

Warwickshire.

An interesting episode in Medtner’s life occurred in 1946. The Maharaja of Mysore, Jaya

Chamaraja Wadiyar that time was a student at the University of Oxford. One time, at his sister’s place in Berlin Wadiyar saw the score of one of Medtner’s Tales on the piano. This piece impressed him so much that he immediately vowed to find the author of the piece. Through his agent Maharaja asked Medtner to record all three piano concertos and other works, including songs on gramophone discs. The composer was already in declining health, but the unforeseen opportunity was so inspiring that he committed himself to the project. As Anna Medtner remembers: “the prospect of the recording … summoned Medtner to a new life and gave him seemingly unlimited powers.”11 As a result Medtner successfully recorded all three piano concertos in 1947. He also recorded Sonate-Ballade, op. 27 and Sonata Tragica, op. 39, no. 5, the piano quintet, and other works. Most famous of these recordings is the last set of 1950, in which Medtner and soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf recorded fourteen vocal works. In gratitude to his benefactor the Maharajah of Mysore, Medtner dedicated his piano concerto no.3 to him.

Until his last days Medtner lived in London. He died in 1951.

11 Anna Medtner, “About Nikolay Karlovich Medtner” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 38.

CHAPTER II SELECTED COMPOSITIONS BY MEDTNER. THE WORLD OF TALES AND FANTASY

No one tells such tales as Kolya S. Rachmaninov

Fairy Tale (translation from Russian Skazka), is a title used by Nikolai Medtner12 for many of his piano miniatures. Medtner’s 38 Tales contain some of his most original and captivating music.

Ekaterina Chernaya-Oh explained in her dissertation, that “Fairy Tale” is not a very accurate translation: “…Russian Skazka also include such types of storytelling as legend or bylina, a type of epic and narrative poetry.” 13 Therefore, the most accurate translation of Skazka would be tale or folk tale.

Many musical compositions of the romantic era were inspired by literature, such as

Novelettes by Schumann, Ballades by Chopin, Brahms, and Grieg, Legends by Liszt, Poems by

Chausson, Poems by Scriabin, Skazka (The Tale) by Rimsky-Korsakov, and Skazka (The Tale) from the Violin Suite by Taneev. These works observe three important facets of narrative style: lyrical, epic, and dramatic. Medtner’s Tales combine these elements with mysterious images of antiquity found in the folk epic, legends, stories and bylinas. Skazka was not the only literary

12 The first mentioning of the title Skazka can be found in Medtner's correspondence with his brother Emil Medtner. N. Medtner, Pis’ma. [Letters], ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moscow: Soviet Composer, 1973), 76.

13 Ekaterina Chernaya-Oh, “The Skazki (Fairy Tales) of Nikolai Medtner: The Evolution and Characteristics of the Genre with Compositional and Performance Aspects of Selected Fairy Tales” (D.M.A. diss. University of North Texas, 2008), https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52438/.

8 genre used by Medtner for his compositions. He created a series of pieces called Dithyrambs,

Excerpts from tragedies, and Novels.

Medtner’s Tales adjoin a category of small form pieces, such as preludes, musical moments, novelettes, impromptu, but as Dolinskaya explained in her book,14 the genre of Tale has significantly influenced the structure and the style of the larger works by Medtner. The world of fairy tales in the form of variations, prevails in the Improvisation op. 31 no. 1, the Second

Improvisation, op. 47, and the First Concerto op. 33 (Development).

Of all his Tales, Medtner regarded the Two Tales op. 20 most highly. As Edna Iles recollects: “From the tales, he considered the most significant two, constituting op. 20…”15 Both works were written in 1909, at a time when Medtner felt the influence of Russian music traditions most clearly.

14 Yelena Dolinskaya, Nikolay Medtner (Muzïka/Jurgenson, 2013), 135.

15 Edna Iles, “Medtner, friend and master,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 174.

The Works, Brief Descriptions

Tale op. 20 no. 1

Tale op. 20 no. 1 in B flat minor, became popular even during the composer’s lifetime.

Rachmaninov included it in his concerts.

The piece immediately attracts the listener with a captivating Russian melody, full of sincerity and warmth of feeling. The entire composition is based on the initial lyrical idea, which is skillfully developed and elaborated throughout the piece (figure 1).

Figure 1. Tale, op. 20 no. 1, mm. 1-6.

The emotional and agitated character requires immediate focus from the pianist. Alexey

Yefremenkov, one of Medtner’s disciples, describes the instructions received from his teacher:

“Start at once, swiftly, with an impulse, as if addressing someone with a warm entreaty.”16

16 Alexey Yefremenkov, “N.K. Medtner,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 131.

Tale op. 20 no. 2

The second piece in op. 20, Campanella, holds a special place among Medtner’s works.

Unlike Liszt’s Campanella, Medtner’s work is reminiscent of the sound of the bells in the

Russian Orthodox tradition. The composer addresses a note to the composition: “Campanella - the song or tale, told by the bell but not about the bell.” Marked minaccioso (menacing), this work indeed sounds formidable and menacing. The composer further explains the character of the piece: “There is a thunder in the bells ringing.”17 The composition is based on two elements:

a) a short motive of a formidable bell-ringing alarm (F sharp – E – D - C sharp – C), written in octaves in the left hand, which appears in the beginning and continues through the piece (figure 2), and

Figure 2. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm.1-7.

17 Edna Iles, “Medtner, friend and master,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 174.

b) “the song of the bell” - a highly chromatic cantilena melody eight-measures long, emerging in the middle register. It is intermixed with a thick surrounding texture, comprised of flickering passages in thirty-second notes in the right hand, and the menacing relentless motive in octaves in the left hand (figure 3).

Figure 3. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm.8-16

These two elements continue to evolve throughout the piece in various combinations, and as described by Barrie Martyn, create “an overpowering feeling of menace.”18 The development features a long and relentless crescendo that comes to a frightening climax, the piano texture reaches the bottom A on ff in m.91 (figure 4).

18 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 69.

Figure 4. Tale, op. 20 no. 2, Campanella, mm. 91-93.

This piece is an example of Medtner’s implementation of the al rigore.19 The composer added an explicit footnote on the first page, explaining that the marking Sempre al rigore di tempo is mandatory throughout the whole piece. According to Martyn, Medtner later wrote out markings on each of the nine pages of a printed copy: “whoever finds it boring to play this al rigore di tempo had better leave this piece alone.”20

Trois Morceaux, op. 31

Trois Morceaux (Three Pieces), op. 31 were composed in 1914 in memory of Alexey

Stanchinsky (1888-1914). The talented young composer suddenly died at the age of 22, probably by his own hand21. Medtner and Stanchinsky had met little more than six months before the tragedy, and they had rapidly developed a warm friendship. The music of this opus reflects

Medtner’s deep feelings of sadness, resentment, and despair.

19 Al rigore and flessibile, interpretive principles, concerned with rhythm and tempo relationship in Medtner’s works, are further explained in the third chapter Medtner’s Interpretation of Rhythm and Tempo.

20 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 69.

21 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 110.

Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1

The first piece in the opus, Improvisation, is a set of variations in B flat minor. It is

Medtner’s first contribution to the form of variations since his student years. The piece opens with a haunting and melancholic melody, marked Andantino, gracile (figure 5).

Figure 5. Improvisation, op. 31 no.1, Introduction, mm.1-7.

The introduction concludes with an ominous descending passage in the low register, based on the opening motive (figure 6).

Figure 6. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Introduction, mm. 27-30.

In the following five variations, Medtner masterfully altered the rhythmic pattern of the lamenting motive of the introduction and developed the composition into an impressive display of virtuosity and stylistic variety. Thus, the texture of the first variation Allegretto capriccioso,

14 danzando (in a dance style), intricately combines grace notes, triplets (figure 7), brisk dotted rhythms, and cantando (in a singing style) elements.

Figure 7. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 1, mm. 32-35.

The second variation is marked accelerando con gradazione (accelerating with gradation). The melody in the right hand is based on the main theme and is comprised of rapid repetitions (figure 8).

Figure 8. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 2, mm. 50-51.

Variation 3, a mysterious and melancholic waltz, is marked con grazia e poco capriccioso (with grace and a little bit capricious). It starts with the main theme in the left hand accompanied by rapid triplets in the right hand (figure 9).

Figure 9. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 3, mm. 83-88.

Revealing the capricious character of this variation, the music is interrupted by raging chordal passages, marked risoluto (figure 10).

Figure 10. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1 Variation 3, mm. 89-92.

The fourth variation Giocondamente (joyfully) is in B flat major. The energetic chordal texture with syncopated rhythm, in contrast to the previous variations, brings a feeling of optimism and humor (figure 11).

Figure 11. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 4, mm. 135-141.

The character of the fifth variation, marked allegro assai, is stormy and unsettling. Its texture is comprised of brisk descending passages in thirds, preceded by a pattern of five rapid ascending grace notes in parallel motion in both hands (figure 12).

Figure 12. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 154-157.

A brief emotional relief comes with a cantando motive in D flat major in the left hand

(cantando motive is marked with an arrow in the figure 13).

Figure 13. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 164-166.

The variation ends with a rampant descending motive in the left hand, based on the theme, accompanied by a stormy passage in thirty-second notes in the right hand (figure 14).

Figure 14. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Variation 5, mm. 168-171.

The coda brings back the melancholic and peaceful character of the introduction. The main theme here is in G minor and is accompanied by quiet and fragile, almost ethereal chords in the upper register (figure 15).

Figure 15. Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1 Coda, mm. 172-179.

Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2

Marche Funebre (Funeral march) in B minor is the second piece in op. 31. This work was created right after Stanchinsky's death. The atmosphere of the piece is dismal and dark, reflecting the composer’s grief and resentment from the loss of his dear friend. The steady and ominous motion of the chords is reminiscent of orthodox church bells.22 A sorrowful melody emerges in the middle register after a short introduction (figure 16).

22 In his comments on my research on March 26, 2018 Wendelin Bitzan, German composer and musicologist, noted that Medtner was possibly influenced by the music from prologue from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, that features a similar repetition of two chords, also signaling church bells. (Wendelin Bitzan to author, Facebook message, March 26, 2018).

Figure 16. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm. 23-26.

The music reaches an intense climax on fortisissimo in measure 23, expressing an utmost desperation (figure 17, m.23).

Figure 17. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm. 27-23.

Following the climax, a melancholic and fragile cantando melody provides not relief, but a sense of irreplaceable loss (figure 17. m.25). The piece ends with a passage of quiet chilling chords, marked sordamente (It. deafly) on a sustained pedal (figure 18).

Figure 18. Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2, mm. 27-31.

Heinrich Neuhaus in his article “The Contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov,” has highly complimented Marche Funebre:

There are only two pages of text, and how much concentrated expression, how much deep sorrow, rejection of death, embracing us, when suddenly a young, beautiful creature dies (which is why there is no moment of enlightenment in this march, as usual in funeral marches - let us recall Beethoven, Chopin or Scriabin - in First Sonata) ... The powerful culmination of fortissimo in the middle of the march reminds me of Beethoven's mortal menacing gesture towards a sudden thunderstorm ... Based on the strength of expression and the utmost brevity, I consider this march a masterpiece.23

23 Heinrich Neuhaus “The Contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1981), 32-33.

Conte, op. 31 no. 3

The short Tale op. 31 no.3 in G sharp minor is given a French title Conte24. It is in a simple ternary form, where the outer parts express a range of emotions from melancholic emptiness (figure 19) to anger and fury, marked adirato (angry) (figure 20).

Figure 19. Conte, op. 31 no. 3, mm. 1-2

Figure 20. Conte, op. 31 no. 3, mm. 11-13. The middle part, cantando abbandonamente25, in contrast, is gentle and sweet in character (figure 21).

Figure 21. Conte, op. 31 no. 3 mm.14-17.

24 Conte (Fr.) – fairy tale.

25 Abbandonamente (It.) - arbitrarily, unconstrainedly, giving into the power of feelings.

Tales op. 34

Tales op. 34 were finished by Medtner in 1916, published in 1919, and first premiered in

1917 by the author in a solo recital at the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow, Russia.Tale op. 34 no. 2, stormy and unsettling in character, has an epigraph – a quote from Fyodor Tyutchev's poem “Peace” (1858): “Kogda chto zvali my svoim navek ot nas ushlo,” translated into English as “When what we called our own has left us forever.”26 The poem was dedicated to Tyutchev’s wife Eleonora, who died 20 years before the poem was written. In his poem, Tyche philosophically observes the subject of death, the impermanence of life, and constant change, comparing the stream of life to omnipotent waters. Here is an excerpt from this poem:

…The soul becomes oblivious and feels right then that it too is borne away by omnipotent waters…

The themes of death and seeking consolation, and peace were relevant to the composer at that time. He started composing Tale op. 34 no. 2 in 1914, the year when Russia found itself in a war with Germany. Medtner lost many of his close friends in that period. Aleksey Stanchinsky

26 “The Complete Poems of Tyutchev In an English Translation by F. Jude,” Oocities.org, accessed on March 19, 2018, http://www.oocities.org/zombielabs/Tyutchev.pdf.

23 died in October 1914, and Alexander Scriabin in April 1915. Medtner’s teacher, Sergey

Taneev,27 who was also Scriabin’s teacher, died a few weeks after Scriabin’s funeral.28

Op. 34 no. 2 has a striking similarity to Rachmaninov's Musical moment op. 16 no. 4. Not only are both works in E minor and have accompaniment in the left hand. They are both composed in rapid triplets, and feature plagal harmonic progressions (IV – I; II7-I), traditional in

Russian music. Both compositions have melodies in a typically Russian singing style, incorporated into a thick chordal texture in right hand (figures 22, 23).

Figure 22. N. Medtner. Tale, op. 34 no. 2, mm.1-4.

27 Sergey Taneev (1956-1915) was a Russian composer, pianist, professor of theory and composition at Moscow Conservatory.

28 According to Barrie Martyn, Medtner caught a cold at Scriabin’s funeral and died a few weeks later, from heart related complications. Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 112.

Figure 23. S. Rachmaninov. Musical Moment, op. 16 no. 4, mm.4-6.

Fantastic Characters

One of the important aspects of Medtner's art is the world of fantasy. It is abundantly represented in his works of different genres and forms throughout his creative path. Mermaids, goblins, elves, gnomes - typical characters of romanticism, appear in many of Medtner’s works, including Infernal Scherzo, op. 3, The Tale of the Elves, op. 48, Tale op. 34 no. 3, and Second

Improvisation, op. 47.

Tale op. 34 no. 3

The quarrelsome and gnarly character of a wood goblin is depicted in Tale op. 34 no. 3.

The composer addresses a note to the piece: "Wood goblin (but kind and plaintive).” The piece opens with an arpeggiation on a dominant seventh chord. It is followed by a counterpoint between a grotesque theme, performed staccato in the right hand and the menacing theme in the

25 left hand, reminiscent of the melody from the Requiem plainchant melody, “Dies Irae.” (figure

24).

Figure 24. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.1-8.

The following lyrical and fragile cantando episodes in mm.12-15 and mm.121-125 reveal

‘the plaintive and kind’ side of the wood goblin’s character (figures 25, 26).

Figure 25. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.12-15.

Figure 26. Tale, op. 34 no. 3, mm.121-125.

Second Improvisation, op. 47

The Second Improvisation,29 op. 47 was written between July and September of 1925, during Medtner’s French residence in Fontain d’Yvette. The work was premiered by the author in the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory in 192730, and first published by Zimmermann in

1928 in Leipzig, Germany. Like the earlier work, Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, it is a set of variations on a single theme. Medtner’s described his artistic vision during the work on the middle section of the First Concerto op. 33 (1918), which is also composed in a form of

29 Medtner wrote three opuses featuring this title: Three Improvisations, op. 2, Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1 and Second Improvisation, op.47. Op. 2 is a set of three miniatures entitled: “Water Nymph,” “Reminiscence of Ball,” and “Scherzo Infernale.” The title Improvisation in opp. 31 and 47 reflect the composer’s adherence to the conventions of classical period, and imply sets of variations rather than spontaneity of performance.

30 Letter to Alexander Goldenweiser 5 September 1925 from N. Medtner, Pis’ma. [Letters], ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moscow: Soviet Composer, 1973), 304-306.

27 variations.31 “The variations are improvisatory in nature … properly not variations, but improvisations, Intermezzi, Caprices.”32

The composer initially wrote 16 variations, but the published version of the work contains only 15, 3 of which, according to the edition notes, can be omitted: no. 1 “Meditation,” no. 6 “In the Waters,” and no. 13 “Threat.”33 Medtner left footnotes in the score instructing that in case of abbreviation, the order of the set must change.34

As, noted by Martyn, the original order constitutes a specific tonal outline: all pieces are grouped by three or four around the three tonal centers: F sharp/G flat major/minor, A major, and

G minor (table 1).35 The two exceptions from that grouping logic are the variations 8 and “In the

Forest,” and 13 “Threat.”

The chart “Tonal outline and alternative order” is based on Medtner’s instructions in the published edition of the op. 47 and the tonal outline, given in Barrie Martyn’s book. It shows the original and alternative orders of the compositions in the set (table 1).

31 The composer also used the form of variations in the second movement of the Violin Sonata No. 2 op.44 (1922-1925), and Theme and Variations for Piano op. 55.

32 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 119.

33 These cuts, perhaps, are a result of a conversation between Rachmaninov and Medtner that occurred in Paris in May 1926. Barrie Martyn suggests that Rachmaninov spoke about “the subject of long-windedness, and the need to cut down, compress and not be verbose.” The composer appears to have taken this advice to heart.

34 Barrie Martyn, Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music (Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1995), 176.

35 Ibid.

Table 1. Tonal outline and alternative order of the Second Improvisation, op. 47

The entire composition is filled with fantastic creatures and the magical atmosphere of fairy tales. It features the romantic image of Undine as a central character. Each variation in the op. 47 is a sketch with a short title, describing a character, scene, or a mood such as

“Meditation,” “Humoresque,” “Winged Dancers,” “Elves,” “Wood Goblin,” or “Gnomes.”

“Theme: Song of the Water Nymph” depicts a mysterious, alluring creature, which comes directly from the old folk legends. The opening melody, motive I, is chromatic and tonally unstable. (figure 27).

Figure 27. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Theme: Song of the Water Nymph, Motive I mm. 1-4.

The motive II of “Theme” is more lyrical, and intensely melancholic. The beginning of the motive II is marked with the arrow (figure 28).

Figure 28. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Theme: Song of the Water Nymph, Motive II, mm. 9-12.

The two motives from “Theme: Song of the Water Nymph” (figures 27, 28) serve as a thematic foundation for all the following pieces in the set. The intervallic structure of motive I

(m2 up; m2 up; m3 up; M3 up; m3 down; m2 down; m3 down) appears in every variation of the set and the “Conclusion.” The motive II is used in many variations in a modified form. For example, in “Threat,” variation 13, discussed later, Medtner used the melodic contour of its six notes (marked with squares in figure 28) in the right hand. In “Conclusion” motive II comes back in its original form.

“Winged Dancers,” variation 3, is full of tweeting, chatter, and wing flapping. Its staccato texture filled with grace notes (figure 29), is reminiscent of “Ballet of Unhatched Chicks” from

Pictures at an exhibition by Mussorgsky (figure 30).

Figure 29. Second Improvisation, op.47. Winged Dancers, mm. 1-4.

Figure 30. M. Mussorgsky. Pictures at an Exhibition. Ballet of Unhatched chicks, mm. 5-8.

Motive I appears in the main theme of “Winged Dancers.” It is altered rhythmically and transformed into a succession of brisk grace notes (figure 31).

Figure 31. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Winged Dancers, mm. 14-16.

“In the Forest,” is a pivotal variation of the set. It is a transition from A major to G minor

(see table 1), from the world of laughter, humor, and cheerful buzz of the crowd (“Charms,”

“Humoresque,” “Winged Dancers,” “Noise of the Crowd”) to the dark and frightening world of fantasy and ancient forest spirits (“Wood Goblin,” “Elves,” and “Gnomes”).

The highly chromatic opening idea of the variation is based on Motive I. (figure32).

Figure 32. Second Improvisation, op. 47. In the forest, mm. 1-4.

The piece uses the alternation of two seventh chords at a tritone distance (A - E flat) and remains tonally ambiguous until the end. Brisk passages marked leggiero, disappearing through diminuendo in the high register of the piano, bring an impression of fleeting spirits twinkling in the dark forest.

The following four variations are in G minor. Grim and grotesque folk-tale characters –

“Wood Goblin,” “Elves,” and “Gnomes” are followed by the densely chordal and powerful

“Incantation.”

“Incantation,” variation 12, featuring plagal harmonic progressions and bell-like sounds, is reminiscent of Russian orthodoxy with its hypnotic bells and choral chanting (figure 33).

Figure 33. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Incantation, mm. 1-3.

One can argue that here Medtner wanted to juxtapose two worlds: paganism and

Christian orthodoxy. Curiously, the diatonic melody of this variation is also based on the chromatic main theme, using its shape and partially intervallic structure (figure 34).

Figure 34. Shape of the melodies in the Theme and Variation 12 of op. 47

“Threat,” variation 13, stands out from the rest of the variations not only by its key, B flat minor, but also by its menacing and extremely somber character. Both motives of the theme are used in counterpoint from the very beginning of the variation, and both are interwoven with a dense texture of thirty-second notes. (motive I is marked with circles, melody based on motive II is marked with squares in figure 35).

Figure 35. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Threat, mm. 1-4. “Storny Weather,” the last variation of op.47, represents the storm, caused by the water nymph, the main character of the set (figure 36).

Figure 36. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Stormy Weather, mm. 9-14.

Second Improvisation, op. 47 is the largest set of variations written by Medtner. The variety of characters and scenes represented in the piece, the outstanding compositional techniques, and the diversity of transcending virtuoso piano textures, in my opinion, puts this opus alongside works such as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Schumann’s Carnaval and Kreisleriana, and Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations. Many musicians and contemporaries of Medtner, including Rachmaninov and Godowsky, were impressed by this work. Edna Iles privately recorded the work in 1958.

Recordings of the Second Improvisation were made by Edna Iles (Private recording of

1958, broadcasted in Moscow the same year), Hamish Milne (Hyperion 1989), Geoffrey Tozer

(2004), Earl Wild (2005), Vladimir Tropp (2010), Poom Prommachart (2015)36, and Dina

Parakhina (2015).37

In the next chapter I will discuss Medtner’s interpretive aspects fil rouge, al rigore, and flessibile, and my realization of these principles in the Second Improvisation, op. 47 and other works by Medtner, included in this recording project.

36 Edna Iles’s recording is available on St. Laurent Studio Label at Edna Iles’s collection Vol.2 (YSL 78- 211); Hamish Milne, MEDTNER.N., Piano music Vol. 4, CRD Records CRD3461, 1989, CD; Geoffrey Tozer, MEDTNER: Piano Works, Vol. 8, Chandos CHAN10266, Nov 4, 2004, CD; Earl Wild, Medtner, N.: Piano Music, Ivory Classics 75003, CD; Vladimir Tropp, Scriabin: 24 Preludes Op 11 / Medtner: Second Improvisation, Op 47, Dennon Records, CD; Poom Prommachart. Piano Recital: Liszt, F. / Scriabin, A. / Medtner, N. Champs Hill CHRCD104, 2015, CD.

37 Dina Parakhina’s CD, published by Vista Vera is currently unavailable commercially. Her concert recording is published on Youtube: Dina Parakhina, “Medtner - Improvisation No.2 op. 47,” 2014, posted on February 21, 2016, concert video, 26:56, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAmrgFobaJo.

CHAPTER III MEDTNER’S INTERPRETATION OF RHYTHM AND TEMPO. REALIZATION OF THE CONCEPTS FIL ROUGE, AL RIGORE, AND FLESSIBILE IN SELECTED COMPOSITIONS

Rhythmically I'm infallible38 Nikolai Medtner

Throughout years of research and performance, I realized that tempo and rhythm are the most important aspects of interpretation in Medtner’s works. The composer’s attention to tempo and rhythm is well-documented in the published editions of his music, recordings, book The

Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer,39,40 and his teaching instructions recorded by his disciples, including the notes made by Edna Iles.41 A recently completed dissertation by

Alexander Karpeyev brings to light Edna Iles Medtner’s Collection (EIMC) and specifically, her

Notes on the Interpretation of Medtner’s Works.” 42, 43 Among other aspects of Medtner’s

38 Alexey Yefremenkov, “N.K. Medtner,” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 131.

39 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora: stranitsy iz zapisnykh knizhek. [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011.

40 The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer is a collection of the composer’s notes, part of his personal diary, compiled and published in 1963 by his two former students - Maria Gurvich and Leopold Lukomsky. 41 Edna Iles (1905-2003) was a British pianist and the last pupil of Nikolai Medtner. Form 1930-1950, she diligently took notes after the lessons with him. These notes along with other materials are collected in Edna Iles Medtner Collection in British Library (EIMC). Until recently this unique archive was not given a proper evaluation and analysis. Thanks to the dedicated work of researchers Elena Rakhlenko and Alexander Karpeyev, the full text of the 5 notebooks of Edna Iles’s is transcribed (179 pages) and included in Appendix 2 (EIMC, 6) of Karpeyev’s dissertation. 42 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/. 43 Ibid. Appendix 2. “Notes on the Interpretation of Medtner’s works.” http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

36 interpretation, in his dissertation Karpeyev summarizes and elaborates the principles of fil rouge, al rigore and flessibile, which are key to understanding Medtner’s interpretation of rhythm and tempos.

Fil Rouge, Al Rigore, and Flessibile

Fil rouge (red line) is an interpretive concept which Medtner used to describe the central line of a composition. Referring to this idea, he frequently reminded his students to keep in mind the whole picture of a composition. Medtner explains in Daily Work: ‘Think about the key points! … think about wide perspectives!”44 Iles confirms this idea in her Notes: “When playing, think of the fil rouge of the theme…always keep perspective in mind. ... the point to which you are moving.”45 According to Iles, fil rouge also applies to keeping tempo. “Keep a steady pace …

Do not detour from the general line of the tempo (unless, of course, there are special instructions for this). All acceleration and deceleration should be gradual. A sudden accelerando or rallentando breaks the overall structure and impression of power.”46 Medtner’s instructions on determining the tempo in “Incantation,” op. 47, variation 12, further explain the concept of fil rouge: “when fixing the tempo of a piece, think of the theme, and not of the accompaniment.

Play al rigore di tempo - make like a procession.”47

44 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora: stranitsy iz zapisnykh knizhek. [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011, 24.

45 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.1.8; EIMC 6.1.4.24, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

46 Edna Iles, “Medtner, Friend and Master” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 174. 47 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 54, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

According to Daily Work and passages in Iles’s Notes, Medtner perceived his music to be in two main categories: strict or relaxed tempos (i.e. al rigore di tempo and tempo flessibile). In his Daily Work Medtner suggests: “Always start with determining the tempo of the piece and the character of its movement (al rigore or flessibile).”48

Al rigore di tempo (in strict tempo) frequently appears in Medtner’s compositions. For example, Campanella op. 20 no. 2, Tale op. 34 no. 3, variations no. 2 “Meditation” and no. 9

“Wood Goblin” of the Second Improvisation, op. 47, “Zug der Grazien (Movement of Graces)” from the Suite-Vocalise op. 41 II no. 4 all are marked al rigore. Medtner’s own recordings of

Tales op. 14 no. 2, op. 20 no. 2 Campanella, op. 26 no. 2, op. 28 no. 2, Danza Jubilosa

(Jubilee Dance), Beethoven’s Sonata op. 57, and other works show that as a pianist, he could sustain the tempos with phenomenal steadiness.

It must be noted, when applying the al rigore concept, Medtner did not expect a strictly metronomic performance. In his Daily Work he emphasized the mechanical quality of a metronome by comparing it to a thermometer: “Get rid of the metronome, [it] is [like a] thermometer. It is incompetent in the artistic movement.”49 This idea is also documented in Iles’s

Notes: “In al rigore di tempo pieces, don’t hurry. Always hold the reins and feel the inner metronome. Never practice with metronome. In all other pieces, think of flexibility of rhythm….”50 The categorical requirement to avoid metronome, perhaps reveal one of the inner

48 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora: stranitsy iz zapisnykh knizhek. [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011, 17.

49 Ibid.

50 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher,” (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 54, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

38 contradictions of Medtner, who is also known for his statement “beauty is always precision.”51 In my understanding, the intent for steady pace and consistent tempo in al rigore compositions should be approached with ‘inner metronome’ to preserve the artistic nature of music. Medtner also emphasized the importance of not speeding up in fast pieces marked al rigore: “Do not

'unleash the reins' in al rigore di tempo. Haste also destroys the impression of strength.”52

Medtner describes tempo flessibile (pliable, flexible tempo) with the following statement:

“Flessibile consists of a subtle gradualness of accelerations or decelerations that do not disturb the proper correlation of neighboring notes. Such flessibile always preserves the common, main axis of the tempo.”53

Medtner’s flessibile should be distinguished from the common musical term rubato.

Rubato allows a substantial degree of freedom and is generally not strictly structured, while flessibile requires a performer to approach tempo nuances with a subtle gradation and to follow a detailed plan of tempo changes based on the structure of each phrase. Medtner’s instructions on op. 47 variation 14 “Song of the Water Nymph,” further explain the concept flessibile:

… in bar 8 start slow (bringing out [the] F sharp as well as D sharp [in the] right hand), accelerando and rallentando to bar 12, play this bar more slowly, pause on bar 13 top B, then accelerando and rallentando to bar 16....54 Scope and Contents of the Recording Project

51 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora: stranitsy iz zapisnykh knizhek. [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011, 7.

52 Edna Iles, “Medtner, Friend and Master” in Memories, Articles, Materials, ed. Zarui A. Apetyan (Moskva: Soviet Composer, 1988), 174.

53 Ibid.

54 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.4.19, 136, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

My recording project includes 24 pieces: Two Tales op. 20, nos. 1 and 2, Trois Morceaux

(Three pieces) op. 31, including Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1, Tales op. 34 nos. 2, 3, and the

Second Improvisation, op. 47, which consists of “Theme,” 15 variations, and “Conclusion.” In the 1930s and 1940s Medtner recorded many of these works, including Two Tales op. 20 nos.1,

2,55 Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1,56 and Tales op. 34 no. 2, and 3.57 He did not record the Second

Improvisation, op. 47. While lacking the modern standards of the sound quality, Medtner’s recordings provide an invaluable insight into his treatment of rhythm and tempo and allow for a deeper understanding of his concepts of fil rouge, al rigore, and flessibile.

The first goal of the project was to recreate an informed interpretation of the selected pieces, recorded by the composer, in the environment of a modern recording studio. I planned to achieve this goal through studying the existing Medtner’s recordings and adopting his interpretive principles fil rouge, al rigore, and flessibile.

The second and more important goal was to realize the composer’s vision of the Second

Improvisation, op. 47 by fully applying the abovementioned tempo-rhythmic principles and marked tempo correlations to the pieces in the set.

For interpretation of rhythm and tempo in each composition a three-step strategy was applied:

1) determining the character of the movement - al rigore or flessibile,

55 Nikolai Medtner, The Complete Solo Piano Recordings of Nicolas Medtner, Vol. 1, Recorded in 1930 and 1931, Columbia Recordings/Appian APR 5546, 1998, CD. 56 Nikolai Medtner, The Complete Solo Piano Recordings of Nicolas Medtner, Vol. 2, Recorded in 1936 and 1946, HMV/Appian APR 5547, 1999, CD. 57 Ibid.

2) adhering to the correlation between the tempos indicated in the score, such as the correlation between adjacent variations in op. 47, and

3) choosing appropriate tempos based on indications in published editions, Medtner’s recordings, fil rouge in each piece, and my personal perception as a performer.

Interpretation of Rhythm and Tempo

The first column in table 2 (see below), shows titles and opus numbers of each composition included in this project, the second column shows the category that has been applied to the composition, the third column shows the source used to identify this category. The fourth column shows the tempo correlations between the variations in op. 47; the fifth column shows the note values associated with metronomic indications in the columns 6-9. The sixth column shows the tempos indicated in the published edition, the seventh column shows the tempos in

Medtner’s recordings, the eighth column shows my goal tempos and the ninth column shows the resulting tempos in my recording.

The pieces, that have no metronome indications in the editions or referential recordings, are marked with a dash (-). The pieces without a goal tempo are marked similarly. The published edition of Improvisation, op. 31 no. 1 only shows a tempo value for variation 4, hence Medtner’s recording was used to determine the tempos. The character of the movement in this piece is flessibile, therefore the variable tempos are marked with a tilde (~). As indicated in the seventh column, Medtner’s two recordings of Tale op. 20 no. 2 Campanella (1930 and 1936) are in

Table 2. Interpretation of rhythm and tempo in selected Medtner’s compositions

42 different tempos: 124 and 119. The “Conclusion” of the Second Improvisation has two tempo indications: 56 and 42, reflecting the two tempos used in the two consecutive sections of this piece.

In determining the tempos and the character of the movement (al rigore or flessibile) in each composition, as a starting point, I consulted the published edition of the music, Medtner’s recordings, and his teaching instructions found in Notes, as recorded by Edna Iles. I also considered the character of each piece, applied the principle of fil rouge, studied the features of the texture of the pieces, and the tempo correlations between the adjacent variations (see column

4 of table 2). As my work progressed, I achieved a deeper understanding of the fil rouge in each composition. Subsequently, my initial ideas regarding tempos and application of the categories of al rigore and flessibile in many pieces changed. For example, when I worked on op. 47 in

March 2018 I reviewed all the elements in the texture of “Threat,” variation 13, and finally realized the role of the melody in the left hand, its function as the fil rouge of the composition, and its contribution to the character. It helped me to find a proper tempo for this variation and to strengthen the application of al rigore. This case is elaborated further in this chapter.

Al Rigore vs. Flessibile

As discussed before, Medtner frequently marked al rigore in the score. It applies to the following compositions: op. 20 no. 2 Campanella, op. 34 no. 3 Wood Goblin, variation 1

“Meditation,” and variation 9 “Wood Goblin” from the Second Improvisation, op.47. The composer’s instructions to Iles on the Second Improvisation, op. 47 reveal three more variations in the strict category, not marked in the editions: no. 5 “Humoresque,” no. 12 “Incantation,” and

43 no. 13 “Threat.”58 Based on the research conducted by Karpeyev, Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2 is also added to the al rigore category. The indicated tempo markings and the tempo correlation with the adjacent al rigore variations helped me to identify two more al rigore variations from op. 47. The tenth variation, “Elves,” is marked prestissimo, doppio movemente. It is supposed to double the speed of the previous ninth variation “Wood Goblin,” marked al rigore. According to

Iles’s Notes, the twelfth variation “Incantation” is in the strict category. In the score it is marked half the speed of the eleventh variation “Gnomes,” which is marked allegro risoluto. Therefore,

I interpreted “Gnomes” as al rigore as well. The rest of the compositions are interpreted as tempo flessibile.

Tale op. 20 no. 2 in B minor, Campanella (“the song of the bell”) is marked sempre al rigore di tempo sostenuto. As discussed in the second chapter, the tempo in this work must be sustained throughout the entire piece without change. That principle should be followed despite indications of dolce and cantabile in the middle part. Amongst all recordings that I reviewed, only Medtner’s own recording of 193059 demonstrates al rigore in full implementation. This performance creates a sense of endless flow and, as noted by Alexander Karpeyev, sounds as “if sung in a single breath.”60

It is interesting, that despite the composer’s own tempo indication in the score of ♪=92, in two recordings of this piece (1930 and 1936) he takes faster tempos: 124 and 119 (see table 2).

58 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 53-54, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

59 Between the two Medtner’s recordings of this piece - 1930 and 1936, I prefer the earlier one because it maintains a higher tempo and, in my opinion, it stronger represents the al rigore concept. Nicolas Medtner, The complete solo recordings. Vol.1, APR 5546. 60 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), 99, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

The composer’s tendency to revise his tempos is also documented by Edna Iles. Here are her observations after the lesson with Medtner on “Humoresque,” variation 5 from the Second

Improvisation, op. 47: “Play this a lot quicker and al rigore di tempo. The metronome mark given is evidently quite wrong. Quavers [eighth notes] in this [variation]should be about the same speed as in preceding variation.”61 Later she added comments on “Gnomes,” variation 9 from op. 47: “Play very much quicker. Evidently the metronome mark given is again quite wrong.”62

While working on Medtner’s compositions, I noticed that many of the tempos, which I had initially planned for my recording had also gradually shifted to higher values. Thus, in

Campanella, op. 20 no. 2, the planned tempo 116, eventually shifted to 126 (table 2, columns

8,9). In the recording of this piece, my primary goal was to communicate the character of the overpowering voice of the bell, and to achieve the impression of relentlessness, demonstrated by

Medtner in his recordings. I also aimed to recreate the sense of a ‘single breath’ by applying al rigore and sustaining a tempo not slower than 116. My resulting tempo in the recording studio, as mentioned before, reached 126.

Tale in E minor op. 34 no. 2 is not marked al rigore, therefore, I considered this piece flessibile. In Medtner’s recording of 1936 he applies a strict approach in the opening passages in the left hand. The composer starts the piece immediately a tempo - without a gradual accelerando. Further, he explores a certain degree of flexibility, specifically in the cadences of the phrases and in the development section. Most of the later recordings, such as those by Boris

Berezovsky (2008) and Georgy Tchaidze (2012), use accelerando in the beginning of this piece.

61 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 51, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

62 Ibid., 54.

In my recording, I aimed to recreate Medtner’s interpretation and to apply a strict tempo in the beginning of the piece, but to allow flexibility in the development and cadences.

“Threat,” variation 13 from the Second Improvisation, is an example of al rigore that is not clearly marked in the edition. The application of this category is documented in Iles’s Notes:

“Al rigore di tempo. … Do not start slowly. Make quick notes quick straight away.”63 Many existing recordings seem to use a considerable amount of rubato in this variation and rather slow tempos. In my opinion, the relentless and inhumane character of this piece can be only expressed when a steady tempo is applied to the performance. This realization came during a lesson with

Dr. Uriel Tsachor.

When he pointed out the importance of the melodic line in the left hand in creating the somber and threatening character of the piece I realized that line was the fil rouge of the variation. It is based on the Motive I from the “Theme” and performed here in the bass register.

The gentle and mysterious melody, which first appears in the “Theme,” is an expression of a frightening menace. When played slowly (slower then quarter equals 66) and without al rigore, the notes in the left hand did not form a continuous line and, therefore, did not fully express the somber character of the “Threat.” After trying different tempos, I decided to maintain tempo 66 in al rigore throughout the piece. This interpretive decision allowed me to create a relentless contrapuntal flow of the melodies in both hands, and thus to better express the threatening character of the music (motive I is marked with circles, the melody based on motive II is marked with squares in figure 37).

63 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 54, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

Figure 37. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Threat, mm. 1-4.

Medtner’s suggestions given to Iles in 1940 for variation 2 “Caprice” of op. 47 are: “Do not get into this slowly. Start at once with élan! little notes being quick straight away.”64

Interpreting these instructions, I have applied the principle fil rouge to this variation. Thus, I have emphasized the shape and the singing quality of the melody (based on motive II), played with the thumbs of the right hand. Seeing this melody as fil rouge of the piece effectively set the hierarchy of textural elements and helped start the variation with the necessary momentum, allowing the thirty-second notes to be in tempo from the beginning (figure 38).

64 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC 6.1.3.3, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

Figure 38. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Caprice, mm. 1-5.

“Charms,” variation 4 from op. 47, is an interesting example of the flessibile concept.

Among other Medtner’s instructions and observations recorded by Iles in her Notes, I have found these particularly helpful in interpreting this variation:

In bar 18 he made a rhythmic hold-up between C and B…Bar 19. Left-hand rhythmic hold-up between [the] first and [the] second quavers. This theme [has] to come out strongly. He said, someone else wants to say something…Bar 22. Right-hand rhythmic hold-up between B and C. Bar 23. Left-hand rhythmic hold-up between [the] first and [the] second quavers. Again, someone else wants to say something. Bar 26. Right-hand rhythmic hold-up between C and B.65 These lines reveal Medtner’s interpretation of the grazioso section in “Charms,” variation

4 (mm.17-32). Applying these ‘rhythmic hold-ups’ to my performance, I have realized that they can only be expressed effectively in combination with an uninterrupted movement of the surrounding elements. This way, each entrance of different voices (‘someone else wants to say something’) stands out from the overall continuous flow, creating an artistically convincing effect. Therefore, except for the described ‘hold-ups,’ I aimed to maintain a steady pulse in my

65 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, 51, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

48 performance throughout the grazioso section, specifically focusing on the movement preceding the first beats of mm.18, 19, 22, and 23. The resulting rhythmic flow of this episode is depicted in figure 39. The ‘hold-ups’ are indicated with triangles, the sections of uninterrupted movement are indicated with the arrows pointing right (figure 39).

Figure 39. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Charms, mm. 17-24.

In “Incantation,” variation 12, Medtner’s instructions are: “Play al rigore di tempo - make like a procession”66 and further - “without the slightest rallentando anywhere, in strictest tempo.”67 In contrast to Medtner’s instructions, all the existing recordings demonstrate a significant degree of rubato in this variation. Furthermore, the published edition68 specifies that

66 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.3.3, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

67 Ibid., Appendix 2, EIMC 6.1.4.19.

68 Nikolay Karlovich Medtner, Sobranie sochineniĭ, [Moskva]: Gos. muzykalʹnoe izd-vo [Complete Edition. 12 vols. Moscow: State Music Publishers], 1959-63. Vol.3.

49 eighth note equals quarter note, which means that this variation should be performed in exactly half the speed of the previous variation 11, “Gnomes,” which is marked 100 per quarter note.

Almost all the existing recordings do not sustain that tempo correlation. In my recording I aimed to use exact proportion eighth note equal quarter note, of the tempos: 116 per quarter note in

Variation 11 “Gnomes” and 58 per quarter note in variation 12, “Incantation.”

“Song of the Water Nymph,” variation 14 is another example of Medtner’s flessibile.

Medtner’s own instructions for this variation are described in Iles’s Notes:

much flexibility accelerando and rallentando. E.g. in bar 8 start slow (bringing out [the] F sharp as well as D sharp [in the] right hand), accelerando and rallentando to bar 12, play this bar more slowly, pause on bar 13 top B, then accelerando and rallentando to bar 16. Next part do the same way.69 These elaborate instructions in eight-bar phrase shows the level of precision, required in flessibile (figure 40 on page 51).

Considering, that the published edition of this work only indicates poco agitato in measure 9, it becomes clear that to achieve more informed interpretation of this piece, the performers should consult Iles’s Notes. Figure 40 illustrates the realization of the flessibile concept in “Song of the Water Nymph,” based on Medtner’s instructions.

The arrows pointing right show sections of accelerando, the arrows pointing left show sections of rallentando. The triangle shows B in m.13, where the performer is supposed to pause.

The notes D sharp and F sharp, which must be brought out, are marked with a circle.

69 Alexander Karpeyev, “New light on Nikolay Medtner as Pianist and Teacher” (D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014), Appendix 2, EIMC, 6.1.4.19, 136, http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/.

Based on fil rouge (Motive II, marked with squares in figure 40), in my performance of this piece I have decided to use the tempo around quarter equal 92. That allowed me to connect all the rhythmic nuances in this piece in a natural and cohesive flow, and to hold the composition together.

Figure 40. Second Improvisation, op. 47. Song of the Water Nymph, mm. 17-24.

Through my study and recording of Medtner’s compositions, I have learned that finding and following the fil rouge of a piece is the key element in interpretation of rhythm and tempo in

Medtner’s music. It allows choosing a proper tempo and deciding on a rhythmic category (al rigore or flessibile).

CHAPTER IV LIST OF AUDIO TRACKS AND LINER NOTES

List of Audio Tracks

01. Two Tales, Op. 20, No. 1, Tale in B flat Minor DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/0E8W-5694

02. Two Tales, Op. 20, No. 2, Tale in B Minor, Campanella DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/9ew6-cm04

03. Three Pieces, Op. 31, No. 1, Improvisation DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/4cdd-q659

04. Three Pieces, Op. 31, No. 2, Marche Funebre DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/edsy-yc21

05. Three Pieces, Op. 31, No. 3, Conte DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/thts-ag77

06. Four Tales, Op. 34, No. 2, Tale in E Minor DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/c8z8-g614

07. Four Tales, Op. 34, No. 3, Tale in A Minor, Wood Goblin DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/5svd-zh77

08. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, “Theme: Song of the Water Nymph” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/s0fb-7059

09. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation I, “Meditation” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/6jsj-tg65

10. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation II, “Caprice” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/pq5e-tp09

11. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation III, “Winged Dancers” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/nyx0-na77

12. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation IV, “Charms” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/fb8b-5682

13. * Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variations V-VIII: “Humoresque,” “Mid the Waves,” “The Noise of the Crowd,” “In the Forest” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/a0mh-sr86

14. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation IX, “Wood Goblin” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/rvwg-6816

15. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation X-XII: “Elves,” “Gnomes,” “Incantation” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/yapv-c319

16. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variation XIII, “Threat” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/31w3-pc43

17. Second Improvisation, Op. 47, Variations XIV-XV: “Song of the Water Nymph,” “Stormy Weather,” and “Conclusion” DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/dkvg-w474

* Track 13 combines variations V, VI, and VII to preserve attacca, pedal connections, and tempo relationships between the variations. Following the same principle, track 15 includes variations X-XII; track 17 includes variations XIV-XV and “Conclusion.”

Liner Notes

In recent years, interest in Russian composer Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) has surged. International festivals, conferences, and competitions dedicated to Medtner have taken place in Europe and Russia, with scholars and performers devoting greater attention to his work. All of Medtner’s piano works are now available on CD. However, the interpretation of Medtner’s works and the implementation of his tempo-rhythmical concepts fil rouge, al-rigore, and flessibile are not fully studied and remain a gray area in performance practice. The importance of tempo and rhythm in the interpretation of Medtner’s music is evident from his own recordings, published editions of his compositions, his book Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer, and his teaching instructions, as documented by students like Edna Iles. Nikolai Medtner’s musical legacy consists of 61 opuses, most of which are compositions for piano. These include 3 piano concerti, 14 piano sonatas, 38 Tales, the 3 cycles of Forgotten Melodies and other works. Like Chopin, Medtner used the piano in of all his compositions, including over one hundred works for voice and piano, 3 Sonatas for piano and violin, a Piano Quintet and other works. Though his works are stylistically close to his contemporaries Sergey Rachmaninov and Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner has a unique voice. His deeply lyrical melodies are reminiscent of Russian folk tunes, while his mastery in sonata form and contrapuntal techniques reveal careful study of Western classical composers. Medtner was born in Moscow in 1880. His mother, Aleksandra Karlovna, was a descendant of Goedike, a family of many generations of professional musicians. She became Medtner’s first piano teacher. The composer’s father, Karl Petrovitch Medtner, from a young age had an interest in German philosophy, literature, and poetry. Among other authors, he deeply revered works by Goethe. The father’s appreciation had a strong impact on the aesthetic senses of young Nikolai and, perhaps, influenced the future creation of many of his vocal works, dedicated to Goethe and others. In 1892, at the age of 12, Nikolai Medtner entered the Moscow Conservatory. During his years as a student and after graduation, Medtner appeared publicly as a pianist, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, and his own works. Medtner was regarded as an excellent interpreter of many works of classical and romantic periods. Later he primarily focused on performing his own works, but continued to perform selected works by Beethoven. Medtner’s piano skills and artistic presentation were highly valued by his contemporaries. Medtner left Russia in 1921 with his wife Anna, whom he married two years earlier. First, they moved to Germany, then France. In the 1924-1925 season, with the help of Rachmaninov, Medtner undertook a successful concert tour in the United States. In 1927 he returned to the Soviet Union for a concert tour. This was his last visit to his motherland, as later he was denied entry to his country. In 1928, he concertized in England. In 1935, Medtner’s family decided to settle in England. There Medtner found warm support and recognition, and was able to give regular concerts and teach a limited number of students. The British pianist, Edna Iles, became an important figure in Medtner's life both as a devoted student and a source of information regarding Medtner's teaching. From 1930 to 1950 she took lessons with the composer and diligently wrote notes after each lesson, documenting everything

Medtner told her. These notes later became part of Edna Iles Medtner Collection (EIMC), and in many ways informed and inspired this recording. My intentions for this recording were to create an informed interpretation of the pieces previously recorded by Medtner: Tales op. 20 nos. 1 and 2; “Campanella,” Tales op. 34 nos. 2, and 3, and Improvisation, op. 31 no.1. I also hoped to realize the composer’s vision of the principles fil rouge, al-rigore, and flessibile in the recording of the Second Improvisation, op. 47 and miniatures op. 31 nos. 2 and 3 (not recorded by Medtner). To achieve these goals, I studied and analyzed Medtner’s recordings, his book Daily Work, and Edna Iles’s Notes on the interpretation of Medtner’s works, which contains detailed instructions on interpretation of op. 47 as given to Iles by Medtner himself. Fil Rouge (red line) is an interpretive concept used by Medtner to describe the central line of a composition. Referring to this idea, he frequently reminded his students to keep in mind the whole picture of a composition. According to Edna Iles, fil rouge also applies to keeping tempo. This principle informed my interpretive decisions on tempos and the degree of rhythmic flexibility in each composition. Medtner perceived his music in two main categories: strict or relaxed tempos (i.e., al rigore di tempo and tempo flessibile). Thus, Campanella op. 20 no. 2, Tale op. 34 no. 3, Variations no. 2 “Meditation” and no. 9 “Wood Goblin” of the Second Improvisation, op. 47 are clearly marked with al rigore di tempo. In addition to the markings found in the published editions of the recorded compositions, I have used the composer’s instructions to Iles, recently transcribed in Alexander Karpeyev’s dissertation on the topic. These instructions reveal three more variations of op.47 in the strict category, not marked in the editions: no. 5 “Humoresque,” no. 12 “Incantation,” and no. 13 “Threat.” Based on the Karpeyev’s research, Marche Funebre, op. 31 no. 2 is also added to the al rigore category. The indicated tempo markings and the tempo correlation with the adjacent al rigore variations helped me to identify two more al rigore variations from op. 47: Variations no.10 “Elves” and no.11 “Gnomes.” The rest of the compositions in the project are interpreted as tempo flessibile (flexible tempo). Medtner described tempo flessibile with the following statement: “Flessibile consists of a subtle gradualness of accelerations or decelerations that do not disturb the proper correlation of neighboring notes. Such flessibile always preserves the common, main axis of the tempo.” It must be noted, when applying the al rigore concept, Medtner did not imply a strictly metronomic performance. In his Daily Work he emphasized the mechanical quality of a metronome by comparing it to a thermometer: “Get rid of the metronome, [it] is [like a] thermometer. It is incompetent in the artistic movement.” Therefore, to preserve the artistic nature of music while keeping a consistent tempo in al rigore compositions, I focused on internal pulse and developing an “inner metronome.” Fairy Tale (translation from Russian Skazka), is a title used by Nikolai Medtner for many of his piano miniatures. These contain some of his most original and captivating music. Of all his Tales, Medtner regarded the Two Tales op. 20 most highly. Both works were written in 1909, at a time when Medtner felt the influence of Russian music traditions most clearly. Tale op. 20 no.1 in B flat Minor became popular during the composer’s lifetime. The piece immediately attracts the listener with a typically Russian captivating melody, full of sincerity and warmth of feeling. The entire composition is based on the initial lyrical idea, and skillfully developed and elaborated throughout the piece. Tale op. 20 no.2 in B Minor is reminiscent of the sound of the bells in Russian Orthodox tradition. The composer addresses a note to the composition:

“Campanella - the song or tale is told by the bell but not about the bell.” Marked minaccioso (Eng. Menacing), this work indeed sounds formidable and menacing. The composer further explains: “There is a thunder in the bells ringing.” Op. 31 was composed in 1914 in memory of Alexey Stanchinsky. The talented young composer suddenly died at the age of 22, probably by his own hand. Medtner and Stanchinsky had met little more than six months before the tragedy, and they had rapidly developed a warm friendship. The music of this opus reflects Medtner’s deep feelings of sadness, resentment, and despair. The first piece in op. 31, Improvisation, is a set of variations in B flat minor. It is Medtner’s first contribution to the form of variations since his student years. The piece opens with a haunting and melancholic melody, marked Andantino, gracile. In the following five variations, Medtner masterfully altered the rhythmic pattern of the lamenting motive of the introduction and developed the composition into an impressive display of virtuosity and stylistic variety. Marche Funebre (Funeral march) op. 31 no. 2 was created right after Stanchinsky's death. The atmosphere of the piece is dismal and dark, it reflects the composer’s grief and resentment caused by the loss of his dear friend. The steady and ominous motion of the chords is reminiscent of orthodox church bells. Conte, op.31 no. 3, is in a simple ternary form, where the outer parts express a range of emotions, from melancholic emptiness to anger and fury. The middle part, cantando abbandonamente, in contrast, is gentle and sweet in character. Tale op. 34 no. 2, stormy and unsettling in character, has an epigraph – a quote from Fyodor Tutchev's poem “Peace” (1858): “Kogda chto zvali my svoim navek ot nas ushlo,” translated into English as “When what we called our own has left us forever.” The themes of death and the search for consolation and peace were relevant to the composer at that time. He started composing this Tale in 1914, the year that Russia found itself in a war with Germany during which time Medtner lost many of his close friends. Tale op. 34 no.3 in A Minor, entitled Wood Goblin, involves a quarrelsome and gnarly character of a wood goblin. The composer addresses a note to the piece: "Wood goblin - kind and plaintive.” The piece opens with an arpeggiation on a dominant seventh chord. It is followed by a counterpoint between the grotesque theme, performed staccato in the right hand and the menacing theme in the left hand, reminiscent of the melody from the Requiem plainchant melody, “Dies Irae.” Second Improvisation, op. 47 was written in 1925, during Medtner’s French residence in Fontain d’Yvette. Like the earlier work, Improvisation, op. 31 No. 1, it is a set of variations on a single theme. The title Improvisation reflects the composer’s artistic interpretation of the form. Medtner’s described his vision during the work on the middle section of the First Concerto op. 33 (1918), which is also composed in a form of variations: “The variations are improvisatory in nature … properly not variations, but improvisations, Intermezzi, Caprices.” “Theme: Song of the Water Nymph” depicts a mysterious, alluring creature, which comes directly from the old folk legends. The enchanting melody in the opening is chromatic and tonally unstable. It recurs in a variety of guises in subsequent movements. “Winged Dancers,” variation 3 is full of tweeting, chatter, and wing flapping. Its staccato texture filled with grace notes, and reminiscent of “Ballet of Unhatched Chicks” from Pictures at an exhibition by Mussorgsky. “In the Forest,” variation 8 is a pivotal point of the set. It is a transition from A major to G minor, from the world of laughter, humor, and cheerful buzz of the crowd (“Charms,” “Humoresque,” “Winged Dancers,” “Noise of the Crowd”) to the dark and frightening world of fantasy and ancient forest spirits (“Wood Goblin,” “Elves,” “Gnomes”). Variation 12

“Incantation,” featuring traditionally Russian plagal harmonic progressions and bell-like sounds, is reminiscent of Russian orthodoxy with its hypnotic bells and choral chanting. Variation No.13 “Threat,” stands out from the rest of the variations not only by its key, B flat minor, but also by its menacing and extremely somber character. Both motives of the theme are used in counterpoint from the very beginning of the variation, and both are interwoven with a dense texture of thirty-second notes. The last variation, “Stormy Weather,” represents the storm, caused by the water nymph - the main character of the set. Second Improvisation, op. 47 is the largest set of variations written by Medtner. The variety of characters and scenes represented in the piece, the outstanding compositional techniques, and the virtuosic demands put this opus alongside with works like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Schumann’s Carnaval and Kreisleriana, and Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations.

CHAPTER V REFLECTIONS ON THE RECORDING AND OUTCOMES

Recording Process

I recorded Medtner’s compositions over seven days at the recording studios of the School of Music of the University of Iowa. Tales op. 20 no. 1, op. 34 no. 2 and Three pieces op. 31 were recorded in January of 2018, the Second improvisation, op. 47 was recorded in March

2018, Tales op. 20 no. 2, Campanella and op. 34 no. 3 Wood Goblin were recorded in April

2018. The whole process was assisted by the sound engineer James Edel. The editing was completed by Ronald Lau and James Edel.

In preparation of the studio recording I have conducted multiple preliminary recordings using my portable sound recorder Tascam- Dr-100mkII. These preliminary recordings allowed me to reflect on my performance, to check the tempos in recorded pieces, and to make necessary adjustments to the interpretation. It also helped to develop physical and mental endurance, critical for the intense process of studio recording.

During the spring of 2018 I resided in San Jose, California, where I worked as a piano teacher on full-time basis. During the two phone conferences with my teacher Dr. Uriel Tsachor which occurred on February 2 and February 26, 2018, I submitted my preliminary recordings to him and received valuable feedback and comments on my interpretation. This has helped me to further shape my interpretation and to better prepare for the studio recordings in March.

During the recording sessions at Voxman building I served as my own producer. Op. 31 nos. 2 and 3 were co-produced by Ronald Lau. Previously I have gained experience in studio recordings while working on the project “Rediscovering Medtner” with Rachel Joselson,

58 soprano, and Scott Conklin, violin. Through this experience I learned that note taking is an important part of the recording process. I have taken the notes on each take, including the numbers of takes, the measure numbers of the recorded sections, the perceived quality of each take, and, frequently, the tempos in each take.

My project aimed to recreate Medtner’s vision on interpretation of his works, specifically addressing rhythm, tempo, and tempo correlations between the variations in op. 47. With a plan of specific tempos, outlined in table 2 (p.42), it was particularly important for me to maintain control on the tempos during the recording sessions. Therefore, before each take I used a metronome to set my ‘inner metronome.’70 This process helped to make sure that the recorded material precisely reflects my interpretive decisions and preserves the tempo consistency between the takes.

In the studio I used grand piano Steinway D (2012). The studio equipment also included two pairs of microphones - Neumann M150TUBEs and DPA 4006a, the computer Mac Pro (Late

2013) Processor 3 GHz 8-Core Intel Xeon E5 Memory 64 GB 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC, hard- drive space ~8.5TB. The software used to record and edit all compositions was Pro Tools HDX version 2018.3 with a Merging Technologies Horus Interface / Converter.

After each recording session, all the references were forwarded to me by James

Edel and Ronald Lau for review. The edit maps were created in the web-application

Google Sheets and shared with James and Ronald electronically. The completed compilations were reviewed for consistency and corrected if necessary.

70 This usage of a metronome however, should not be confused with ‘practicing with a metronome,’ which Medtner advised against (see p.39). It means, that Medtner’s advocated against playing along with a working metronome, he did not deny the importance of checking the tempos with metronome.

Outcomes

The recording of Medtner’s selected works was a challenging but also a very rewarding project. I have now circa 50 minutes of recorded music by Medtner, including the rare and pianistically demanding set of variations – Second Improvisation, op.47. I have made my best effort to interpret and record these works with full application of Medtner’s compositional principles, including concepts of fil rouge, al rigore di tempo, and flessibile, described in the third chapter of this paper. I have also accomplished the intended tempo relationships between variations in op.47, outlined in table 2 on page 42.

Through this project I have learned the interpretive concepts fil rouge, al rigore, and flessibile, which will be an invaluable asset in preparation for the next recording projects. In the future I plan to record more compositions by Nikolai Medtner, including his Sonata op. 53 no. 1,

Romantica, Quintet in C Major, and other works. I hope that my recordings will help me to organize concerts, to collaborate with other musicians, and to connect to music festivals and societies in Europe, dedicated to Medtner. I also hope, that this project will inspire more studies on interpretation and performances of Medtner’s music among concert pianists and piano students around the globe.

REFERENCES

Editions of Medtner’s music Medtner, Nikolay Karlovich. 1959. Sobranie sochineniĭ. [Moskva]: Gos. muzykalʹnoe izd-vo [Complete Edition. 12 vols. Moscow: State Music Publishers], 1959-63. Vol.1-3.

Books and Articles Anderson, M. “Edna Iles. Pianist and Champion of Medtner.” The Independent (24 March 2003). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/edna-iles-36367.html

Apetyan, Zarui, ed. N.K. Medtner: Vospominaniya, stat’i, materialï [Reminiscences, Articles, Materials]. Moscow: Sovetskiy Kompozitor, 1981. ______. N.K. Medtner: Pis’ma [Letters]. Moscow: Sovetskiy Kompozitor, 1973.

Boyd, Malcolm. "Medtner and the Muse." The Musical Times 121, no. 1643 (1980): 22-25.

Dolinskaya, Yelena. Nikolay Medtner: monograficheskiy ocherk [Nikolay Medtner: Monographic Sketch]. Moscow: Muzïka, 1966.

______. Nikolay Medtner. Moscow: Muzïka/Jurgenson, 2013.

Holt, Richard. Nicolas Medtner, 1879-1951: a tribute to his art and personality. London: Dobson, 1955.

Martyn, Barrie. Nicolas Medtner: his life and music. Aldershot, Hants, England: Scolar Press, 1995. Medtner, Nikolay Karlovich. The muse and the fashion, being a defense of the foundations of the art of music [by] Nicolas Medtner. Translated with some annotations by Alfred J. Swan. Haverford, Pa: Haverford College Bookstore, 1951. Medtner, Nikolay. Povsednevnaya rabota pianista i kompozitora [The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer]. Moscow: State Music Publishers, 1963; 2nd ed. 1978; reprint Moscow: Muzïka, 2011. Vasjutinskaja, Evgenija. N. K. Medtner. Lichnost’, vzgljady, stil. Ispolnenie muzyki Metnera: analiticheskie etjudy [Personality, views and style. Performance of Medtner's music: analytical studies]. St Petersburg: Kompositor, 2014.

Dissertations Bondar, Liudmila E. “Nicolas Medtner: composer, pianist, and teacher (translation of Medtner's notes compiled into a book, ‘The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer’ by M. Gurvich and L. Lukomsky, with an introduction by his student, P. Vasiliev).” Master’s thesis, Michigan State University, 2003. Chernaya-Oh, Ekaterina. “The Skazki (Fairy Tales) of Nikolai Medtner: The Evolution and Characteristics of the Genre with Compositional and Performance Aspects of Selected Fairy Tales.” D.M.A. diss., University of North Texas, 2008. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52438/

Karpeyev, Alexander. “New light on Nikolay Medtner as pianist and teacher.” D.M.A. thesis, City University London, 2014. Accessed Mar 15, 2018. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13011/

Recordings by Medtner Nicolai Medtner. Medtner Plays Medtner. Vol.1, Melody MEL 10 CD 02200, 2013. CD. ______. Medtner Plays Medtner. Vol.2, Melody MEL 10 CD 02274, 2014. CD. ______. Medtner plays Medtner. Recorded in 1931-1947. Muzïka/Jurgenson, 2013. CD. ______. The complete solo recordings of Nicolas Medtner, Vol. 1. Recorded in 1930- 31. Columbia/Appian APR 5546, 1998. CD. ______. The complete solo recordings of Nicolas Medtner, Vol. 2. Recorded in 1936 & 1946. HMV/Appian APR 5547, 1999. CD. ______. The complete solo recordings of Nicolas Medtner, Vol. 3. Recorded in 1946. HMV/Appian APR 5548, 2004. CD.

Recordings by other pianists Parakhina, Dina. “Medtner - Improvisation No. 2 op. 47.” (video) Filmed in 2014. Posted February 21, 2016. Accessed March 15, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAmrgFobaJo. Milne, Hamish. Medtner. N, Piano music, Vol. 4. CRD Records CRD 3461, 1989. CD. Prommachart, Poom. Piano Recital: Liszt, F. / Scriabin, A. / Medtner, N. Champs Hill CHRCD104, 2015. CD. Tozer, Geoffrey. MEDTNER: Piano Works, Vol. 8. Chandos CHAN10266, Nov 4, 2004. CD. Tropp, Vladimir. Russian Recital: Scriabin, A. / Medtner, N. / Rachmaninov, S. Fondamenta FON1401017, 2015. CD.

Tropp, Vladimir. Scriabin: 24 Preludes Op. 11 / Medtner: Second Improvisation, Op. 47. Denon Records, 1996. CD. Wild, Earl. Forgotten melodies, the piano music of Nikolai Medtner. Ivory Classics 75003, 2005. CD.