Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2017 A Survey of Violin Encores Jia-Rong Gan Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC A SURVEY OF VIOLIN ENCORES By JIA-RONG GAN A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music 2017 Jia-Rong Gan defended this treatise on April 12, 2017. The members of the supervisory committee were: Corinne Stillwell Professor Directing Treatise Evan A. Jones University Representative Benjamin Sung Committee Member Gregory D. Sauer Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude to Dr. Benjamin Sung, Professor Greg Sauer, Dr. Evan Jones and, Professor Corinne Stillwell, for their help, encouragements and expertise. It has been a great pleasure and an honor to have had the opportunity to work with four amazing musicians, but most of all Professor Corinne Stillwell. The endless effort, love, and pertinent criticism she has showed me, successfully guided me through this treatise as well as the two lecture recitals. Without her, this project would not have been possible. Many thanks to my pianists Nolan Miller and Chun Li for the knowledge and musical inspiration they have shared; my good friends Elizabeth Donovan, Maggie Thompson, and Timothy Stephenson, for the reassurances they have provided; and my editor, Sarah Gilbert, who has helped me put ideas and thoughts into cohesive sentences. Finally, I want to thank my family members, Heang Lee Gan, Geok Wah Chew and Jiaying Gan, for their unconditional love and support even though they are thousands of miles away. The support and encouragement from all these people are my source of energy and motivation, and I am eternally grateful for their contributions through this journey of mine. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………..... v 1. INTRODUCTION…...……………………………………………………………………….... 1 1.1 Aproach……………………………………………………………………………………. 3 2. NINETEENTH CENTURY COMPOSITIONS BY VIOLINIST PERFORMED AS ENCORES.....................................................................................................................................5 2.1 Le Streghe by Nicolò Paganini………………………………………………….…............. 8 2.2 Romance in B-flat, Op. 2, No. 1 by Joseph Joachim………………………………........... 10 2.3 Légende, Op. 17 by Henri Wieniawski……………………………………………........... 12 2.4 Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 by Pablo de Sarasate………………………………………........ 14 2.5 Usage of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas as Encores…………...….... 15 3. TWENTIETH CENTURY TRANSCRIPTIONS BY VIOLINIST PERFORMED AS ENCORES…………………….................................................................................................. 16 3.1 Tango by Isaac Albeniz, transcribed by Mischa Elman.………………..………............... 19 3.2 Hungarian Folk Tunes by Béla Bartók, transcribed by Joseph Szigeti……...………….... 20 3.3 “It Ain’t Necessarily So” from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, transcribed by Jascha Heifetz.................................................................................................................... 21 3.4 Humoresque in G-flat Major by Antonin Dvořák, transcribed by Fritz Kreisler…..…...... 23 3.5 Farewell to Cucullain “Londonderry Air” (traditional folk song), transcribed by Kreisler, and Estrellita by Manuel Ponce, transcribed by Heifetz...................................... 24 4. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….………………. 27 APPENDIX: SELECTED PIECES PERFORMED AS ENCORES BY VARIOUS TWENTIETH CENTURY VIOLINISTS......................................................................................29 References..…………………………………………………………………………………........ 36 Biographical Sketch……………………………………………………………………………... 40 iv ABSTRACT The term “encore” originated from the French word for “again,” and in a musical setting it functions as a request to repeat a favorite musical work. Its first documented use was at performances of Italian operas in 1712 in London.1 Since then, the practice of encores has made its way to violin recitals, and the choice of repertoire for encores has changed significantly. A violinist’s choice of encores in the nineteenth century consisted of pieces with high technical demand, to feature the performer’s mastery of their instrument. However, technique alone was not enough. Works that highlighted the melodious and lyrical qualities of the violin were also very well-received. The twentieth century saw a change in the way music was disseminated. The phonograph was popularized, radio became a mainstay of home entertainment, and long play (LP) recordings brought classical music to a much wider audience. Many well-known violinists, including Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Joseph Szigeti, and Mischa Elman, began to record, transcribe, and arrange popular folk tunes, opera arias, and works originally composed for other instruments for the violin. These activities gave rise to the popularity of the short character pieces and soon became favorite encore pieces for violinists and audiences around the world. This treatise will present selected violin works that were performed as encores during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The paper commences with a discussion of the term “encore” itself, as well as a brief history of the practice of encores. Following that will be a study of the background and history of encore performance of selected nineteenth century violin encore works that were composed by violinists such as Nicolò Paganini, Joseph Joachim, Henri Wieniawski, and Pablo Sarasate, as well as selected violin transcriptions performed as encores by Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Joseph Szigeti, and Mischa Elman 1 Peter Walls, “Encore,” in The New Grove: Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 8, 2nd edition, ed. Stanley Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001), 196. v CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The term “encore,” cried out by English audiences to demand the repetition of a piece or to hear an additional work, originated from the French word “again,” which has a variety of meanings such as “still,” “yet,” and “longer.” Interestingly, the term had never been intended to mean “please play some more.” The French, Germans, and Italians use the phrase “Bis, bis” to express their desire to hear more from the performer. The tradition of crying out “encore” crept into the English language as a corruption of the Italian word “ancora” (again) and can be traced back to the early 1700s in audiences of the Italian opera in London.2 In February 1712, a comment was made in The Spectator: “I observe it’s become a custom, that whenever any gentlemen are particularly pleased with a song, at their crying out encore or altro volta, the performer is so obliging as to sing it over again.”3 In the days before the existence of recordings, the calling of “encore” was a way for the audience to enjoy a well-received aria or song from an opera once more. For the most part, the performer would happily oblige, even if it meant interrupting the flow of a recital or delaying the plotline of an opera performance. However, not everyone approved of this practice. According to the Harvard Dictionary of Music, “Franz Joseph Haydn had turned against this practice by 1799; on the occasion of the first performance of his Creation (1798), in a note printed on the program, he begged the audience not to insist upon the repetition of any number.” 4Venues often asked the audience to refrain from encore requests, and by the early twentieth century, programs at the 2 Peter Walls, “Encore,” in The New Grove: Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 8, 2nd edition, ed. Stanley Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001), 196. 3 Ibid, 196. 4 Apel, Willi. “Encore,” Harvard Dictionary of Music. (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1961), 288. 1 Metropolitan Opera warned sternly, in capital letters, “POSITIVELY NO ENCORES ALLOWED.” 5 Complaints of encores distracting from the music’s dramatic effect were not exclusive to opera houses, however. Instrumental soloists were also discouraged from performing encores. For example, the subheading of a 1920 article by violinist Victor Küzdö in the journal Musical America read, “the abolition of the encore nuisance would be an artistic innovation.”6 Küzdö explained that a violin recital should not be any longer than an hour and fifteen minutes. With the calling of encore, repeating or adding pieces not listed on the program, the symmetry of the well- planned program will be disrupted. Furthermore, Küzdö deemed that the dramatic and comedic act of “turning out the lights, closing the piano, and the ‘prima donna’ fiddler waving a final adieu to the audience” was unnecessary and undignified for a recital and the musical art.7 Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999), a well-known American-born violinist, caused a small controversy on the evening of December 12, 1957. Menuhin had performed the Preludio from J.S. Bach’s unaccompanied Partita in E Major as an encore to his brilliant performance of Ernest Bloch’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic. At that time, encores were an uncommon practice during a regular orchestra season because encores were thought to bring unbalance to