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WILTON-DISSERTATION-2014.Pdf (3.415Mb) © Copyright by Amanda Wilton December 2014 YORK BOWEN'S THREE VIOLA AND PIANO MASTERWORKS FOR LIONEL TERTIS _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Moores School of Music University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts _______________ By Amanda Wilton December 2014 YORK BOWEN'S THREE VIOLA AND PIANO MASTERWORKS FOR LIONEL TERTIS _________________________ Amanda Wilton APPROVED: _________________________ John Snyder, Ph.D. Committee Chair _________________________ Wayne Brooks _________________________ Andrzej Grabiec _________________________ David Bynog _________________________ John W. Roberts, Ph.D. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of English ii YORK BOWEN’S THREE VIOLA AND PIANO MASTERWORKS FOR LIONEL TERTIS _______________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Moores School of Music University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts _______________ By Amanda Wilton December 2014 ABSTRACT English violist Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) was the “father of the viola” and revolutionized viola playing as we know it today. Known for his beauty and depth of tone, Tertis’s techniques are evident in the many works he requested from composers in his quest to promote the viola as a solo instrument. York Bowen (1884-1961) contributed several works to Tertis’s mission and served as one of the violist’s primary piano collaborators from 1904 to around 1920. In addition to several short pieces and the Viola Concerto (1908), Bowen wrote three masterworks to perform with Tertis: Sonata No. 1 in C Minor (1905), Sonata No. 2 in F Major (1906), and Phantasy for Viola and Piano (1918). This dissertation explores the background of the Tertis-Bowen collaboration and how the musicians’ similarities in musical aesthetic, attitude, and philosophy led to the creation of these three works. Chapter 1 covers Tertis’s early career as a viola soloist and identifies his revolutionary techniques and signature sound. Chapter 2 focuses on Bowen’s early career as a pianist and composer, his compositional style, and his collaboration with Tertis. The end of the chapter includes a comparison of the two musicians and offers several reasons why the partnership worked so well. Chapter 3 recounts the history of the two sonatas and Phantasy, while Chapter 4 includes musical examples showing the manifestation of Tertis’s signature sound and revolutionary techniques found in each of these three works. The historical and stylistic analysis in this document proves the value of these works, and also provides the evidence needed to equate them with those already in the standard viola repertoire. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members, especially to my dissertation advisors who offered important advice and feedback to help shape this work: Dr. John Snyder and Dr. Paul Bertagnolli. I would like to thank Professor Andrzej Grabiec for serving as a member of my committee, offering advice at my juries, recitals, and in chamber music. I sincerely thank David Bynog for joining my committee and offering his expertise of viola literature and history. I would like to thank my viola teacher Wayne Brooks for his inspiration as a performer, his encouragement to pursue this subject, and his guidance in playing Bowen’s music with the panache of Tertis. I would also like to thank my family for their support and patience in my completion of this degree and document: Cindy, Ray, Valerie, Rex, Lori, and Al. Another special thank you goes to my friends at Blue Lake who have helped me study for comprehensive exams, helped with the musical examples for this document, and inspired me in performance and teaching each summer. Finally, I would like to thank Michael Dennison at Comus Edition for permission to reproduce the passage from Brahms’s “Minnelied,” from Lionel Tertis: The Early Years, edited by John White. Also, I would like to thank Lewis Mitchell at Josef Weinberger Limited for permission to reprint excerpts from the Viola Concerto (Bowen) and Phantasy (Bowen). v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1. LIONEL TERTIS...................................................................................................................5 Signature Sound .............................................................................................................8 Developing his sound, Kreisler’s influence .......................................................8 Descriptions of Tertis’s sound .........................................................................11 Tertis’s ideal timbre .........................................................................................12 A New Standard of Viola Technique ...........................................................................13 Bowing and projection .....................................................................................14 Fingerings ........................................................................................................15 Sul G & Sul C ......................................................................................16 Second & fourth positions ...................................................................18 High register.........................................................................................18 Expressive techniques ......................................................................................20 Vibrato .................................................................................................21 Portamento ...........................................................................................22 Continued Advocacy for the Viola ..............................................................................23 Tertis’s Legacy.............................................................................................................26 2. YORK BOWEN...................................................................................................................28 Performance Collaboration of Bowen and Tertis ........................................................30 Bowen’s Style ..............................................................................................................32 Influences .........................................................................................................32 vi Bowen’s individual style..................................................................................37 Rise in modernist trends...................................................................................39 Bowen’s reaction .............................................................................................40 After World War I ............................................................................................43 Comparison of Style: Tertis & Bowen.........................................................................43 Compositions for Tertis ...............................................................................................47 3. HISTORY OF THE THREE WORKS ................................................................................48 The Two Viola Sonatas ................................................................................................48 Phantasy .......................................................................................................................52 4. STYLISTIC EVIDENCE IN THE THREE WORKS .........................................................55 Contralto Passages .......................................................................................................55 Fingerings: Color Change with Sul G & Sul C ...........................................................60 Fingerings: High Register ............................................................................................63 Vibrato .........................................................................................................................68 Portamento ...................................................................................................................70 Virtuosity .....................................................................................................................74 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................83 Appendix: York Bowen’s Published Works for Viola ............................................................87 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................88 vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example 1.1: Brahms, arranged by Tertis, “Minnelied,” op. 71, no. 5, mm. 5-13 ...............................17 1.2a: Brahms, Sonata No. 2, mvt. III, mm. 143-146 (viola part, first edition) .......................19 1.2b: Brahms, Sonata No. 2, mvt. III, mm. 143-146 (clarinet part in C) ................................ 19 1.3: Brahms, arranged by Tertis, “Minnelied,” op. 71, no. 5, mm. 5-13 (with portamento transcribed from recording) .............................................................................................. 23 2.1: Bowen, Sonata No. 1, mvt. III, mm. 6-17 (viola part) ....................................................
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