This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Contemporary Russian Piano School Pedagogy and Performance Wan, Blanc Chun Pong Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 1 CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN PIANO SCHOOL: PEDAGOGY AND PERFORMANCE Blanc Chun Pong Wan A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy King’s College London University of London July 2016 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. 2 ABSTRACT This research identifies primarily the characteristics of modern Russian pianism. In the process of exploring performance practice, this study throws light on the inter- locking relationship between pedagogy and performance. Further, it will take the opportunity to expand on the ‘Russian Piano School’ ideology and to examine how this ideology has affected the interpretation of Russian pianists. This thesis uses written documentary sources, observations, interviews as well as sound recordings to form its conclusions. Chapter one takes the opportunity to examine the current scholarship and aims to demonstrate the relative depth of this thesis. The second chapter focuses on the contemporary idea of the ‘Russian Piano School’ and sets the scope of the discussion for this research. The term Russian School or Tradition – occurs throughout the last century and has been widely used in association with a particular style of performance. This chapter, however, disputes the implication of the term and its connection with performance style, and provides another perspective to current scholarship. Chapter three embarks on further investigation of Russian piano pedagogy at present, and expands the subject-matter with reference to three distinctive principles of the Russian School of playing: the idea of a long melodic line, a cantabile singing tone and a solid technical foundation. This section reveals some particularly striking observations. It should be of interest to note that globalisation has already made a significate impact on the Russian pedagogical approach. The fourth, fifth and sixth chapters present the three characteristics of Russian pianism separately. Chapter four places the spotlight 3 on the technical foundation. In contrast to other schools, Russian pianists pay heavy attention to technique at an early age. This chapter aims to deconstruct their current curriculum for technical exams, and analyses a number of études and technical excises. It should be of interest to note that this section considers the tutor books used throughout the student period, leading to the solid technical foundation with which generations of Russian pianists seem to have been equipped. Chapter five looks closely at the long melodic line in the performance of Russian pianists and explores the effectiveness of long lines in Romantic music. It does, however, suggest this particular feature has been ‘embedded’ into their playing unconsciously, which has influenced some of their performance decisions. The sixth chapter, as its title suggests, focuses on the cantabile sound quality in Russian performances – another noticeable feature of the Russian musical aesthetics. The ways in which Russian pianists construct their tonal layers at different levels can be studied in depth and can be examined from a number of different angles. It proves helpful to use Tchaikovsky’s B flat minor Piano Concerto, Op. 23, and Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major KV 332, as case studies to furnish examples. Finally, a concluding chapter draws together the strands of the preceding discussion. In sum, the thesis reconsiders the modern ‘Russian Piano School’ in relation to the globalisation of teaching and practice, and concludes with suggestions for further study. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and encouragement from many people. Firstly, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Daniel Leech-Wilkinson (King’s College London), for his invaluable guidance and advice throughout the research. His critical commentary on my drafts challenged me to think further and broader; without his encouragement I would have not completed the research. I am also grateful to Professor Marina Frolova-Walker (University of Cambridge) and the late Professor Alexander Ivashkin (Goldsmith, University of London), for their beneficial supervisions at the beginning of the research process. Sincere thanks to Mr Jonathan Summers (British Library Sound Archive) and Professor Boris Berman (Yale School of Music) for their valuable advice and helpful suggestions. I am indebted to my dear friend, Dr Leslie Howard, for proofreading the thesis. His comments and advice have been indispensable. In addition, I owe much to Ms Natalia Ruchkina for her generous arrangements throughout my visit to Russia; to Professor Vladimir Tarnopolski (Moscow Conservatoire) for his help in arranging some of my interviews at the Moscow Conservatoire; to Ms Julia Kamerzan and Mrs Viktoriya Yip for their kind assistance with translations. The research would not have been completed without the useful information and data from a number of pianists and professors including: Dimitri Alexeev, Sofya Gulyak, Dina Parakhina from the Royal College of Music; Rustem Hayroudinoff, Tatiana 5 Sarkissova from the Royal Academy of Music; Elena Kuznetsova, Alexander Mndoyants, Pavel Nersessian, Natalia Trull from the Moscow Conservatoire. I am thankful to the support I received from the British Library Edison Research Fellowship, the Thurston Dart Research Grant from the Royal Musical Association, the Central Research Fund from the University of London, as well as the Lightfoot Vacation Scholarship from King’s College London. Above all, I would like to express my deepest love and gratitude to my family. This thesis would not have been possible without their unconditional love and boundless support. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………..2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….4 TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….6 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….………...9 CHAPTER 1: A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE CURRENT SCHOLARSHIP……22 1.1 Music Literature by Western musicologists..……………..………………........26 1.2 Music Literature by Russian pianists……………………..……….………........31 1.3 Unpublished Theses…………………….............………..……….………........53 1.4 Conclusion…...............………………….............………..………………........59 CHAPTER 2: THE RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION……………………..……..60 2.1 The Soviet School in the Past……………………………..………………........60 2.1.1 Anton Rubinstein and the Rise of Nationalism……………………….…...63 2.1.2 Nikolai Rubinstein and the Moscow Conservatory………….......….…..…67 2.1.3 The Four Giants: Goldenweiser, Igumnov, Neuhaus and Feinberg.....……70 2.2 Russian Pianism at Present……………..………………....……..…………......78 2.2.1 The Globalisation Effect……………………………………….………….78 2.2.2 Principles of the Russian School of Playing...………………….…………84 2.2.3 Self-perceptions of the ‘School’…………………..……….………………90 2.3 The Meaning of ‘Russian Piano School’.………..…………….………..….......93 7 2.3.1 Understanding from Researchers……………………………..…….……..93 2.3.2 Understanding from Russian Performers…………………………...…..…98 2.3.3 Understanding Russian Piano School as a Process………………......…..101 CHAPTER 3: MODERN EDUCATION SYSTEM & INSTRUMENTAL PEDAGOGIES………………………………………………………..…………...105 3.1 The Russian Music Education System...............................................................105 3.1.1 Children Music Schools.............................................................................107 3.1.2 Music Colleges...........................................................................................108 3.1.3 Specialist Music Schools............................................................................112 3.1.4 Conservatoires............................................................................................115 3.1.5 Russian Music Education Overview..........................................................117 3.1.6 Education System: East Meets West..........................................................121 3.2 Current Pedagogical Approach in Practice........................................................127 3.2.1 Expression & Communication...................................................................130