Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2013 Zoltán Kodály's Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8 : one cellist's path to performance Celeste Power Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Power, Celeste, "Zoltán Kodály's Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8 : one cellist's path to performance" (2013). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 917. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/917 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. ZOLTÁN KODÁLY’S SONATA FOR UNACCOMPANIED CELLO, OP. 8: ONE CELLIST’S PATH TO PERFORMANCE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Celeste Power B.M., University of New Mexico, 2005 M.M., University of Oklahoma, 2007 May 2013 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my professor, Dennis Parker, for all of his help over the past four years. Thank you for your guidance, patience, and honesty. Thank you for listening to me play and talk about Kodály for much longer than I am sure you wanted to hear it. I would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Robert Peck, Professor Espen Lilleslatten, and Professor Frederick Ortner for their willingness to serve on my committee, and for assisting me in the completion of this document. I would also like to thank my friends Paula Bujes and Pedro Huff for their friendship and support over the last four years. Thank you for reading my paper during all of its stages of development, giving suggestions, and providing a venue and delicious food for our support group. Your friendship has made this process and my life in general all the more bearable. Thank you to all the members of the cello studio for listening to me play Kodály’s Sonata more times than anyone would ever care to hear the piece. Finally, I would like to thank my friend and colleague in cello playing, Doug Wilber, for introducing me to this piece and for sharing some of his insights on his approach and performance with me. I would like to thank my friends and teammates on the LSU Cycling Team for providing an outlet for fun and success away from music. Bike racing has added an entirely new and exciting dimension to my life that I could have never imagined. I could not have enjoyed any of my success without you. And of course, I have to thank my parents for everything. You have let me do everything I have ever wanted without question. Thank you for supporting my education and decision to pursue music. I regret that my dad did not live to see the completion of this document and my education, but he was responsible for my start in music and I am grateful to him for pushing me ii to be better in everything that I do. Finally, I thank my mom for doing everything in the world to help me, supporting my life as a musician, and enabling my addiction to all bike-related activities and endeavors. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. vi Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... x Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 A Select Biography of Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) ..................................................... 3 Chapter 2 Historical Aspects of Op. 8 ........................................................................................ 10 Chapter 3 Guiding Principles of Cello Playing........................................................................... 17 3.1 Anticipated and Delayed Shifts ................................................................................ 17 3.2 The Bow .................................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Physical Aspects ....................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4 Scordatura .................................................................................................................. 26 4.1 Historical Perspective ............................................................................................... 26 4.2 Scordatura in Kodály’s Sonata ................................................................................. 30 4.2.1 Reading a Transposed Part ......................................................................... 31 4.2.2 Implications for Intonation ........................................................................ 32 Chapter 5 Movement I: Allegro maestoso ma appassionato ...................................................... 33 5.1 Formal Analysis ........................................................................................................ 33 5.2 First Theme Group Material ..................................................................................... 43 5.3 Second Theme Group Material ................................................................................. 50 5.4 The Development ...................................................................................................... 55 5.5 Thoughts on Performance ......................................................................................... 58 Chapter 6 Movement II: Adagio (con grand’ espressione) ....................................................... 60 6.1 Formal Analysis ........................................................................................................ 60 6.2 Bass Theme (a), (a1) ................................................................................................. 70 6.3 Soprano Theme (b), (b1) ........................................................................................... 74 6.4 The B Section: Con moto .......................................................................................... 78 6.5 Thoughts on Performance ......................................................................................... 83 Chapter 7 Movement III: Allegro molto vivace .......................................................................... 85 7.1 Formal Analysis ........................................................................................................ 86 7.2 Exposition ................................................................................................................. 87 7.3 Development ............................................................................................................. 92 7.4 Recapitulation ........................................................................................................... 96 7.5 Saltato and Ricochet Bow Strokes ............................................................................ 99 iv 7.6 Drones ..................................................................................................................... 101 7.7 Pizzicato Pitfalls...................................................................................................... 105 7.8 Restez Theme .......................................................................................................... 110 7.9 Cadenza ................................................................................................................... 113 7.10 Coda ...................................................................................................................... 114 7.11 Thoughts on Performance ..................................................................................... 116 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 119 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 120 Appendix: Letter of Permission ................................................................................................ 122 Vita ............................................................................................................................................ 123 v List of Figures Figure 1: mm. 10-11. Establishing a new position with an anticipated shift .............................. 18 Figure 2: Form diagram of the exposition .................................................................................. 35 Figure 3: mm. 1-14 ..................................................................................................................... 35 Figure 4: mm. 13-20. Descending and ascending semitone motion ........................................... 36 Figure 5: mm. 23-31. Descending semitone cadence in mm. 26-27 ........................................... 37 Figure 6: Excerpt of Second