PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND ANALYSIS FOR PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF VILLA-LOBOS'S BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9 by Fredi Vieira Gerling An essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2000 Essay supervisor: Professor Leopold LaFosse Take as a musical example the musical pattern score of the playing of one movement of a Beethoven sonata by a recognized artist. It would require volumes to analyze and evaluate all the facts contained therein Carl Seashore “The Objective Recording and Analysis of Musical Performance” Iowa Studies in the Psychology of Music, (1935) IV- 6. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the years, I have had the privilege to study under the tutelage of several master teachers at the peak of their teaching careers. At this time, I wish to express my gratitude for their continued encouragement and patience. During the four years I spent at the University of Iowa, Professor Leopold LaFosse was a source of musical knowledge and continued support. Always patient and sensitive to my needs, to him my heartfelt gratitude. I also recognize Professor Sven Hansell’s generous assistance as I learned how to write down my ideas in a foreign language. His support, allied to his unerring critique of my efforts, gave me much needed confidence to tackle complex issues. I wish to register my appreciation to Professor James Dixon’s invaluable conducting lessons. My special thanks to Professors René Lecuona, William LaRue Jones, David Nelson and Laird Addis for serving as committee members, and to Professor José Bowen for providing the software Tempo. At this time, I must recognize the generosity of the Brazilian people that, through the agency CAPES and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, supported my studies at the University of Iowa. I also wish to thank my fellow colleagues at UFRGS for their understanding and “double duty” during my leave. Last but not least, I am thankful to my wife Cristina for countless hours of stimulating discussions and tedious proofreading. My admiration goes to my daughters Daphne, Ariadne, Adelaide and Ingrid who so bravely and lovingly endured having their daddy back in school. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................vii LIST OF EXAMPLES...............................................................................................viii PREFACE.....................................................................................................................xi INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. CONSIDERATIONS ON INTERPRETATIVE ANALYSIS......................... 4 II. RECORDING COMPARISON: SELECTED APPROACHES....................12 José Bowen ..................................................................................15 Historical Trends in Tempo ...............................................19 Tempo and Duration ..........................................................20 Duration and Proportion.....................................................21 Tempo Tolerance ...............................................................22 Tempo Flexibility...............................................................23 Eugene Narmour..........................................................................26 David Epstein...............................................................................30 III. BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9 STRING AND VOCAL VERSIONS: A COMPARISON...............................................................................................33 Prelude .........................................................................................36 Fugue ...........................................................................................42 IV. VILLA-LOBOS’S BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9: A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AS FOUNDATION FOR RECORDING COMPARISON……60 Analysis of the Prelude................................................................60 Harmonic ambiguities in the first half of the prelude. .......62 Phrase structure in the first half of the Prelude..................64 Chorale section...................................................................66 Analysis of the Fugue ..................................................................68 Theme.................................................................................68 Counter-subject ..................................................................70 Second Theme....................................................................73 iv V. VILLA-LOBOS’S BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9: A COMPARISON OF RECORDINGS……………………………………………………………….78 Prelude ..........................................................................................82 Fugue ............................................................................................90 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................104 APPENDIX A. BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9: REHEARSAL PLAN.............109 APPENDIX B. SPREADSHEETS USED TO GENERATE TEMPO GRAPHS .....117 APPENDIX C. RECITAL PROGRAMS ..................................................................201 APPENDIX D. BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9 STRING VERSION VILLA-LOBOS’S AUTOGRAPH...................................................207 APPENDIX E. BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9 VOCAL VERSION COPY BY F. PAES DE OLIVEIRA ......................................................................237 APPENDIX F. VILLA-LOBOS’S AUTOGRAPH OF THEMES FOR BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No. 9...................................................255 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................258 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: Prelude...................................................................61 2. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: Fugue.....................................................................69 3. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: Averaged tempo charts..........................................81 4. Fugue, mm. 69-71, metronome markings for each beat .......................................97 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Prelude: Villa-Lobos, expected / actual tempo..................................................83 2. Prelude: Tilson Thomas, expected / actual tempo .............................................83 3. Prelude: Martinez, expected / actual tempo.......................................................84 4. Prelude: Gerling, expected / actual tempo.........................................................85 5. Prelude: opening theme, mm. 3-8......................................................................86 6. Prelude: chromatic descent, mm. 15-18.............................................................87 7. Prelude: chorale, tempo flexibility at the beat level .........................................88 8. Prelude: final measures......................................................................................89 9. Fugue: Villa-Lobos, initial tempo / actual tempo..............................................90 10. Fugue: Tilson Thomas, initial tempo / actual tempo .........................................91 11. Fugue: Martinez, initial tempo / actual tempo...................................................92 12. Fugue: Gerling, initial tempo / actual tempo ......................................................92 13. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in the exposition .......................................................93 14. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in episode I ...............................................................94 15. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in the second theme ..................................................95 16. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in episode II..............................................................96 17. Fugue: mm. 69-70, beat by beat.........................................................................97 18. Fugue: tempo fluctuations in the re-exposition .................................................98 19. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in the “Grandioso” ...................................................99 20. Fugue: tempo fluctuations in the simultaneous statement of all themes ..........100 21. Fugue: tempo fluctuation, mm. 93-97...............................................................101 22. Fugue: tempo fluctuation in the last two measures...........................................102 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES Example Page 1. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal version, Prelude mm. 1-14.......................36 2. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: string version, Prelude mm. 1-14 ......................37 3. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal and string versions, Prelude mm. 15-20...38 4. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal version, Prelude mm. 19-31.....................40 5. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal and string versions, Prelude final measures41 6. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: string version, Fugue rehearsal [6]....................43 7. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal and string versions, Fugue rehearsal [4]...43 8. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal and string versions, Fugue rehearsal [5]..44 9. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9: vocal and string versions, Fugue rehearsal [2]..44 10. Bachianas