U UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: May 8, 2009 I, Sheri Renee Lee , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance It is entitled: Four Twelve-Tone Violin Compositions: Performance Practice and Preparation Sheri Renee Lee Student Signature: This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Dr. Steven J. Cahn Dr. Piotr Milewski Prof. Kurt Sassmanshaus Approval of the electronic document: I have reviewed the Thesis/Dissertation in its final electronic format and certify that it is an accurate copy of the document reviewed and approved by the committee. Committee Chair signature: Dr. Steven J. Cahn Four Twelve-Tone Violin Compositions: Performance Practice and Preparation A document submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the Division of Performance Studies Department of Strings of the College-Conservatory of Music 2009 by Sheri Renee Lee B. M. Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 1994 M.M. University of Cincinnati, 1999 Committee Chair: Steven Cahn, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Title: Four Twelve-Tone Violin Compositions: Performance Practice and Preparation Author: Sheri R. Lee Committee Chair/Advisor: Steven Cahn, Ph.D. Performance Studies Division, College-Conservatory of Music This project explores strategies for the study and performance of specific twelve- tone violin compositions: Phantasy, op. 47 (1949) by Arnold Schoenberg, Solo Sonata (1953) by Roger Sessions, Violin Concerto (1963) by Alberto Ginastera and Melismata (1982) by Milton Babbitt. Special attention is placed on interpretational philosophy, salient musical constructs and performance challenges of the pieces. Chapter One’s three sections provide background information on the selected composers and compositions. The first section explores each composer's view of and approach to dodecaphony and discusses their common aesthetic as twelve-tone composers. The second section describes the relationships among the composers and performers who premiered the pieces, an element which may be critical to the compositional processes. Audience reactions to early performances of the pieces are also characterized. Finally, the author provides a discussion of selected recordings and performances, and provides a guide to listening to those performances as a strategy for developing a personal, but informed interpretation. In Chapter Two, the author examines twelve-tone compositional features of each composition that would be most salient in the quest to arrive at a coherent and convincing performance. This chapter also discusses both similarities and differences of styles and iii structures among the featured pieces, based on specific compositional characteristics including both broader structural elements and small motives. In Chapter Three the author provides strategies on how violinists can overcome the technical challenges of the instrument. Twelve-tone compositions are well suited for the violin, in that the instrument can handle large leaps and sudden contrasts in dynamics, register and range. However, the demands on the performer require an unusual degree of control. This chapter features discussions on violin techniques that focus on coordination between the ears, fingerboard, and arms as well as sections on locating and pre-hearing pitches, deciphering rhythms, and extended violin techniques. Practical advice about printed instructions, color-enhancing notation, and displaying pages in a performance is also included. This paper is intended to offer a foundation that is both appropriate and useful for violinists studying these works. Preparing modern music for performance is an experience of constant revelation that is both challenging and rewarding. With this research the author strives to provide the context in which the performer understands the compositional constructs and the performance practices specific to a successful performance. iv v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Steven Cahn for his support, guidance, scholarship and willingness to serve as my committee chair. In addition I wish to acknowledge my teacher Dr. Piotr Milewski for his many years of input. Finally, I want to express gratitude to my parents for their never-ending love, support and generosity. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….……………….……….…1 CHAPTER ONE – PLACING THE PHANTASY, THE SOLO SONATA, THE VIOLIN CONCERTO AND MELISMATA IN CONTEXT………………………….......……....…6 CHAPTER TWO – PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETION………………………………………………………….……………..30 CHAPTER THREE – PRACTICE AND PERFORMANCE……..…………….…..….100 WORKS CITED………………………………………………..…………….….……..153 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES 2.1 The short-long repeated note rhythm in the Phantasy…………………………..42 2.2a Excerpt of the Andante from the Solo Sonata in A minor by J. S. Bach, measure, 17…………………………………………………………………………….…..46 2.2b. Excerpt of the Adagio from the Solo Sonata by Sessions, measure 396…..…….46 2.3 Gestures that appear to comment in Melismata, measures 29 – 30….….……….49 2.4 Slurs that indicate phrasing in the opening six measures of the Phantasy………52 2.5 Notes that are repeated in close proximity in the Phantasy, measures 6 – 7…....53 2.6 Dynamics indicate the gestures begin with the pick-up in measures 21 – 23 of the Phantasy…………………………………………………...……………..………55 2.7 The phrases in the opening measures of the Solo Sonata……………….……….58 2.8 Repeated note sonorities in the Solo Sonata, measures 6 – 7.………...…………59 2.9 Opening phrases in the ‘B’ section in the Scherzo of the Solo Sonata, measures 236 – 248…………………………………………………………….…………..60 2.10 The opening of the Adagio in the Solo Sonata…………………………………..62 2.11 Compare the beginning of the first movement with the first recitative section of the third movement in the Solo Sonata…………………………………………..63 viii 2.12 The articulation outlines trichordal segmentation in the opening row statement of the Violin Concerto…………………………...……………………………..….65 2.13 The articulation separates the row into trichords and hexachords in measure 142 of the Violin Concerto, and the crescendo and rests outline the row as a whole……………………………………………………………………...……..66 2.14 Tetrachords and trichords that approach the high A in the second movement of the Violin Concerto………………………………………………………..…………68 2.15 Notes used in the third movement of the solo violin part in the Violin Concerto emphasize the properties of the original row and set class 3-2 [0, 1, 3] in measure 16…………………………………………………….…………………..…....….70 2.16 Opening phrases in Melismata……………………….…………………………..72 2.17 Measure 80 in Melismata along with similar gestures….…………….….………73 2.18 Similar intervals and rhythms are heard in these gestures in Melismata..……….74 2.19 Gestures in Melismata that end with an abrupt double-stop in the interval of a second.……….…………………………………………….…………….………75 2.20 In the Phantasy, notes from the opening, from measure 32, and the start of the Grazioso emphasize the A-C# dyad……………………………………….……..77 2.21 Invariance in the Violin Concerto, second statement of the cadenza using notes C – B – Bb……..………………………………………………...………………80 2.22 Invariance in the Violin Concerto, third statement of the cadenza using notes C – B – Bb..……….…………………...…………………………………………80 2.23 Whole-tone segments in the Solo Sonata, measure 16……………….………….84 2.24 Octatonic segments in the Solo Sonata, measures 33 and 34……………………84 ix 2.25 Whole-tone segments in the Solo Sonata, measures 590 – 593……….…………91 2.26 Stacked fourths in the Solo Sonata, measures 534 and 567……………………...92 2.27 Repeated motive in the Scherzo of the Solo Sonata……………………………..93 2.28 The order of the quarter-tones in “Study Six” of the Violin Concerto emphasize row R1……………………………………………………………….…………..94 3.1 Practice scale for the Solo Sonata, measure 587……………………………….112 3.2 Practice scale for the third movement of the Violin Concerto, measures 388 – 391……………………………………………………………………….…….113 3.3 Combined interval practice passage for the first movement of the Violin Concerto, measure 145……………………………………………………………….……114 3.4 Transpose the previous pattern to begin on C, D and F…….………………….114 3.5 A practice scale for measure 145 in the first movement of the Violin Concerto………………………………………………………………………...115 3.6 Practice shift and fingering for the Phantasy, measures 2 – 3..………….….….117 3.7 Practice shift for the Solo Sonata, measure 107……………………..…………118 3.8 Practice shifts for measures 114 – 116 in the Solo Sonata…………………..…118 3.9 Practice measures 70 – 71 in double-stops………………………….………….124 3.10 Temporary fixed position in the Solo Sonata, measure 174……...…………….126 3.11 Picture of the large stretch in the first movement of the Violin Concerto, measure 84………………………………………………………………………………..127 3.12 Hand contraction in the Phantasy, measure 25…………………………...…….131 3.13 Suggested fingering for Melismata, measures 153 – 154 ………………...……132 x 3.14 Picture of an unconventional bow direction needed in the Phantasy, measures 15 – 16.………...……………………………………………………………….134 3.15 Suggested execution of the harmonics in the third movement of the Violin Concerto, measure 72………………………..…………………………………136 3.16 Suggested execution of the harmonics in the Phantasy, measure 26……..……137 3.17 Isolated rhythm practice for Melismata, measures 80 – 82 ……………………142 3.18 Rhythm practice extracted from the Solo Sonata, measures 187 – 192 ……….144 3.19 Picture of Melismata on cardboard in order to avoid page turns………..…..….149 xi LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 Schoenberg’s