ANALYSIS OF HARP PERFORMANCE ISSUES IN FEDERICO'S LITTLE SONGS FOR CHILDREN BY GEORGE CRUMB Linda-Rose Hembreiker, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2009 APPROVED: Jaymee Haefner, Major Professor Graham Phipps, Minor Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music Andrew May, Committee Member James Scott, Dean of the College of Music Michael Monticino, Interim Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Hembreiker, Linda-Rose. Analysis of harp performance issues in Federico’s Little Songs for Children by George Crumb. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), May 2009, 93 pp., 7 tables, 14 figures, 13 musical examples, bibliography, 20 titles. During the 20th century, chamber works for harp expanded to include significantly different instrumentations, like flute, voice and harp. Indeed, a body of works for flute, voice, and harp began to develop mainly through the commissioning efforts of ensembles comprised of these instruments. This study of George Crumb’s Federico’s Little Songs for Children for flutes, soprano, and harp considers the unique advantages and challenges of this instrumentation and offers specific suggestions for performance. Attention to various compositional elements of Federico’s Little Songs for Children, especially as they relate to the text, is also helpful in preparing to perform this work. The form, pitch material, and text-painting in the work allow for special opportunities to convey meaning to audiences in ways that do not rely on traditional tonal relationships. Accompanying the shift away from traditional tonal relationships, the development of the harp repertoire in chamber and solo settings during the 20th century also led to the development of many extended- techniques for this instrument. For the most part, these techniques have been described and given various notational symbols but not discussed in detail with regard to execution. Federico’s Little Songs for Children itself requires several unique extended-techniques. Recommendations are given in this paper concerning how to achieve the extended-techniques in Crumb’s work in a stylistically appropriate and effective manner. Copyright 2009 by Linda-Rose Hembreiker ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Copyright for George Crumb’s Federico’s Little Songs for Children (1994) is held by C.F. Peters Corporation; exerpts in this dissertation are reproduced with their permission. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES.................................................................................. viii Chapters I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 Overview Background and Significance Purpose State of Research Method II. COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE AS A GUIDE TO PERFORMANCE INTERPRETATION..................................................................................11 Text Text-Painting Form Consideration of Pitch Materials from a Listener’s Standpoint III. ISSUES WITH THE INSTRUMENTATION OF FLUTE, HARP, AND VOICE .......................................................................................................49 Issues with the Instrumentation Ensemble Notes for Federico's Little Songs for Children IV. EXTENDED-TECHNIQUES FOR HARP IN FEDERICO'S LITTLE SONGS FOR CHILDREN..........................................................................57 Harmonics iv Sulla tavola Nail Sounds Nail Scrapes Metal Scrape Muffling Tremolando with Wire Brush Tuning-Key Glissandi Pedal Slides Vibrato Effect (Pitch Bending) Knocking on the Harp Dampening Strike V. CONCLUSION..........................................................................................72 Appendices A. PHOTOGRAPHS OF EXTENDED-TECHNIQUES................................75 B. CHART OF EXTENDED-TECHNIQUES ...............................................90 BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................92 v LIST OF TABLES Page 1. La Señorita del Abanico.........................................................................................28 2. La Tarde.................................................................................................................29 3. Canción Cantada ...................................................................................................30 4. Caracola ................................................................................................................30 5. ¡El Largato está llorando!.....................................................................................31 6. Cancioncilla Sevillana...........................................................................................32 7. Canción Tonta........................................................................................................33 vi LIST OF FIGURES Page A1. Individual nail sounds............................................................................................76 A2. Single-nail scrape using thumb..............................................................................77 A3. Single-nail scrape using 2nd finger........................................................................78 A4. Single-nail scrape grace note .................................................................................79 A5. Quadruple-nail scrape............................................................................................80 A6. Scrape with wooden or metal strip.........................................................................81 A7. Right hand muffle in the high register ...................................................................82 A8. Middle register muffle with both hands.................................................................83 A9. Tuning-key glissandi..............................................................................................84 A10. Knocking on the harp.............................................................................................85 A11. Wire brush tremolando ..........................................................................................86 A12. Vibrato effect.........................................................................................................87 A13. Tuning pins and string groove on older Lyon and Healy harp ..............................88 A14. Tuning pins and string groove on new Lyon and Healy harp................................89 vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Page 1. La Señorita del Abanico, m. 5 ...............................................................................35 2. La Señorita del Abanico, m. 21 .............................................................................35 3. La Tarde, mm. 1-4 .................................................................................................38 4. La Tarde, m. 23......................................................................................................38 5. Caracola, mm. 1-2.................................................................................................40 6. ¡El Largato está Llorando!, m. 1...........................................................................42 7. ¡El Largato está Llorando!, mm. 2-3 ....................................................................43 8. Canción Sevillana, mm. 1-2...................................................................................45 9. Canción Sevillana, mm. 4-5...................................................................................46 10. Canción Tonta, m. 2...............................................................................................47 11. Canción Tonta, m. 30.............................................................................................48 12. Canción Cantada, m. 5 ..........................................................................................61 13. Canción Cantada, m. 3 ..........................................................................................64 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Overview During the 20th century, chamber works for harp expanded to include significantly different instrumentations, like flute and harp or voice and harp. Indeed, a body of works for flute, voice, and harp began to develop mainly through the commissioning efforts of ensembles comprised of these instruments. This study of George Crumb‟s Federico‟s Little Songs for Children for flutes, soprano, and harp considers the unique advantages and challenges of this instrumentation and offers specific suggestions for performance. Attention to various compositional elements of Federico‟s Little Songs for Children, especially as they relate to the text, is also helpful in preparing to perform this work. The form, pitch material, and text-painting in the work allow for special opportunities to convey meaning to audiences in ways that do not rely on traditional tonal relationships. Accompanying the shift away from traditional tonal relationships, the development of the harp repertoire in chamber and solo settings during the 20th century also led to the development of many extended- techniques