Download MarchWendy1968

San Fernando Valley State College
GRADUA'l'E RECITJl.L IN PI4NO
An art:~st.ic performance presented in p:ntial
satisfaction of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Arts in
Husic
by
Wendy l1arch
January, 1968
The artistic performance of Wendy Harch is approved:
San Fernando Valley State College
January, 1968
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GRADUA'I'E RECITAL IN PIANO
by
Wendy March
Master of Arts in Music
.Tanuc.ry, 1968
English Suite No. 2 in A Minor ••••••••Johann Sebastian Ba.ch
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
BourrE~e I
Bourn~e II
Gigue
Sonaten fur Klavier (1936) •••••••••••••••••• Paul Hindem.ith
r~a.essig SChnell
Lebhaft
Sehr langsru"Tt - Rondo: bewegt
Two Rhapsodies, Opus 79 •••••••••••••••••••• Johannes Brc.hms
B Ninor
G H.inor
Sonata in A Flat Major, Opus llO •••••• Ludwig van Beethoven
Moderato cantabile molto espressive
Allegro n:ol to
Adagio rna non troppo (Arioso)
Fuga: Allegro rna non troppo
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The Baroque keyboard suite is a cycle of several
dance pieces, in the same key and different tempi, combined
to form one large work.
fonn.
The dances are all in a bipartite
During the Baroque period the suit.e movements were
stylized versions of actual dances \vhich had come from
various
E1~ropean
countries.
Basically the suito has a core of four dances:
the allemande from Germany, the coura.nte from Italy, the
sarabande from Spain and the gigue from England.
To these
are added one or two optional dance forms such as the
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minuet, bourree, gavotte, passepied, polonaise or anglaise,
and are placed beb·7een the sarabande and gigue.
Bach wrote three sets of suites for the keyboa.rd.
Of these sets one group is designated
Suites.
itS
the English
This set of suites maintains the order of dances
described above, with a prelude added at the beginning.
The English Suite number t.v;o, in A Minor, has a
Prelude in the style of a concerto grosse.
There are
t\\ro
contras·t.ing sections, the first is repeated to end the
Prelude.
In the middle sect.ion is music characteristic of
that played by the solo ensemble in the concerto grosso.
It is lighter and thinne.c in texture to contrast with the
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busier vitality of the first section.
The textural con-
trast was an important interpretive consideration.
The Allemande is a stately flowing \vork characterized by constant sixteenth notes in a duple meter.
Correct
performance of the ornamentation v1as a critical matter \·lhen
it was to be done simultaneously in both hands.
The Courante was one of the most difficult dances
to perform.
It has a running melodic pattern, underscored
by dotted rhythms.
Because of the rapid tempo clear per-
formance of the ornamentation was difficult to achieve.
Proper style concept and performance required considerable
application and practice.
The Sarabande is a slow movement in triple meter.
I
The A Minor Suite has a set of Agremants to the Sarabande,
a highly ornamented version of the Sarabande.
In this Suite the optional dances are a set of
/
Bourrees.
,.
In the bourree, alle breve is the usual meter
designation.
The dance is lively in character.
The second
Bourree is less anima ted \¥i th a more sustained melodic lir,e
and seems to demand a slower tempo than the first.
.
.
In per-
/
formance a repeat of the f1rst Bourrce was proper even
though the edition did not indicate it.
The Gigue is a fast finale to the
suites~
Parallel
thirds and sixths in scale-like motion are characteristic
of this particular Gigue.
A basic problem was to achieve a
smooth performance in rapid tempo of the thirds and scale
pattern and embellishments.
The performance practice of t.he Bal::oque period was
to play all repeats.
This method v:as considered and
carried out in the performance of this vmrk.
This repeti-
. t.ion required stamina to achieve continuity for each dance.
Tempi for the various dances also had to be carefully consideredo
Careful contrast had to be made so that each
characteristic dance style was apparent.
As a contemporary composer Hindemith clothed his
harmonic and rhythmic patterns in traditional styles.
1936 he wrote three piano sonatas.
In
Number Two has a
lyrical character with perceptible melodic lines.
It is
the easiest of the three.
The work begins with a movement in sonata-allegro
form.
The second movement is a scherzo.
And the third a
rondo introduced by a slow passage of dotted rhyth.'Tls which
return to conclude the movement.
This Sonata does lie well \'li thin a. small hand span.
Octave playing is not extensive and the melodic and rhythmic patterns are pianistic and easily reached.
Some
scale-like passages are difficult to execute because of
chromatic alterations.
Because the harmonic progressions
were not usual, did not rely upon chord relationships
found in one's traditional music training, careful analysis
and new aural development had to take place before secure
memorization could occur.
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Even though the term rhapsody denoted a free form,
Brahms' Rhapsodies, Opus 79, are structured.
The first Rhapsody is in a ternary form with a
coda.
This work was difficult to play for several reasons:
first, the extensive use of four note octave chords was
fatiguing to the hands; secondly, the large melodic and
harmonic leaps across different registers caused problems
of accuracy; and thirdly, it was difficult to keep the work
moving forward with sufficient vigor and agitation which
seemed indicated by the nature of the music.
The second Rhapsody is slower and more melodic in
character than the first.
It is in a sonata-allegro form.
It contains melodic and hand crossing leaps plus extensive
octave
p~aying,
but was easier to perform because of a
slower tempo.
Beethoven is considered a master of the sonata and
its forms.
periods.
His productive life is divided into three
In the first, Beethoven was concerned with forms
as#they had been developed to his time.
The second period
reflects further experimentation and extension of those
forms.
The third period reveals Beethoven grm.;ing deaf,
and his works become reflective in character.
Treatment of
formal structures becomes freer, dividing lines are
blurred, harmonic concepts become more daring, wide spacing
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of intervals occur and polyphony is evident in most of the
works.
Opus 110 is a sonata from the third period.
This
sonata is in three movements and contains most of the above
mentioned characteristics.
allegro form.
The first movement is a sonata-
The three sections, exposition, development
and exposition are apparent, but the development section is
shorter than usual.
The lyric character of th.is movement
makes it the easiest of the three to perform and memorizee
The problem was to create a flowing melody supported by a
repetitious accompaniment.
The second movement in duple meter is unusual
because of the scherzo-like style.
Such a scherzo is com-
monly found as a. third movement in triple meter.
The
vitality' and rate of speed needed for tl.is movement was
difficult to at:hieve.
The middle section is constructed
on playful chromatic intervals.
Rapid and careful tech-
nique was necessary to maintain an accurate rhythm in this
section.
The last movement is in four main sections, two
ariosi and two fugues.
The ariosi had long sustained
melodic liri.es <tvhich were difficult to bring out while subduing the constant chordal accompanime!1t.
Several entrances
of the fugal subject are difficult to bring out because of
the heavy texture.
Because of similarities in structure
and the scope of the movement careful consideration had to
be given to the memorization.
These works represented ne\'1 li teratu.re, by favorite
composers, untried by me.
Preparing a performance of them
created for me a development of technical facility, greater
understanding of harmonic relationships, awareness of formal df!sign and increased capacity to memorize.
It is my
wish to continue developing these elements and to achieve
greater comprehension through fur-ther study.