An exploration of the pianist s multiple roles within the duo chamber ensemble

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1 International Symposium on Performance Science ISBN The Author 2013, Published by the AEC All rights reserved An exploration of the pianist s multiple roles within the duo chamber ensemble Evgenia Roussou Department of Drama and Music, University of Hull, UK The current research explores the multiple roles of the pianist within the traditional Western art solo-accompaniment duo chamber ensemble. Based on a survey of existing literature, including historical, pedagogical, and empirical texts on chamber ensemble practice (specifically piano accompaniment), five roles are identified for the pianist in a solo-accompaniment duo ensemble: (1) co-performer, (2) soloist, (3) coach, (4) accompanist, and (5) collaborator. An overview of these roles is provided through consideration of their functional and socio-emotional qualities. The importance of understanding the multiple roles of the pianist in chamber ensemble practice is revealed along with implications for further research. Keywords: pianist; co-performer; soloist; coach; accompanist and collaborator Studies on chamber ensemble practice have developed significantly in recent years. Researchers and practitioners alike have enriched knowledge by revealing important information about various different aspects of chamber ensemble rehearsal and performance, such as rehearsal strategies (e.g. Davidson and King 2004), the structure and organization of practice (e.g. Ginsborg et al. 2006), musical interaction and negotiation techniques (e.g. Davidson and Good 2002, Davidson and King 2004), musician s roles in rehearsal (e.g. King 2006), co-ordination (e.g. Williamon and Davidson 2002, Keller 2008), modes of communication including visual, aural, gestural, verbal, and non-verbal modes (e.g. King and Ginsborg 2011), and social interaction (e.g. Ford and Davidson 2003, King 2006, King in press). Kokotsaki (2007) provides a theoretical framework about the pianist s role within the chamber ensemble which develops an earlier model of the pianist as accompanist and coach (Adler 1965). Other research focusing specifically on the

2 512 pianist in chamber ensembles highlights issues of leadership, dominance, methods of compromise, and resolving conflict such as in the piano duo context (Blank and Davidson 2007). Deon Nielsen Price (2005) and Martin Katz (2009) target the pedagogical aspect of piano accompaniment and collaboration. Price (2005) provided a manual of accompaniment techniques and skills which has become a successful textbook especially for university students. Katz s (2009) book offers advice on how pianists can achieve a complete fusion with their partners. The most hands-on guidance for piano accompanists is evident in texts by practitioners such as Gerald Moore (1943), who share their experiences in the field. In order to develop our understanding of piano accompaniment within chamber ensemble practice, this paper aims to investigate the potential multiple roles of the pianist within the traditional Western art solo-accompaniment duo ensemble as identified via an in-depth survey of existing literature. MAIN CONTRIBUTION Five roles can be identified in the literature when considering the functional and socio-emotional behavior of the pianist in the solo-accompaniment duo: the pianist as co-performer, soloist, coach, accompanist, and collaborator. These roles have musical, pedagogical, and social implications which are interlinked. Taken at face value, these roles could be interpreted in the following ways: (1) a co-performer, implying a fellow musical performer; (2) the pianist emerging as a soloist during specific solo passages within a work; (3) a coach, seeing the pianist working in a directing role, such as in rehearsal; (4) an accompanist, with the pianist acting in a supporting role; and (5) a collaborator, signifying equality between the two performers. Closer consideration of each of these roles is given below so as to reveal more detailed insight about the pianist. For the purpose of this study the instrumentalist or singer who has the single-line melody part will be referred to as the instrumental soloist. The pianist as co-performer In duo chamber ensembles the term co-performer implies two performers which are part of the same ensemble partnership, therefore partners, but not necessarily on equal terms. Traditionally, melody instruments are regarded hierarchically superior to the accompaniment instruments as far as the equality of roles is concerned. However, pre-existing studies indicate that the stereotypical hierarchy of the solo-accompaniment duo is not necessarily upheld in practice (Davidson and King 2004). Blank and Davidson (2007)

3 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON PERFORMANCE SCIENCE 513 use the term duo instead of duet to underline the equality between the two performers in the piano duo collaboration. Both Moore (1943) and Cranmer (1970) refer to the accompanist as an equal partner with their soloist. Adler (1965) refers to teamwork as being the greatest accomplishment between instrumental soloist and accompanist, which once again has the implication of equality. Both melody and accompaniment are conceived by the composers as a joint affair which complete and complement one another. Therefore the piano part is not written as an afterthought (Moore 1943, Zeckendorf 1953) but as part of the original composition, hence it should be regarded as equal. Coaching and accompanying are two different specializations that overlap in many ways (Adler 1965). Coaching is a pedagogical term which encompasses elements of the pianist being in an instructor s/director s role. It involves dealing with both the musical aspects of learning a piece of music and the social aspects of dealing with a fellow performer. In this role, the pianist might contribute significantly to interpretative decision-making. An accompanist, according to Grove s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (fifth edition) is: the performer playing as a rule with a single singer or instrumentalist usually on the pianoforte, whose part is nominally subsidiary, but who, in all music that matters and especially in music dating later than the 17th [and] mid-18th century accompaniment from a thorough-bass, should be regarded as an equal partner in the interpretation of a type of music which in a broad sense appertains to the category of chamber music (Adler 1965, p.5). Literature reveals that the accompanist was perceived as an inferior type of musician (Cranmer 1970, Kokotsaki 2007) or one who perhaps failed to succeed as a concert pianist (Moore 1943, Zeckendorf 1953). Also, that the accompanist s contribution was often not appreciated (Zeckendorf 1953) or taken for granted (Katz 2009). However, Cranmer (1970) claimed that people s attitudes had changed and that accompanists are considered on many occasions better musicians than their partners. Katz (2009) states that in recent years the term collaborator has more or less replaced the term accompanist and that collaborative pianist is nowadays more commonly used, although there is no empirical evidence to support this claim. Arguably, the term accompanist is still widespread even though Moore (1943) referred to the act of accompaniment as collaboration in the early part of the twentieth century. Katz claims that the word accompanist has a derogatory connotation whereas the word collaborator,

4 514 meaning working with others, denotes that the pianist is on an equal footing with the soloist. Moreover, Katz supports the fact that there is growing appreciation towards collaboration by pointing out that nowadays more and more courses on collaborative piano are available at the university level. Both accompanist and collaborator seem to refer to the pianist when serving similar functions, although the latter perhaps implies a broader musical and socio-emotional role. For the purpose of this research, the term accompanist will be used as it is more commonly employed by the majority of authors and researchers encountered in this investigation. Understanding the piano accompanist s multiple roles A pianist in a solo-accompaniment duo ensemble is therefore a musician who may act in one or more of the following ways during rehearsal and performance: as a co-performer, as a soloist, as a coach, as an accompanist (in the literal sense), and as a collaborator. The term piano accompanist embraces all of these roles together. Each role can be regarded as primarily functional, i.e. to ensure the success of the musical partnership, but also entails specific socio-emotional behavior. Indeed, the socio-emotional contribution of the piano accompanist in chamber ensemble practice is recognized in the literature, for the accompanist is described as inspiring confidence (Katz 2009) and making the soloist feel comfortable and secure (Moore 1943) by looking after their emotional (Katz 2009), physical, and psychological needs (Adler 1965). In particular, in their roles as co-performer, coach, and collaborator, piano accompanists nurture the socio-emotional behavior of the instrumental soloist in the ensemble. At the same time, a piano accompanist needs to be musically functional, notably in their roles as a soloist and accompanist: an accompanist should respect and follow the instrumental soloist s wishes during performance (Adami 1952), is able to adjust the balance accordingly and supply the correct tone color to match the instrumental soloist s (Moore 1943, Cranmer 1970, Price 2005), is flexible and versatile, is supportive without being overpowering (Price 2005), is relied upon by the instrumental soloist as being their second pair of ears (Ginsborg et al. 2006), mentally anticipates, detects, compensates and prevents possible errors (Adler 1965, Kokotsaki 2007), is ready to deal with any possible incident (Moore 1943, Price 2005), and is a pianist with unquestionable musicianship (Adler 1965, Price 2005) and piano technique (Moore 1943, Adler 1965, Price 2005). In order to successfully contribute to a duo ensemble, an accompanist thus exhibits numerous attributes that reflects the pianist in multiple roles.

5 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON PERFORMANCE SCIENCE 515 IMPLICATIONS This research aimed to present the piano accompanist in a clearer light in an effort to encourage both practitioners and researchers to revise, reinstate and re-think the role of the pianist within the solo-accompaniment duo chamber ensemble. In the contemporary Western art tradition, the pianist s roles as accompanist and collaborator are the most common by far, and have become synonymous with particular functions that the pianist is expected to provide when paired with a solo instrumentalist or singer. This doctoral research endeavors to explore the piano accompanist s multiple roles in more depth via observational case-study. Address for correspondence Evgenia Roussou, Department of Drama and Music, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK; e.n.roussou@2011.hull.ac.uk References Adami G. (1952). Accompanying an art. Music Journal, 10, pp Adler K. (1965). The Art of Accompanying and Coaching. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: University of Minneapolis Press. Blank M. and Davidson J. (2007). An exploration of the effects of musical and social factors in piano duo collaborations. Psychology of Music, 35, pp Cranmer P. (1970). The Technique of Accompaniment. London: Books Ltd. Davidson J. W. and Good J. M. M. (2002). Social and musical co-ordination between members of a string quartet: An exploratory study. Psychology of Music, 30, pp Davidson J. W. and King E. C. (2004). Strategies for ensemble practice. In A. Williamon (ed.), Musical Excellence (pp ). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ford L. and Davidson J. W. (2003). An investigation of members roles in wind quintets. Psychology of Music, 31, pp Ginsborg J., Chaffin R., and Nicholson G. (2006). Shared performance cues in singing and conducting: A content analysis of talk during practice. Psychology of Music, 34, pp Katz M. (2009). The Complete Collaborator: The Pianist as a Partner. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Keller P. E. (2008). Joint action in music performance. In F. Morgani, A. Carassa, and G. Riva (eds.), Enacting Intersubjectivity: A Cognitive and Social perspective on the Study of Interactions (pp ). Amsterdam: IOS Press.

6 516 King E. C. (2006). The roles of student musicians in quartet rehearsals. Psychology of Music, 34, pp King E. (in press). Social familiarity: Styles of interaction in chamber ensemble rehearsal. In E. King and H. Prior (eds.), Music and Familiarity: Listening, Musicology and Performance. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. King E. C. and Ginsborg J. (2011). Gestures and glances: Interactions in ensemble rehearsal. In A. Gritten and E. C. King (eds.), New Perspectives on Music and Gesture (pp ). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. Kokotsaki D. (2007). Understanding the ensemble pianist: A theoretical framework. Psychology of Music, 35, pp Moore G. (1943). The Unashamed Accompanist. London: Ascherberg. Price D. N. (2005). Accompanying Skills for Pianists: Including Sightplay with Skillful Eyes (second edition). Culver City, California, USA: Culver Crest Publications. Williamon A. and Davidson J. W. (2002). Exploring co-performance communication. Musicae Scientiae, 6, pp Zeckendorf S. (1953). Accompanying is a partnership. Music Journal, 11, pp