AN APPROACH TO PRACTISING BARTÓK S VIOLA CONCERTO

Transcription

1 AN APPROACH TO PRACTISING BARTÓK S VIOLA CONCERTO Sebastian Lee PRELIMINARY VERSION Degree Project, Master of Fine Arts in Music, Symphonic Orchestra Performance Spring Semester

2 Degree Project, 30 higher education credits Master of Fine Arts in Music, Symphonic Orchestra Performance Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg Spring Semester 2013 Author: Sebastian Lee Title: An Approach to Practising Bartok s Viola Concerto Supervisor: Joel Speerstra Examiner: Einar Nielsen ABSTRACT A master s project on the process of practice that went towards learning the Viola Concerto by Bèla Bartók, with a progressive breakdown of the work and a specific look at the technical difficulties that needed to be overcome in each section, how and why they were tackled in specific ways and what the positive result was that arose. The reflection on the learning process includes references to the tuition by violist Rivka Golani and pianist Michael Hampton, and the documented practice methods of the violist William Primrose. Key Words: Bèla Bartók. Viola Concerto, practice, shifting, intonation, rhythms, accents, structure, double-stops, open strings, arpeggiated figures, melody, harmony, bwoing, string-crossing, triplet, sequencing, chromaticism, articulation, vibrato, Rivka Golani, Michael Hampton. 2

3 1. Introduction Contents 2. 1stMovement Bars1 12(openingquasi;cadenza) (endingquasi cadenza) 3. PractisingasARevisionoftheWork 3

4 4 Introduction Bartok sviolaconcertowascomposedattheveryendofhislifeandwascompleted fromsketchesbyhisclosefriendtiborserlyin1949.thepiecewasacommissionby theprominentviolasoloistwilliamprimrosewhorequestedachallengingconcertothat didnotconformtothepercievedtechnicaldifficultiesoftheviolaatthattime.because Primrosewasnotabletoseethefirstdraftofthesoloviolalinebeforethethetimeof Bartok sdeath,hewasunabletodiscusswithhimthedifficultiesofsomeofthewriting, whichhasmeantthatthisconcertoprovidesperhapsmoreobscuretechnicaldifficulties thanmanyotherviolaconcertosintherepertoire. ItisforthisreasonthatIhavedecidedtocreateacomprehensibleapproachtohowI learntthefirstmovementoftheconcertoforthepossibilityofhavingotherviolistsuseit assomefromofguideiftheydecidetotackleit.iwasveryfortunatetostudythework fortwoyearswithrivkagolani,whoiswidelyconsideredoneofthefinestperformers ofthisconcerto,andthishasprovidedmewithafirmgroundwithwhichtoreflecton mylearningprocess.thelessonswithherwerehugelybeneficialtomeandthewaythe technicaldifficultiesweretackledrequiredperhapsagreaterimaginationthansomany otherworksihavecomeacross,soifeltthattohavethistuitionsetoutinakindof manualwouldbeusefultomanyotherplayersandwouldbeagreatwayofrefectingon howilearned. Aftersomethought,Ihavedecidedthatgenerallythemostefficientwaytocreatean approachtothisreflectionistoessentiallytakeitbarbybar(orcertainlysomefew numbersofbarsatatime),ratherthantotakebroadapectsoftheconcertosuchasthe shiftingdifficulties,arpeggiatedpassages,fastmovementsandsoon.withthebarbybar approachitiseasiertobuildupthestructureoftheworkgraduallyandseewherethe difficultiesbecomemoreextremeorwherecertainaspectsrepeatthemselves.itisalso howiapproachedtheworkforthefirsttimeandthereforeamorefaithfulexampleof whatmylearningprocesswas.ihaveincludedatthebeginningofeachexcerptsections oftheviolapartinordertoshowclearlytheareasofdifficultythatiworkedon. SinceIamnowhavingtoreturntothisconcertoinordertoprepareitforauditions,I ampracticingitinamorerevisedwaysoihavedecidedalsotoincludehowmylearning processhaschangednowthatiamhaveanobviouslymuchgreaterfamiliaritythatthan thefirsttimeitookiton.

5 Bars1 12(openingquasi2cadenza) 1 Issues: Placingthefirstnote Intonation Practisingtheaccelerando inrhythmandwheremarked 1. Placingthefirstnote Firstfingerin4thpositionontheDstring. FirstItuneditwiththeopenAstringuntilpitch;perfect.Useonelong, slowbowandtunethenotegraduallyratherthanrepeatingthenotewith lotsofbowsasifoundthiscandistortthesoundandmakeitharderto pitchthenote. Oncethepitchwassecured,Iremovedmyhandsfromtheviolaand returnedthemtoposition,againtuningitwiththeastring.this disortientatesthehandsfromgettingtoousedtotheposition,buthelpsin thelongtermforpitchingthenotesecurelysinceitgraduallybecomes instinctive. Itookthisexercisefurther,bytakingawaytheviolafromitspositionand thenreturning.thisbreaksanyfamiliarpatterns,whichifoundvery Bartók, Béla 1949, Viola Concerto, Op. posth. Ed. Tibor Serly. Boosey & Hawkes. London. Music score. Pg

6 usefulforaperformanceenvironment(itavoidsanyclumsynote searchingatthebeginningofthepiece). Visualexample 2. Intonation Ipractisedeachnoteslowlyandseperately,ignoringtherhythmand payingparticularattentiontotheharmonicintervalsbetweeneachnote. Makinganoteoftheintervalsinordertopayattentiontothemslowly. ThenIworkedusingdouble;stopstosecurethehandposition,being awareofwherethe1 st fingerneedstoshift. Practicingwithdouble2stopstosecurethepositionoftherighthand. Bar12Ipractisedbyrecognisingthepatternofthefingersoneachstring. Ialsoplayeditthroughonthepianosinceitisadecendingpentatonic scaleontheblackkeys.thismadeitmucheasiertopitchontheviola sinceinowhadthescaleinmyhead. Theredbracketsindicatewhichstringthehandison startingwiththeastringandgoing tothecstring 3. Practisingtheaccelerando ThereisaveryclearwrittenaccelerandowhichIeffectivelypracticed usingsubdivisions. Aneffectivewaytosecuretherhythmandmanagegoodbowdistribution wastosubdividethebeatintosemiquaversextupletswhilstfollowingthe writtenbowingpatterns.thisfitsintoallthenotegroupingsuntilthe straightsemiquaversbegininbeat3ofbar7. 6

7 Subdividingintosextuplets Iusedstaccatofirst,tosecureastablerhythm,thenusedportatofora moremelodicandlegatoapproach. Wherethe pocoapocoaccel ismarked,ipractisedwithametronomeat theopeningspeed( =104) thenkeptrepeatingthepassageatan increasinglyquickertempountildecidingwheretheaccelerandoshould go.thisisperhapsalittleartificialmusicially,butitisnonetheless effectiveingainingsomedirectionandfittingitwiththeaccompaniment.i canacreditthismethodtothepianistmichaelhampton,withwhomi rehearsedandperformedthisconcerto. 4. Furtherissues shifting(bar10) Ipractisedgoingbackandforthbetweeneachnotewithalightbut audibleglissando.thenipractisedusingthe 4 secondrule which meanscountingapproximatelyfoursecondsbetweeneachnote.this reallyhadmelisteningtotherelationshipbetweenthenotesandsecured myhandgreatlyfortheshift.thiswasamethodigotfromafellowviola studentwhomiplayedforinordertogetsomecriticalfeedbackandit provedtobeanotherverysuccessfulmethodofworking. Iwouldstarttheshiftonthefingerofthefirstnoteandlandonthesecond withthedesiredfingering,thenrepeatbutshiftingwiththefingerofthe secondnote.thiscoversallbasesinthesmoothmotionoftheshiftand avoidsjumpingfromnotetonote,whichistooinsecure. 7

8 Bars Issues: Introductionofmainmelody. Arpeggiatedfigures 1. Practisingthemainmelody Betweenthe1stand2ndnoteIshiftedformusicalreasonsfromthefirst fingertothefourthfingerin3rdpositionsoipractisedthisshiftin ascendingscales. FromA(firstfinger,1stposition)toF(fourthfinger,3rdposition),AtoF, AtoG,AtoG,allthewayupthestringasfaraspossible;theextremity intheshiftingeventuallymeansthattheoriginalshiftbecomesvery simplesinceitisrelativelysmall. Practisingtheshiftinascendingscales.Eachshifttakingapproximately4seconds. AfterthisIpractisedthepassageusingmyown standardmethod This methodincludesasystematicpracticeofstaccato,portato,rhythmand accentvariationsandexercises.forexample,withmelodicpassagesi wouldemploystaccatoandportatoexercisesinordertogaincontrolover bowdistributionandsoundquality,andinfastertechnicalpassagesi 2Bartók, Béla 1949, Viola Concerto, Op. posth. Ed. Tibor Serly. Boosey & Hawkes. London. Music score. Pg 2. 8

9 wouldaddrhymicpatternsandaccentpatternsontopofthestaccatoand portamentofortheleft;handdexterity.sowhenimentionthe standard method inlaterpassages,itistothiskindofworkthatiamreferingto. 2. Arpeggiatedfigures Ipractisedeachnoteseparatelytohearthebarenotepatterns. ThenIfollowedthiswithdoublestopstosecuretheintonationand,more importantly,tosecurethehandpositionsothehandautomaticallyfell intothecorrectpositioninaperformancesituation,savinganyintonation anxietythatmighthaveoccured. Theredbracketsindicatethestringeachnoteison.Thepassageshouldalsobepractised withdouble2stops. Ithendidthedouble;stoppingwiththeprescribedbowingthatBartok writesinordertobuilditintotheperformancerequirements.this encouragedthecorrectbowpositionaswellasstregtheningmylefthand. Ifinallypractisedthemusicasitwaswrittenbutstoppingbeforeeach changeofstringandconsciouslymovingthelefthandandrighthandinto positionforthenextstring(likechanginggears). Iincludedthestandardmethodintothepracticeandalsobuiltinthe dynamics,whichareabigfeatureinthispassage,soitbecame automaticallyapartofthemusic. Oftenusingatinyamountbowinmypracticehelpedmetosecurethe controloftherighthandbecauseitrequirestheactivationofthefinger tips,ratherthanlargearmmovements,whichissomethingrivkaalways encouraged. 9

10 Bars Issues: Shifting Bowing+string;crossing 1. Shifting 3Bartók, Béla 1949, Viola Concerto, Op. posth. Ed. Tibor Serly. Boosey & Hawkes. London. Music score. Pg 3 10

11 Nowthemainmelodyreturnsafifthhigherandismuchfurtherdeveloped whichcreatesmoreissues. Aswithbefore,thefirstshiftbetweenthefirsttwonotesIpractisedina scale;likemannerupthedstring. Again,shiftingwithascendingscalesoverapproximately4seconds. InthenexttwobarsIshiftedbetweentheAandB,andtheG tof usingthe four;secondrule,tosecurethemovementoftheleft;land betweenthenotes. Theredbracketsindicatewheretheshiftsoccur. Inbar28IfollowedRivka sfingeringsandshiftedupthegstingfromthe B tog(harmonic),butthistimeiincludedthec (onthedstring)asa waytosecurethepositionofthehandin5thposition.itwasalsoan effectivewayofsecuringtheperfectforth,whichisoftenaverydifficult intervaltotune. IntheshiftIfocusedmyattentionontheCandadjustedtheGtoitsinceC IalwaysfounditthemoredifficultnotetotuneandtheGsoundsnaturally asaharmonic. PractisingtheshifttoincludetheCasadouble2stop. Inbar36 37,theshiftingbecomesmoreextremeasthenotesgointothe highregionsoftheviolaandimmediatelybackdownagain.byrecognising thattheshiftingcameeveryothernote,icouldcreateasystemof groupingtwonotestogetherandbuildingthescaleupgradually. Forexample,C+E,B +E,F +G,B +C,C +D,E. 11

12 Sousingthe four;secondrule onceagainicouldgraduallybuildupthe scale.note:thec+eandb +Ecanbedouble;stopped,soIpractisedthe shiftwiththesenotestogethertosecurethehandposition. Theredbracketsindicatetheshift,thebluebracketsindicatewhichpostionthelefthandis in(1 st,3 rd,5 th,6 th,8 th ) ThenextextremeshiftisfromB toanoctavec ontheastring.itwas importanttomakesurethatthec wasasemitoneupfromtheoctave leap. Practisingtheshiftwhilstmakinganoteoftheoctave. Playingtheintervalonthepianowasthebestwaythehearthedistanceof theintervalobjectively.alsofindingthecfirstandthenthec relativeto itonthestringwasagoodwaytosecurethepitch.afterengagingthe four;secondrule Ialsopractisedtheshiftveryquicklytobecome comfortablewithitinitsfinaltempo.thiswasashiftifrequently returnedtoduetoitsdifficulty. 2. BowingandStringCrossing Thisisamajorissueinbars34 35and38. Inbars35 36IappliedsomebowingpatternsbyWilliamPrimroseto securetheleft;handandexercisingthebowingtechniquealongsidemy standardmethod. 12

13 4 WilliamPrimrose sbowingmethod,eachpatternpractised6timesatthefrog,tipand middleofthebow,startingonadownbow,thenonanupbow,equallingatotalof60 repetitions. Alsopractisingthepassageveryslowlyandhavingaminutedouble;stop wheneverihadtochangestringasawayofkeepingthelineverylegatoin afastertempo nojumpingbetweenstrings Theredmarkingrecognisesthefingersthatcanbeleftdownasadouble2stopandtuning referencefortheotherfingers. Inbar38,thestringcrossingsareovereverystring,whichmakesthe passageparticularlydifficulttoplayfluidly.atthesuggestionofrivkai practisedthispassagepianissimoinordertoforcemyselftouseatiny amountofbowwithabsolutecontrolinmyfingertips.asaresultthe fortissimoplayingwasmucheasier. 4 DaltonDavid.1988,PlayingtheViola.CoversationswithWilliamPrimrose.OUP:NewYork.Pg