A COMPREHENSIVE PERORMANCE PROECT IN HORN LITERATURE, WITH AN ESSAY: SELECTED HANDEL VOCAL ARIAS REPURPOSED AS HORN REPERTOIRE SARAH D. VIEOU Bachelor o Music, University o Lethridge, 2011 A Thesis Sumitted to the School o Graduate Studies o the University o Lethridge in Partial ulillment o the Requirements or the Degree MASTER O MUSIC Department o Music University o Lethridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA Sarah D. Vieou, 2015
A COMPREHENSIVE PERORMANCE PROECT IN HORN LITERATURE, WITH AN ESSAY: SELECTED HANDEL VOCAL ARIAS REPURPOSED AS HORN REPERTOIRE Date o Deense: une 17, 2015 SARAH D. VIEOU Dr. T. Staples Supervisor Proessor D.M.A. Dr. D. Oye Memer, Thesis Examination Committee Associate Proessor D.M.A. Dr. B. Hendsee Memer, Thesis Examination Committee Proessor Ph.D. Dr.. Davies Memer, Thesis Examination Committee Instructor D.M.A. Dr. B. Black Chair, Thesis Examination Committee Associate Proessor Ph.D.
ABSTRACT At present there is a lack o music or the horn player who wishes to advance rom eginning study to more diicult repertoire. This collection o ourteen pieces has een created to it into this gap and to provide the horn player with an opportunity to develop necessary skills or advancing, including inger technique, increased range, ornamentation, and musicality. The pieces in the collection are transcried rom the da capo arias o the operas and oratorios o George rideric Handel, according to speciic criteria, and they have een edited in ways that may interest, aid, and motivate the advancing player. There are certain learning outcomes and planned goals or the études, and it is hoped that oth teachers and players will ind them to e o great value. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest thanks to Dr. Thomas Staples: teacher, motivator, encourager, and riend; and to Drs. Deanna Oye, Blaine Hendsee, and osh Davies or their patient support on the supervisory committee. My enduring appreciation to Kim Hastings and Mark riesen, who planted my ever-growing love o music. My utmost gratitude to Mom, Dad, Carey, eremy, iona, oy, Michael, Ruth, and the endless parade o others, or the strength to carry on. iv
TABLEOCONTENTS ABSTRACT"..."iii! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS"..."iv! TABLE"O"CONTENTS"..."v! LIST"O"IGURES"..."vi! PART"A:"RECITALS"..."1! PART"B:"ESSAY"..."4! INTRODUCTION"..."5! Deinitions"..."5! Description"o"the"proect"..."6! Search"o"the"literature"..."11! Parameters"o"the"thesis"..."12! HISTORICAL"CONTEXT"..."1! Instrumental"music"in"the"Baroque"period"..."1! The"dacapo"aria"..."14! SELECTING"THE"ARIAS"..."16! Exterior"criteria"..."16! Interior"criteria"..."19! EDITING"THE"ARIAS"..."22! Transcription"..."22! Ornamentation"..."25! Alterations"..."26! THE"ACCOMPANIMENTS"..."28! Description"..."28! Sources"..."29! Useulness"..."0! DISCUSSION"O"THE"ARIAS"..."2! SUMMARY"AND"IMPLICATIONS"..."40! PART"C:"COLLECTION"..."41! REERENCES"..."229! " v"
LIST O IGURES igure 1: Octave designation... 6 vi
PART A: RECITALS 1
8:00 pm riday April 25, 2014 Recital Hall ~~ Program ~~ Lecture: Bentzon s Sonata or Horn and Piano, op. 47 ~~ Intermission ~~ Sonata or Horn and Piano, Op. 47 Moderato ma non troppo Quasi menuetto allegretto Rondo esse Plessis, piano Niels Viggo Bentzon (1919-2000) 2
8:00 pm March 26, 2015 Recital Hall ~~ Program ~~ Pieces or horn solo: our Improvisations (rom travelling impressions) (1976) III. España Concerto or horn and orchestra, Op. 91 (1951) Allegro (cadenza y Polekh) Andante Moderato oel Goodellow, piano Vitaly Buanovsky (1928-199) Reinhold Glière (1875-1956) ed. Valery Polekh ~~ Intermission ~~ Chant Corse (192) Sonatine or horn and piano, Op. 12 (1954) Allegro con rio Andantino grazioso Allegro moderato oel Goodellow, piano Aesop s ales (1992) The Tortoise and the Hare The Mouse and the Lion The Wind and the Sun The Dove and the Ant The Mule Blaine Hendsee, narrator oel Goodellow, piano Henri Tomasi (1901-197) Heinz Schreiter (1915-2006) Anthony Plog (. 1947)
PART B: ESSAY 4
INTRODUCTION At present there are innumerale collections o horn solos and études or oth the eginning player and the aspiring proessional, ut ewer or those players who ind themselves in the transitional stage. Ater making their way through various standard eginning method ooks, those horn players who wish to continue their studies are presented with only a ew intermediate-level options to prepare them or the great range o advanced études and solos. This intermediate preparation phase is o great signiicance to the advancing horn player, since it is in this stage that good undamental playing technique must e estalished, in order to e uilt upon as the student continues. The relative lack o music or this purpose has inspired this collection o ourteen pieces. This thesis thoroughly discusses the collection, with rie descriptions o certain related points. Deinitions The style o music transcried or this proect is the da capo aria, which contains an A section ollowed y a shorter, sometimes slower, B section and then an emellished return to the A section, denoted A. The ull orm is sometimes indicated as ABA. In a paper related to music or a transposing instrument, some conusion may arise when reerring to pitches. When pitches and keys are indicated in this 5
essay, it will e speciied whether they reer to concert (sounding) pitch or horn pitch, which is written a perect ith aove concert pitch. As well, individual notes in horn pitch will e discussed, and they will e speciied according to the octave designation system recommended in the Harvard Concise Dictionary o Music and Musicians (Randel, 1999, p. vii), illustrated elow. igure 1: Octave designation Description o the proect The aim o this venture is to put orward a set o technical and musical études rom a common-practice-period (1600-1900) composer that is useul or teaching the advancing horn player. With this purpose in mind, ourteen Allegro arias in the da capo style have een chosen rom the operas and oratorios o George rideric Handel (1685-1759). These arias have een repurposed or use y horn players, while maintaining sensitivity to their historical context and practice. The études should e equally eective in a variety o situations, rom warm-up exercises to practice études to ormal solos, perormed with or without the provided piano accompaniments. 6
The decision to adapt some o the vocal music o Handel is a logical one, since this music suits the horn well due to Handel s instrumentally-styled vocal music. Arpeggios, scalar motion, alternating eighth-and-sixteenth-note-rhythms, and lyrical phrases aound, idiomatic to oth the voice and the horn. These provide an excellent asis or teaching proper technique to advancing horn players, which is a signiicant part o this proect. Additionally and importantly, Handel s great reputation as a composer renders the collection most useul, since his music is ull o attractive melodies, interesting rhythmic passages, and lovely musical moments. It is hoped that this collection will e a good resource or all students working toward repertoire o an advanced level. The ocus o the études is on teaching those skills necessary or the horn player to develop ater achieving reasonale competency as a eginning player. These skills include improved inger technique (especially using the third inger), increased lexiility in larger intervals, expanded range (outward rom the eginner g to d, to the more advanced to ), and acility in a greater variety o keys. Skills may also e otained in historical perormance practice, including the execution o Baroquestyle emellishments, and the playing o the da capo aria style. Perhaps most signiicantly, the collection provides a set o pieces that may e used to teach the student an enriched sense o musicality, since eectively perorming the 7
elements o repetition and contrast in Handel s da capo aria style necessitate such a development. Additionally, the possiility o perormance urther increases the useulness o this collection. Accompanied perormance is an excellent learning experience or the student o any level, and may e the ultimate goal or many student musicians. This collection is aimed at those students who wish to advance their study o horn playing. In particular it may e helpul as a means to an end or those approaching university study, ut it should also provide a very good resource as an end in itsel or the average school and student. Anecdotally, it can e oserved that many horn players leave their school ands ater a ew years, in part due to the inadequate learning materials availale to them. Since horn players are oten too rare in school ands, horn parts in ensemle pieces are requently douled in other sections, or written to e unchallenging ecause o the widespread notion that the horn is an especially diicult instrument. It ollows that the student horn player has very little exposure to skill-developing music, urther enorcing that elie. A collection o études such as this may e o great eneit to horn students who ind little interest in their and music alone. The planned outcomes o the collection are numerous. Students should e ale to develop the asic skills in ingering, articulation, dynamics, phrasing, style, and musicality learned rom standard eginning study ooks. Secondly, 8
they will e presented with new challenges to undertake in the orm o ornamentation, increasingly unamiliar keys, and extended range. A more mature approach to musicality may also occur, especially i a teacher chooses to emphasize that aspect o the études. Ideally, the student will work systematically through the collection, allowing these skills to ecome cemented in the playing through repetition and continuous study. Equally eective as études and as solos, students should see their ailities improving through the study o these Handel arias. Eorts thus ar to provide music or students at this advancing level have een ocused on composing rand-new solos and études that work to teach the skills necessary or the maturing horn player. Many o these have done so successully, preparing students well or advancing to more diicult standard études. This collection o Handel arias diers rom that approach in that it is a set o transcriptions rather than one o newly-composed music, ut still with the same goal in mind. Transcriptions o music rom other stylistic periods or the horn are typically o a slow, lyrical character, and present the student with a very good set o challenges related to that style. or this collection however, music has een chosen that is o a lighter, quicker nature, in order to develop a dierent set o skills. Any horn player may learn a great deal rom playing the music o style 9
periods that pre-date the common use o the horn as a solo instrument. It is hoped that the pieces in this collection will e a good addition to the catalog o music transcried or the horn. Certainly there is a variety o great composers whose music would provide suitale source material or the purpose o this proect, ut the choice o Handel, speciically his arias, was ar rom aritrary. In these, the comination o vocal lourish with idioms that adapt well to the horn characterizes them as excellent options or transcription. As well, choosing pieces rom a speciic genre o the music o Handel means that this collection has a teachale, learnale musical language. Designed not as a progressive collection ut a cumulative one, the student may study the pieces in any order. Each étude chosen y the student will incorporate skills used in the previous one studied (regardless o determined order) and uild on those skills through repetition and continued emphasis. Thus, although the collection presents the student with unamiliar keys, complicated rhythmic patterns, and extended range, it all stems rom the same genre y one composer and so there is consistency in the challenges. The music o Handel has een chosen over that o other Baroque composers, most notaly ohann Seastian Bach (1685-1750) ecause it was Handel who composed the great operas o this period. The tuneul, predictale melodies o Handel may e more accessile to students at the advancing level 10
than those o Bach, which are deeply proound. Only da capo arias were chosen or this proect due to their aspects o repetition, contrast, and ornamentation, and in the musical dramas o Handel, the conventional da capo aria is very well exempliied. His ormula style in the Allegro arias its the mastery-y-repetition idea, and additionally, ecause o Handel s consistent use o the orm, the arias are a oy to listen to and to play. The included oratorio arias are not discernaly dierent. Search o the literature A search o the literature reveals that this collection o arias is likely the irst to provide such a numer o transcriptions or the horn y one composer in a speciic style. More than that, the search shows that indeed there is comparatively little music transcried or the horn at all. Various recordings have een released in which horn players perorm music they have transcried themselves, ut no pulished versions o these pieces are availale. Many reputale collections contain one or two transcried pieces, ut those that are in da capo orm very rarely have suggested emellishment written out as in this collection o arias. Other composers have provided études and solos in the style o Baroque arias to varying degrees o success, ut this proect has undertaken the task o transcriing a large numer o arias with speciic teaching goals in mind. 11
Parameters o the thesis A proect o this type must have parameters, since there is a wealth o music that could e transcried or horn or the purposes o teaching and learning. This proect is conined to the music o Handel, and speciically to the da capo arias o his many operas and oratorios. urther, only those arias marked Allegro have een chosen or the proect. This collection contains ourteen arias, a numer that allows or a variety o keys, technical challenges, melodic styles, rhythmic patterns, and learning outcomes. Covering arias rom works spanning the years etween 1709 (Agrippina) and 174 (Semele) also allows the student an interesting perspective on Handel s changing style. The numer o arias is low enough that while the student may pick and choose ust a ew to learn, it is possile also to work systematically through the whole collection as a series o études. The thesis itsel is limited to an in-depth discussion o the collection, with only surace-level descriptions o some related topics. 12
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Instrumental music y the late seventeenth century enoyed equal prominence with vocal music, even surpassing it in some instances as the instrumental orms egan to e standardized. Later Baroque vocal music, including the arias o Handel, egan to imitate the idioms and styles o instrumental music due to its popularity. Because o this, the da capo arias are an excellent choice or this proect. Instrumental music in the Baroque period Beore the sixteenth century, instrumental music was mostly unctional, used or dancing and dining. Very little written music survives rom this time, chiely ecause the music was not written out at all, eing instead improvised y the players. During the Renaissance period, it ecame much more common to have instruments accompanying voices, and playing alone in various new contexts including the theatre, pulic ceremony, and the church. Printed music was more commonly availale, typically as written-out versions o the players highly-ornamented perormances. Extant copies show that such ornamentation was an integral part o instrumental music, and although improvised, there were certain rules and conventions governing the use o emellishments. Instrumental musicians oten played arrangements o vocal pieces, and similarities egan to e seen etween vocal and instrumental idioms. 1
Even as the pulication o written instrumental music increased, the aspects o improvisation and ornamentation did not diminish. It was expected that oth instrumental and vocal perormers ornament the music written or them ecause Baroque perormances were all aout the perormer, and the written music was viewed as simply the asis or perormance (Burkholder, Grout, Palisca, 2006, p. 04). Ornamentation was sometimes so extensive that the original music could not e discerned through the many small emellishments, cadenzas, and other lierties taken y the perormer. When the Baroque period egan, highly ornamented music was the norm or all voices and instruments. The da capo aria As the opera gained prominence during the Baroque period, certain conventions ecame estalished within the genre. The aria was the most important musical orm within the opera, showing o the talents o the singers. Opera during Handel s lietime was centered completely around the singers in the principal roles, and so o course the more ornamentation, the etter. Emellishment was up to the discretion o the perormer, so it ell to opera composers like Handel to provide an excellent asis rom which to showcase the singer s aility. Arpeggios, melismas, large leaps, rhythmic ireworks, and ample opportunities or ornamentation ill Handel s arias. The music o the A and B 14
sections generally contrast very eectively, in many cases simply y moving to the relative minor in the B section. Typically, Handel s ull orchestration in his A sections contrasts with sparser accompaniments in the B sections, keeping the listener s interest and showcasing diversity in the perormer s voice. Although the da capo aria orm was standard or Baroque opera, Handel managed to avoid staleness through delightul melodies and interesting contrasts. The choice to use da capo arias or this proect is quite appropriate. The elements o repetition and contrast are excellent learning tools or any student o the instrument, since they reinorce learned skills and encourage creativity to maintain interest. The virtuosic nature o these pieces, originally intended as a vehicle through which to display the ailities o opera singers, provides some technical challenges or the horn player. The orm also allows the student to develop skill in conventional ornamentation. inally, since the ABA style is standard in all types o music, amiliarity with its use in the da capo aria style will e a great advantage to the student when more complex examples o the orm, like sonata and concerto, are undertaken. 15
SELECTING THE ARIAS There were a numer o criteria decided upon eore selecting the ourteen arias or the collection. or reasons already descried, the search was irst limited to music o a certain style, that is, da capo arias marked Allegro rom Handel s many operas and oratorios. urther limitations related to technical aspects such as key, range, and general diiculty slightly shortened the list o prospective arias, ut due to the vastness o Handel s output, many options remained. This allowed the possiility o choosing only the most itting examples. Exterior criteria Each aria in da capo style contains the usual two sections ollowed y an ornamented return to the irst. The elements o repetition and contrast inherent in this style are o great value to the student horn player. Repetition reinorces any learned skill, and in this context requires the student to use musicality to maintain interest in repeated motives, passages, and sections. Contrast in music allows the student to ecome skilled at perorming in a variety o styles and characters. As well, the da capo style acquaints the student with a set o stock ornaments and emellishments commonly used in Baroque and Classical music. Originally, no single voice type was required, since da capo arias are written or all voice types. As the search continued, it appeared that those arias 16
or higher voices would e especially valuale, since these are typically very active, highly melismatic, and quite virtuosic in general. The principal roles were typically assigned to the prima donna (soprano) and primo uomo (castrato, or male soprano), so it ollows that these arias would e the most vocally exciting, and thus the most varied and interesting when transcried or horn. This collection also contains arias or tenor, mezzo-soprano, and ass, ut indeed it is those that were originally or high voices that provide some o the iggest technical challenges. It was decided that only arias marked Allegro would e eligile, as these would pose the general challenge o learning to play quickly and accurately in each étude in the collection. The Allegro arias are airly consistent in the musical style employed. The idioms o arpeggio-ased phrases, alternating eighth-andsixteenth rhythmic material, and scalar passages are ound throughout. These contriute to the development o inger technique or the horn student, especially when placed in unamiliar keys. Also important to develop is the skill o eyetraining, the aility to read and play what is seen intuitively. In learning music, as with any language, the student will irst need to translate each note and rhythm separately. As the student ecomes accustomed to idiomatic patterns, aided y the repetitive and sequential nature o Handel s music, luency in the language o music will egin to develop. Muscle memory should improve, and 17
the task o perorming what is on the page ecome less laored. These are skills that do not develop in the same way y perorming slow, lyrical music, which does not always require the quick translation process needed in these Allegro pieces. The search was also generally limited to those arias in duple time. This choice again narrows the range o possile arias and leaves those that are airly consistent in rhythmic structure. However, the collection does include three in triple time, since triple meter presents a dierent set o common rhythmic patterns that the student must e ale to recognize and perorm with conidence. Besides narrowing the search or arias, these criteria provided an additional eneit in the orm o the appearance o a conventional harmonic structure that is consistent through the entire collection. Almost invarialy, the A section o a da capo aria egins in the tonic key, moves to the dominant, and returns to the tonic with some version o the opening melodic statement. The B section typically egins in the relative minor, moves to the dominant o that key, and returns to the relative minor eore ending up in the tonic again. The inal A section is at its core the same as the irst, although o course highly ornamented, and sometimes truncated y a shorter version o the opening instrumental passage, especially in the later works o Handel. Each aria in the collection 18
ollows this conventional structure, and the student s ear training can strengthen rom hearing these key relationships in each aria. Interior criteria Having narrowed the search or arias ased on the aspects o tempo, time signature, and orm, the arias were ultimately chosen ased on the musical material within, such as range, technique, and general playaility. The typical range o each aria is around a tenth, which is well within the range o the horn player, even the less experienced player whose unctional range may stretch rom g to d, a twelth. During the search, no key or voice type was excluded, since the transcription process would involve transposing the aria to it within the middle register anyway, that is, roughly within the trele cle sta in horn pitches. Extensions o this range were permitted, as long as the more extreme notes were not too numerous, and generally approached through stepwise motion. Any aria whose vocal range is around a tenth could e transcried and repurposed as a horn étude with a range itting neatly etween and, the ideal unctional range or the student preparing to advance to more diicult études and literature. That original tenth would then e expanded through the editing process to cover more o the ideal range to prepare the student or urther study. It ecame apparent, however, that transposing the aria too ar during transcription would result in such a change in the quality o 19
accompaniment as to alter the entire eeling o the aria. I moved too ar down, the accompaniment takes on a muddiness; i too ar up, a rittleness. Thus, it was decided that the arias chosen should e ale to it the horn player s range with only a transposition o a maor third in either direction. or example, the concert pitch o Amante stravagante was transposed y only a hal-step rom the original A maor to B maor ( maor or the horn player), well within the chosen oundary. Each aria was also assessed or the challenges that would e posed y the required technique. Since part o the goal o the proect is to develop certain technical skills, pieces with diicult rhythmic passages, large leaps, and melismatic sections were sought. A ew arias could e considered to e too diicult or this proect, ut through editing, some o the more complicated passages were made more approachale. By choosing arias ased on their technical requirements, and putting them through the process o transcription and transposition, a series o études has een created that may e used to develop necessary skills in horn playing. inally, pieces were chosen ased on musical appeal and playaility, to keep the player interested and encouraged. There are certain arias in Handel s music that, ecause o their dramatic place in the opera, their voice type, or tone and emotion, are less interesting, and so less suited to this proect. More 20
appropriate here are pieces whose A and B sections are quite contrasting, holding the attention o oth perormer and listener throughout the whole. As well, an attempt was made to avoid including arias that have too much similarity o musical material. The music chosen was required not only to e playale in practice, ut also in appearance. An aria illed with thirty-second notes and doule-dotted rhythms, or example, may cause an intermediate student to lose conidence eore even attempting to play it. This collection is designed to e appealing to students in all respects, so where there were arias that look much more diicult than they are, they were either edited to appear more approachale or not included at all. It was not a simple task to choose ust ourteen arias rom Handel s repertoire, which even with the limiting criteria presented a great numer o possiilities or this collection. Indeed, an exhaustive survey o his output was not necessary, and not undertaken. However, a search o selected operas, with these limiting criteria in mind, yielded a collection o études that are suitale to the horn player while honoring the spirit o the originals. 21
EDITING THE ARIAS Once the arias had een chosen, the task o editing egan. It was not ust a matter o changing the instrumentation, ut a airly involved process eginning with direct transcription and ollowed y many adustments to the music to it the instrument and the purpose. Transcription In all cases, the arias were transcried rom the Chrysander orchestral scores (Handel, 1965-6) into notation sotware. There are separate lines or each o the parts, typically including Violin I and II, Viola, and Bass, as well as the solo vocal line, and the keyoard part where availale. Then, the solo voice line and the availale Chrysander keyoard parts were copied into a new score and laeled Horn and Piano respectively. The sotware adusted the notes o the horn part to e read as written rather than as sounding, since music or the horn must e written a ith aove sounding pitch. Where there was no keyoard part in the orchestral score, these lines were let lank at irst, to e illed in at a later point y some other method, whether newly-arranged or copied rom another source. Each aria s key was changed to it the purpose o the proect. This collection covers horn keys rom three sharps to three lats (concert pitch keys rom our lats to two sharps), in order to amiliarize the advancing horn player with a roader range o keys than the one or two lats experienced in eginner 22
music. These keys should it the player s register while still pushing the limits o range, and providing challenges o inger technique. It will e noticed that while there are only one or two arias in most o the keys, there are our in concert B maor (horn maor), and this has een allowed ecause those arias provide other challenges esides their key. There are only two arias in minor keys, ut there is no lack o minor-key music in the middle sections o each aria in the collection. or these pieces, it was decided that most o the music should lie within the trele cle sta, which is the common tessitura or the horn. Notes aove the sta (that is, aove ) are used sparingly and approached well (in mostly stepwise motion) in order to e possile or a horn player not yet ready or advanced study materials. Likewise, challenging lower notes (elow g) are approached y step or third. As a general rule or this collection, the chosen upper limit is the high aove the sta, while the chosen lower limit is the low elow the sta, and these limits determined what keys were appropriate or each aria. When possile, the concert pitch o the transcried versions lies within a maor third in either direction rom the original key, so that the quality o the accompaniment is not adversely aected. Only arias marked Allegro were considered or this collection, and that tempo marking has een retained in the horn versions. No metronome marking 2
is indicated in the études, ut = 96-104 is suggested or all o those in duple time. This is perhaps slower than the typical Allegro, ut the student may ind a slower Allegro to e more attainale. As well, it addresses the tendency or students to gloss over more diicult sections when they can hide ehind quick tempos. Conventionally, the B section o the da capo aria is perormed at a slower tempo, recommended here to e = 80-92 when meno mosso is indicated. In the horn versions, the da capo section was written out rather than using D. C. al ine, giving room to provide written emellishments. All sections are indicated y doule ars in the score. All o the markings in the orchestral scores related to style, expression, and tempo, were transcried with the music. These original scores contain very ew articulations, and most o those that exist are present only ecause o the text. There are iteen two-note slurs that have remained among the études. Since there are so ew, they have not een specially marked, to avoid cluttering the score with unnecessary editorial markings. All other indications regarding articulation have een newly added. Such markings have een used udiciously, to allow or the student s own interpretation. Dynamic indications, style markings, and tempo changes have een added or low and ease o technique, and where they may contriute to musicality in these pieces. 24
Ornamentation The task o ornamenting ourteen arias was an involved process, especially while attempting to remain true to the original character o the music. Many o the emellishments and ornamentation techniques used are meant to e historically accurate, while others are provided according to present taste and style. When perormed in Handel s day, musicians chose ornaments ased on their audience and the styles o the day, as well as according to their own preerences and ailities (Burkholder et al., 2006, p. 04-6). In this proect, eorts were taken to write emellishments that it the instrument and what can reasonaly e assumed to e the ailities o the players, while keeping in mind the late Baroque practices and the speciic style o each aria. The skill o ornamenting an aria in the da capo was typically an improvised one, ut in this collection, complete suggested versions are included or each. This should allow the student to see how ornamentation may e used, and to develop a stock repertoire o ornaments appropriate or music in this style. As well, there is an added technical challenge in perorming these ornaments accurately. Increasing the rhythmic complexity o the music in the da capo is one way in which the arias have een ornamented. Oten, quarter notes have een changed to sets o two eighth notes, and eighth notes to sixteenth notes. The original note would e paired with a note in the same harmony, or a passing tone 25
to the next original note. Most o the arias were placed in a middle-high register when transposed into horn keys, so in order to allow or the addition o the middle-low register, certain lines were transposed down an octave, or melodic igures arranged to move downward to lower chord tones instead o upward. This meant that some o the original notes were changed, ut always present were chord tones that it the harmonic structure. Certain ornaments have also een used with their shorthand symols, including mordents, grace notes, and trills. While historical usage has een generally ollowed, some lierties were taken related to current style and taste, and with the knowledge o the limits o the horn. or example, all trills included have very good valve-trill-ingering cominations, since most students o an intermediate level will not have a well-developed lip trill. This limits which notes may e trilled upon, as not all ingering cominations are ideal or valve trills. The use o such ornaments also allows or great rhythmic reedom, especially at cadences. Including these ornaments, and using their symols rather than writing them out, should acquaint the student with the appearance and execution o them. Alterations In various instances, slight changes have een made to the music that are not related to range or ornamentation. Three o the arias ( Qual aralletta, 26
Prigioniera ho l alma in pena, and Nasconde l usignol in alti rami il nido ) contain extended passages o thirty-second notes that are not easily read or played. In the irst two, it is ecause they are written in /8 time. To address this, all note lengths were douled and the time signature changed to /4. This eliminates the complicated-looking passages, and so the arias seem ar less daunting. In Nasconde, the diicult passages were changed to a simpler pattern o eighths and sixteenths. The eect o the quick rhythm is not lost entirely, ut simpliying the music in this way allows the student to approach the piece with conidence. Alterations have also een made in certain places to deal with length. In the accompaniment, long interludes, introductions, and endings have een areviated, ecause these pieces are meant as short horn solos, not ull dramatic perormances. or example, in Vo ar guerra, e vincer voglio, the extended keyoard solo has een cut out to keep the ocus on the horn music. 27
THE ACCOMPANIMENTS These pieces are somewhat unique in that piano accompaniment is provided or each, which is rarely (though occasionally) seen in other étude collections. Thus, the pieces may e used either as unaccompanied études or in accompanied perormance. In this collection, all ut three accompaniments have een transcried rom versions in the pulic domain. Very ew changes were made to these piano parts, and these were limited to the truncation o long introductions, endings, and interludes. Description The piano has een chosen as the accompanying instrument ecause o its universal acceptance as such, and ecause pianists are widely availale. or the same reason that instrumental concertos are also pulished in piano reductions, piano reductions have een used in this collection that is, or greater possiility o perormance, since it is more likely that a pianist will e availale or perormance than a ull orchestra. In the irst transcription process, however, the string parts were copied, and these may e made availale to the student in a later edition o the collection. As a matter o act, the études could e accompanied eectively y many cominations o instruments. As an alternative to live, acoustic accompaniment, the creation o supplementary sound iles is intended to ollow. These could e very helpul or 28
the student s private practice and perhaps even perormance. They may take the orm o MIDI iles with various synthesized instruments, piano recordings, or smart electronic iles that can ollow the soloist. Sources Many o the Chrysander scores, especially the oratorios, have designated keyoard parts included. In these cases, the keyoard parts were transcried into notation sotware and their keys simply adusted to it the horn, keeping in mind o course that music or the piano must e written a ith elow what is written or the horn. As already noted, the register change and accompanying quality change involved with larger transpositions was avoided in the early step o choosing the new keys or each aria. igured ass indications in the original keyoard parts had een realized there as well, so no changes were needed eyond transposition and occasional truncation. or a ew o the arias, especially those rom the operas, the orchestral scores contain only string parts and no keyoard parts, ut susequent voiceand-piano editions have een pulished. A small numer o complete pianovocal scores, as well as many collections o selected Handel songs arranged or voice and piano, are availale in the pulic domain. These piano parts have een transcried in the same way as aove, that is, directly rom the original versions, then transposed and possily truncated. 29
In the three cases ( Arugio, avampo e remo, Amante stravagante, and Bel piacere ) where a pulic domain piano part could not e ound, one has een created y condensing the string parts. The lower sta o the piano part contains the string ass part, while the upper sta contains the three higher string parts. Compressing the string parts in this way has een quite successul, with a ew changes made or ease o playing. The collection, then, consists o eleven pre-existing pulic domain piano parts, and three that are newlyarranged. Useulness The availaility o piano accompaniments in this collection greatly increases its practicality. Not only are the études valuale in lessons and private practice or learning and developing technique on the horn, and understanding style and theory o late Baroque music, ut with the accompaniments, they may e used in solo perormance, whether ormal or inormal. This collection provides ourteen new solo pieces or the advancing horn player, all with melodic interest and all quite appropriate or a recital setting. As well, there are added learning outcomes when the pieces are perormed accompanied. With slight alterations, the harmony and style o the original music have een made apparent without the help o accompanying instruments, ut accompanied perormance may allow or a uller sense o those 0
aspects. With the piano accompaniment, the student will e ale to hear how the various parts it together, and gain an improved understanding o the da capo aria style. 1
DISCUSSION O THE ARIAS Each aria was transcried and edited in much the same way, ut also with the idea that each may ocus on certain challenges and intended learning outcomes. Slight dierences, especially in ornamentation, result in a collection o études that are diverse in character, diiculty, and interest. The études have een arranged chronologically so that the student may oserve the progression o Handel s style rom the 1709 Agrippina to 174 s Semele. There are a ew arias that egin with a similar arpeggiated opening phrase, and even with the choice o chronological arrangement, these have een spread throughout, avoiding the sense o the études ecoming too repetitive. The assortment o keys and time signatures is also varied in this ordering. The collection is not ordered y diiculty, whether perceived or actual, since it is intended that all o the études will e equally challenging, aleit in dierent ways. As well, the collection is not intended to e worked through in any certain order, and the chronological ordering shows the variety and diversity o the études. Regardless o the order in which the player chooses to study the études, each susequent aria should uild on the skills learned in the one eore. The collection o arias as a whole will challenge the student in many ways, ut each separate piece is meant to ocus on only a ew o these aspects. 2
The irst étude in the collection is Bel piacere e godere ido amor, rom the opera Agrippina o 1709. Although it is sung y the soprano role o Poppea, the original aria is not as overly complicated or acroatic as most soprano arias tend to e. The greatest challenge here is the alternating time signature that moves etween triple and duple time. There will e various ways to approach this task, ut the most eective will likely e or the student to mentally sudivide at the eighth-note level. The original aria is in concert G maor, and was transcried to concert E maor (horn B maor), a more suitale range or the horn player. The horn part rises to the high written on a ew occasions, and i possile these should e played as written. or the student struggling to reach this note, however, the possiility o dropping the phrase y an octave is indicated. Contrast in the da capo was achieved y moving phrases into the middle-low register or the added challenge o learning to play luidly in this range. No pulic domain vocal score or Agrippina could e ound, and so the piano part or this aria was created y condensing the string parts. Second in the collection is Arugio, avampo e remo rom 1711 s opera Rinaldo. Sung y the male soprano (castrato) character o Rinaldo, it is airly melismatic, and quite interesting to play. Originally in concert G maor, it was transposed to concert C maor. This shit o a ourth, greater than the maor third deined as the greatest advisale transposition or this collection, was allowed
ecause there was no existing piano part to suer rom such a displacement. As in Bel piacere, the piano part was created y condensing the string parts, ut its character is much more active and strongly supportive so that the student must work to e heard over the dense texture. Due to its melismatic nature, only a little ornamentation was needed in the da capo, mostly limited to grace notes and passing tones. Next is Vo ar guerra, also rom Rinaldo. This aria is a call to arms sung y Queen Armida, played y a soprano, in the opera s inal act. It was transposed up y a mere semitone, rom concert G maor to concert A maor. The indicated keyoard solo in the original score has een removed or length. As well, the very long, held notes have een altered or interest y shortening them and adding some ornaments. The melody in the B section is quite repetitive, and its eectiveness is compromised y the loss o text. To compensate, each repetition has een altered in some way, whether y added dynamics, changed articulation, or ornamentation. The da capo contrasts through increased rhythmic activity, with neighor and passing tones added. The piano part here was taken rom the collection G.. Handel Opera Songs (Best, 1880) which at more than 10 years old is in the pulic domain. The part was transposed and slightly edited to it the horn version. 4
The ourth aria listed in the collection is Amante stravagante rom the opera lavio o 172. It is sung y the soprano Emilia, and is appropriately lorid and showy. Transposed rom concert A maor to concert B maor, the range o the horn part its very nicely into the advancing player s range. Ornamentation in the da capo adds interest y increased rhythmic activity. This is the third and inal aria in this collection or which a piano part was created y condensing the string parts. Amante marks the irst appearance o a rhythmically ree cadenza written into the cadence o the B section. It is an added ornament in typical improvised style oten seen in sung perormances o these arias. ith is Prigioniera ho l alma in pena, rom Rodelinda, an opera composed in 1725. It is sung y the tenor role, Duke Grimoaldo, and has een transposed rom concert A maor to concert C maor. This is the second o three arias in the collection in triple time (the irst eing Bel piacere which alternates etween triple and duple). The transcription process here was urther complicated y the decision to doule all note lengths. In the original score, the many sixteenth-note runs make the aria appear much more complicated than it is. When douled, these ecome eighth-note runs, and these seem ully attainale. This étude should e perormed in a quick three, or slow one, to avoid too much o a plodding pesante eel. Lierties may especially e taken in the inal phrase o the B section so that there is a great deal o contrast etween it and the 5
da capo. The piano part here again comes rom W. T. Best s 1880 collection o songs, transposed to the appropriate key and with its note lengths likewise douled. The sixth étude is also rom Rodelinda o 1725, entitled Mio caro ene! and sung y Queen Rodelinda, a soprano. The original key has een maintained, since its concert G maor its the horn very nicely. The accompaniment here also comes rom Best s collection. This aria marks the second appearance o a writtenout cadenza at the cadence o the B section. The rhythmic ornaments in the da capo provide much more activity and interest to this section. Next, there is Qual aralletta rom the 170 opera Partenope, sung y the soprano Queen Partenope. This is the inal o three études in the collection in triple meter. As in the original score o Prigioniera, the perceived diiculty o the original version o Qual aralletta is higher than actual diiculty due to many sixteenth-note runs, and so the same process o douling note lengths was applied. The triplets here provide added interest, as well as the issue o alternating etween duple and triple rhythms. The piece must e played to eel in a moderate one to make sense musically. It is originally in concert A maor, and has een transposed up y a hal-step to concert B maor, so the accompaniment, the ourth and inal one here rom Best s collection, is not too ar displaced. 6
The eighth étude is So Much Beauty, Sweetly Blooming rom the irst oratorio used in this collection, Esther o 172. It is sung y the tenor role o Mordecai. Ornamentation has een applied cautiously in the A section as well as more requently in the da capo, or added interest. This aria is originally in concert C maor, and has een transposed to concert D maor. Its corresponding horn key o A maor is a diicult one or horn players, and so while there is little in the way o rhythmic or melodic diiculty or the player, the unamiliar key provides a challenge. Typically, Handel s oratorios contain music or a keyoard instrument, and so the piano part here is transcried rom the Chrysander score. Ninth is Swit Inundation o Desolation, rom the 17 oratorio Deorah, and sung y Ainoam, played y a ass. This is the irst o the arias that is in a minor key, and has een transposed rom concert A minor to concert minor. The minor key is an interesting new lavor and provides a challenge or the horn player, as will the large octave leaps that requent the score. The accompaniment again is rom the orchestral Chrysander score. The tenth étude is My Vengeance Awakes Me, rom Athalia, also rom 17. It is sung y Queen Athalia, a soprano character, and has een transposed up y a maor third rom concert B maor to concert D maor. The diiculty here may e in conveying the anger and energy o the piece despite its maor key. It should e played quite orceully and the student may need to experiment with 7
articulations to accomplish this. The range in the da capo has een extended upward to a high written a or the horn, which may e diicult or some students, ut range extension is necessary or the advancing player. As with the other oratorios, the accompaniment is rom the orchestral score. The next two études are oth rom Deidamia, one o Handel s latest operas, rom 1741. Both have een transposed to concert B maor rom concert A maor, since in oth cases this key was most optimal or the range o the horn player, given the range o the original music. Nasconde l usignol in alti rami il nido is irst, sung y the soprano Deidamia. Similar to Prigioniera and Qual aralletta, an aundance o small-note runs makes Nasconde appear overly complicated, so a solution needed to e devised to deal with these runs. Instead o douling the note lengths, the diicult passages have een simpliied through the editing process. Certain long, held notes have een ornamented or interest, and another written cadenza ends the B section. Ai Greci questa spada, sung y Achille, a male character in emale dress and played y a emale soprano, is also quite lorid and necessitates quick inger technique or the hornist. An urtext vocal score or Deidamia was located in the pulic domain (Steglich, ca. 1940), and the accompaniments were transcried rom there. The inal two études are rom Handel s 174 Semele, written as an oratorio ut more oten perormed as an opera. The irst o these, Hence, Hence, Iris 8
Hence Away is sung y the mezzo-soprano uno, and is the second o two arias in minor keys. It was transcried rom concert minor to concert C minor, and the horn player should ind this to e an attainale task. In Hence, Hence, there is the very good possiility o the practice o doule-tonguing technique. It may e perormed very well at the = 96-104 tempo recommended aove, ut could e increased to = 18 i the student is working on doule-tonguing, and at this tempo the aria is quite exciting. The second rom Semele is I Must with Speed Amuse Her, sung y the tenor character upiter, and transcried rom concert D maor to concert E maor. The piano accompaniments have een transcried rom the orchestral score. Emellishments add interest in the da capo sections o oth these arias, ending the collection with two very good examples o Handel s later style. 9
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS This collection o études has een put together with the hope that it will e a valuale contriution to the repertoire or students wishing to progress rom intermediate music to that o a more diicult level. The students will ind their technique pushed in many ways, and they will also e encouraged to develop new skills associated with the late Baroque style o playing. These skills should ecome estalished in the playing so that the students may ecome more proicient as horn-playing musicians. I this collection is successul at achieving the goals outlined, there may e good reason to put together urther collections like it. The music o other composers and eras may e considered or a collection like this one, provided the music is appropriate or the horn in technique and idiom, and that there is some consistency o availale skills to develop throughout. As well, a proessional recording o this Handel collection may ollow in due course to urther aid the students progress. It is hoped that this collection will serve as a eneicial tool or the student horn player advancing to a higher level. 40