AboutClare Redfarn Expertise All aspects of the academic/theoretical side of music, including harmony, counterpoint, elementary composition, history, harmonic analysis, aural training, sightreading - the lot! Please note: I'm neither a professional composer (so I can't help with composition beyond what's required for Grade 8 theory or A'level) nor a singing teacher (so I can't answer questions about vocal technique or extending your vocal range). And don't ask me about psychoacoustics or music psychology as I have no knowledge of, or interest in, either subject.
Experience 50 years as pianist (professional soloist and accompanist); 35 years as harpsichordist (professional soloist and continuist); 10 years as violinist and 6 years as bassoonist (youth orchestras/chamber groups); 37 years as piano teacher, coach in performance/interpretation (all ages, instruments and levels) and private tutor (mainly the old O'level, Grade VI+ ABRSM theory/practical musicianship, A'level and undergraduates).
Organizations I've been a member of the Musicians' Union in Britain since 1978.
Publications I've written many programme notes and a few articles for an online magazine. During the '90s I was also a Music Assessor for London Arts and as such regularly wrote critiques of concerts given by recipients of Arts Council funding.
Education/Credentials MA in European Cultural Policy & Administration (Warwick University, 1994)
B Mus with Honours (London University, 1977)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Administration (City University, 1982)
Licentiate of Royal Academy of Music in Piano Teaching (1976)
Licentiate of Royal Academy of Music in Harpsichord Teaching (1978)
Studied RAM Junior School (1966-74), then as full-time student (1974-78).
Question QUESTION: Hi Clare,
I'm a 14-year-old violin student taking my Trinity Performer's Cert (aka Advanced Cert) this month and I'm not very sure how to do the programme notes. About how many words should be written for each piece? What should I write about? My pieces are:
Romance in F Op. 50 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Nigun from Baal Shem (Three Pictures of Chassidic Life) by Ernest Bloch
Rumanian Folk Dances (what's the correct spelling? Romanian? Roumanian? Rumanian?) by Béla Bartók
No. 22 from 36 Caprices or Etudes for violin by Fiorillo. It's a bit hard to find reliable info on some of the pieces, so can you help me please? Can you also tell me what is the correct way to write the titles of the pieces? Thank you! (:
ANSWER: Hello Jane,
Programme notes don't need to be long - I usually think in terms of three paragraphs: composer, piece, description. So the first paragraph can either be a brief biography (if the composer isn't well known) or something about the context in which the piece was written eg "When Thingie wrote this Sonata in the summer of 1884 he was already showing signs of the illness that would kill him the following year. Despite his ill-health this was a particularly happy and productive period - he spent July and August in the little village of Plunk with his sister's family, working not only on his three Sonatas but his second Symphony and the song-cycle "My Life", which is probably his best-known work." You get the kind of thing.
The second paragraph can say something about the piece itself - is it part of a set, is it the only time he wrote in this form, is it typical of his style or early/late period? Then the third paragraph can describe the piece in greater detail. Not too much detail, mind - you're writing for intelligent, interested listeners who don't necessarily know a lot about music, so we're not talking harmonic analysis here. Keep it broad and general - "the majestic opening section is followed by a sprightly bourree featuring a florid semiquaver treble over a descending chromatic bass" kind of thing. If you start by assuming your three paragraphs will be of equal lengths, you can always adjust the balance depending on how much/little information you have about the composer.
Right, let's look at the pieces in turn.
Beethoven: it's worth mentioning that Beethoven learnt the violin for 3 years as a child - started aged 8 (had been playing piano for about 3 years) with mother's brother Franz Roventini, who was only 21 himself. Lessons ended abruptly 3 years later when Roventini died from an infection.
Vienna was the musical capital of Europe and Beethover moved there to study in 1792, then onto the scene as a composer from March 1795. 1797-1801 he was cementing his success as a young composer and experienced pianist. The two Romances for violin and orchestra were written c1798-1802, around the time he was working on the Violin Concerto. The F major one written c1798 and probably received its first performance in November that year. Not published until 1805.
Whose piano arrangement are you using? If it's Joachim's then that's worth mentioning, given Joachim's importance as a violinist.
Now describe the piece itself - it's a rondo, so say something about the main theme and different episodes (changes of mood, major or minor, still in the tonic or is there a modulation?). The audience would have expected a long orchestral introduction - what happens instead?
Hope this gets you started - let me do some more research on the other pieces and I'll get back to you.
Bloch (1880-1959): start with a brief biography as he's not that well known. It's the 50th anniversary of his death. Look at http://www.ernestbloch.org/home.cfm?dir_cat=71547 as there's a huge amount of information there, also the Wikipedia entry and http://www.answers.com/topic/ernest-bloch for a summary. It's worth mentioning that he started the violin aged 9, studied it at the Brussels Conservatoire under Ysaye, and met Debussy in Paris. Also known as a conductor and lecturer.
Then say something about the influence of Jewish music on his compositional style and mention some of his other works that are collectively known as the Jewish Cycle - look at http://www.ernestbloch.org/home.cfm?dir_cat=89732 . The Baal Shem suite (who or what was Baal Shem? Find out!) was written in 1923, the year he applied for American citizenship. First performances in US in 1924, popularised by Szigeti in London in 1925.
Bartok: According to various websites the official name of the country is "Romania", so I'd call them "6 Romanian Folk Dances". Say something about Bartok's importance as a collector of folk music, his partnership with Kodaly and the influence of folk music on his compositions.
Then say something about his Etudes and their importance as a violin method together with those of Kreutzer and Rode. Etudes are designed to practise and improve particular aspects of technique. I don't know the Etude you're playing, but what is its main feature?
Hope this helps
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QUESTION: Wow thanks! (:
Hmm about Fiorillo, the etude no. 22 has a lot of jumps between high and low positions on the violin, and a lot of arpeggios, so intonation is very important I suppose?
Are etudes supposed to be played with emotion...?
Once again, thanks a lot!
Answer Hello again,
I've found you a bit more information about Fiorillo. He was a son of Ignacio Fiorillo, who composed mainly operas. Federigo was born in Brunswick where his father was Court Composer until 1762. He appears to have originally been a mandoline player and only took up the violin later (the mandoline and violin are tuned in exactly the same way, so the LH fingering is the same). He went to Poland in 1780 and in 1782 was conductor at the Riga theatre, where he stayed 2 years. In 1785 he went to Paris where he performed with success and published some of his compositions. In 1788 he played viola in Saloman's quartet. His last public performance was in 1794 when he played a viola concerto, but he seems to have stayed in London until 1815. Then he went to Amsterdam, and in 1823 he returned to Paris for an operation. We don't know the details of his death but presumably the operation wasn't successful and he died in 1823.
His compositions include duos for 2 violins, violin + cello, violin + piano; trios for flute, violin and viola, and 2 violins + basso continuo; string quartets and quintets; concertos for 1 and 2 violins etc.
(Source - Groves Dictionary 1975 edition, and the German Wikipedia article.)
You'll also find http://www.freehandmusic.com/productdetail.aspx?prodid=352874 useful - if you click on "Preface" there's a useful article in three languages (which you can read on the screen if you use a magnifying glass) which tells you something about the Etudes. There's also part of the score.
I always thought the Roman numerals in a string part indicated which string you were supposed to play the passage on, but since the first numeral is VII and there aren't seven strings on a violin <g>, I assume it's indicating the hand position, in which case the first three lines don't go below fourth position. So I'm guessing that this Etude is for a) high positions on all strings and b) shifts.
Intonation's ALWAYS important!
To answer your last question, yes of course! It's a piece of music first and foremost - the fact that it's also a technical study is incidental. Musicianship isn't something you switch on and off - you should aim for beautifully shaped phrases even when you're playing scales and arpeggios.
Take the last line as an example - why does the composer specify that you should stay on the lower strings in a high position, when you could easily play the same notes in first position on the higher strings? What difference does it make? Try it and see. You get a different tone quality from the lower strings, more emotional and intense, so really make the most of it. Give it plenty of welly and pour on the vibrato in bucket-loads - you can't be shy or apologetic, really lay it on with a trowel. Your audience should be sobbing uncontrollably by the time you've finished <g>.
