The shakuhachi is a traditional Japanese flute made from a single piece of bamboo 54.5cm long.The name ‘shakuhachi’ refers to its length: one shaku (a measurement corresponding to a foot long), and one hachi (corresponding to 1.2 inches). The shakuhachi is end-blown, has no mouth-piece and has a sharp cutting edge called tsuno where the breath strikes, making the air inside the tube resonate. The instrument looks very natural but is in fact highly crafted - the inside of the tube or bore is carved to a conical shape that is narrower near the bell and painted with many layers of lacquer. There are four finger holes on the front and a thumb-hole on the back. When all of the holes are covered the shakuhachi makes the fundamental pitch D4 (the D next to middle C). There is a larger shakuhachi that is 70cm long and deeper in pitch but it is unusual and the majority of musicians play instruments that are tuned to a concert D. 
The standard shakuhachi has a range of two octaves. The five holes produce the pitches of the minor pentatonic scale: D F G A C (Ro Tsu Re Chi and Ri) but much of the music is based on the Japanese In scale which consists of two sets of fourths (D to G and A to D) with a semitone added above the resting note - D Eb G and A Bb D. If the angle of the breath is changed by head movement, a player can produce pitches of up to a third apart on one fingering. Half-holing can also be used to flatten a pitch. This gives a wide variety of expressive tone colours and makes it possible to have several ways of playing one pitch that produce varying timbres and qualities. Consequently, in shakuhachi repertoire one cannot simply state that the character Ri is the pitch C because there are four different types of Ri.
​

​There are three types of music that are played by the shakuhachi: the traditional solo repertoire – honkyoku, chamber music for shakuhachi, koto and shamisen ensemble – sankyoku, and contemporary music for shakuhachi (influenced by Western music of various styles) - shinkyoku.
​
An example of one of the thirty-six honkyoku pieces is Honshirabe, (which means Fundamental Piece or Original Tuning). Honshirabe literally is often translated into English as ‘Beginner’s Piece’ - but that is not really what it means. The title Honshirabe indicatesthat the simplicity of this pared down music allows for revealing the player’s true state of mind at a particular time of playing. It is usually the first of the honkyoku to be taught and comes from the Kinki region, Japan’s main island of Honshu.

​References:

• Malm, William: Japanese Music and Musical Instruments, 1959, Charles E. Tuttle Co. Ltd. Tokyo
• Lee, Riley: Yearning for the Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition, PhD thesis, 1993, University of Sydney
• Samuelson, Ralph: Toward an Understanding of Shakuhachi Honkyoku (published as a part of The Annals of the British Shakuhachi Society, 1990, Colorcraft Ltd. Hongkong
• www.shakuhachi.com
• www.komuso.com
• www.shakuhachi.net
• www.japanesestudies.org.uk

 

Hailing from a country where women musicians are heavily underrepresented, it seems that Bacewicz made her mark successfully, as her legacy lives on today. Her compositions range through many genres, although as a violinist herself, Bacewicz composed more music for strings and solo violin, including her Polish Caprice, which was composed in 1949. 
 
Caprice, or Capriccio (Polish: Kaprysy), is usually defined as a single movement piece, that has a free structure, which may contain one, or many different sections within. This made this kind of composition liberal in its style, and Bacewicz utilised this form on many different occasions. Bacewicz composed three solo violin Caprices in 1949, 1952, and 1968. Folk melodies were incredibly popular with European composers during Bacewicz’s lifetime, so it is to no surprise that Polish Caprice is laden with Polish folk melodies. 
 
Polish Caprice is only a short work, lasting around two minutes, but it is full of dynamic twists and turns, which is perhaps why is is still a popular recital piece in the modern day. Bacewicz experiments with tonality, using major-minor tonality throughout, which resonates with Polish folk music, which often uses major-minor modes throughout. 
 
Beginning with a slow E minor recitative-like introduction, this melodic line leads into a brighter E major dance section, marked ‘Allegro’. You could say this work is in ternary form, as you have clearly defined sections that line up with ABA’ format. Five different keys are heard throughout this work, which adds to the dramaturgy of the piece. The acceleration at the end of Polish Caprice is dramatic, exciting and sounds very virtuosic. The structure of this work has been likened to that of the Kujawiakfolk dance, which originates from Poland. The Kujawiak folk dance starts slow, has a faster middle section, and then accelerates at the end, thus one could certainly suggest that Bacewicz’s Polish Caprice has taken some sort of inspiration from this type of folk dance. 
 
After her death in 1969, Grażyna Bacewicz is still celebrated as a composer, performer and educator in the modern day, with many of her works being performed in concert halls, examinations, and in recital programmes. Her progressive style of writing is one of the most exciting traits of her music, and Polish Caprice is no exception to this. A ground-breaking Polish composer, who has made herself an unbreakable legacy. ​

To hear the Polish Caprice ​come along to the Illuminate concerts this October 2018! 

Drawing from influences ranging from Squarepusher and Dirty Loops to Stravinsky and Copland, Fumiko Miyachi is a composer and pianist currently based in Birmingham whose music I first encountered at a performance of her Variation on Purcell/Warlock Fantasia No.2 for strings by Aldworth Philharmonic in May 2016. Miyachi’s music offers a vibrant mixture of colour, driving beats, and morphing harmony. Her work as a performer alongside Kate Halsall as the Cobalt Duo is equally impressive. This blog, based on a recent conversation I had with Miyachi, explores some of her work to date as well as how she came to writing music, and some advice she has to offer for fellow composers.
 
At the time we talked Fumiko was looking forwards to an upcoming premiere of her recent work C8H10N4O2 (otherwise known as Caffeine). The performance was given by the Orchestra of the 21st Century which is a unique project based at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in which their Thallein Ensemble join forces with Orkest de Ereprijs from Holland, to create a radical re-imagining of the orchestra. To date Miyachi’s music has been performed and commissioned by a wide range of musicians and performance groups including the BBC Singers, Opera North, at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, at the La Linea Latin Music Festival, and (more recently) broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of International Women’s Day 2018. But how did she get to where she is today and what has influenced her approach as a composer along the way?
​
A journey to composition
 
Miyachi started her musical life as a pianist and for some years was convinced she wanted to be a concert pianist. However, whilst attending Junior Royal College of Music Miyachi took up composition as a second study because it was compulsory to have one and quickly realised that she enjoyed the act of writing dots on paper. Miyachi took up the cello at a similar time and in so doing gained an insight into the world of orchestral music. Soon, writing dots on paper had become much more interesting than practicing other people’s music and her path ahead was set.
 
The jazz pianist Dominic Alldis was Miyachi’s first composition teacher and introduced her to work as diverse as Bill Evans and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; a diversity of sound still evident in Miyachi’s music today. Miyachi takes a refreshingly matter of fact approach to talking about her journey into composition, recognising that for her the beginning of the journey was a circumstantial necessity but that once she was hooked the hours of study and exploration of what was out there were hers to give:
 
‘He told me to go and buy the score and study it, so I did.’
 
Miyachi’s composition teachers have also included Martin Butler (who supervised her PhD in composition at Sussex University, completed in 2005/6), Jeremy Dale Roberts, and Malcolm Singer. One she singles out as perhaps the most important is Peter Norris, a contemporary of Glen Gould with whom she spent numerous hours discussing anything and everything related to music.
 
Over the course of her journey to composition the styles and particular works which have influenced Miyachi are numerous and she continues to listen as widely as possible today. One work she did pick out during our conversation was Nielsen’s 4th Symphony The Inextinguishable.
‘I just thought it was the best piece ever!’

​Nielsen’s work held Miyachi’s interest at around the same time as she was planning her Erasmus year abroad. With Denmark not an option, Finland was the place that attracted her the most and there she spent a productive year immersed in composition from all angles.
 
 
Transitional Metal
 
When exploring Miyachi’s work for the first time you can’t help but notice the lack of overly poetic titles, and yet there is a running theme: elements. In her recent debut album Transitional Metalthis theme becomes explicit but how exactly do the titles relate to the music? And Why metal?
 
For Miyachi using elements, molecular formulae, and coded titles allows her to avoid being too descriptive or suggestive about how her music should be listened to or what exactly it is saying. Molecular formulae also offer an interesting starting point when generating material. Miyachi’s music is about the sound itself and the titles are starting points rather than implications of narrative or subject. Nevertheless, given a title, it is impossible to listen to the music without looking for connections to it and perhaps this is part of what makes Transitional Metalso intriguing; it is a collection of characterful works each offering a very personal reflection on a specific metal we thought we knew. Throughout the album the Miyachi sound is one of sparkling rhythm, patience, and detailed motivic layering.

On writing music
Miyachi’s work as a composer is intimately related to her own experience as a performing pianist and her time spent as an orchestral cellist listening to the inner workings of an orchestra. The connection between people is an important part of Miyachi’s approach to writing music and whilst each piece she writes is a new journey, the starting pointusually comes from knowing the players, the brief and the occasion. Miyachi enjoys being a musician amongst musicians, bouncing ideas off others, but in the end as the composer, to be the decision maker driving her own work forwards.
 
‘As a musician it’s nice to have interaction and playing in a cello section gives you that much more than playing piano. Playing cello in an orchestra fine-tuned my ear and trained me in listening. Pianists are terrible at listening.’
 
This variety of experience as a musician in combination with her openness to discovering new music and willingness to draw on everything from Stravinsky to the Swedish band Dirty Loops puts Miyachi in a unique position from which to create her own musical voice.
 
But the actual writing of the music is, for Miyachi, only part of what it takes to be a composer. When asked about what it’s like to be a composer today Miyachi highlighted the challenges of being at once an artist, fundraiser, and manager. As a teacher she focusses on the technical:
 
‘You can’t teach people to be creative, but if someone has something to say I can help work on the technical things which will allow them to say it.’
 
To fellow, and future, composers her key pieces of advice are firstly not to be afraid to say you don’t like something, and secondly (perhaps more importantly) to perfect your ability to make pristine parts for your players. They’ll thank you for it.
 
website: https://fumikomiyachi.com/
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-929086253
 
Written by Laura Shipsey

A huge influence on my compositional approach is dance and movement.  I spent fifteen years in the dance studio from age 3 learning various styles from ballet, jazz, and contemporary to tap and hip hop.  I even tried tumbling and twirled the baton to the tunes of a marching band in a few parades.   These early experiences have naturally fed into the way I approach and think about music.  My work often deals with connecting with physical movement in some way, currently exploring the use of gestures inspired by Laban’s Eight Efforts: float, flick, glide, dab, wring, slash, press, punch, as well as groove perception through the use of long-range polyrhythms.  A more specific introduction to my current compositional obsessions can best be found in a larger scale project, The Yellow Wallpaper.  
 
Based on the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman of the same name, The Yellow Wallpaper focuses on the theme of social isolation and its effects on mental health.  For this project I am collaborating with Cardiff University postgraduate researcher in creative writing, Christina Thatcher, to adapt the original text.  Written at the end of the 19th century, the story reflects on women’s mental and physical health through the eyes of the main character who is taken by her husband on a ‘rest cure’ in the country. The story is now considered by many to be an early, significant work in feminist literature and is taught widely in schools and colleges across America. 
 
Gestures throughout the piece are characterized by Laban’s Eight Efforts in which four continuums: weight, space, time, and flow, are used to conceptualize movement.  Such gestures in The Yellow Wallpaper are used to embody the character’s emotions as her mental state gradually deteriorates.  Press, which is defined as being strong, direct, sustained, and bound, is the first effort chosen for scene one.  This opening effort represents the woman’s initial state as she begins her prescribed rest cure.  The directional quality of the semiquaver triplet embellishments leading into slow sustained pitches represents the self-reflection of the character as she struggles with her new surroundings.  The resulting texture created by these overlapping gestures was explored intensely as part of Dartington International Summer School‘s Advanced Composition Course in the summer of 2016.  Sketches generated during the course were also worked into a stand-alone piece retrospectively entitled Embers.
​

​
​Another aspect I am exploring through the composition of The Yellow Wallpaper is the use of long-range polyrhythms for narrative purposes. Polyrhythms are conflicting rhythms heard simultaneously that cannot be readily perceived as deriving from one another.  They are used in The Yellow Wallpaper to delineate the formal structure corresponding to important moments in the narrative.  As the piece progresses conflicting pulse streams interlock into groves to symbolize the character’s transition in and out of lucidness.  These changes coordinate with the physical movement of opening and closing a window to symbolize her connection, or lack thereof, to the world outside her room. Throughout the entire work moments of convergence between polyrhythms are expanded into sections of material rooted in dance rhythms to contrast her sense of belonging and purpose against delusion brought on by isolation.
 
As part of my PhD studies at Cardiff University, I have used my workshop opportunities with visiting ensembles to explore these ideas in a chamber music setting.  My piece Up and Down and Sideways is a reduction of material from the second scene of the opera, which was workshopped by The Riot Ensemble.  This piece incorporates a tango rhythm into a long-range polyrhythm as the unnamed protagonist unsuccessfully pleads with her husband, John, to repaper her room. The libretto excerpt included is from the moment after John leaves, and it is revealed that she sees a figure trapped behind the paper for the first time.  The augmented tango rhythm can be heard most clearly in the viola and bass clarinet parts, obsessively repeating at different rates, which only align in the middle and very end of the piece.  This creates an off-kilter background to the vocal part, symbolizing the moving wallpaper.
 
Text adapted by Christina Thatcher after the short story, “The Yellow
Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
 
There is a recurring spot where the pattern lolls
like a broken neck, revealing two bulbous eyes
which stare – up and down and sideways –
 
Those eyes which crawl,
those absurd, unblinking eyes.
 
I must not think about the paper.
those bulbous eyes
which stare – up and down and sideways –
 
In places where it isn’t faded
and when the sun is just so –
I can see a formless sort of figure,
that sulks behind the design,
moving back and forth,
back and forth, – up and down and sideways –
 
Copyright © Christina Thatcher, 2016
Used with permission.

​Another piece of mine that works with long-range polyrhythms, albeit in a less straightforward way, is Slowly Tilting, Sinking which was written specifically for the Illuminate Concert Series 2018.  A skyscraper that is sinking into the ground, tilting toward its neighboring building due to its deficient foundation system served as the inspiration for this piano solo.  However, the piece is not meant to be a musical depiction of a leaning building.  Instead, the idea of a fractured foundation influenced the construction of the piece.  Beginning with a faultless long-range polyrhythmic structure, select bars are expanded, contracted, or clipped to set things slightly askew.  Slowly Tilting, Sinking will be performed on Friday April 20th 2018 by Késia Decoté during our Illuminate Brighton concert.  This concert is also part of the Music and Wine series at St. Luke’s Church, Queens Park Road, Brighton.  I hope to see you there! 

Remembered for her progressive style, fearless musicianship, and commendable performance techniques, Grażyna Bacewicz is still one of the most successful female composers that Poland has produced. Her body of work is so exciting, and this blog focuses on her life, legacy, and work for solo violin: Polish Caprice.
 
Born in Łódź, Poland in 1909, Grażyna Bacewicz was introduced to music by her father and brother, who were both musicians and composers. Wanting to continue her musical education, Bacewicz enrolled at the Helena Kijenska-Dobikiewiczowa’s Musical Conservatory in 1919. Whilst there, she received training on the piano, violin, and music theory. When the Bacewicz family moved to Warsaw in 1923, a year later Bacewicz secured a place at the prestigious Warsaw Conservatory, where she studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski, piano with Józef Turczyński, and violin with Józef Jarzębski. Although starting with three disciplines, Bacewicz graduated with diplomas in violin and composition, and had dropped piano halfway through her course. After graduating in 1932, Bacewicz secured a grant in the same year to study composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris (1932-1933). Whilst there, Bacewicz studied under the great Nadia Boulanger, as well as receiving private violin lessons with Henri Touret. Bacewicz then returned to Paris a year later in 1934, to study under Hungarian violinist, Carl Flesch.
 
As well as being a well-acclaimed composer, Bacewicz was also a virtuoso on the violin. 1935 saw her first solo success on the violin, where she won the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Warsaw. Between 1936 and 1938, Bacewicz also played first violin with the Warsaw Polish Radio Orchestra. Throughout her life, Bacewicz remained very involved with violin performance, whether that be ensemble playing, solo recitals, or giving private violin lessons at European Conservatories. Throughout her performance career, Bacewicz travelled across Europe, and played recitals in Belgium, France, Hungary, and the USSR.
 
Bacewicz gave a large proportion of her life to teaching new generations music, more specifically violin, music theory, and composition. 1945 saw her appointed as a lecturer of music theory, and as a violin teacher at the National Conservatory (now known as the Academy of Music), in Poland. From 1966 to her death in 1969, she worked at the National Higher School of Music in Warsaw, where she led the composition course, and was soon made a professor in 1967. Bacewicz was also a definitive figure on jury panels for violin and composition competitions, as well as serving as vice-chair of the Polish Composers’ Union from 1955-1957, and then again between 1960-1969.
 
Bacewicz is chiefly remembered, however, for her body of compositions, which are still popular today. Her composition archives was recognized and honoured many times, which included her winning many composition competitions. Her Quintet for Wind Instruments (1932) won 1st Prize at the 1933 Aide aux femmes de professions libres competition in Paris. Her Piano Concerto (1949) won 2nd prize (with no first prize being awarded) at the the Polish Composers’ Union Fryderyk Chopin Composition Competition in 1951. These are mere examples, as Bacewicz won a large amount of awards for works, which also includes the Belgian Government Award and Gold Medal for her Violin Concerto No. 7 (1965).
 
Hailing from a country where women musicians are heavily underrepresented, it seems that Bacewicz made her mark successfully, as her legacy lives on today. Her compositions range through many genres, although as a violinist herself, Bacewicz composed more music for strings and solo violin, including her Polish Caprice, which was composed in 1949.
 
Caprice, or Capriccio (Polish: Kaprysy), is usually defined as a single movement piece, that has a free structure, which may contain one, or many different sections within. This made this kind of composition liberal in its style, and Bacewicz utilised this form on many different occasions. Bacewicz composed three solo violin Caprices in 1949, 1952, and 1968. Folk melodies were incredibly popular with European composers during Bacewicz’s lifetime, so it is to no surprise that Polish Caprice is laden with Polish folk melodies.
 
Polish Caprice is only a short work, lasting around two minutes, but it is full of dynamic twists and turns, which is perhaps why is is still a popular recital piece in the modern day. Bacewicz experiments with tonality, using major-minor tonality throughout, which resonates with Polish folk music, which often uses major-minor modes throughout.
 
Beginning with a slow E minor recitative-like introduction, this melodic line leads into a brighter E major dance section, marked ‘Allegro’. You could say this work is in ternary form, as you have clearly defined sections that line up with ABA’ format. Five different keys are heard throughout this work, which adds to the dramaturgy of the piece. The acceleration at the end of Polish Caprice is dramatic, exciting and sounds very virtuosic. The structure of this work has been likened to that of the Kujawiak folk dance, which originates from Poland. The Kujawiak folk dance starts slow, has a faster middle section, and then accelerates at the end, thus one could certainly suggest that Bacewicz’s Polish Caprice has taken some sort of inspiration from this type of folk dance.
 
After her death in 1969, Grażyna Bacewicz is still celebrated as a composer, performer and educator in the modern day, with many of her works being performed in concert halls, examinations, and in recital programmes. Her progressive style of writing is one of the most exciting traits of her music, and Polish Caprice is no exception to this. A ground-breaking Polish composer, who has made herself an unbreakable legacy. 

​©Alex Burns 2018
 
Website: classicalexburns.com 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/classicalexburns/
Twitter: @classicalexb
Instagram: @classicalexburns
 
Alex Burns has recently graduated from The University of Sheffield, after studying for a Bmus in Music, and for an MA in Musicology. Her specialisms are the life and works of Gustav Mahler, as well as the works and lost stories of women composers. She runs the No. 1 Classical Music blog in the world, and has written on a range of different composers, aiming to make classical music more accessible to everybody. 

​Come along to one of the Illuminate concerts to hear Polish Caprice ​performed by our fantastic violinist Sabina Virtosu!

Hélène de Montgeroult (b. Lyon, 1764; d. Florence, 1836) was a composer, pianist and teacher, a contemporary of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven whose life spanned the French Revolution.  She experienced life under arrest and her first husband was killed as a consequence of their aristocratic status but it is the denial of this status that allowed her to publish her compositions and pursue a teaching career. Alongside political and social upheavals, Montgeroult experienced the transition of keyboard manufacture from harpsichord to fortepiano.  She commissioned an early fortepiano from Erard that, through the application of multiple pedals, allowed for the exploration and expression of a range of timbres.  She was the first Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire when it opened in 1795.  The faint biographical trace she has left through history tells us that she was a student of Jan Ladislav Dussek, Nicolas Joseph Hüllmandel, Clementi and Reicha; that she had pieces dedicated to her by Julie Candeille, Johann Baptist Cramer, Dussek, Louis Emmanuel Jadi and Phillip Libon. She was an admired duo partner of the virtuoso violinist Viotti with whom she collaborated as an accompanist, improviser and arranger (Gautier). By these few accounts we can establish that she was a remarkable person.
Her published compositions suggest a keen musical intelligence that could assimilate a wide range of styles but which was also uniquely creative and capable of ‘avant garde’ explorations.  Jérôme Dorival, who has done much to bring her music back into circulation, describes her as ‘the pre-cursor of Romanticism’. Her output includes canons and fugues in the Baroque style; she reportedly introduced Bach to the Conservatoire syllabus and is known to have visited Leipzig. And she professed a strong admiration for the work of Handel completing an extensive set of variations on themes by Handel.  She wrote at least nine Sonatas, a set of 6 Nocturnes for voice and piano, and devised a rich and varied, three volume teaching method: Cours complet pour l’enseignement du Forté Paino conduisant progressivement des premiere éléments aus plus grandes difficultés.  This magnum opus contains 972 exercises and 114 Studies.  Many of the Studies are beautifully balanced, intensely expressive works which bear the characteristics of what we now recognize as the hallmarks of Romanticism. Montgeroult’s oeuvre is a portfolio of musical negotiations between Classical and Romantic aesthetic preferences.  Three of the Studies from the third volume of the Cours complet are analysed briefly below to illustrate the historical fluidity and personal characteristics of Montgeroult’s compositional approach.
 
Etude no. 106 ‘Aria’
​Performance by Marcia Hadjimarkos below:

Score available at
http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/7d/IMSLP468173-PMLP760279-montgeroult_cours3_bnf.pdf pp. 165-9
This Study or Aria in B major triple time shows Montgeroult’s command of the bel canto style but with the melody and outline harmonic bass perpetually accompanied by a semi-quaver ‘walking’ line.  The Study is in tertiary or a written out Da Capo form with the central section in E minor.  The less than obvious modulation to the sub-dominant minor can be explained in Neo-Reimannian terms as a nebenverwandt relationship (successive RLP transformations), a modulatory gambit that is commonly found in Schubert, Chopin, Brahms and Liszt.  So despite the archaic texture the tonality is distinctly adventurous, even Romantic.
​
The melody is reminiscent of Handel’s ‘Ombra mai fu’ from Xerxes with two extended, descending phrases cadencing with dotted rhythms.  As with Handel, Montgeroult creates an opening three bar phrase but her extension is through prolongation of the tonic in bars 2-3 rather than Handel’s anticipatory bar.  Montgeroult’s consequent phrase is five bars long.  This passes briefly through a cycle of 5ths in bar 5-6 with a hint of a hemiola that again foreshadows Brahms and his penchant for similar, syncopated harmonic sequences.
 
Another notable feature of this Study is the means by which Montgeroult brings it to a close.  If we invest imagination in the printed sub-title ‘Aria’ then the ‘vocal’ part ends on a low A#3-B3 authentic cadence but the semi-quaver ‘walking’ part proceeds to make a connective ascent into a six bar codetta.  This wistful codetta elaborates a tonic pedal, not unlike Schubert’s near contemporaneous setting of Wiegenlied D.498, and Montgeroult introduces a fourth line to the texture, a ‘tenor’ part which dramatically ascends a diatonic octave B major scale in quavers only to descend chromatically, echoed by the melodic ‘soprano’ line. The two ‘vocal’ lines then settle, in the final three bars, to a series of neighbour note decorations of the tonic triad in parallel sixths.  This short postlude reinforces the Study’s titular designation of ‘Aria’, suggesting the sort of multiple, poetic personae that were to be developed in the new genre of lieder of the period.
 
Etude 107
Commercial recordings by Robilliard (Hortus) and Stern (Orchid) – see Resources
Score available at
http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/7d/IMSLP468173-PMLP760279-montgeroult_cours3_bnf.pdf pp. 170-173
In a review of Edna Stern’s recording of Montgeroult’s Etude 107 the Orchid label, Emma Jeal writes, ‘Chopin’s C minor Etude sounds less Revolutionary after you’ve heard de Montgeroult’s swirling Etude No 107, which anticipates it by 20-odd years.’ Indeed, the resemblance is audible in that both open with a similar, four note dotted rhythmic figure in the right hand accompanied by rapid semi-quaver figurations for the left hand. 
 
Example 1: de Montgeroult Etude No. 107, bb. 1-5

​Example 2: Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 12 in C minor b.1-4

​They are both in minor – but not the same – keys (de Mongeroult in D minor, Chopin in C minor), they are both in common time, and both exhibit a tertiary structure.  But de Montgeroult’s Study is formally much less expansive that Chopin’s, her modulation is to the relative major whereas Chopin moves to the parallel major, then the dominant of the relative major but mainly to sub-mediant.  Interestingly de Montgeroult employs frequent ‘feminine cadences’, often underpinned by vii˚ - I harmonies which give her Study a distinctive, plaintive character. But perhaps it is the revolutionary ‘back stories’ to both pieces that connect these works in the mind more than comparable, revolutionary musical tendencies. 
Etude 111
Performance by François-Frédéric Guy below:

Score available at
​http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/7d/IMSLP468173-PMLP760279-montgeroult_cours3_bnf.pdf pp. 189-193
Etude no. 111 is perhaps the best known of de Montgeroult’s works having been used in the soundtrack to the 2012 film A Royal Affair, a Danish historical drama directed by Nikolaj Arcel.  De Montgeroult observes that the pedagogic intention of the Study is the combination of expression and speed.  This combination seems to have inspired her to produce a work that has immense energy.  The duple compound time Etude is built from a simple, four-bar melody that contains two urgently repeated motifs, the second of which has micro-decrescendos, accompanied by a pounding, off-beat accompaniment. Together these features create a sense of breathless intensity, even panic.
Example 3: de Montgeroult Etude no. 111, bb. 1-4

This intensity is ratcheted up through a series of daring modulations. At bar 25 the theme returns in Eb major which, in neo-Reimannian terms, is a Leading Note transformation but two tortuous  chromatic sequences in bars 37-44 bring the theme back in the remote key of F minor.  Another sequence in bars 63-66 bring the theme round to what appears to be a restatement in the relative major of Ab major but the ‘a’ motif is treated to a rising sequence that leads to the climax of the piece built around a long dominant pedal that expends itself with a surprisingly gentle resolution back into G minor.  The energy is not fully spent however and it is only with continued emphasis on the secondary dominant that the piece finally concludes with a widely registered tonic triad rooted on G1.  The way that de Montgeroult handles the sequential development of small motives together with suprising chromaticisms and emphasis on secondary dominants, teleological drivers that were common in Bach, is very similar in effect to Robert Schumann’s piano works.
It is unlikely that de Montgeroult ever performed outside of the salon culture of Paris but her prowess as a pianist, teacher and composer are beginning to receive recognition.  Montgeroult’s portfolio demonstrates how she was able to draw on a broad knowledge of historical and contemporary musical practices but also experiment creatively with characteristics that are perhaps erroneously recognised as the compositional ‘fingerprints’ of later (male) composers.  Performance and study resources more also becoming more widely available and some of these are listed below.

© Dr Helen Thomas
 
Publications
Conservatoire de Paris, 250E Anniversaire Hélène de Montgeroult
http://www.conservatoiredeparis.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Voir-et-Ententre/Agenda/pdf/4-5dec14_205eMontgeroult_prog.pdf
Dorival, Jérôme, La Marquise et la Marseillaise (préface par Geneviève Fraisse), Symétrie, Lyon 2006.
Johnson, Calvert, ‘Hélène de Montgeroult: Composer and Piano Pedagogue at the Paris Conservatoire’, Women of Note Quarterly, 1993, pp. 18-30.
Sadie, Julie Anne. "Montgeroult, Hélène-Antoinette-Marie de Nervo de." Grove Music Online.
Van Epenhuysen, Rose, Hélène de Montgeroult and the Art of Singing Well on the Piano,  Women & Music, vol. 5, 2001, pp. 99-124.
 
Documentary Videos
Hélène de Montgeroult, pianiste, compositrice et pédagogue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_vCr6Totw0
Hélène de Montgeroult, artiste visonnaire            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFQI40wKO0Y
 
Scores available on IMSLP Petrucci Music Library
Cours complet pour l’enseignement du forte piano
Piano Sonata Op. 5 No. 1
Piano Sonata Op. 5 No. 2
Piano Sonata Op. 5 No. 3
Pièce Op. 3
3 Sonatas Op. 1
3 Sonatas Op. 2
 
Discography
Bruno Robilliard, Montgeroult: La Marquise et la Marseillaise, CD Hortus, piano modern, 2006
Nicola Stavy, Montgeroult: La jeunesse du piano romantique,  CD Hortus, piano modern, 2009
Edna Stern, Hélène de Montgeroult Orchid Classics, 2017
 
Forthcoming performance at time of blog publication
11 April 2018, University of Liverpool
Selected Etudes by Hélène de Montgeroult performed by Ian Buckle
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunchtime-concert-series-one-art-deryn-rees-jones-reader-and-ian-buckle-piano-tickets-41107543770

​Regarded today as one of the most influential and popular women composers, Clara Schumann’s body of compositions is incredibly impressive. Her style, technique and expression amalgamates into some truly fine chamber and solo music, which are still enjoyed today. For this blog, I shall be looking into her life and her work for solo piano - Scherzo No. 2.
 
Clara Josephine Wieck was born on September 13th, 1819, in Leipzig. Her mother was a famous singer in the area, and a lot of her musical experiences originated with her. However, when Clara was five years old, her parents divorced and she lived with her father. Friedrich Wieck saw the potential in Clara’s musical abilities, so he began to plan her career, including all the small details. She received daily composition, piano, violin, singing, theory and harmony and counterpoint lessons. This was then followed by 2-3 hours of practise. At age 8, Clara performed at Dr. Ernst Carus’ house. There, she met another young musical talent - Robert Schumann. Robert apparently admired Clara’s playing so much, that he asked to stopped studying law, so that he could take up piano lessons with Clara’s father. By age 11, Clara was touring Europe, giving recitals to the public. Her first tour was around Paris, and there she met Niccoló Paganini, who thought very highly of her, and requested to perform with her in the future. By age 18, Clara had performed in a series of tours and recitals around the continent, and she often performed the piano works of Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin.
 
Whilst in Vienna in 1837, Clara was named the Royal and Imperial Chamber Virtuoso, which was the highest musical honour in Austria. Robert Schumann was still in Clara’s life at this point, and when she turned 18 he proposed to her (she was nine years his junior). Although Clara wanted the marriage to go ahead, her father did not offer his blessing. After much drama, which involved the courts, Robert and Clara wed in 1840. The marriage lasted sixteen years, until Robert died after being committed to an asylum for the last two years of his life (due to numerous suicide attempts). After Robert’s death, Clara began going on more concert tours, as well as shifting some of her focus onto composition.
 
Later, in 1878, Clara was appointed the position of piano teacher at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where she stayed until 1892. Clara passed away in 1896, and was subsequently buried with her husband. Her legacy as both a performer and composer has stood the test of time, as she is still highly regarded today. Her 61 year career was, and still is an incredible achievement. In regards to composition, Clara once said, and I think this should ring true with all composers in some way:
 
“Composing gives me great pleasure. There is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.”
 
Although she enjoyed composing, due to her hectic performance schedules, she never regularly composed. As well as Clara feeling that this was a shame, her husband also thought similar things:
 
“Clara has composed a series of small pieces, which show a musical and tender ingenuity such as she never attained before. But to have children, and a husband who is always living in the realm of imagination, does not go together with composing. She cannot work at it regularly, and I am often disturbed to think how many profound ideas are lost because she cannot work them out.”
 
It has been said many times that Clara famously stated that “women are not born to compose”, however during the middle of her career, she churned out a significant amount of compositions. Her Three Romances for Violin and Piano was composed in 1853, and was very popular. It was dedicated to her close friend and violinist, Joseph Joachim, and the pair toured playing this work, with King George V of Hanover commenting that:
 
“All three pieces display an individual character conceived in a truly sincere manner and written in a delicate and fragrant hand.”
 
Clara Schumann Three Romances for Violin (1853):

​As a pianist herself it is unsurprising that a large body of her work uses the piano, either in a chamber ensemble, or as its own solo instrument. Clara’s earliest composition date from around 1828, and the piano works she liked to compose show the virtuosity of the performers, with her writing bravura works that show technical dominances. Numerous caprices, concertos and variations showcases her evident brilliance on the piano. Op. 14 Scherzo in C minor was composed in 1845. This particular work very much reflects the stylings of Chopin. The stormy arpeggiated figure that dominates a large proportion of this work resembles that of Chopin’s game changing Etude style.
 
The fast pace and technical demands of the first section of the work add to its light, yet intense nature. The transition into the Ab major trio section, is mainly chordal, and brings the mood down just a tad from the previous section. This dance-like section shows her grasp on various genres, and how to express them in innovative ways. Her composition style is accessible, virtuosic and legendary still to this day. The seamlessness of her Scherzo No. 2 is perhaps why it is a well-loved work to this day. To hear a performance of this must be incredibly exciting. ​