James Berry Piano Literature Graduate Assignment: 20th Century 1. The three pieces I would select in order from Prokofiev is Playing Tag from his Children’s Pieces, Op. 65, Rigadoon from his Ten Pieces, Op. 12 and No. 8 from his Fugitive Visions, Op. 22. There are many great technical and musical elements in these pieces for a student to learn. Playing Tag primarily contains technical elements. The most obvious is the fingering. Lifting the hand and repeatedly putting down the second finger is something that is difficult in this piece. In the next piece Rigadoon, I think that the most important musical aspect is the phrase length and chromaticism. This piece is humorous in nature and should be played percussively identifying the phrase structure. The final piece, No. 8 is far more lyrical and is somewhat in the style of Mendelssohn or Schubert incorporating a solo voice and left hand accompaniment. However, the harmonies are more 20th century in nature, and a student should work on having a proper balance between hands to maintain the musicality of the piece. 2. In order to examine the five ingredients of Prokofiev’s compositional style, I have chosen his Sonata No. 3 in A Major – his one movement sonata. The first element of classicism is seen throughout the piece, but specifically exemplifying in the beginning. His use of the left hand E major theme is used as supporting harmonic material and makes sense formally. For his innovation, in m. 2-3, who would have ever thought to put an A, F and D over a E major chord. It is effectively polychordal d minor / E major and really works musically. For his toccata element this is also found right from the beginning as the piece starts and a frantic and motorized pace. The lyric element of Prokofiev comes into play later in m. 58 as a very nationalistic theme is brought out over the top. His element of mockery is really found through out but particularly in m. 20-25 previous to the 3/2 section. He sometimes uses notes not with a melodic purpose, but more of a purpose of mockery. 3. For selecting the three teaching pieces by Kabalevsky, I have chosen for a beginner piece, for a lower intermediate piece and his Sonatina No. 1 in C for intermediate level. The Sonatina No. 1 in C is a wonderful intermediate teaching piece for several reasons. First of all, you can explain to the student about the polychordal structure at the beginning with the C major and a minor chords being layered on top of one another. Another idea you can pass on is that the phrase generally begins on the fourth beat and continues over the bar line. For them to understand this line, will help them with the proper emphasis. Finally, you could preview the proper balance during the lyrical B section, making sure they hear each voice. I believe all three of these pieces would be wonderful additions to a student’s repertoire.
4. In selecting three teaching pieces for Bartok, I have selected Peasant Song from Ten Easy Piano Pieces for the easiest selection, Ostinato from Mikrokosmos for the early intermediate selection and the Sonatina for the intermediate selection. The Peasant Song has a few 20th century characteristics. First of all, the key signature is for C major, but obviously the piece revolves around C#. It also is played in octave and emphasizes the melody instead of the harmony, a 20th century characteristic also commonly used by Shostakovich. In addition to this, the meter changes in the piece and the phrase lengths are not consistent. However, this would be a wonderful piece for a beginner for its beautiful and peasant-like melody. The piece Ostinato from Mikrokosmos also has several wonderful 20th century characteristics. Like the previous piece, the phrase length varies and also the rhythm does not often emphasize one and two as in a typical classical 2/4 meter. The ostinato doesn’t serve as harmonic function as it does a rhythmic function, along with the sudden and unexpected sforzandos characteristic of 20th century primitivism. There is also a lot of neoclassical elements such as the motives being thrown between right and left hand in the development. This would be a challenging piece for an early intermediate student, but possible. The final piece for the intermediate student Sonatina also has many 20th century elements that should be previewed for the pupil. The first movement has harmonies based on the fifths of the bagpipe and also contains a few sections of mixed meter. The second movement Bear Dance has accents in odd places (such as the offbeats of one and two) and has the neoclassical element of passing the theme from one hand to the other. The last element certainly implies the folk influence as one can imagine this theme being played by a gyspy violinist. 5. For Bartok’s advanced composition, I have selected 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, which certainly have their challenges. I have found several specifically Eastern European elements to Bartok’s sixth piece entitled Ballad. This piece is first of all in 7/8 time signature, signifying and usually rhythmic structure. However, if you listen to the melody at the marked tempo, it feels quite natural as it was being sung as a folk song. It reminds me of chant, which has no meter, but sounds natural. The scale also fits this idea by implying Dorian at times and occasionally having a polytonal harmony. Bartok also uses this theme to imply variations changing key as a folk tune would probably be sung in several different keys. 6. The concert-level piece that I am working on performing by an American composer is Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. This piece is without a doubt uniquely American. George Gershwin came from a Jewish family in Manhattan and expressed his feelings about New York in this piece. It is amazing that he was able to compose a concert level piece that was respected in the classical and jazz world, without a great deal of formal training in composition or orchestration. In this piece you can hear the jazzy sounds of the 1920s in New York City or the steady train rumble and sounds of industry.