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The Piano Sonatas of Carl Vine: A Guideline to Performance and Style Analysis

Yang, Eun-Kyoung

Abstract Details

2003, Doctor of Musical Arts, Ohio State University, Music.
The two piano sonatas of Carl Vine (b.1954) written in 1990 and 1997, respectively, are an important contribution to the piano literature. Marked by virtuosity, the sonatas utilize the entire range of the keyboard to express emotions varying from quiet solitude to rhythmically charged exuberance.1 They also presents the pianist with technical difficulties and some interesting use of the pedals. My intention in this document, after enjoying performance experience with the first sonata in particular, is to provide the performer with guidelines, which will aid in achieving the best possible interpretation of these works. Memorization techniques will be addressed in this document, as I strongly believe these works should be performed from memory. This is not an impossibility since the harmonic language of Carl Vine is relatively conservative when compared to other composers of the same generation. Due to fast technical passages, intensity of the music, and duration of these pieces, a page-turner would simply distract from the overall impact and effect of these large dramatic works. In fact, the handful of performances in this country have been given without the use of the score. These two sonatas show Vine’s unique compositional style and how well he understands the piano. Due to his experience as a performer, his two sonatas fit very well under the pianist’s hands. I came across these pieces through my adviser, Dr.Caroline Hong, who studied with Sergei Babayan, an advocate of contemporary piano music. Babayan brought the Sonata No.1, which was originally commissioned by the Sydney Ballet, to the attention of American pianists with his first recording in 1998. This recording received rave review from the New York Times and from the composer himself. Though Hong’s recording of this piece has not yet been released, I have included hers in the supplemental appendix as she plans to release it within this year. The remaining breakdown of this document is as follows: Chapter 1 is an introduction, which provides Carl Vine’s biographical background, an overview of his piano writing technique, and a review of the two piano sonatas. Chapter 2 will discuss piano and memorization techniques required to perform contemporary music, highlighting specific practice suggestions for gaining proper velocity in the two sonatas. Chapter 3 offers a comparison of the two piano sonatas with regard to form and compositional style. Chapter 4 contains thorough performance guidelines and the concluding chapter offers some thoughts on the value of Carl Vine’s two piano sonatas relative to contemporary music performed by pianists on the concert stage and in competitions throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Caroline Hong (Advisor)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Yang, E.-K. (2003). The Piano Sonatas of Carl Vine: A Guideline to Performance and Style Analysis [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1048801477

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Yang, Eun-Kyoung. The Piano Sonatas of Carl Vine: A Guideline to Performance and Style Analysis. 2003. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1048801477.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Yang, Eun-Kyoung. "The Piano Sonatas of Carl Vine: A Guideline to Performance and Style Analysis." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1048801477

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)