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In the Fingertips: A Discussion of Stravinsky's Violin Writing in His Ballet Transcriptions for Violin and Piano

Tu, Kuan-Chang
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337288174

Abstract Details

2012, DMA, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Violin.
Igor Stravinsky always embraced the opportunity to cast his music in a different light. This is nowhere more evident than in the nine pieces for violin and piano extracted from his early ballets. In the 1920s, the composer rendered three of these himself; in the 1930s, he collaborated on five of them with Polish-American violinist Samuel Dushkin; and in 1947, he wrote his final one for French violinist Jeanne Gautier. In the process, Stravinsky took an approach that deviated from traditional recasting. Instead of writing thoroughly playable music, Stravinsky chose to recreate in the spirit of the instrument, and the results are mixed. The three transcriptions from the 1920s are extremely awkward and difficult to play, and thus rarely performed. The six later transcriptions, by contrast, apply much more logically to the instrument and remain popular in the violin literature. While the history of these transcriptions is fascinating and vital for a fuller understanding, this document has a more pedagogical aim. That is, it intends to use Stravinsky and these transcriptions as guidance and advice for future composers who write or arrange for the violin. Specifically, this document will explore how Stravinsky first approached these transcriptions; how Dushkin and Gautier influenced changes; and how the composer learned to write for the violin idiomatically in a modernist style. In his 1936 autobiography Chronicle of My Life, Stravinsky states that the composer who knows an instrument from a player's perspective has more tools than the composer who simply refers to a textbook. In this vein, this document hopes to serve as a bridge, using Stravinsky's transcriptions to assist composers and arrangers for the violin in creating music that is not only fresh and expressive, but truly fitting the instrument.
Piotr Milewski, DMA (Committee Chair)
Catharine Carroll, DMA (Committee Member)
Lee Fiser, BMus (Committee Member)
89 p.
Music
Stravinsky; violin; transcription;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Tu, K.-C. (2012). In the Fingertips: A Discussion of Stravinsky's Violin Writing in His Ballet Transcriptions for Violin and Piano [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337288174

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Tu, Kuan-Chang. In the Fingertips: A Discussion of Stravinsky's Violin Writing in His Ballet Transcriptions for Violin and Piano. 2012. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337288174.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Tu, Kuan-Chang. "In the Fingertips: A Discussion of Stravinsky's Violin Writing in His Ballet Transcriptions for Violin and Piano." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337288174

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1337288174
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.