Page 81 - The Strad (February 2020)
P. 81
MASTERCLASS
Phrasing and song A major challenge throughout the positive moment in what has, to that
Beware the player who thinks this music sonata is the dexterity and athleticism point, been a rather melancholy theme.
is as easily executed as it should so required of the left hand. is is not the For that reason I would suggest staying
melli uously sound! It is one of the most strength and stamina of the shot-putter, on the A string for the bar 14 shift from
challenging pieces for any string player, but more the ne-tuned balance and D to B and playing a subtle and almost
and its combinations of song-like precision of the high-wire artist. In imperceptible slide, rather than opting
melodies and virtuosic writing, graceful negotiating the faster running passages try for the safer crossing to the B from a D
arching phrases and orid passagework, to keep your eye (and ear) on the ‘mid’ or on the D string. Another example is in bar
demand a high degree of skill and ‘far’ objective of the phrase, rather than 67: here the falling E at to D can benet
maturity. Striking the right balance individual notes. Imagine that you are from the use of the same nger (3), to give
between these aspects gives the music skiing: you need to keep your focus on the a more poignant vocal feeling than a
both its soulfulness and its eet-footed whole downward slope, rather than just ‘clean’ alternative of 3–2. ere are many
character – characteristics it shares with on your feet and the direction of your skis. such places in this piece.
the Schumann Concerto, which is also
notorious for its high-lying passages and 4GIKUVGT CPF ƒPIGTKPIU Bowing and articulation
parlando melodic writing. e fact that the sonata’s arpeggione Debussy, in writing about the bowing in
Schubert the great lieder writer treats tessitura lies rather high for the cello means his own Cello Sonata, told his publisher
the opening of this movement no that every performer can approach this that cellists should nd their own ‘best’
dierently from the telling of a song piece with a degree of choice as far as some solutions. It seems to me that here, too,
narrative, with an introduction in the of the register goes. is gives us the chance in music of this uidity, we should
piano part that immediately gives the to put a personal stamp on it in a way that explore all possibilities and use whatever
clue to the character of the ensuing few other works in the standard repertoire bowing is necessary to convey the idea of
music. e mood is introverted yet full do. ere is no edition that can be taken as an expressive vocal line – just as singers
of expectation, and it lays down the denitive, and the Henle version included may choose to breathe in dierent places.
kernel of the theme to come. I often here points out the passages that dier from It is also important to consider how to
wonder if Brahms had this at the back the original arpeggione part. vary our articulation. For example, for
of his mind when writing the E minor e ngerings that we use should also the contrasting, virtuosic passagework in
Cello Sonata, the rst bar of which shares be a personal decision, and there are the second subject (from bar 32) and for
the same rhythmic motif and the same many possible alternatives within the rst the latter part of the exposition, we need
sense of something withheld before it twelve bars alone. e choices that you agility in both hands. In these passages
starts to explore the thematic possibilities make will be one way you can make your I try to make my left-hand nger pads
inherent in the opening. own stamp on the music. Jacqueline alive to the sensation of touch, with very
Once the cello takes centre stage, the du Pré was a master of what I would term little pressure. In contrast, when I am
piano assumes a largely accompanimental ‘emotive’ ngering and I suggest that drawing a really legato line, I try to nd
role, supporting and occasionally anyone who wants a masterclass in this a tenuto feeling in my ngers, with the
contributing an ‘aside’ to the cello part. should watch her televised Elgar pads on the strings.
is means that the cello plays more or Concerto in Christopher Nupen’s lm!
less continuously throughout the Some of the incredible in exion in her Back to the beginning
movement, and so controlled variety of playing came from very unorthodox When I was a child the recording of the
articulation and tone are paramount. e ideas, which she used to convey her own Arpeggione Sonata that really red my
cello’s opening theme is long and we personal feelings for the music. imagination was the one by Mstislav
need to be able to spin the melody like My main criterion is to nd ngerings Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten –
unrolling a scroll of parchment that that support legato transitions between not least because of Britten’s wonderful
reveals itself as it unfolds. Consider the positions where possible, and which, with piano playing. When I rst heard it on
direction of each part of this phrase in the use of a few subtle glissandos between the radio I rushed to buy the music, but
relation to the whole, so that the overall notes, underline the vocal quality of the when I saw it I was dismayed by its
arch of the rst twelve bars is maintained, writing. By way of illustration, consider diculty. I’m glad that I didn’t attempt
rather than being ‘chopped up’ into the the important falling minor 6ths (for to play it until I was an adult – or even
smaller segments of the theme. e example in bar 12) and rising major 6ths until after I had nished two years’ study
execution of this and other lyrical (bar 14) that occur throughout this with Rostropovich in Moscow. During
passages in the sonata relies on a son lé movement. Traditionally the rising 6th is those years I never heard any of the other
bow technique: in other words, before described as an interval of yearning (think students playing it – it did not seem to be
starting we need to have an awareness of of the rising minor 6th in Wagner’s Tristan a priority in the core repertoire at that
the whole length of the phrase to come, theme). In bar 14 Schubert writes a major time. ankfully I had the good sense to
and to match our sound and colour to 6th that, by following on from the falling put it to one side, to wait for the time
the aectionate character of the music. minor version two bars earlier, feels like a when I felt I could take it in my stride.
www.thestrad.com FEBRUARY 2020 THE STRAD 79
