Professional Documents
Culture Documents
6
from 48 Etudes
by William Eisenberg
V
erne Reynolds published his 48 Etudes for French Horn in guiding practices, it is difficult to pinpoint the real points of
1961. These etudes, like those of Chopin, Scriabin, and arrival, on the small scale and the large, and the piece can end
Rachmaninoff, are both technical studies and works of up sounding like a long run-on sentence. Therefore, one must
art – works with “sufficient musical merit” to deserve perfor- get a handle on the organizational logic that drives the phrase
mance, as Reynolds states in his introduction. Nevertheless, structures and the large-scale form.
the etudes have remained mostly in the practice room and off Verne Reynolds states that this etude is one of his “inter-
the stage. Perhaps the lack of performances and recordings is val studies.” The minor third plays a vital role in the underly-
due to their significant technical difficulty, which overshadows ing harmony and the ends of phrases and sections. Reynolds
their musical worth. Yet, to my mind, these are wonderfully generates different harmonies by combining minor thirds in a
expressive compositions that deserve to be performed. This ar- variety of ways (see Figure 1). Specific set classes1 serve differ-
ticle examines some of the challenges one faces in Etude No. 6, ent functions: [0369], the set-class of the diminished 7th chord
sheds light on its formal and harmonic language, and suggests works as a signature harmony or signpost; [0134] is the collec-
how one might use this knowledge to craft a more compelling tion of the piece’s head motif; and chromatic clusters appear
performance. throughout. These collections, with their distinct intervallic
Verne Reynolds
profiles, mark new sections.
Figure 1
b˙ ™ b˙
Adagio q = 72
& 4 b˙ ™ ˙™
5 ˙ œ#œ œ œn˙ bœ œ œ œnœ œ œ
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙™ Œ œ #œ#œ œ œ œ œ
Horn in F
(not at concert) mp mf mp cresc.
Some combinations of minor thirds
8
nœ œ œ œ nœ#œ ˙ œ
œ œnœ œœ œ œ#œ nœ œ œ w
3
œ Œ
˙™ b ˙ ™ b˙
& #œ#œ nœ#œ
#˙ ™
œ ˙ ˙ m. 1 m. 7 m. 17
& œ œ bœ #œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ #œ œ
œ #œ nœ b œ ™ œ œ #œ
f mp
œœœ œ œ œœ
15
Œ œ #œ #œ #œ #˙ J
n˙ ™
& n˙ œœ œ œ #˙ #œ n˙ [0134] [0369], a fully diminished chord [0358], a minor 7th sonority
œ ˙ mf
f
m. 19 m. 40 m. 54
nœ ™ bœ #œ #œ œ œ #œ œ
œ ˙ Œ œ™ bœj œ
œ œ j œ bœ œ j #œ
nœ œ & #œ #œ œ
22
nœ bœ nœ
œ™ œ bœ ™ #œ
& #œ #œ#œ J nœ œ bœn˙ Œ œ #œ œ
p mf f
œ œ w
[036] (a diminished triad) chromatic hexachord, or [012345] [0347]
b˙ ™ ˙™ œ œ œ ™ #œJ
29
& b˙ ™ ‰
3 3
˙ ˙ ˙™ ˙ ˙ œ nœ #œ œ
#œ œ
The etude is in an ABA’ form, with the overall structure
3
mp mf
nœ #œ #œ nœ nœ nœ 3
34
#œ ‰ nœ nœ nœ
3
‰
3 3
outlining a rise and fall in several ways. The A section begins
Ϫ
& j
#œ nœ
3 3 #œ nœ œ nœ bœ #œ nœ in the middle range of the horn, and stays in this register until
36 n œ b œ nœ m. 28. The highest point appears in the middle of the B section,
bœ œ nœ nœ ‰ #œ œ #œ nœ bœ ‰ #œ œ nœ bœ bœ
3 3 §?
& œ œ bœ #œ nœ nœ nœ bœ œ
3 3
3
f
3
mp 3 3 3
which runs from mm. 29-42. The closing A’ section plummets
to the lower register, and comes to a close after gravitating to
bœ #œ nœ nœ œ
38
nœ nœ bœ
& ≈ nœ bœ bœ œ #œ nœ bœ #œ nœ ≈ œ œ nœ #œ #œ œ œ #œ ‰ ≈ nœ nœ Œ ≈
bœ #œ œ and solidifying the low c [as written, in F]. The etude has a hair-
pin shape dynamically, too – it opens softly, builds throughout
œbœ ‰ ≈
40
bœ bœ bœ bœ œ œ the development, and closes with a pianissimo. Rhythmically,
& bœbœ ‰ ≈bœ œ nœ œ œ nœ œ bœ œ œ nœ# œ œ œ œ œ bœbœ œ bw Œ
n œ # œ bœbœ œ
f mp the opening and closing sections feature only eighth notes and
n˙ ™ longer note values while the development relies almost exclu-
& #˙ ™
b˙ n˙ ™ ˙ #˙
Œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ n˙ ™ b˙
43
n˙
#˙ ™ ‰ j ?
b˙ ™
(a) mm. 1-4, head motif, [0134] transposed up a P4
idea, with a crescendo and decrescendo, mirrors the shape of the
Horn in F & 45 b˙ ™ ˙ ˙ ˙™ b˙ ˙ ˙™ entire piece. The next two measures transpose the basic idea
up a perfect fourth. While a typical sentence has a continuation
lasting four measures, this one lasts for seven. The extension
(b) mm. 12-15, head motif inverted then transposed up a M2
runs from mm. 6-9 and explores a diminished-seventh sonority
˙™ b˙™
&
#˙ ™ ˙ ˙ b˙ n˙ ˙™ within the context of an octatonic collection. The closing sec-
tion can also be thought of as an expanded sentence. Measure
(c) mm. 29-32, transposed up a P4 in order to return to the opening pitches in (a)
39 recapitulates the basic idea from the opening; a new two-
& b˙ ™ b˙ ™ ˙™
measure motive appears in m. 47, which then repeats down a
˙ ˙ ˙™ ˙ ˙ perfect fourth. As was the case with the opening sentence, this
continuation is also extended. Reynolds closes on an A-C dyad
(d) mm. 43-46, inverted like (b), with varied transpositions expected D#
that mimics the close of the opening four bars, but he lingers on
& #˙ ™
˙ these notes, slowing to a crawl as the piece spends its last eight
#˙
avoided
˙ b˙ ˙™
#˙ ™
˙™ measures on a single [0347] sonority. This realization of the
collection has a more open feel than the opening [0134] gesture:
While the thirds in the opening seem to fold in on each other,
the thirds at the end open outward, widening spatially along
An understanding of the rhythmic structure is also inte-
with the broadening of rhythm.
gral to an effective performance. The opening bars lay out two
Articulating the climax of the etude is also essential to a
motifs that play vital roles in the etude: long–short followed by
compelling performance. The highest note, at a dynamic of
short–long. These twin motifs recur throughout. They accentu- ÆÆ
forte, occurs on the b in m. 36. The etude has been gradually
ate the asymmetry of the 5/4 meter, made plain in the open-
climbing upward to this point, after which the register slowly
ing bars where the motifs are stated with a dotted-half and a
and inexorably descends until the final measures. This climac-
half note. In these measures, the long–short gesture brings an ÆÆ
tic b is structurally significant: it is the midpoint of both the
increase in volume and intensity while the short–long gesture
entire etude and the B section. On the surface, its arrival is
is heard as a relaxation. Reynolds often uses a series of short
marked by a change in m. 38 from triplet rhythms to sixteenth
notes followed by a longer one as a cadential gesture at phrase ÆÆ
notes. At first glance, b appears to be the climax. But a closer
endings. The reverse pattern (long–short) signals an increase in
reading offers several compelling reasons to maintain the in-
tension. In mm. 16-18, for instance, the phrase builds in inten- ÆÆ ÆÆ
tensity through the b until the e at the downbeat of m. 37.
sity, as shorter eighth notes follow the opening slower rhythm,
One reason is the fact that downbeats serve to articulate phrase
then relaxes into the downbeat of m. 18 on the short-long fig-
beginnings and endings as well as new sections. To wit, the
ure. Another example of rhythm intensity occurs in mm. 47-
opening phrase ends on a downbeat whole note in m. 11, the B
48, where eighth notes push the phrase forward and an exact
section closes on a downbeat whole note in m. 42, and the final
recurrence of the original short-long motive brings it to a close.
note begins and ends on a downbeat. Since downbeats tend to
As mentioned earlier, one of the main challenges in this
occupy places of strongest arrival, it makes sense to continue
etude is avoiding a run-on sentence. An understanding of the
to build through the middle of measure 36 until the downbeat
phrase structures is a huge step towards avoiding this pitfall. ÆÆ
of m. 37. Another reason to build the energy to the e is that the
Although this is an atonal composition, Reynolds makes use ÆÆ ÆÆ
b to e gesture of the climax has been carefully foreshadowed.
of one of the most common phrase structures in the Classical Æ
The main points of arrival leading up to the climax are the b
period: the sentence.2 William Caplin defines a sentence as “an
at the end of the opening phrase in m. 11, and the e at the end
I
magine a woodwind player using a medium hard reed. No
matter how high or low he plays, the reed remains medium
hard. It doesn’t change regardless of the register or how
hard he presses on it.
The same should be true for a brass player. Most brass
players make the upper vibrating lip inside the mouthpiece
stiffer as they play in the upper range. This creates another
“moving part” or an extra error-prone possibility. This upper
lip change can be eliminated, thus greatly increasing the ac-
curacy of the player!
Play a middle register note on your instrument. Then play
a note one-third higher, concentrating upon keeping the upper
lip that is in the mouthpiece identical, with no change what-
soever. Yes, the muscles around the mouthpiece will change
but not the vibrating upper lip inside the mouthpiece. That
remains like a reed – not harder or softer but the very same
texture.
You will be surprised to find that you can play those notes
going up and back a third without changing the upper lip ten-
sion inside the mouthpiece. Once you can do this, you can
gradually extend the range in both directions with no change
of the upper lip.