CLASSICAL MUSIC ARCHIVES: Students Tip 12

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Students Tip 12
WHAT'S THE STORY? #2

Dear Friends,

Back in Tip 11, I told you about the story my flute teacher made up about the opening of Bach's Bb Flute Sonata. He had broken the 4-measure phrase down into - Wait! Why don't you pay a short visit to Tip 11 to get back into the idea we'll develop in this Tip - making up a story will help you learn a piece faster and play or sing it more expressively. Adios! I'll wait for you here.

Welcome back! In this Tip, we're going to develop our ability to create stories using Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto.

Now, if you're a soprano and look at the score of the concerto, you'll see no words for the piano soloist to sing. And if you play flugelhorn and take a look - sorry; Beethoven wasn't thinking of you either when he wrote the concerto (yes, yes - it's everyone's loss, I know). But it doesn't matter if your voice or instrumental part isn't in the concerto - you'll still find plenty to learn in the Beethoven that you can apply immediately to the music you're studying.

OK, let's go! Here are the first 16 measures of the concerto; they're played by the full orchestra but I've reduced all the parts to one line to make it easier to work on. Listen to these 16 measures and then, just to get an idea of what the concerto sounds like in MIDI, listen to the opening of the concerto on the Beethoven Page:

Helllloooooo! I'm sure you listened to a lot more than the first 16 measures when you listened to the full orchestra midi version. Great! I agree - it's really beautiful. But please listen to the single line version again to get the theme in your mind more clearly.

One of the ways to create a story that'll help us learn and bring out the feeling of a piece is to identify characters the music might represent. When I started studying this concerto, here's what came to me: the opening is an opera about kings, queens, ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting, and the assembled royal court.

I know some of you may think this is bit hokey, but I just can't get it to work using a girls' basketball game or hanging out at the mall - sorry! (But I'm sure YOU can get it to work by imagining plenty of other scenarios).

Anyway, back to our opera, set in the 18th century. Take a look at - and listen to - the first measure a few times:

Which of the characters I mentioned in the last paragraph might be speaking or - since this is an opera - singing (sorry for the stereotyping typical of the days when sensitivity in men and strength in women weren't as appreciated as they are today)? The music is loud and, with its martial dotted rhythm, quite forceful. I agree - it's more likely the king than the queen, yes?

Why not make up some words for the king to sing? Go on - shut your door and do it! Nobody will hear. And what if they do? I came up with: "Yes! I really am the king!"

And when does the king sing again? Right! - he continues his aria in the fifth measure:

But is the king saying the same thing in measure 5 as he is in measure 1?

True, both measures are marked forte, the rhythm in both measures is the same, and the intervals are almost exactly the same. BUT - did you notice that the king starts singing one note higher in measure 5 than he did in measure 1 (Bb in 1; C in 5)? In fact, all of the music in measure 5 is higher than in measure 1.

Now why should the king be singing at a higher pitch? Did something happen - or did someone say something - in measures 2, 3, and 4 that might have made him more excited? or perhaps more assertive? Let's listen to those measures; imagine who might be singing and what is being said:

The queen was the character that came to mind for me. And you? What might she have said that would cause the king to get so hot and bothered that he interrupted her just as her little aria was rising and getting louder in measure 4? How about this?

If that's what the queen is singing, no wonder King Macho the First hurries to cut her off as she asserts her position!

By the way, there's no RIGHT answer here - what I've written are just examples of how to identify the expressive quality of the music. Whatever you come up with is just fine…as long as it helps you.

After the king has finished his little fit of ego in measure 5, who do you think sings next - in measures 6, 7, and 8? What is the expressive quality of the music? Think about the narrative I've suggested, compare the pitches of the notes in those measures with the notes in measures 2, 3, and 4. Who and what do you come up with?

I'm going to wait until the next Tip (Tip 13: What's the Story? 3) before I tell you what I think. But I'm sure you already have a good sense of what's going on in measures 6, 7, and 8 in the context of our little 16 measure opera.

And why don't you continue to assign characters and words to measures 9 to 16 and let me know what you've come up with by sending me an e-mail?

To make your work a bit easier, here they are - measures 9-16.

I'll tell you what I think about those measure in Tip 13, coming at ya in December.

In the meantime - Good Luck! I'm truly looking forward to hearing your ideas and I'd love to know if this "What's the Story?" approach is helping you with the music you're working on.

With All Best Wishes,

David Barg, Learning Center Director
The Classical Archives, LLC
email: david@prs.net

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