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Paper presentation for The Reflective Conservatoire Conference 2012, London: Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Kostis Hassiotis, University of Macedonia, Department of Music Art and Science

Adopting Didactic Material of the Past in Modern Instrumental Studies:

How Historical Research may Enhance and Re-evaluate Modern Didactic Reper-

toire

Good morning!

This presentation is the product of personal observations and research that I have

been conducting as part of my teaching at the University of Macedonia and at the State

Conservatory of Thessaloniki. The lessons taught are instrumental and involve one-to-

one tuition on the oboe and related subjects such as cor anglais and orchestral excerpts,

as well as small chamber music sessions. In the context of these lessons it was observed

that some of the conventional didactic repertoire did not assist all of the students and

therefore, its actual usefulness was called into question. At the same time, research in

eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historical sources revealed the existence of a rich

amount of neglected musical material and directions on performance issues that, when

properly approached and practised, seemed to enhance students’ musical understanding.

Furthermore, students showed an increased interest when suggestions on performance

issues were substantiated by commonly accepted ‘authoritative’ sources. The term ‘reper-

toire’ is used here to describe not only musical pieces but even verbal instructions that

form the means of a teacher’s didactic approach. My presentation also aims to ask, how

the categorisation of repertoire into ‘serious’ music used for performance’ and ‘less musi-

cal’ pieces used only for their perceived pedagogical value may alter our perception of the

music and its didactic usefulness.

As a starting point, I use some of the remarks Robert Schumann makes in relation

to choice of repertoire, in his book ‘Advice to Young Musicians’: (SLIDE 2) Later on, I am

going to relate some of these suggestions to the interpretation of some 19th-century oboe

etudes.

‘In maturer years play no fashionable trifles. Time is precious. We should need to live a

hundred lives, only to become acquainted with all the good works that exist’.

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‘All bravura-music soon grows antiquated. Rapid execution is valuable only when used to

perfect the performance of good music’.

‘Never help to circulate bad compositions; on the contrary, help to suppress them with

earnestness’.

‘Do not judge a composition from the first time of hearing;… masters need to be stud-

ied; many things will not become clear to you till you have reached a more advanced age’.

(Robert Schumann, Advice to Young Musicians, trnsl. Henry Hugo Pierson (Original title:

Musikalische Haus- und Lebens-Regeln) (London: Ewer & Co; Leipzig & New York, J.

Schuberth & Co., 1860), pp. 8, 12, 14, 26.

It is well known that Schumann was often concerned with the issue of ‘good’ musi-

cal repertoire, as one can see from his numerous articles in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.

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‘[speaking about Dreyshock’s etude collection] With one word: the Studies should never

have been published, let alone composed’.

Robert Schumann, ‘Etuden für das Pianoforte: Alexander Dreyschock, acht

Bravouretuden in Walzerform. Op. 1’, NZfM, 7, 10 (1837), p. 39.

Many other scholars have questioned the musical quality and effectiveness of didactic

repertoire. Georgii, in discussing the number and worth of Etudes in Clementi’s Gradus

ad Parnassum, wrote:

‘The practice of only half a dozen of these good Studies should, with proper work be

enough’.

(Walter Georgii, ‘Brauchen wir noch Klavier-Etüden?’, Der Musikerzieher 35 (1939) pp.

105-107.

And C. Ph. E. Bach was also concerned about the pieces chosen for keyboard studies:

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‘Most students are required to play their teacher’s own works, for nowadays it seems to

be scandalous not to compose. Good pieces by others which might be studied profitably

are withheld under the pretext that they are obsolete or too difficult’.

Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments,

trnsl. and ed. by William J. Mitchell (London: Eulenburg Books, 1974), pp. 30-31.

It is clear from these remarks that the true essence of didactic works has puzzled

scholars, composers and performers as far as one is able to trace historical evidence. So,

what is the situation today? Although our recital and orchestral repertoire has vastly

changed in comparison with the first half of the nineteenth century, the majority of

methods that we use derive, in large part, from this period. The questions that the mod-

ern teacher inevitably faces are therefore:

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i) Why was the specific material originally composed and used?

ii) Why is some of this material still being used, and why has some of it fallen

into oblivion?

iii) Is this repertoire suitable for the cultivation of the modern instrumentalist?

How could (or should) such pieces be used by teachers and students in the context of a

contemporary instrumental lesson?

iv) What would the implications be if we regarded some of the didactic music

that we use today as (following Schumann) ‘bad compositions’? Is it easier for a student

to interpret ‘good’ than ‘bad’ compositions?

The scope of this presentation is such that I shall necessarily limit discussion to my

observations of the Greek educational system of instrumental teaching, with which I am

most familiar, although I suspect that many of these observations can be applied else-

where, as one can see from the synthesis of syllabuses around the world in relation to

‘Grades’. The discussion also focuses on repertoire that was originally composed as ‘didac-

tic’, as well as to pieces that are used today almost exclusively for didactic purposes, al-

though this might not have been the original intention of their composer.

It is generally accepted today that historical sources form a very important refer-

ence for research on performance practice issues. The term may include, theoretical trea-

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tises on musical training and interpretation; music dictionaries; articles in music journals

and newspapers; methods and etude collections; or manuscripts or first editions of pieces

which we have been accustomed to perform from reissues and transcriptions of the early

twentieth century. Many of these sources are accessible now in facsimile freely and di-

rectly from the worldwideweb. In other words, the modern teacher has access to an

enormous supply of historical material which may prove valuable in re-evaluating our

modern didactic strategies.

To answer briefly the first question, exercises and etudes included in late eight-

eenth- and nineteenth-century methods were not always composed for solely didactic

purposes, and certainly not always effectively in terms of their didactic value. One of the

many hidden challenges for the modern teacher is to research and choose, for each par-

ticular student, between the many volumes of studies supposedly composed according to

increased difficulty, the ones that really assist technical and musical progress. Most of the

oboe methods dating from the nineteenth century claim to show a gradual and manage-

able increase in technical difficulty and an economy in the material, but these are claims

that I would challenge: simple exercises advance too soon to longer pieces with few

breathing places, larger intervals and difficult articulation, which the beginner is often not

able to manage. Other methods spend too many pages in exercises coping with the same

technical problem. Some methods of the eighteenth century, although they appear to in-

clude simple, short and effective exercises, utilise notes in a register too high for a begin-

ner. One such example is presented here, taken from the method by Garnier (1800).

(SLIDE 5) As one can see, the lesson is economically composed with a sufficient

number of points at which breath may be taken, but the student still has to play notes

above middle D almost from the outset.

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(Joseph-François) Garnier l’aîné, Méthode raisonnée pour le haut-bois, Contenant les Principes

nécessaires pour bien jouer de cet instrument, la maniere de faire les anches suivis de 55 leçons, six petits

Duos, six Sonates, six Airs variés et une étude pour les doigts et l’arrangement de la Langue… (Paris:

Pleyel, c1798), p. 14.

From the didactic pieces that have survived almost 200 years of continuous use in

different countries and systems, the best example from the oboe repertoire is perhaps F.

W. Ferling’s (1796-1874) 48 Studies for Oboe Op. 31. These have been composed in pairs,

one slow and one fast, in all major and minor keys, and they have traditionally been used

for enhancing tone control, line sustaining, intonation, finger agility and articulation;

however, apart from these technical aspects, the real challenge for the student is to per-

form them according to the musical style of the early Romantic period. This requires a

musical maturity which, recalling Schumann, most students lack when they face these

studies for the first time. Ferling’s Studies are perhaps an example of the music that

‘should be studied’, in the sense that a significant amount of musical experience is needed

before one is able to perform them convincingly. The example presented here is from

Etude no. 29.

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There are many issues that require decision making in this example. The indication

‘andante amabile’, is no direct metronomic suggestion and tempo has to be decided tak-

ing into consideration both the character of the study, the rhythm and the number and

occurrence of semiquavers and embellishments; a very slow tempo, applied to accom-

modate all the small notes, may result in the loss of the overall coherence of the piece.

Articulation is also to be decided, for example how to accent in bb. 7, 9 and 11, if the

staccato-dotted notes are to be regarded as short and how short they should then be per-

formed, whether the triplets in bar 12 should be slightly separately stressed or not; an-

other issue is whether one should slightly retard between sections or at the conclusion of

the Study; also, whether one should take into account the quavers, semiquavers and

demi-semiquavers while performing the cadenza; concerning dynamics, if the p indication

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at bar 15 suggests a subito p or if a gradual decrease in volume through the preceding

semiquavers is expected, how much should one increase or diminish the volume in nu-

ances such as the ones in bars 15, 17 and 18 and so on.

Apart from oboe tutors and Study collections, theoretical sources, such as H. Chr.

Koch’s Musikalisches Lexicon are often used during lessons to address more general per-

formance practice issues such as accentuation:

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‚Unter dem grammatischen Accente verstehet man den fast unmerklichen Nachdruck,

welchen im Vortrage einer Melodie alle auf die gute Zeit des Taktes fallenden Noten er-

halten müssen, wie z.B. in dem folgenden Satze die mit * bezeichneten Noten:’

[by the grammatical accent an almost unnoticeable stress is to be understood, which falls

during performance always on the stronger beats of the bar, as is shown with the aster-

isks in the following example]:

Heinrich Christoph Koch, Musikalisches Lexikon,… (Frankfurt am Mein: Aug. Hermann,

1802), pp. 49-54, 150-151.

It is important that the author regards this accent to be of ‘an almost unnoticeable

stress’. Some students are apt to emphasise metric accents too much and to stress them

not only on the first beat of the bar, but on other beats as well.

Another interesting example from a historical source that I use to refer to is a quo-

tation by Leopold Mozart relating to the often-encountered problem among students of

accentuation of the second (weak) part of syncopated or dotted notes. This tendency is

often caused either by insufficient technique in the production of airflow, or because of

an unconscious ‘counting’ by the body or by the air itself.

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[on performing syncopated notes, Mozart suggests that]

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‘because the notes D and E must be divided, one can, in order to achieve the exact value

of them, play them straightforwardly:

But later on play thus:

Where the two notes D are taken together in the up-stroke, and the two notes E in a

down stroke, they must be distinguished from each other by an after-pressure of the

bow. The division of these notes by the bow occurs only at the beginning until the pupil

understands exactly the right division of time. Then, however, the division must no long-

er be heard’.

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[and, on performing dotted notes, he writes]

‘When, however, one has established oneself firmly in time, the dot must be joined on

the note with a gradual fading away, and must never be distinguished by means of an ac-

cent’.

[Finally, in a footnote concerning syncopated notes he says]:

‘It is bad enough that people exist who flatter themselves greatly on their art and who yet

cannot play a minim, yea, hardly a crotchet without dividing it into two parts… Such

notes must be attacked strongly and, with a gradual dying away, be sustained without af-

ter-pressure; just as the sound of a bell, when struck sharply, by degrees dies away’.

Leopold Mozart, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, transl. by Editha Knocker as A Trea-

tise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing, 2nd ed. reprint (London: Oxford University

Press, 1985), pp. 39-41, 46.

Other sources have often served me to underline to my students the importance of

accentuation in music and the connection of music to poetry and oratory, especially in

the performance of earlier music styles. The following quotation is taken from J. J. Rous-

seau’s Dictionary of Music:

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‘ACCENT: There are as many different accents as there are methods of modulating the

voice thereunto, and there are as many various kinds of Accents as there are general

causes for such modulations… A study of these various Accents, and of their uses in

language, should be the main business of a musician; and Dennis of Halicarnassus, looks,

with justice, on Accent in general, as the foundation of every branch in music… There is

no doubt to be made… but that… the most expressive music, is that wherein all the Ac-

cents are observed with the greatest nicety’.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Complete Dictionary of Music, Consisting of A copious Explana-

tion of all Words necessary to a true Knowledge and Understanding of Music, trnsl. by William War-

ing, 2nd ed. (London & Dublin: J. Murray & Luke White, 1779), vol. I, pp. 3-6.

Finally, some of the material included in treatises may serve more specialist pur-

poses. For example, Garnier includes at the end of his method several Points d’Orgue

which could be used as models for short classical cadenzas. The following example is for

a movement in C major:

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Let us now turn to our last question, namely, whether didactic material in use today

could be considered as ‘good music’ by Schumann’s implied definition and, if not, what

the implications of such a determination would be. At this point, I aim to focus on per-

formance pieces such as sonatas or concertos that customarily form part of the interme-

diate student’s repertoire, which are supposedly chosen rather for didactic reasons, such

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as simplicity, being composed in easy keys, having simple metre and rhythmic patterns,

conventional harmony, easy-to-remember melodies, manageable intervals, than for their

musical value. In the case of woodwind instruments, such pieces originate mainly from

the Baroque, the pre-classical and the classical era. Although nothing is wrong with prac-

tising baroque or gallant concertos at an early stage, the issue that I endeavour to raise

here is: at what level is knowledge of stylistic issues necessary for a satisfactory perfor-

mance of such pieces? The fact that this particular repertoire is usually recognised by

both teachers and students only as didactic, often means that little time is left to enhance

interpretational aspects. These pieces are often used as primary material to introduce the

student to aspects of classical music. It seems that there exists an inner connection be-

tween the lack of necessary technique and musicianship on the part of the student and

the quality of the material itself, which often results in poor performances or a negative

reception from the student. Poor editions or piano reductions often contribute to this

problem. Pianists and violinists have at least the privilege to get acquainted with an

enormous solo and chamber music repertoire from the greatest composers; they will

never be required to practice or perform repertoire pieces by composers such as Quantz,

Hoffmeister, Stamitz, Eichner or Fiala, to name but a few. Such pieces, for most of the

other instruments of the orchestra, form a large part of our classical and romantic reper-

toire. Does this perhaps mean, to recall Schumann’s suggestions, that the didactic wood-

wind literature generally is, and has historically been, inappropriate in cultivating our stu-

dents musically? Are we correct in using such pieces for our intermediate students? And

what are the alternatives, since the greatest composers have written comparatively rarely

for solo woodwind? It is true that this repertoire poses similar musical problems to piec-

es by Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart, perhaps with lesser technical difficulties; but at the

same time it lacks the spirit of the great masters. A performance of a concerto by such

composers needs an equally high technical and historical awareness of stylistic interpreta-

tion, and I doubt that many of our students are equipped with this knowledge.

Conclusion:

In modern Greek society where classical music does not form the main part of our

musical tradition, students have few opportunities to hear good performances; teachers

must therefore seek other ways to support their aesthetic, theoretical and technical ap-

proach during lessons. Under these circumstances, research and reference to historical

sources has assisted me several times in persuading students to rethink their assumptions

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concerning musical notation. Reference to widely-accepted authors has helped me to

view issues ranging from instruction on technique and performance to even the attitude

of orchestral playing under new perspectives. It has also become valuable to investigate

how scholars, composers, teachers and performers of past eras formulate their defini-

tions and descriptions, and also to recognize that the same problems that modern musi-

cians face have preoccupied music masters through the ages. In the course of my instru-

mental lessons, I have been able to observe several positive aspects of the implementa-

tion of research-informed 1-2-1 tuition, for example that:

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• Students respect/accept more easily information/suggestions from ‘authoritative’

sources

• The dialectic aspect of the lesson enhances interest on the part of both student

and teacher

• This approach is appropriate in cases of teaching issues of interpretation to stu-

dents of other instruments

• General widening and deepening of the student’s musical understanding

• Creates an interest in further research

• Useful when intensive practice or rehearsing makes the lesson difficult in terms

of stamina (i.e. when the session is directly before or after an orchestral rehears-

al).

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At the same time, one should be warned against negative aspects of this practice,

for example that:

• The conventional duration of a single lesson is often not enough to implement

research on historical sources

• Results may be slow to accomplish

• Students tend to neglect technical exercise or, often seem unable to focus and

improve on several issues together

• A different approach on the same issue may be regarded by the student as con-

trary to information received from other teachers

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• Often creates negative responses when in need of intensive coaching

• Needs very careful knowledge, choice and use of terminology to avoid misunder-

standings.

Thank you very much!