Pedagogy and Artistry in Select Twentieth-Century Piano Etudes

Grace Eunhye Lee, DMA

The twentieth-century concert etude drew from and expanded upon the achievements of

nineteenth-century composers such as Chopin and Liszt. Many composers wrote sets of etudes

for piano exploring many disparate styles and techniques. While some composers rely on a

general difficulty or complex compositional formulas for connection to the genre, other

composers were more explicit about the technical difficulties, thus linking more directly to the

tradition began by Chopin and others.

The purpose of this research is to explore twentieth-century piano etudes that combine

pedagogical and artistic concerns. While there are many such works that qualify, I will limit my

study to sets of etudes in which the composer identified the specific technique developed in each

etude. By removing any guess-work as to the nature of the technical problems, this approach will

allow me to focus on the interaction of the technique and art. In this document, I will survey and

compare Loise Talma’s Six Etudes for piano, Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Etydit, Op. 42, and Ned

Rorem’s Eight Etudes for Piano.

Rautavaara names each etude in his set with the interval that governs the harmonic and

melodic content. Rorem stipulates the technical difficulties in his prefaces to their published

scores. Talma’s comes from interviews or conversations. The following table lists each etude and

its technical demand.

(Key: T=title, C=conversation/interview, I=instruction/subtitle, P=performance notes.)

Talma Rautavaara

No. 1: Dynamics contrasts (C)

No. 2: Staccato without pedal (C)

No. 3: Sostenuto pedal (C)

No. 4: Wide skips (C)

No. 5: Hand crossings (C)

No. 6: Rhythnic issues (C)

No. 1: Third (T)

No. 2: Seventh (T)

No. 3: Fourth (T)

No. 4: Second (T)

No. 5: Fifth (T)

Rorem

No. 1: Loud contrary motion (P) No. 2:

Softness (P)

No. 3: Speed without pedal (P) No. 4:

Sevenths (P)

No. 5: Slow tune with fast filigree (P) No. 6: Quick

fourths (P)

No. 7: Right hand alone (P)

No. 8: Parallel motion with conflicting rhythms (P)

LOUISE TALMA’S SIX ETUDES FOR PIANO

No. 1

According to Talma, the first etude responds to a lack of etudes in the repertoire that

specifically deal with softness (pianissimo) as a technical issue. She recounts:

The first [etude] was the study of pianissimo (this was suggested to me by

Thornton Wilder who, when he heard about the project, said: “Has anyone written

an etude for the study of pianissimo?” I couldn’t think of one, so I decided to do

it, and to make it harder by contrasting it with a few fortissimo passages, since it

is much harder to pull back to pianissimo from fortissimo than it is to keep on all

the time pianissimo. This is why that etude is dedicated to him.1

1 Susan Carol Teicher, “The Solo Works for Piano of Louise Talma” (DMA diss., The Peabody

Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, 1983), 99.

This comment can seem odd in light of large passages if not entire etudes devoted to

extreme softness in the sets of etudes by Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and especially

Debussy, whose etudes are overwhelmingly soft. However, Talma’s contribution focuses the

contrasts of fortissimo and pianissimo within very quick changes as well as atonal structures.

Example 1, Louise Talma, Six Etudes for Piano, No. 1, mm.22–26.

No. 2

Talma composed the second etude for her student, Estelle Hershler who had lost her leg

in a car accident. The composer hoped to maintain Hershler’s interest in piano despite her

physical limitations.2 This etude focuses on staccato playing and includes the marking: sempre

senza ped. (always without pedal).

In terms of difficulty concerning the staccato playing, the overwhelmingly soft dynamics

(except for the climax and ending) create challenges for the pianist when focusing on

articulations. In broad terms, the stark contrast between the A section’s sempre staccato, molto

secco and the B section’s legato la melodia requires control from the pianist, but even more

2 Ibid, 106–107.

difficult is that in the B section, it is mixed staccato and legato in one hand. The top line

maintains legato while the alto line plays staccato.

Example 2, Louise Talma, Six Etudes for Piano, No. 2, mm.32–36.

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA’S ETYDIT

Rautavaraa uses the specific intervals that are the basis of each piece as the title in a

manner similar to what Debussy had done in his etudes. Rautavarra’s six etudes are: No. 1

Thirds, No. 2 Sevenths, No. 3 Tritones, No. 4 Fourths, No. 5 Seconds, No. 6 Fifths. These etudes

demonstrate a very clear amount of sparsity and focus as the musical material in each etude is

derived almost exclusively from the compositional boundaries (i.e., intervals) he has placed on

himself. Further, these etudes showcase a particular aspect of this composer’s style. Rautavaraa

is interested in large-scale contrasts and in these pieces, there are constant alternations between

contrasting elements such as parallel motion versus contrary motion, thicker textures, blocked

chords, versus arpeggios, conjunct melodic movement versus disjunct, angular movement, etc.

These contrasts often are integral to the form, construction of phrase structure, and the harmonic

language.

No. 1 Thirds

Playing thirds in on hand at a time (often simultaneously with the other) is one of the most

ubiquitous etude constructions. Composers like Liszt, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff, who include

many disparate technical difficulties within one etude, often have large passages that concentrate

on thirds technique, while composers such as Chopin and Debussy both have etudes that

concentrate almost exclusively on thirds. (Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 6, and Debussy Etude No.

2). The thirds in these passages and pieces are played in scales, trills, arpeggiations, broken

chord patterns, and other intricate figures. Rautavaara’s approach is quite different. The interval

creates the musical material, while the technique is concentrated in monophonic arpeggiations

built out seventh, ninth, and eleventh chords. Thick blocked chords of thirds are also used.

Example 3, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Etydit, no. 1, “Thirds,” mm. 6–7.

No. 5 Seconds

The controlling aspect of etude 5 is seconds, mostly chromatic, moving linearly. The

form is through composed, though texturally, the end is somewhat similar to the beginning.

Throughout the piece, excepting mm. 22–29, a repeating figure of d-flat (enharmonically, c-

sharp in mm. 35 and 36) and e-flat, creates an ostinato that provides consistency and unity.

A

F#

The difficulty lies in controlling the ostinato. Even in the alternations, an even sound

maintaining the dynamic is necessary. Further, the performer must be concerned with balance

between the ostinato and melodic line. For example, in mm. 7–9, the ostinato will be played in

right hand which also has the contrary-motion line in the top.

Example 4, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Etydit, no. 5, “Seconds”, mm. 7–9.

NED ROREM’S EIGHT ETUDES FOR PIANO

Rorem titled each etude in the set simply with numbers, but in his program notes to the

first publication, he elaborates on the set as a whole as well as the individual difficulties

associated with each:

My Eight Etudes for solo piano form a series of problems, not the least of which

is their contrast with each other. Thus they are conceived as a suite (indeed, the

same thematic matter is flung about between several, and number eight is a

disguised medley of all the preceding ones), though eventually, I suppose, they

may be played separately.

The first is a study in loud contrary motion. The second, a study in softness. The

third is for speed without pedal. The fourth, for sevenths. The fifth, slow tune with

fast filigree. The sixth, quick fourths. The seventh, right hand alone. The last,

parallel motion plus simultaneously conflicting rhythms.

These features are too obvious for further comment except in talk between

pianists differentiating the pieces (as, for instance, they speak — incorrectly — of

Chopin’s double-third Etude), or to fill space for Program Notes. The “study” as a

mode for one instrument is always implicitly far simpler than the simplest

sonatina.3

Rorem’s assessment of each etude’s central challenge as “too obvious for further comment” and

his invoking of wrong-headed interpretations among pianists of pieces like Chopin’s etudes are

different in style and tone than the comments of other composers in the present study. While

Talma’s stated difficulties seem to address each etude as a stand-alone piece and, in many ways,

as a compositional challenge she gave to herself, or Bolcom’s allowances for numerous

possibilities in how one might program his etudes, Rorem stresses the connections of his. With

words like “series,” “suite,” and “contrasts,” the composer’s understanding of these pieces places

the importance not on the individual difficulties themselves, but in how they interact with each

other. And, while contrasts are crucial between one etude and the next, similar compositional

material is used to unite them. His conception of the totality of the parts should be taken

seriously by any pianist wishing to program them.

No. 3

The indication at the beginning of Etude 3 is “Very fast and not too wet, quarter note =

152). While the phrase “not too wet” does not totally negate the use of any pedal, in the program

note he specifies this etude’s difficulty as “speed without pedal.” In this mostly soft and fast

etude, most passages can be played well without any pedal as only one gesture is necessary to

maintain the slur; however, in passages like the very loud arpeggios in mm. 25–28, which is

quite the contrast dynamically and texturally, a little pedal would help maintain the legato.

Example 5, Ned Rorem, Eight Etudes for Piano, No. 3, mm.25–28.

3 Ned Rorem, Eight Etudes for Piano (New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1977).

No. 7

Etude 7 is for the right hand alone. While a common tradition began in the twentieth

century of pieces for left hand alone, including pieces by Scriabin, Ravel, Godowsky, and others,

right hand only music is rare. Using a free, cadenza-like approach in this etude, Rorem explores

leaps, broad registrations, and fast filigree, among others. The form is a palindrome: beginning

after the g-sharp, which is the last note of m. 11, all the subsequent notes are played in reverse

order. In this large retrograde passage, the music speeds up and shorter rhythmic values are

used.4

The music follows in a through-composed manner, but Rorem indicates eleven separate

metronome speeds (on the eighth note); the first is 52, the fastest is 104, and the last is 84. Often,

4 Chester Lawrence Campbell, “Works for solo piano by Ned Rorem,” (DMA document, Indiana

University, 1983), 102.

the tempo change occurs in the middle of a phrase, and so, these tempo changes are not a good

indication of sectional division.

The difficulties in this piece include the wide registration at play. The range is from a0 to

b-flat7, and in each phase, there are many leaps included, creating an angular quality to the

melodic line. Slurs often accompany these leaps, requiring full use of the damper pedal. The

performer must also anticipate the wide variety of dynamic changes including many crescendos

and diminuendos.

Bibliography

Bailey, Bill. “The Piano Compositions of Ned Rorem: 1948–1954.” DMA document, Johns

Hopkins University, 1992.

Burge, David. Twentieth-Century Piano Music. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004.

Campbell, Lawrence. “Works for Solo Piano by Ned Rorem.” DMA document, Indiana

University, 1983.

Gillespie, John. Five Centuries of Keyboard Music. New York: Dover, 1965.

Hinson, Maurice. Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire. 3rd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University

Press, 2000.

Jerna, Erik Thomas Tawastst. “Finnish Piano Music since 1945.” PhD dissertation, New York

University, 1982.

Li, Matthew Ming. “Symmetrical Elements in the Piano Music of Einojuhani Rautavaara.” DMA

thesis, University of Toronto, 2018.

Teicher, Susan, “The Solo Works for Piano of Louise Talma.” DMA diss., The Peabody

Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, 1983.

Scores

Rautavaara, Einojuhani Etydit, Op.42. Los Angeles: Warner/Chappell Music, 1995.

Rorem, Ned. Eight Etudes for Piano. New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1977.

Talma, Louise. Six Etudes: For Piano. New York: Schirmer, 1962.