N/ A

AIO9

AARON COPLAND'S CONCERTO FOR CLARINET: A LECTURE RECITAL,

TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF MUSIC BY MOZART,

ROSSINI, SCHUMANN, BRAHMS, AND CONTEMPORARY

EUROPEAN AND NORTH AERICAN COMPOSERS

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State University ih Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

By

Bruce Bullock, M. M.

Denton, Texas

August, 1971
PLEASE NOTE:

Some Pages have indistinct

print. Filmed as received.

UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS
 t A Lecture
Bullock, Bruce, Aaron Copland 8 Concerto for Clarinet:;

Redital Together viWith Three Recitals of Usic by Mozart Rossini,

Composers.
Schumann, Brahms, and Contempotary European and North American

Doctor of Music Arts (Performance, Clarinet), August, 1971, 32 pp.

,
2 tables, bibliography, 12 titles.

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music

recital, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The repertoire

of these programs was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the

arising in works of
capability of the performer to deal with problems

varying types and of different historical periods.

The lecture recital, Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet, begins

with biographical information, followed by a discussion of various

that are
other works of the composer and of important stylistic traits

contained therein. After thus setting the Concerto in perspective to

of
other major works, an investigation is made into various aspects
to
form and style which make the Concerto atypical in some respects

the composer t total body of works. Particular emphasis is given to

which are related to

rhythmic and melodic characteristics of the piece

jazz and Latin-American popular music. The formal and stylistic ana-

lysis is followed by a discussion of problems involved in performing

the
the Concerto with a piano reduction of the orchestral part, and

lecture concludes with a survey of interpretative problems posed by

the work. At the conclusion of the lecture portion of the presentation,

the Concerto was performed.

 Tape recordings of all performances submitted as dissertation

requirements are on deposit in the North Texas State University

Library.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
INTRODUCTION0. .. ............ .....-- -..--.-.-.-.-. v

PERFORMANCE PROGRAM .... . ...........- .... vi

LIST OF TABLES FOR LECTURE RECITALx... ............-... x

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR LECTURE RECITAL . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

LECTURE RECITAL: AARON COPLAND'S CONCERTO FOR CLARINET

Biography of Aaron Copland. .... . ........... .1

Important Works of Copland and Their Stylistic Traits.4..... 4

Concerto for Clarinet............... . ............ 7

Analysis
Piano Reduction
Interpretation

Bibliography...............-.....-.....-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..31

iv
 INTRODUCTION

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music

recital, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The repertoire

of these programs was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the

capability of the performer to deal with. problems arising in works of

varying types and of different historical periods.

The lecture recital, Aaron Copland's Concerto 'for 'Clarinet, begins

with biographical information, followed by a discussion of various

other works of the composer and of important stylistic traits that are

contained therein. After thus setting the Concerto in perspective to

other major works, an investigation is made into various aspects of

form and style which make the Concerto atypical in some respects to

the composers total body of works. Particular emphasis is given to

rhythmic and melodic characteristics of the piece which are related to

jazz and Latin-American popular music. The formal and stylistic ana-

lysis is followed by a discussion of problems involved in performing

the Concerto with a piano reduction of the orchestral part, and the

lecture concludes with a survey of interpretative problems posed by

the work. At the conclusion of the lecture portion of the presentation,

the Concerto was performed.

V
 NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
presents

Cruce Cu/loch, Clarinetijt

in a recital of

Charnier %tluiic 7/idL Cltarinet

assisted by
CAROL FARRAR, flute
CAROL LYNN MIZELL, oboe
*LUIS MOURA CASTRO, piano
*KENNETH SCHANEWERK, violin
JERRY VOORHEES, bassoon

Monday, November 30, 1970 6:30 p.m. Recital Hall

PROGRAM
Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano ......................... Milhaud
Ouverture
Divertissement
Jeu
Introduction et Final
Suite for Violin and Clarinet ....................... William 0. Smith
Overture
Song
Dance
Burlesque
Finale
Sonatine for Flute and Clarinet........................Jean Cartan
Pastorale
Berceuse
Rondeau
INTERMISSION
Quartet for Woodwinds .............................. Arthur Berger
Allegro moderato
Andante
Allegro vivace e leggermente
Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano ....................... Bartdk
Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance)
Pihend (Relaxation)
Sebes (Fast Dance)
Presented in partialfulfillment of the requirements
for the degree Doctor of MusicalArts
*faculty, Texas Christian University

vi
 NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
presents

BRUCE BULLOCK
in a

Graduate Clarinet Recital

assisted by

Jean Mainous, Pianist

Tuesday, January 19, 1971 8:15 p.m. Recital Hall

PROGRAM

Concerto, K.V. 622 ...................................... Mozart

Allegro
Adagio
Rondo

INTERMISS ION

Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73 .................................. Schumann

Zart und mit Ausdruck
Lebhaft, leicht
Rasch und mit feurer

Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano ............................. Berg

Msssig
Sehr langsam
Sehr rasch
Langsam

Premiere Rhapsodie ..................................... Debussy

Presented in partialfulfillment of the requirements

for the degree
Doctor of Musical Arts

vii
 NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
presents

BRUCE BULLOCK
in a

GRADUATE CLARINET RECITAL

assisted by

Jean Mainous, Pianist

Monday, March 8, 1971 6:30 p.m. Recital Hall

PROGRAM

Dance Preludes ................................ W itold Lutoslawski

Allegro molto
Andantino
Allegro giocoso
Andante
Allegro molto

Sonata in Eb Major, op. 120, no. 2.......................... Brahms

Allegro amabile
Allegro appassionato
Andante con moto - Allegro

Five Pieces for Clarinet Alone......................William 0. Smith

Vigorous
Flowing
Rhythmic
Singing
Spirited

INTERMISSION

Le Tombeau de Ravel ............................. Arthur Benjamin

Valse - Caprices

Introduction, Theme and Variations ......................... Rossini

Presented in partialfulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree

Doctor of Musical Arts

Vill
 NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MUSIC

presents

BRUCE BULLOCK
in a

LECTURE RECITAL
assisted by

JEAN MAINOUS, Pianist

Thursday, June 10, 1971 8:15 p.m. MU 165

AARON COPLAND'S CONCERTO

FOR CLARINET

Presentedin partialfulfillment of the requirements

for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts

ix
 LIST OF TABLES FOR LECTURE RECITAL

Table Page

I. Overall Structure of Copland's Concerto

for Clarinet................ . ........... 10

II. Thematic Structure of Copland's Concerto

for Clarinet................ ... . . . ......... 11

x
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR LECTURE RECITAL

Figure
Page
1. Copland, Concerto for Clarinet'. ......... 15
2. Copland, Theme One, First Movement, Measures 1
through 8 - - - -0 0 - - - - -00.... 16
3. Theme Two, First Movement, Measures 25 through 29 17
4. Ostinato Figure, First Movement, Measures 1 and 2 17
5. Cadenza Motive. ... -,. .... ...... 18
6. Cadenza Motive....-.- ...-.-.-.-.-.-.- . .. 18
7. Cadenza Motive . ..........
........... 19
8. Theme A, Second Movement, Measures 158 through 162 19
9. Theme B, Second Movement, Measures 179 through 183 20
10. Theme C, Second Movement, Measures 187 through 189 20
11. Motives, Second Movement, Measures 125 and 243 21
12. Theme D, Second Movement, Measures 269 through 273 21

13. Cluster Chord, Second Movement, Measure 295 22

14. Theme E, Second Movement, Measures 297 through 300 22
15. Theme E (Rhumba Motive), Second Movement, Measures 308
through 310.....-........................ . .0 23
16. Charleston Ostinato, Second Movement, Measures 430
through 432...-.....-.................. 24
17. "Boogie-woogie" Ostinato, Second Movement,
Measures 441 and 442. ............. 25
18. Charleston Rhythm, Second Movement, Measures 490
through 492...-.--.-............. .... 25

xi
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS-Continued

Figure Page
19. Cluster Chords, Second Movement, Measure 501.. ....... 26
20. Qlissando, Second Movement, Measures 506 and 507.... . .... 26
21. First Movement, Measures 59 and 95.6,. ......... . ...... 27

22. Second Movement, Measures 324 and 326..................28

23. Second Movement, Measures 379 and 380.... . . . .... ...... 29

24. Second Movement, Measure 319.-...-.-.-........*..........30

xii
 AARON COPLAND' S CONCERTO FOR CLARINET

Biography of Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14,

1900. He began piano study at the age of fourteen, and at seventeen

he began the study of harmony with Rubin Goldmark, nephew of the

composer Carl Goldmark.

Describing these formative years in his book, Our New Music,

Copland says:

Some instinct seemed to lead me logically from Chopin's

waltzes to Haydn's sonatinas to Beethoven's sonatas to
Wagner's operas. And from there it was but a step to
Hugo Wolf's songs, to Debussy's preludes and to Scriabin's
piano poems. In retrospect it all seems surprisingly
orderly. As far as I can remember, no one ever told me
about "modern music." I apparently happened on it in the
natural course of my explorations. It was Goldmark, a
convinced conservative in musical matters, who first
actively discouraged this commerce with the "moderns."
That was enough to whet any young man's appetite.1

In the summer of 1921 Copland went to Fontainebleau, France, where

a music school for Americans was just being organized. From there he

went on to Paris for three years of private lessons in composition and

orchestration with Nadia Boulanger. Copland relates some of the

influences of these years in France as follows:

Much of the music that had been written during the dark
years of the war was now being heard for the first time.
Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartok, de Falla were all new to
me. And the younger generation was heard from also
-

Milhaud, Honegger, Auric, and the other noisy members of

1Aaron
Copland, Our New Music (New York, 1941), p. 215.
 2

the Group of Six. Works by many composers outside

France were performed too , Hindemith, Prokofieff,
Szy ~mowsky, alipiero, Kodaly. It was a rarely
stimulating atmosphere in which to carry on one's
studies.2

Before he returned to the United States in 1924, Copland was

commissioned by Nadia Boulanger to write a piece for her forthcoming

tour of the United States as organist. The result was the Symphony for

Organ and Orchestra, which Boulanger premiered on January 11, 1925, with

Walter Dairosch conducting the New York Symphony. One month later, the

work was performed by the Boston Symphony under Serge Koussevitsky.

Koussevitsky's interest in Copland's career began at this time, and

Moses Smith, in his book, Koussevitslky, says of this relationship:

Although it is dangerous to ascribe a composer's success-

ful development to a single set of external circumstances,
it is safe to say that no influence was more responsible
for Copland's present positin in America than
Koussevitsky's championship.

After opening a teaching studio in Manhattan in 1924 and failing

to attract a single pupil, Copland was sustained for the year by a

generous patroness who had been found through the good offices of a
4
mutual friend, the music-critic John Rosenfeld.

Copland was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1925 and 1926, and

in 1929 he won a prize of $5,000 for his Dance Symphony in a contest

sponsored by RCA Victor. Subsequently he won a Pulitzer Prize, awards

from the New York Music Critics Circle, and an Academy Award for film

2Ibid., pp. 219-220.

voses Smith, Koussevitsky (New York, 1947), p. 187.

4 Copland, op. cit., p. 225.
 3

music in The Heiress. Other honors include election as a member to

the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1954), an honorary doctorate

from Princeton University (1956), and the Presidential Medal of Honor

from President Johnson (1964). In observance of his seventieth birth-

day in November of 1970, he was honored by a televised New York

Philharmonic Young People's Concert devoted to his music. One of the

pieces performed was the Concerto for Clarinet, with Stanley Drucker

as soloist.

Copland has performed extensively as pianist and conductor. A tour

took him to the Soviet Union in 1960, where he conducted many of his own

works. From 1940 to 1965, he was head of the composition department at

the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, and during the summer of 1967

he was composer-in-residence at Dartmouth College's Congregation of the

Arts at Hopkins Center.

Copland has been instrumental in promoting the work of new American

composers through the organization of the Copland-Sessions Concerts in

New York, the American Festival of Contemporary Music at Saratoga Springs,

New York, and the American Composers Alliance. He has been Chairman of

the executive board of the League of Composers, and he has been affil-

iated with the Koussevitsky Music Foundation and the United States

section of the International Society for Contemporary Music. His many

books, magazine articles, and lectures have been most helpful to the

cause of American music.

 14

Important Works of Copland and Their Stylistic Traits

The first of Copland's works to attract wide-spread attention was

his Music for the Theatre, written in 1925 for a League of Composers

concert directed by Koussevitsky . In his book, Our New Music, the

composer describes the work as a symphonic treatment of the jazz idiom,

with the intent of producing a work which would "immediately be recog-

nized as American in character." 5

Copland goes on to say:

The jazz element in Music for the Theatre further

developed in my next work, a ConeOrto for piano and
orchestra, which. I played as soloist with the Boston
Symphony in Boston and New York. This proved to be the
last of my "experiments" with symphonic jazz. With the
Concerto I felt I had done all I could with the idiom,
considering its limited emotional scope. True, it was
an easy way to be American in musical terms, but all
American music could not possibly be confined to two
dominant jazz moods&; the "blues" and the snappy number.
The characteristic rhythmic element of jazz (or ewing,
to give it its new name), being independent of mood,
yet purely indigenous, will udoubtedly continue to be
used in serious native music.

In the music that came immediately after the Piano Concerto:

Dance Symphony (1929), Piano Variations (1930), Short Symphony (1933),

and Statements (1935), Copland skillfully employed advanced techniques

of harmony, counterpoint, and rhythm which were admired by the initiated

few who were advocates of modern music. But the general public did not

respond to his music. Copland says of the period:

5lbid., pp. 223-224.

6bid.,
p. 227. The above statement was made in 1941, seven years
before the completion of the Conderto for Clrinet, another jazz-
influenced work.
 5

During these years I began to feel an increasing

dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving
public and the living c0poser.. The old "special"
public of the modern music concerts had fallen away,
and the conventional concert public continued apathetic
or indifferent to anything but the established classics.
It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of
working in a vacuum. Moreover, an entirely new public
for music had grown up around the radio and phonograph.
It made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing
as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the
effort to see if I couldn't say what I had to say in
the simplest possible terms. 7

Copland now wrote functional music: music to be performed by

school children (the opera, The Second Hurricane and Outdoor Overture,

for orchestra); music for the movies (Of Mice 'and Men, Our Town, The

City, North Star, The Heiress, 'The 'Red Pony); music intended for the

theatre (Quiet City); and music for radio performance (Music for Radio).

Mexican popular tunes were adopted in El 'Salot Mexico, and folk melodies

of Cuba were employed in Danzon Cubano. American folk music was utilized
8
in the ballets Rodeo, Billy the Kid, and Appalahian Spring.

David Ewen, in his book, The World of 'Twentieth Century Music,

says:

Even in works like the Third Symphony and the opera, The
Tender Land, which made little or no attempt to absorb
materials from outside sources, the tendency towards
simplification is still present, and the influence of
American folk music is continually suggested in subtle
overtones of expression. 9

7 1bid., pp. 228-229.

Ewen, 'The 'World of Twentieth Century Music (Englewood Cliffs,

8 David
1968), p. 161.
91bid., p. 161.
 6

According to one of his biographers, Arthur Berger, Copland

sought in the years following the Third Symphony to consolidate his

most important achievements:

Even so unpretentious a work as the Clarinet Concerto of

1948 is deceptive in its simplicity. Written for Benny
Goodman, it invariably exploits the "hot" jazz improvisa-
tion for which that clarinetist is noted. But the very
episodes that evoke the sharp-edged, controlled, motoric
style of Goodman's brilliant old sextet are often the ones
recalling most strongly the stark, dissonant devices that
gave Copland the reputation for being an esoteric in the
early thirties.10

The song cycle, Twelve Poems 'of Emily Dickinson (1950), is another

effort to revive elements of the more "abstract" style of the late 1920's

and early 30's. Julia S ith says that the songs are "almost completely

homophonic in texture," and "The piano accompaniments are exceedingly

expressive, having captured the mood and introspective quality of the

poems."11 Arthur Berger says of the cycle:

Copland's purest melodic contours . . . are brought into

association with the vocal procedures that have become
pretty much the property of the advanced chromatic
schools in existence since Sch~nberg came on the scene.1 2

The next important work, Quartet for Piano and Strings (1950), is

also indebted to the twelve-tone techniques associated with Sch5nberg

and the Second Viennese School. The Emily Dickinson songs and the

Quartet were not Copland's first efforts with twelve-tone techniques,

however. He had experimented earlier with serial composition in his

Song for soprano and piano (1927) and Piano Variations (1930).13 Later

1 0Arthur Berger, Aaron Copland (New York, 1953), p. 81.

lJulia Smith, Aaion Copland (New York, 1955), p. 254.

1 2 Berger, op. cit., p. 83. 1 3 Ibid., p. 88.
 7

works employing serial techniques are; Piano Fantasy (1957), Connota-

tions, for orchestra (1962), and Iscape, for orchestra (1967).14

Other major works include the rather "abstract" Piano Sonata

(1941) and Sonata for Violin and Piano (1947). The latter work employs

melodic and rhythmic elements of folk song, although there are no

literal quotations from that idiom.15

A group of works which belong to the later period of "consolida-

tion" are described by Julia Smith as "patriotic works." They include:

Lincoln Portrait (1942), Fanfare forithe Commor Man (1942), and Preamble

for a Solemn Occasion (194 9 ).1 6

Arthur Berger, summarizing Copland's achievement, writes:

Whatever Copland has done has the recognizable virtues

of a genuinely creative artist. With the same limitations
peculiar to many composers of our time, he can accomplish
much more than most of the others. He is at last an American
that we may place unapologetically beside the recognized
creative figures of any other country. Viewed with respect
to the most representative, and perhaps the most successful
work of each period of his career, his contribution is its
own justification. . . . We are not obliged, therefore, to
credit Copland merely with what he has done to establish an
indigenous style, for his achievements go deeper.1 7

Concerto for Clarinet

The Concerto for Clarinet was commissioned by Benny Goodman in

1947. Copland finished the first movement of the work in Rio de Janiero

4Ewen,op. cit., pp. 171-175.

1 5Julia Smith, op. cit., pp. 230-235.

16Ibid., p. 224.

1 7 Arthur Berger, quoted in Ewen, op. cit., pp. 161-162.

 8

during that year, while on a South American tour sponsored by the

United States State Department. The work was completed at his home at

Sneden's Landing, Palisades, New York, in Orcoter of 1948. It is scored

for solo clarinet in B flat and string orchestra with harp and piano.

Analysis

Copland is quoted in the program notes of the Cincinnati Symphony

as follows:

The Concerto is cast in a two-movement form, played

without pause, and connected by E cadenza for the solo
instrument. The first movement is simple in structure,
based on the usual ABA song form. The general character
of this movement is lyric and expressive. The cadenza
that follows provides the soloist with a considerable
opportunity to demonstrate his prowess, at the same time
introducing fragments of the melodic material to be heard
in the second movement.
Some of this material represents an unconscious
fusion of elements obviously related to North and South
American popular music. (For example, a phrase from a
currently popular Brazilian tune, heard by the composer
in Rio, became embedded in the secondary material in F
major.)
The overall form of the final movement is that of a
free rondo, with several side issues developed at some 18
length. It ends with a fairly elaborate coda in C major.

A question may come to mind after reading the above statement. Why

are there only two movements? This formal scheme is certainly unusual

for a concerto. In a search for predecessors of this two-movement work,

Julia Smith relates it to the Sacred and Profane Dances of Debussy.19

Since the Concerto is obviously dance oriented, perhaps a connection

(a tenuous one) may be made with the paired dances of the Renaissance

18Joseph Sagmaster, Program Notes, Cincinnati Symphony, 1963-64

season, concert for December 6 and 7, 257.
1 9 Julia Smith, op. cit., p. 251.
 9

such as the pavane and galliard or the passamezzo and ~saltrello.

However, the Concerto pairs a slow dance in triple time (a slow waltz?)

with a fast, scherzo-like dance, basically in duple time. This is the

opposite arrangement from the paired dances of the Renaissance, where a

slow duple dance was followed by a faster dance in triple

meter. Also,
the Renaissance dances were often thematically related, which is not
the
case with the Concerto, and no formal or stylistic traits were found

within the movements of the Concerto that call to mind characteristics

of the paired dances. Despite the numerous qualifications that must

attend any connection between the two, both the Concerto and the
paired
Renaissance dances represent an attempt to construct a two-movement

form with dance characteristics, where variety is achieved through

contrasting meter and tempo.

A more valid approach to the question of form seems to lie in a

previously-cited quote from Copland regarding his resolve to turn

away
from the jazz idiom after his early jazz compositions, Music for the

Theatre and Concerto for Piano: . . . all American music could not
possibly be confined to two dominant jazz moods: the 'blues' and the
snappy number." (see p. 4.)

The two movements of the Concerto seem to be aptly described as a

"blues" (without "blue notes" such as flatted thirds and sixths used

melodically) followed by a "snappy number." The question then arises

as to why Copland returned to the jazz idiom when writing the Concerto

for Clarinet in 1948, seven years after making the above statement.

One likelihood is that in writing a composition for the "King of Swing,"

 10

a distinctly American phenomenon, he decided to return to a form and

an "American" style which was well-suited to Benny Goodman's best-known

style of playing, and with which Copland had successfully experimented

in the past.

He had written the jazz-oriented Concerto for Piano in 1926, and,

like the Concerto for Clarinet, it is cast in a two-movement form,

Slow-Fast, played without pause. Unlike the Concerto for Clarinet, the

movements are not connected by a cadenza (it appears instead near the

end of the second movement.) The orchestra called for in the Concerto

for Piano is very large: triple winds, a large group of percussion

instruments, and strings. By comparison, the chamber orchestra called

for in the Concerto for Clarinet (strings, harp and piano) is far simpler

(and indicative of the previously-noted trend toward simplification in

Copland's works since the early 1930's).

The following table provides a view of the Concerto for Clarinet

in regard to the largest dimensions of the work.

TABLE I

OVERALL STRUCTURE OF COPLAND'S CONCERTO FOR CLARINET

Movement Tempo and Meter Form Tonality

I (mm. 1-115) Slowly and A B A C

Expressively
9 (J= ca. 69)
Cadenza

II (m. 118-507) Rather fast Free Rondo Db - C

2( 120-126)
 11

Table II provides a more detailed view of the sectional divisions

within the two movements of the Concerto.

TABLE II

THEMATIC STRUCTURE OF COPLAND'S CONCERTO FOR CLARINET

Movement One

Theme Measure Key Tempo and

Meter

a 1-24 C Slowly and

(Theme 1) expressively 3
(.i= 69) 4
b 25-35 Bb-C 3
A (Theme 2) 4
a 35-50 C 3

b 51-60 Eb Somewhat 345

faster 444
c 61-72 d-F-D 45
(new 44
B material)

b 73-76 g Broader 45
44
(transition)

a 78-94 C Tempo 12 3
(.= 69) 4
b 95-104 Eb
/

K a 105-115 C

IL
 12

TABLE II--Continued

Movement TWo

Theme Measure Key - Tempo and

Meter

Introduction 120-145 Db Rather fast 2

(j= 120-126) 4

A 146-175 Db 2(4.. =j.*)

(4 4
B (transition) 176-186 E 3
4

C 187-222 D-d-C 4 = 4)

-
A 223-243 A-Gb-Db

A 244-251 Db

C 251-269 Db

D 269-296 Db Trifle faster

3
( .t=132)* 4

E 297-322 F Same Tempo 4

(,= 132) 4
Db-Cb ( ~= 132) 4
B 323-334' 4
(poco accel) 4
B (transition) 335-349 Db ( j = 144) 4

E 350-378 Eb-Bb-A (1 = 144)

D 379-429 A Ritmico 32
vigoroso 44

transition 430-440 Db

Coda 441-450 C Same Tempo

((*--j = 4 -)
_ _ _ _ _ _I
_ I-I _
 13

The rather bewildering complexity of the second movement as

analyzed in TABLE II is confirmed in part by a quote from Vincent

Persichetti, writing in Musidal Quarte2rly:

alternating tunes are employed in an effort to

interest the work in a rondo. However, the form goes
no further than that of a newsreel, misspliced with
retakes. . . . One wonders what has happened to the
composer' s ingenious ideas of form as found in a work
like the Sextet for Clarinet, Piano and Strings . . .

.
Many listeners feel his music deeply and deserve a
full account of the subject matter by way of develop-
ment, so that in larger works there can be real formal
growth.2 0

Tutti-solo distribution.--Much of the time when soloist and orches-

tra are playing simultaneously, neither can be said to have a subordinate

role. Instead, both parts either exchange motivic material through

sequential treatment, or they engage in a contrapuntal opposition of

ideas, often incorporating ostinatos in the orchestra. These traits,

along with the thin texture of the chamber orchestra and a general

linear concept as opposed to lengthy sections of alternating tutti and

solo and massive orchestral effects, evoke the Baroque concerto grosso

rather than the solo concerto of the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries.

Melodic and rhythmic characteristics.--One of the salient features

of Copland's melodic writing is the use of small formal elements which

are constantly reiterated and developed through shifting metrical

20 Vincent
Persichetti, "Copland Clarinet Concerto, " Musical
Quarterly, XXXVI, No. 2 (April, 1951), p. 262.
 14

accents, register changes, and the addition of new tones to the

motives which may gradually imply more complex harmonies as the

melody progresses. Ascending fourths and fifths, oftentimes ex-

panded to elevenths and twelfths, and descending thirds (or tenths)

are hallmarks of Copland' s melodic style.

Partly due to their motivic structure, Copland's melodies some-

times seem excessively fragmentary. He often emphasizes the choppy

melodic structure by lengthening note values at the end of the motive,

with resulting patterns such as (short, short, short, long; short,

short, short, long).

Harmonic charateristics.--Harmony in the Concerto for Clarinet

always has a definite tonal center, but it is basically non-functional.

The "coloristic" use of dissonance and fondness for ostinatos, coupled

with a repetitive melodic line and slow harmonic rhythm, make Copland's

indebtedness to French Impressionism very obvious. His penchant for

deleting "essential" chord tones (such as the third of a triad, so that

open fifths result), his use of sevenths, ninths, and elevenths as non-

harmonic tones as well as chord tones, the basically diatonic chord

structure with free borrowing from other modes, and open position of the

chord structure are all characteristic traits of Impressionism (and

incidentally, of much of the music of later composers such as Milhaud

and Stravinsky). Most of these stylistic characteristics can be found

in the first nineteen measures of the piece which appear as Figure 1 on

the following two pages.

 15

e~arInd(nc)
~~%&~el

nr
41L1 I

fino

J1

Pp r'
I I I I I t I

_____ ________________ (ri)

Ao * 4*
*00O

- i I - -- 0 A Wm . a .. . i I Ii Lr~p~__
n I I k

a I
I

I b4L LA J4 ~1
W
%,o
I
ou WO
0

Fig. 1-r-Copland, Concerto for Clarinet, First Movement, measures

one through nineteen (continued on next page).
 16

a. Ostinato bass

h. Motivic melody

c. Non-harmonic ninth appoggiatura (measure four)

d. Non-harmonic ninth upper neighboring tone (measure six)

e. Non-harmonic ninth and seventh. in changing-tone figure

(measure seven)

f. Harmonic ninth (measure eight)

g. "Open fifth" sonorities: 1-- G (B) D F (measure ten);

2-- D (F) A flat C flat (measure twelve)

h. "Borrowed" sonorities from other modes: 1-- sonority

built on flatted third scale step (measure eleven);
2-- on flatted sixth (measure twelve); 3-7 on flatted
seventh (measure fifteen); 4-- on flatted fifth
(measure sixteen)

Fig. l--Continued, List of characteristics found on preceding

page.

Movement One. --There are two themes in the first movement, and

they appear below as Figures 2 and 3.

Fig. 2--Theme One, first movement, measures one through eight

 17

A
4. AL
lk
iww aw --

Fig. 3--Theme Two, first movement, measures twenty-five through

twenty-nine.

After the clarinet' a statement of Theme One over an ostinato

accompaniment in C major, Theme Two enters at measure twenty-five.

There is a polytonal feeling between B flat major and C major at this

point, but the ostinato accompaniment figure maintains the primacy

of C major.

I I

I
t~1'~tm~t
3r 0

Fig. 4--Ostinato figure, first movement, measures one and two

Theme One returns at measure thirty-five. Then a slightly faster

section in E flat major follows at measure fifty-one, going quickly

through D minor, F major, D major, G minor, and finally leading back to

the original tempo, "Slowly and expressively," at measure seventy-six.

This, section, like the beginning, is in C major, but it is somewhat

shorter than the initial statement, and there is no literal repetition

 18

of that material. There is- a key change to E flat major, and at

measure 105 a transitional section in C major, based on Theme One,

brings us to the cadenza.

Cadenza.-The cadenza consists of arpeggios and scale figures,

some of which are heard in the final movement. The familiar motivic

style of melody is present here, with the end of motives usually punc-

tuated by a syncopation. Important motives from the cadenza are cited

below.

Fig. 5--Cadenza motive ECompare to Theme B in the second

movement ..
)

Fig. 6--Cadenza motive (Compare to Theme C in the second

movementt)
 19

Fig. 7-Cadenza motive (Compare to Theme E in the second

movement.)

Movement Two.-After a twenty-nine measure tutti that begins the

movement, the clarinet enters with Theme A in the typical motivic and

cumulative style of development which was described earlier. D flat

major is the principal key of the section.

Fig. 8--Theme A, second movement, measures 158 through 162

Theme B is derived from a motive found in the cadenza. It

appears briefly. in a transitional section characterized by a change

of meter (alla breve to ) and a polyrhythm (two beats against

three). The key is E major.
 20

Fig. 9--Theme B, second movement, measures 179 through 183

Theme C appears at measure 187, with a return to alla breve meter

and a key change to D major. The material of Theme C is derived from

the cadenza, and the syncopated motive is developed in the familiar

cumulative style. The keys of D minor and C major are passed through

as the section progresses.

Fig. 10--Theme C, second movement, measures 187 through 189

Theme A returns at measure 223, this time in A major. A modulation

to G flat major occurs at measure 228; and when the clarinet enters

eleven bars later, the key is the same as the initial entrance of

Theme A (TD flat major). A transitional section begins at measure 243.

It is developed from a secondary motive in the orchestral tutti at

the beginning of the movement.

 21

#00"N
AN i Too
4bz /'I- Ifthalb 1 4&
becomes mat

Fig. ll-n4Motives, second movement, measures 125 and 243. The

material is also reminiscent of Theme B CFig. 9).

Theme D appears at measure 269 in a faster section, where the

quarter note of the previous alla breve tempo equals the eighth note

in the faster tempo.

trfIe.fise
his, 416, bliss-
7
##am-
IN i IA I I F 1 1
IN I
J I
AM

4 3f 3f Sf
*00
"ta 0
si
IL 4"&,W-
9 ---
T I v . t
-

moo,

5 5 3
$

Fig. 12-,Theme D, second movement, measures 269 through 273

This material features biting dissonances and syncopations reinforced

with sfoizandi. It concludes with- the reiterated cluster chord

cited below.
 22

Noe-

Fig. L3-r--Cluster chord, second movement,

measure 295

The mood changes abruptly at this point, with a

modulation to
F major and the entrance of Theme E, the Brazilian
popular tune
which was mentioned earlier.

Fig. l 4 -- Theme E, second movement, measures

297 through 300

Note the eighth-note division of the bar into 3 plus 5 at measure

300. One of Copland's favorite devices, it
is a typical jazz
 23

rhythm. Later, this theme takes on a characteristic Rhumba

rhythm. 2 1

Fig. 15.Theme E (Rhumba motive), second movement, measures

308 through 310.

Theme B returns at measure 324, followed by a transitional

section based on the Rhumba motive from Theme E. The key is D flat

major and later (measure 335) C flat major.

There is a return to Theme E in E flat major, then in B--flat

major. Finally, both sections of Theme E alternate in the key of

A major.

Rhythmic material from Theme D appears at measure 379, with

the clarinet remaining silent for 33 measures. Syncopation,

sforzandi, and dissonant harmonies continue until measure 430,

where an ostinato figure with a typical Charleston rhythm is set

21Matyas Seiber describes the basic Rhumba rhythm as a division

of eight eighthnotes into a three-plus-three-plus-two pattern. The
meter is usually h[, with an eight-bar phrase or two phrases of four
bars, the second being a variation of the first. Matyas Seiber,
"Rhythmic Freedom in Jazz?," Music Review, VII, No. 2 (May, 1945), p. 94.
This particular phrase is eight bars in length, with a fourplus-
four motivic division which sub-divides into a two-plus-two-plus-two-,
plus-two pattern. An upbeat consisting of three eighth-notes is also
typical of the Rhumba.
 24

up in the orchestra.221Meanwhile, the clarinet counters with a

syncopated line of its. on, embroidered with rapidly-articulated

repeated notes.

k. I I jJ61
t %7416-
L 2

b
IV
lit
DM cm
-ff lb-mO :*

fW

Am

Oft
0 ",cm
7p v~ I
'it, 'p

Fig. 16--Charleston ostinato, second movement, measures 430

through 432.

A C major -stretto (or coda) section occurs at measure 441,

where a quarter note in the meter of the previous section becomes

equal to the half note in alla breve meter. A "boogie-woogie"

22 Seiber
cites the following rhythm as typical of the
Charleston: fZYYI7. Seiber "Rhythmic Freedom in Jazz?
_Usi__ReVew, VII, No. 1 (February, 1945), p. 39.
 25

ostinato is found in the orchestral bass as various thematic

fragments are interwoven above. 23

'p 7
.1.ff a ttow Ab
t/

stT0 fI

0
J3 A
WF
E)w

Fig. 17--"Boogie-woogie" ostinato, second movement, measures

441 and 442.

The tempo broadens at measure 481, and 10 bars later the

Charleston rhythm reappears.

'p ~-
f 4

ff(frfei)

Fig. 18--Charleston rhythm, second movement, measures 490

through 492.

23Although the typical

"boogie-woogie" ostinato consists of eight
eighth- notes to the bar and is a diatonic "walking-bass" figure, the
rather wide separation .between the upper and lower parts, the eighth-
note division of the upper line, and the strong rhythmic drive of the
bass are all characteristic of the "boogie-woogie" style.
 26.

Beginning at measure 501, there are 7 statements of a cluster

chord built on C.

Fig. 19---Cluster chord, second movement, measure 501

L).
A further broadening of the tempo follows, and the clarinet ends
( d. .....
the Concerto with a glissando covering two octaves and a major sixth.

Fig. 20-Ct-cGlissando, second movement, measures 506 and 507

Piano Reduction
The piano reduction of the orchestral part which will be used for

this performance was arranged by the composer and is published by

Womb-
 27

Boosey and Hawkes. It is perhaps inevitable that a piano reduction

is an adequate compromise at best. Arthur Berger, describing one of

the problems of this particular reduction, says:

. . . with all its readily assimilable exterior and the

unproblematic dance content . . . , the slow section,
like the jazzy part, has its subtleties too. These are
contained largely in the instrumentation which is con-
fined to strings, harp and piano. From a piano reduction
of this score one would never suspect the luminosity that
is imparted to the string sonority by the delicate edging
of figures in the harp.2

In addition to the loss of tone color that is inherent in any

piano reduction, this reduction contains many chord structures that

require the pianist to arpeggiate chord tones which ideally should

be struck together.

I II

Fig. 21--First movement, measures 59 and 95

24Berger op.-cit., p. 82.

 28

There is often a problem in conveying adequately the various

ideas in a contrapuntal texture. An example of the problem occurs

at measures 324 through 330, where the piano cannot cover the

important line that occupies the top stave.

/0000t I boom
A I fit
=Z
ft%
h 21 ''t AI N I-A

all
lox ld&
fw,
b
Z:L

IwOb A X v
4w
Dff

j
Fig. 22--Second movement, measures 324 through 326

In this performance, the top stave will be played by the clarinet

until the solo entrance with the same material at measure 331. There
are several other instances where material of this kind must be

deleted. One example appears below.

 29.

Isf NJ I rv,
I
VF

W7 V"Jfi
Opp-No

AIP

-4-

Fig. 23-Second movement, measures 379 and 380

Perhaps it is just as well, since the rapid repeated-notes of

this line are much more idiomatic for the violin than the piano. The

present example emphasizes another compromise that is often necessary;

the arranger must either delete or alter original material when he

adapts a composition from one medium to another.

Interpretation

In performing a composition such as the Concerto for Clarinet, one

must decide just how far to go in the direction of jazz interpretation.

It is important in this regard to remember that there are also Latin-

American idioms present here, as well as the stylistic traits which

are part of virtually all of Copland's music. Jazz idioms have been

borrowed and incorporated into a much more complex and sophisticated

musical structure. It would be as inappropriate to "swing" this piece

 30

from beginning to end as it would be to perform Stravinsky's L'Histoire

du Soldat in true rag-time style or to play Ravel's Tzigane in the

authentic manner of a Gypsy violinist.

The only stylistic adjustments that will be attempted in this

evening's clarinet performance are (1) a more blatant use of vibrato

than usual, and (2) a "jazz" interpretation of certain dotted-eighth

and sixteenth rhythms so that they sound as triplet eighths.

becomes

Fig. 24--Second Movement, measure 319

In addition, these dotted rhythms will be given a breath articu-

lation instead of the more "legitimate" and incisive articulation with

the tongue. Dotted rhythms in the piano reduction will be similarly

performed.
 BIBLIOERAPHY

Books
Berger, Arthur V., Aaro Copland, New York, Putnam, 1953.
Copland, Aaron, Our New usic, New York WhittleseyHouseMcGraw-
Hill Book Company Inc., i1se41r.
Ewen, David, World of eTwentieth'Century usic, Englewood Cliffs,
Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1968.

Smith, Julia, Aaron Copland, His Work and Contribution to

American
Music, New York, Dutton, 1955.
Smith, Moses, Koussevitsky, New York, Allen, Towne and
Heath, Inc.
1947.

Articles
Berger, Arthur V., "The Music of Aaron
Copland," Musical Quarterly,
XXXT, No. 4 (October, 1945), 420-447.
Goldman, Richard Franko, "The Copland Festival,"
Julliard Review,
VIII, No. 1 (Winter, 1960-61), 14.
Persichetti, Vincent, "Copland Clarinet Concerto," Musical
Quarterly,
XXXVII, No. 2 (April, 1951), 260-262.

Seiber, M'tyas, "Rhythmic Freedom in Jazz?," Music Review, VI,

No. 1
(February, 1945), 30-41, No. 2 (ay, 1945),7?9-94,
No. 3
(August,1945), 160-171.

Program Notes
Sagmaster, Joseph, Program Notes, Cincinnati Symphony,
1963-1964
season, concert for December 6 and 7, 255+.

31

MAW,-,
 32

.Music
Copland, Aaron, Concerto for 'Clarinet, Reduction for Clarinet and
Piano, London Boosey andiHawkes, 1950.

Idem, Concerto for Piano, full score, London, Boosey and Hawkes,
19520.