Studying Interpretation: Lieutenant Kije

Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite, which premiered in 1937, contains a standard excerpt for snare drum in it's first movement titled Kijé's Birth. Kijé presents the performer with a series of drags (two grace notes followed by the primary note) and ruffs (three grace notes followed by the primary note) embedded within a gentle march-like figure of eighth notes. The twelve bar passage is marked at 120 quarter notes per minute, and is marked pianissimo (very quiet). Note: we will only focus on the first twelve measures of the excerpt within this comparison.

The technical challenge of the excerpt is two-fold. First, the speed of the drags and ruffs must be similar. Many inexperienced performers will often "crush" the drag and not give proper defintion to each grace note. The second problem is that the excerpt requires a very gentle touch by the performer whom accompanies accompanies the piccolo and flute.

Let's take three outstanding recordings to study. The first two recordings showcase the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Hungarian conductor Fritz Reiner in 1957 and the Italian Claudio Abbado in 1978. The third recording is the Hungarian-born George Szell at the helm of the Cleveland Orchestra in a 1969 recording. Earlier I remarked that there are two major technical challenges of this excerpt. Let's see how each of the (unknown) performers meets those challenges.

Technical execution

Reiner/CSO - The performer uses a tight drum head (presumably on a medium-depth drum) with no noticeable muffing and plays most of the ruffs hand-to-hand (i.e. R-L-R-L). The last ruff sounds like it's played R-L-L-R. The volume levels do not noticably increase throughout the twelve measure passage, and the written accents are observed conservatively.

Abbado/CSO - The passage is played on a tight drum head with modest muffling and is started at a very low dynamic (so quiet, in fact, that I had to adjust the volume in order to hear the first measure!). We can observe a dynamic increase throughout measure 4 of the excerpt with a slight increase in tempo. Some unmarked accents are placed in measure seven, and all written accents are clearly executed. Measures 9-12 are played steadily in the same dynamic and balance well against the flute and piccolo.

Szell/Cleveland - The drum used in this recording sounds more like a deeper field drum; the snares are loose, the head is of medium-high tension, and there is ample muffling on the drum head. The tempo of this selection is the fastest of all three recordings, but is in steady tempo throughout the phrase. It's difficult to determine what ruffs are played hand-to-hand (R-L-R-L) and which are played R-L-L-R as the performer makes the differences indiscernable.

Style

What the Reiner and Szell recordings miss is a bit of sardonic attitude which the Abbado recording does have. Remember, even the name "Kijé" is based on a Russian pun which leads to a fictional character who must die due to his own success. Sarcasm aside, it's difficult to see the Abbado performer winning an orchestral audition with his/her interpretation, however. Instead I would venture to guess the Reiner/CSO recording would achieve a "pass" through an audition committee based on the selection of drum, head tension, muffling, and actual excecution. The Szell/Cleveland recording is a great interpretation and more "rudimental" in sound, and is a nice diversion from the usual way we hear the excerpt performed.

Thus concludes an extremely verbose commentary on twelve measures of music! Send me your commentary if you find any other interesting recordings of this work.

Philip Glass Movie

The Gene Siskel Film Center is hosting the Chicago premiere of Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts next week. Here's the details.

Chicago premiere!
GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS
2007, Scott Hicks, Australia/USA, 115 min.

“An informal and affectionate demystification of the artist.”--Gregory Kirschling, Entertainment Weekly

“With his self-deprecating demeanor and easy laugh, Glass is a congenial presence.”--Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

With a nod to one of the composer’s own scores, director Hicks (SHINE) divides this profile of Philip Glass into segments, each serving as a significant chapter in the personal life and career of this towering figure in contemporary avant-garde music. The film follows Glass through the year of preparation that culminates in the premiere of his opera Waiting for the Barbarians, and engages his musical collaborators, siblings, wife, ex-wife, Woody Allen, and longtime confidant, painter Chuck Close, in revealing interviews. The man himself blithely bakes vegetarian pizza and declares he has no secrets. HDCAM video. (BS)

More importantly, here are the times and dates.

June 20-26
Fri. and Mon.-Thu. at 6:00 pm and 8:15 pm;
Sat. at 3:15 pm, 5:30 pm, and 7:45 pm;
Sun. at 3:00 pm and 5:15 pm

2008 Grant Park Music Festival

The Grant Park Music Festival opens their 2008 season tonight. The schedule looks like a mash-up of the usual romantics coupled with a few interesting things, here and there. Throw in the usual, highly cliché Russian works, here and there, and you have a season. Let's throw sarcasm to the wind for a moment, however, and take note of the following:

Friday, August 8, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Valentina Lisitsa, Piano

Martinů: Memorial to Lidice
Grieg: Piano Concerto
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4, The "Inextinguishable"

Wow, there could be some saving grace this season with The Inextiguishable! See you there?

Opera that Every Child Should Know

Archive.org, a wealth of free information, has a great book called Opera that Every Child Should Know by Mary Schell Bacon. This book provides a quick, remedial overview of several popular operas for children and adults, both alike. Take a few moments and read through the foreward, you might get hooked!

Reflecting on Mahler 2

The University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra recently gave an end-of-season concert which featured Mahler's Resurrection symphony. I was fortunate enough to take part in these performances and had my maiden voyage on Timpani I (I've done Timpani II twice, in the past). For me, this part was a bit more fun than the second part. I made the following list of performance notes.

Movement I

• 4 mm before rehearsal #2: no accent on entrance.
• 3 mm before rehearsal #4: molto crescendo on "B-flat".
• 6 mm after rehearsal #5: tune low "G" to brass.
• 7 mm after rehearsal #5: let "G" ring.
• Pesante after rehearsal #5: sforzando on downbeat!
• Rehearsal #11: no crescendo on "C-sharp" roll.
• Rehearsal #15: molto fortissimo on "E-flat" entrance.
• 7mm after rehearsal #15: this is usually conducted in 3 beats to the bar. Beware.
• Rehearsal #18: ready both wood and felt mallets for next passage.
• 4 mm after rehearsal #19: switch to felt mallets quick.
• Rehearsal #20: use chamois or leather mallets.
• 2 mm before rehearsal #26: let "C" ring.
• 4 mm after rehearsal #26: slight sforzando on entrance of each roll (with timpani II).
• 7 mm after Nicht schleppen: diminuendo on each triplet figure.
• 2 mm before rehearsal #27: static pianissimo, do not crescendo or descrescendo.

Movement II

• Accurately differentiate before triplet and quadruplet figures.
• Use mutes in pianissimo figures if figure becomes muddy.
• 1 mm before rehearsal #11: poco crescendo

Movement III

• Relax the initial entrance and do not over-dampen the drums. Take care to not push into the drums too hard with your hands as this raises the pitch and creates an undesirable effect.
• 2 mm before rehearsal #36: entrance at mezzo-forte.
• Rehearsal #42: add "E" on downbeat.
• 4 mm after rehearsal #44: mezzo-piano...keep pulse set by timp II.
• 4 mm after rehearsal #46: tenuto downbeat "C".
• Rehearsal #51: use soft mallets....legato roll for Timp II solo.
• 5 mm before end of movement, let "C" ring for two measures.

Movement V

• Ready soft mallets for rehearsal #1; make quick change from wood to felt.
• 5 mm before rehearsal #1, think of this figure in 2/4 vs. 3/4 time.
• 6 mm after rehearsal #6: staccato.
• 5 mm before rehearsal #3: coordinate downbeat with timp II.
• Rehearsal #3, tune "F" and "C" to horn...quietly! Enter roll on "C" with oboe I.
• 2 mm before rehearsal #4: slight sforzando on half-note rolls.
• Rehearsal 7: COUNT!
• 10 mm before rehearsal #9: tenuto the fortissimo notes.
• Rehearsal #13: "G" down to "F" on top drum!
• 3 mm before rehearsal #14: no cresendo for 6 beats. Relax and do not overplay in the two rolled passages.
• 15 mm after rehearsal #15: play "stately" .. R-L-L sticking seems best.
• 2 mm before rehearsal #25: molto crescendo.
• Rehearsal #26: chamois mallets, accellerando. Work with the conductor closely here as you will help establish the new tempo.
• Rehearsal #27: go offstage for pauke in der Ferne.
• 7 mm after rehearsal #30 (in der Ferne): sforzando on beat 1.
• 1 mm before rehearsal #37: no crescendo into rehearsal #37.
• Rehearsal #38, tune "Gb" to timp II.
• 1 mm after rehearsal #42: soft mallet.
• 1 mm before rehearsal #43, play 8vb.
• Rehearsal #47: strong fortissimo accent on downbeat of 5 after rehearsal 47 (coordinate with cymbal).
• 6 mm before rehearsal #48, play "C", then "B" downbeats to double timp II.
• Rehearsal #48/8 mm before rehearsal #50: add low "Eb" on downbeat.
• Rehearsal #50: coordinate mallet selection with timp II.
• Rehearsal #51: make a nice, smooth roll here.
• 5 mm before end, timp II stops rolling...add low "Eb" in timp II?

Fellow timpanist Andrew Simco and myself had a wonderful time performing this piece together, and hopefully these notes help you in any future performances. If you'd like to hear recordings of our performances, visit this link on archive.org. Drop me a line if you have any feedback.