Motivic Development in Amy Beach's Variations on … · During the succeeding decades the Macedonian people clamored for independence, ... Of unknown origin, these tunes have passed

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Motivic Development in Amy Beach's Variations on Balkan Themes, op. 60 Author(s): E. Douglas Bomberger Source: American Music, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 326-347Published by: University of Illinois PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3051598Accessed: 07-07-2015 21:13 UTC

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E. DOUGLAS BOMBERGER

Motivic Development in Amy Beach's Variations on

Balkan Themes, op. 60

Amy Beach's Variations on Balkan Themes, op. 60, is her longest and most technically demanding work for solo piano.' This dynamic work, based on four Balkan folk themes, reflects a lifelong interest in the music of other cultures.2 The work has held the interest of both scholars and performers for years. It has been performed often, is available on record,3 and has been discussed at length in two doctoral dissertations.4

The work exists in four separate versions. It was originally written for solo piano, appearing in print in 1906. A note on the first page of the score reads, "Arrangement for Orchestra may be had in manuscript."' Thirty years after the publication of the original piano version a significantly shorter, revised edition for solo piano appeared (1936). A two-piano version, published in 1942, follows the form of the revised edition very closely, but breaks the work into two sets of variations, each of which starts with the first theme.6 This article will deal exclusively with the two versions for solo piano. Although the Da Capo reprint of Beach's piano music contains the original 1906 version of the Variations, the above-mentioned recordings and research have all used the revised edition, and it has been a tenet of Beach research for years that the shorter, revised version is preferable. I will argue in this article that, on the contrary, the 1906 version of the Variations is the

E. Douglas Bomberger holds an M.M. in piano performance from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Maryland. He recently spent a year in Germany with the support of a Deutscher Aka- demischer Austausch Dienst fellowship, conducting research on American music students in Germany between 1850 and 1900. A shorter version of this essay was presented at the ISAM Conference in Kansas City, Mo., Apr. 21- 23, 1989.

American Music Fall 1992 ? 1992 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois



Amy Beach's Variations on Balkan Themes 327

more satisfactory, and I will present stylistic and historical evidence in

support of this viewpoint.

Historical Background

Though Beach often used folksong in her works, there is no other work of hers that uses folksongs not associated with major North American cultural groups. Why, in 1904, did she become interested in Balkan folksong?

At the time the piece was written the Balkans were as much in the news as they are in the 1990s. For nearly 500 years, from 1396 until the middle of the nineteenth century, the entire Balkan peninsula had been under the control of the Ottoman Turks, who did their best to

supress the native cultures. When the various ethnic groups of the

region began struggling for independence in the nineteenth century, the only remnant of Bulgarian culture after centuries of domination was the Bulgarian language.' Early in the century there was a revival of interest in the native culture, culminating in uprisings in the 1870s. These uprisings were suppressed with such cruelty that the rest of

Europe was outraged.8 Through the intervention of Russia, Turkish armies were pushed out of Bulgaria. The Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, created the state of Bulgaria, part of which was completely autonomous and part of which was still under the influence of Turkey. A concession of this treaty was that Macedonia stayed completely under Turkish rule. During the succeeding decades the Macedonian people clamored for independence, while violence and anarchy increased. In 1903, the

year before the composition of Beach's Op. 60, a series of bombings led to harsh retaliation from the Turkish army, bringing the "Mace- donian question" to the forefront of international attention.'

Compositional History Beach's work, composed in 1904, was inspired by a visit from the

Reverend William W. Sleeper, a missionary to Bulgaria. Sleeper played Beach several Balkan melodies on the piano, and the composer was so intrigued that she used them as the basis for this set of variations.10

Beach first performed the variations in public on February 8, 1905.

They were published by Arthur P. Schmidt and Company the following year. Response to the premiere and subsequent performances was gen- erally favorable, although a number of reviewers found the work too

long. A critic for the Musical Courier wrote: "The composition is ex-

ceedingly long and not exceedingly interesting, except as regards tech- nical display and the theme itself, which is good.""

The four themes on which the work is based appear in their original



328 Bomberger

forms at various points in the set. The first theme, "O Maiko Moya,' opens the work. It consists of five phrases of four measures each, the last phrase being an almost literal repetition of the fourth. As Beach points out in the preface to the published edition, this theme is the only one employed in Variations I-V and VII. The second theme, "Stara Planina,"' appears as a prelude to Variation VI. The third theme, "Na- sadil ye Dadol' comes at the end of this long sixth variation. The final theme, identified in the preface as "a Macedonian appeal for help, made centuries ago to a neighboring country" (hereafter called "Ma- cedonia"), is introduced at the beginning of Variation VIII. Example 1 shows the four themes as Beach received them in a written copy from the Sleepers.12

Beach's preface gives background information on each song, and makes this general statement:

Of unknown origin, these tunes have passed from generation to generation of peasants who could neither read nor write music. They are to be heard everywhere in the vicinity of the mountains and neighboring villages; sung by the little peasant-girls as they dance, played by the shepherds on their pipes and fiddles, chanted by the soldiers at their bivouac fires, and loved by every one.13

She gives credit for the songs, and for information on their background, to the Reverend and Mrs. William W. Sleeper and Mrs. May Sleeper Ruggles, stating that the themes are part of the oral tradition of the Balkans.

Beach was entirely dependent on the Sleepers for her information about these themes. I made an extensive search for independent sources for these themes in anthologies of Balkan folksongs but was able to find only two of them.14 These independent sources indicate that the tunes were neither so ancient nor so rural as Beach was led to believe.

Versions of the second and fourth themes are recorded, not in a collection of rural folksongs, but rather in a collection of Bulgarian urban songs.'5 In this collection are two versions of the second theme, "Stara Planina," both very close to the one used by Beach. The text, of which Beach has one verse in her copy, evokes the memory of some of Bulgaria's great leaders of the period before the Turkish occupation of 1396, as seen through the perspective of the ancient mountains, or stara planina. Since this is a text invoking the distant past in symbolic rather than objective terms, it is difficult to date it precisely; still, its similarity in tone and text to the words of the fourth theme of the Variations suggests that its origin is roughly contemporary with that of this fourth theme.

As stated in Beach's preface, the Bulgarian version of the fourth theme is a Macedonian appeal for help-to Bulgaria. The text, of which




Example 1. Themes used in op. 60 (Fuller Public Library, Hillsborough, N.H., cited in liner notes to Northeastern NR 223-CD).

a. O Maiko Moya

T I I I I I I I I I TI

. ff lfitAAIIi s

" *" - H, &0 doi

b. Stara Planina

[I L

I \I I I l Il

* IT F ~ ~- - JpR~

[II~

•,• t. TIP -I ? 6 "w L--

c. Nasadil e Dado I IL-

1 1 i III"-ir7i

AN 0 do --O"Fi op - J,

I ti I I I-4- vA-

c. N.adl e2.d

.1 . . ...,.....,.... . .

... . . "

12. ' I,



330 Bomberger

Example 1. Continued

d. "Macedonia"

Moderato 3

Allegro

II

.. . . . . ,1 U, r !

AM- [6/ II I ~-~ff~F ~ lOd

Beach's manuscript again contains only the first of many verses found in the folksong anthology, describes the suffering of both countries at the hands of the Turks and begs for help from "my brother" in freeing the country from "slavery." The text therefore gives a clue to the date of origin. The "Macedonian appeal for help" likely dates from the period after 1878, when Bulgaria was free from Turkish rule and Ma- cedonia was not. Since this is the only time when such an appeal would have any relevance, the folksong must have originated then rather than "centuries ago" as stated in the preface to the edition. By the time the Sleepers heard the song it was part of the folk culture, and its date of origin was merely their guess.

Both "Stara Planina" and "Macedonia" have highly charged political overtones. In addition to being struck by the haunting beauty of the themes, Beach must have recognized their political ramifications, and the resulting work can therefore be viewed as a statement of sympathy with the Balkan people.

Thematic Development

During the latter half of the nineteenth century the strictures of the variation form were loosened somewhat from the symmetry of the earlier "character-variations." The freer, more rhapsodic kind of variation that developed is called "free variation" by Robert U. Nelson in




The Technique of Variation;'6 The New Grove, whose article on "variation" is indebted to Nelson, calls it "fantasia variations."17 In its less radical form, in works such as the Dvoriak Piano Variations, op. 36, and the Elgar Enigma Variations, it still bears a strong resemblance to the "character variation": in its most radical form, such as Strauss's Don Quixote, it can dispense even with the necessity of having each "variation" be based on the same theme. Beach's Variations on Balkan Themes belongs in this tradition of "free variations" or "fantasia variations." "Free" or "fantasia" variations are characterized by freedom from the metrical and harmonic restraints of the theme, frequent use of minor keys (in this they resemble character variations), long codas, and the use of motivic development or thematic transformation, all of which are present in this work.'8 The prevalence of motivic development is easy to understand: if the composer does not adhere to the metrical and harmonic structure of the theme, and does not repeat the melody verbatim in each variation, then development of the theme and its component motives becomes essential for the unity of the set.

What makes the Balkan Variations unusual is that the early variations are very close to the form and structure of the first theme, exactly like a set of character variations. As the piece progresses, however, the

composer moves gradually farther away from that original structure, especially with the introduction of the other three themes. As this

process develops, the role of the initial three-note motive of the first theme (ex. 2) takes on major significance as a unifying element, after the pattern of a set of free variations. Since only the early variations of this long work follow exactly the pattern of the first theme, the effect on the listener is that of a set of character variations being gradually "opened up" into a set of rhapsodic variations and thereby transcending the formal restraints of the theme.

As is often the case in Beach's compositions for piano, the harmonic

language is colorful and imaginative, featuring many added tones and

striking resolutions. Melodic and harmonic considerations are often intertwined, as suspensions, appoggiaturas, and passing tones alter the color and function of the chords. Marmaduke Miles's dissertation on Beach's piano works contains an excellent analysis of the harmonic

progressions in this work, with special reference to the important role

played by the mediant and submediant."9 The emphasis of the following analysis, however, will be primarily motivic, an approach that has been

largely neglected in previous analyses of the work.

Example 2. Initial three-note motive of "O Maiko Moya."

S Y2- --o1?

p.



332 Bomberger

The most common form of nondiatonic scale in Bulgarian folk music uses an augmented second, typically between degrees 2 and 3.20 This augmented second is a prominent feature of "O Maiko Moya," as seen in example la above. It is noteworthy, however, that Beach has har- monized "O Maiko Moya" in C-sharp minor, meaning that the augmented second lies between degrees 6 and 7 rather than between

degrees 2 and 3. As can be seen in example 3, this transforms the Bulgarian Scale into the harmonic form of C-sharp minor. The leading tone of B-sharp is not allowed to resolve to the expected C-sharp, however, creating a sense of melodic tension that will not be released until the end of the composition.

The interval of the augmented second figures prominently in the

opening motive of the second Balkan theme as well. Example 4 shows that the first three notes of "Stara Planina" are a transposed inversion of the first three notes of "O Maiko Moya." Beach uses the other elements of the four themes in various ways, but it is this three-note germinal motive which is developed most extensively, serving as the most noticeable unifying element of the work. Throughout the piece this motive and its variants are constantly present in melody, accompaniment, inner voices or harmonies. It serves to tie the various dis- parate parts together, in spite of the expansive nature of the later variations and the coda.

Figure 1 shows the large-scale structure of the piece. The flexibility with which the composer treats the basic framework of the theme means that the length of the piece is not determined by the number of variations. Free variation sets are often longer than is suggested by

Example 3. Op. 60, first theme, "O Maiko Moya," mm. 1-4.

Adagio malincolico ( J = 66) sempre cantando

Example 4. Opening motives of "O0 Maiko Moya" and "Stara Planina."

r-1-- ?- /21/2r

?-- - Y2




Figure 1. Formal design of op. 60

Adagio malincolico. ( J = 66) [Theme 1: C#m] 20 mm I. Pid mosso. ( J = 92) [C#m] 20 mm II. Maestoso. ( J = 104) [C#m] 20 mm III. Allegro ma non troppo. ( J = 76) [C#m] 40 mm (24 w/o rpts.) IV. Andante alla Barcarola. ( J = 100) [Bbm] 28 mm (20 w/o rpts.) V. Largo con molta espressione. ( J = 42) [Gb] 18 mm

Poco piui mosso. ( J = 52) [Ebm -4 Gb] 22 mm VI. Quasi fantasia. ( J = 60) [Theme 2: F#m] 18 mm

Allegro all' Ongarese. ( J = 108) [F#m -, Th. 3 (F#) -, F#m] 64 mm VII. Vivace. Valse lento (poco rubato). ( J = 100) [E] 3 + 61 mm VIII. Con vigore. ( J = 58) [Th. 4, A strain: G#m] 14mm

Lento calmato. ( J = 58) [Th. 4, B strain: G#m] 8 mm + 1 m rest Marcia funerale. ( J = 60) [Em] 66 mm + 1 m rest Cadenza. Grave. [C - E - F7] 7 mm

Quasi fantasia. [Bb -+ C#m6 -, B# dim7] 20 mm

Maestoso come Var. IIdo [A - E - G#7] 46 mm Adagio come prima. [recap of Th. 1: C#m] 27 mm

the number of variations they contain: Strauss's Don Quixote, with its ten variations, lasts approximately forty minutes. Beach's work is characteristic of the genre in that the variations get increasingly longer and more expansive as the set progresses. In the course of this development, the germinal motive takes on a variety of different guises. Example 5 shows several of these variants.

Like Dvorik's Symphonic Variations and Tchaikowsky's Piano Trio, op. 50, Beach's composition features several variations early in the set that follow the structure of the theme closely. The first two variations are structurally identical to the theme, Variation I featuring a canonic treatment of the opening phrase, and Variation II being a boldly virtuosic treatment of the harmonic progression. The third variation- whose beginning is cited in example 5c-is very close to the original form, but here Beach expands the structure through the use of repeats and the addition of a codetta. This variation ends with a C-sharp major chord, the Picardy third effect giving a sense of finality to this initial section and setting the stage for the expansion that will take place immediately after.

Variation IV is in B-flat minor, the relative key of the C-sharp major chord with which the previous variation has ended. The tempo mark-

ing, Andante alla Barcarola, is reinforced by the six-eight meter and

gently flowing accompaniment pattern, shown in example 5d. The second section begins in D minor (not the relative major as in the theme and first three variations) with resonant chords and embellishing scales. A significant feature of these scales is that the germinal motive becomes more prominent in each one. The first is D minor in its natural form, which uses no augmented second. The next is D minor in its



334 Bomberger

Example 5. Variant forms of the germinal motive.

a. Germinal motive

b. Var. II, mm. 1-2

Maestoso () = 104) 8 -

in..s

** C *. *

8--8-8--.

pp staccato

'tb. * . 9 *. con pedale

d. Var. IV, mm. 1-2

Andante alla Barcarola ( = 100)

kb.. Var. Ib, mm. 1-.

goo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nF "

(i '',•2, , " . I r ' . .. . '- • rrly y"•. . . -]- w--ui 79J-,-•t

[a i

6

! i

v

... ..k . . . I

IV " I,





e. Var. VI, mm. 12-18

[Quasi Fantasia ( 6 = 60)]

01 - I I I 4A

2 A I

.

dim. e rall.

.,

r-

" -

dolce

g. Marcia funerale, mm. 1-3

Marcia funerale ( = 60)

A1c"I"d

unacorda



336 Bomberger


h. Quasi fantasia, mm. 13-15 I

[Quasi Fantasia]

rit. Gra ve

r ---- 3 - - - -

harmonic form, in which the germinal motive appears once in every octave. The third is a composed scale featuring the germinal motive twice in every octave (ex. 6). The transition from D minor is a striking example of Beach's harmonic genius. She moves effortlessly through a D-flat augmented triad with an added seventh to G-flat minor, slipping then without transition to an F7 chord with the G-flat suspended, reinforcing the F7 with an augmented 6th chord, and finally back to B-flat major, which prepares the repeat of the B section in D minor. In the second ending of this section the F7 is resolved to B-flat minor, bringing back the original key of the A section. A short coda plays on the barcarolle theme and reinforces the home key.

The unusual fifth variation shows Beach's ability to create striking keyboard effects. The variation consists of two phrases for left hand alone, each one repeated with embellishing trills in the right hand (ex. 7). This variation is the first in a major key, and Beach adjusts the germinal motive accordingly, using a major third instead of an augmented second. The key of G-flat continues the pattern of descending thirds established in the first key change, bringing to mind Beethoven's Six Variations, op. 34, which uses a similar key scheme. Because the repeats are varied by the addition of the embellishing right-hand trills, the form

(A-A1-B-Bl-codetta) is a significant departure from the form

of the theme. The codetta serves as a modulatory bridge to the next variation, which opens with the second Balkan theme, "Stara Planina."

(Readers following this article with the revised version of opus 60 should remember that from this point on the variations are renumbered. Variation VI of the original version becomes Variations VI, VII, and VIII of the 1936 version, and later variations are renumbered accordingly. Figure 2 gives the correspondences between versions.)

Variation VI is a two-part variation preceded by a slow introduction. The introduction begins with a statement of the second Balkan theme, "Stara Planina," which in Beach's setting is riddled with the germinal




Example 6. Var. IV, mm. 9-11.

[Andante alla Barcarola ( = 100)] 8

f

6N-.,,6-, 13 , v

tie7 8.-

- - -.-

-,-

- -

-.

(8 ) .- - . . . .- r"; ri

8---------------

I ~ i8 -.-

- - - - - - - - -

--

- - -

(8) - - - -rr

, I i . .

* -lT-. *

11

S pm ..,t

i :T ll : _ .v " " "" it' 1 ...

*

motive (ex. 8). It ends with a four-measure trill on the motive's augmented second (see ex. 5e). The second section is a fast dance "Allegro all'Ongarese,"' which exploits the gypsy-music aspect of the germinal motive. This slow-fast form is the classic lassu-friss of the Hungarian Verbunkos,21 familiar to Beach (and to today's listeners) from the Liszt

Hungarian Rhapsodies. The fast dance is in turn divided into two sections, the first based on "O Maiko Moya" and the second the only appearance of the third Balkan theme, "Nasadil e Dado." The progression from the slow F-sharp minor "Stara Planina" through the F-

sharp minor Hungarian dance to the lively F-sharp major "Nasadil e



338 Bomberger

Example 7. Opening of Var. V.

Largo con molta espressione ( = 42) dolce cantabile

con mano sinistra

Slegatissimo

42 3 4 5*ab * ';

3 1

45E4

13

3

*do cissimo

W.. 6

-O * lb. * 'a'. * . * *.

Dado," of which the last two lines are marked "poco a poco pidi mosso," sounds very much like a Hungarian rhapsody in miniature.

To this point the structure of the variations has moved continually farther from that of the first theme. Variations I-III retain the form and sound of the original, much in the style of character variations. With this expectation established, Variation IV takes the B section into an unexpected key and adds substantial modulatory material and a short coda. Variation V alters the form, uses a remote major key, and modifies




Example 8. Variation VI, mm. 1-4.

Quasi Fantasia ( = 60)it.

it" sT TI I.T ll,

w M e1

the intervals of the germinal motive. Variation VI is actually a Hungarian dance based loosely on the original theme and framed by themes two and three. The only constant throughout these changes is the germinal motive, which occurs just often enough to remind the listener of its presence.

Variation VII, after its initial three-measure upbeat, is a slow waltz, exploring another implication of the germinal motive, and one that might otherwise have been problematic: its ability to generate Alt-Wien-

style altered chords (ex. 5f). The character of this variation is so radically different from the surrounding material that its easy style and decadent fin-de-si&cle connotations serve as a foil to the intensely emotional Variation VIII and the funeral march.

Variation VIII is actually the fourth theme, which Beach has expanded from the original vocal model. This theme, in the form in which Beach received it (ex. id), contains more vocal ornaments than the other Balkan themes. To these embellishments Beach adds sweeping arpeggios in the A section; this section is repeated after Beach's version of the B section of the original. Thus the vocal embellishments are sup- plemented with truly pianistic embellishments. In contrast to the breadth of expression in the A section, the B section is presented with austere

simplicity, with striking effect.

Though the Marcia funerale is not labeled as another variation, it is

closely linked with the melodic content of the first theme. As shown in example 5g, the rhythm and harmony are completely altered, but the distinctive augmented second reminds the listener of the germinal motive. This long and powerful funeral march occupies a central position in the emotional development of the work. In a similar manner to the third movement of Chopin's B-flat minor piano sonata, the section starts in the lower register of the piano with a slow, somber

melody, gradually building in volume and intensity to a thundering climax, and then returning to the mood and register of the beginning.



340 Bomberger

As in the Chopin, this progression is all the more powerful because of the slow, marchlike tempo which does not change as the volume and intensity increase. The march invokes two traditions dating back at least as far as the beginning of the nineteenth century: the funeral march for piano (Chopin; Beethoven, op. 26) and the passionate slow variation near the end of a variation set (Eroica Variations; Diabelli Variations).

To this point there has been a clear progression in the germinal motive's appearance. From a very prominent position in the main theme and first variation it has gradually assumed a less prominent role as it has been altered, developed, and transposed. Although it has been

present as a unifying element throughout the work, the motive has not been heard in its straightforward form for some time. The final coda-like section of the work, labelled "Cadenza," brings the motive back to the forefront of the listener's awareness, rounding out the development of the idea.

The use of a cadenza at this point has a definite formal and psy- chological purpose. As in a concerto, the cadenza creates the expectation of the return of the principal theme. Although it has the flavor of improvisation (harmonic instability, ostinato patterns, keyboard virtu- osity), the cadenza clearly does not wander. It moves forward inex- orably, introducing the germinal motive with increasing urgency until a return to the first theme becomes inevitable.

The cadenza begins with a brief reiteration of "Stara Planina," fol- lowed by arpeggiated chords used as a modulatory passage to the next large section, headed "Quasi fantasia'." It is at this point that the germinal motive appears pianissimo in the uppermost register of the piano over harp-like figuration in the mid-range (ex. 9). This ghostly entrance over an F dominant seventh harmony is especially striking because it is heard exactly in its original form. It is echoed in the tenor by a version of the germinal motive that is combined with measure 3 of "O Maiko Moya" to create a new variant of the original melody. It appears again in the fifth measure, this time with more urgency, and again with an extended echo in the tenor register. This section is unstable har- monically, employing a series of diminished and augmented chords as well as a rare example in Beach's output of a whole-tone scale in thirds.

The whole-tone scale leads to the bass register, where the germinal motive appears as an ostinato accompaniment figure, over which the melody of "Stara Planina" is introduced (ex. 5h). Through the sevenfold repetition of this ostinato Beach again builds to a high level of intensity, returning to the tempo maestoso of Variation II. Nearly a page of virtuosic octaves and harmonic instability lead to a dominant pedal over which the motive returns in the guise of the rising and falling




Example 9. "Quasi fantasia," mm. 1-2.

Quasi fantasia

6P6

? ZV

- - - - - - - - - -

melodic contour from the middle of "Stara Planina," already seen in

example 5e. The repetition of the germinal motive here verges on the obsessive, reinforcing the improvisatory nature of this section and high- lighting the germinal motive more clearly than anywhere else in the work (ex.10). This leads to a reiteration of the B strain of "Macedonia,"' embellished by trills and arpeggios, after which the transition between the slow and fast sections of Variation VI (ex. 5e) is reiterated in the tonic key to bring back a recapitulation of the first theme in the original key of C-sharp minor.

This recapitulation is similar to the original theme, but contains a reference to the counterpoint of the first variation and the contrapuntal addition of "Macedonia." It also conforms to Beach's practice of ending a composition in the minor mode with the Picardy third.22 Most im-

portant, the composer also inserts the germinal motive in augmentation in an inner voice, finally resolving the leading tone upward to tonic in the manner the listener has been expecting since the first measure of the composition (ex. 11). In Schenkerian terms this resolution might be considered the raison d'etre of the entire work.

Clearly the cadenza is important to the work as a whole. It makes clear reference to three of the four Balkan themes, thus strengthening the work's status as a set of variations on several Balkan themes rather



342 Bomberger

Example 10. Cadenza, mm. 56-60.

IF _f

nL

til ff I

furioso

ac OF ILM Ii I o

M

X4.0; f. x

,-10 ' ---L

'• . * ' . *; simile

than a set of variations on "O Maiko Moya" with an occasional bit of local color added. It recapitulates four of the variations, and reestab- lishes the key of C-sharp minor. More important, it brings to the forefront the germinal motive, the most recognizable element of the theme. The cadenza serves to tie the work together and provides a satisfying and logical conclusion to a-long composition.

The Revised Edition At various points in her career, Beach was criticized for the length

of this and other compositions. She undertook the revision of several works in later life, among them the Variations on Balkan Themes, a revised version of which was published in 1936, eight years before her death. Although the move away from long Romantic works to smaller pieces was characteristic both of Beach's artistic development and the spirit of the times, I believe that in this revision Beach discarded too much, and in fact eliminated material crucial to the thematic development of the Variations.

In the revised edition, outlined in Figure 2, one change is obvious: repeats have been eliminated. In some cases this makes no difference structurally, but it alters significantly the proportions of Variations IV and VII, the latter of which is Variation IX in the new numbering. The fourth theme- "Macedonia"--is considerably shortened, again alter- ing the proportions between sections and weakening the idea that this




Example 11. Coda, mm. 14-16.

[Adagio come prima] espressivo

~-N*

ot-ivel tesolves:

•,-• IM - h

Figure 2. Comparison of the original and revised versions of Variations on Balkan themes, op. 60.

Original Revision Theme I Theme I Variation I Variation I Variation II Variation II Variation III Variation III (repeats eliminated) Variation IV Variation IV (repeat eliminated) Variation V Variation V Variation VI (themes II & III) Variation VI (theme II)

Variation VII Variation VIII (theme III)

Variation VII Variation IX (repeat eliminated) Variation VIII (theme IV) Variation X (theme IV, shortened) Marcia funerale Variation XI Cadenza (deleted) Adagio come prima Final eight measures of original

is, after all, a set of variations on Balkan themes rather than on "O Maiko Moya:" The funeral march, otherwise identical to the original, is transposed from E minor to E-flat minor, perhaps in homage to the "flat key" tradition of funeral marches. After the funeral march the revised version is concluded by a transposed and slightly modified version of the last two lines of the original piece, which now ends in E-flat minor, without the Picardy third-a decidedly uncharacteristic

ending for a composition in C sharp minor by Beach. The revision, then, eliminates the entire cadenza: therefore the crux

of the motivic development that was so carefully prepared in the

original is now missing. The missing thematic material leaves one with a sense of unfinished business which is augmented by the odd effect of ending in a remote key. In the original version the cadenza is the



344 Bomberger

culminating point of the work, presenting the germinal motive in passionate utterance and in varied guises; in the revised ending the germinal motive appears only once, inconspicuous in an inner voice.23 The revised ending also eliminates the final reference to "Stara Planina," whose inversion of the germinal motive reinforces the notion that this piece has been a set of variations on "Balkan themes," not on a single Balkan theme with an occasional intruder. More important, the revised version omits the final invocation of the "Macedonian appeal for help" that gives the work its political reason for being.

These are the writer's opinions, but how did the composer feel? Why did Beach revise the Variations? Do her revisions show a dissatisfaction with the original? Did she, like Chopin and Ives, habitually make minor revisions in her works in the years after their publication? There are several reasons to believe that this was not the case, and that she may in fact have preferred the original even after the publication of the revised edition.

Like all of Beach's early works, op. 60 was published by the Arthur P. Schmidt Company of Boston.24 Schmidt was extremely generous in his support of American music, publishing many long and involved works in spite of the financial risk involved. Upon his death in 1921, Beach wrote: "In the cultivation and diffusion--in the creation, in- deed-of American music, he has been a great force, by his interest and encouragement as well as by his good judgment and keen criticism. He will be missed in many ways, but he will be long remembered for the fine work he has done."25

After the death of its founder, the Schmidt Company underwent some changes in policy. There was less interest in the risky financial ventures that had characterized the founder's work. Instead there were attempts to economize, and the company lost its reputation for bold support of new music.

The revision of the Balkan Variations occurred shortly after the revision of another popular Beach opus -the "Te Deum" from the Service in A. It appears from letters in the Library of Congress that these revisions were made at least in part to cut costs--an understandable desire in the middle of the Great Depression. On June 10, 1935 Beach wrote to Henry Austin of the Schmidt firm:

Dear Mr. Austin, Enclosed I send the corrected copy of the Te Deum. I saw few chances of actual change, tho I have made a few, but I have stricken out the middle voices in two or three more pages, which should reduce the size of the work considerably.26

This letter seems to suggest that the changes were made at Austin's request, but this is impossible to verify, as there is no written record




of such a request. Less than two months later, on August 2, Beach wrote again, citing a busy schedule and the unusually hot weather as the reasons for her recent lack of productivity. She concluded by writing: "Later I shall take up some work again and will give the Balkan Variations my attention after which they will be sent to you."27 The fact that she wrote a letter to apologize for the delay appears to indicate once again that she was working at Austin's request rather than on her own initiative.

The urgency of her work on these two pieces was due to copyright concerns. The original copyrights for the Te Deum and Balkan Variations were obtained by the Schmidt Company on December 30, 1905, and

July 20, 1906, respectively. Through an oversight by the company the

copyrights were not renewed before the 28-year deadline, in 1933 and 1934, leaving two of Beach's most popular works unprotected. By publishing revised editions of the works, the company was able to reassert copyright control. The copyright application for the revised edition of the Balkan Variations reads: "Application for copyright for

republished musical composition with new copyright matter."28 As shown above, the only newly composed elements in the revision are the last two lines of the piece and the end of the waltz variation. All of the other changes are either deletions or transpositions. Even so, the revised edition is different enough to qualify as "new matter" for the purpose of copyright. Although Schmidt had problems getting some of his plates from Leipzig after World War I, this was probably not the reason for this revision, since a comparison of the two editions makes it clear that the revision was done simply by modifying the original plates.

If further proof is needed of Beach's working method in preparing the revision, it can be found in a letter to Austin of April 8, 1936: "To return to the Balkans, can you lay your hands on a copy of the original version? I cut up the only [one] I had for what I sent you revised."29 She obviously still had a use for the original version, and it may be surmised that after making the revised edition with scissors and a pot of glue she continued to use the original for her own purposes. Because of the copyright evidence, it is reasonable to assume that the revision was made for financial rather than artistic reasons- if so, it was not the first or the last time in the history of music that a composition has been reworked for extra-musical reasons.

The circumstances surrounding Beach's hurried revision of the work

support the claim that the first version is preferable. The work is an

intriguing combination of the character and free variation types, with the early variations setting up the expectation of the former structure, and the later variations playing out their flights of fancy against this

strict background. It is clear that the opening motive of the first theme provides a primary means of unification, and thus in its original version,



346 Bomberger

the work can be heard as an organic whole growing naturally from one single idea. As such it is a fitting American companion piece to other European variation sets of the period which use motivic devel-

opment as a primary means of unification. The 1936 revision, on the other hand, is substantially weaker. Although there is still much beau- tiful music present, it lacks the logical development and satisfying conclusion of the original. In its 1906 version, Beach's Variations on Balkan Themes, op. 60, is a composition of beauty, drama and formal

logic. The 1936 revision has served its purpose in introducing a new generation of listeners to this major work, if only in a truncated version. It is time for us to acknowledge the Variations on Balkan Themes in its full and proper form.

NOTES

1. Amy Beach (1867-1944) published her work as Mrs. H. H. A. Beach. 2. For discussions of other aspects of Beach's use of folk material, see Adrienne Fried

Block, "Amy Beach's Music on Native American Themes;' American Music 8:2 (Summer 1990), 141-66; and Block, "Dvorfk, Beach, and American Music;' in A Celebration of American Music, ed. Richard Crawford (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1989), 256- 80.

3. Virginia Eskin has recorded the variations twice: Piano Music by Five Women Com-

posers (Musical Heritage Society MHS 4236), side 1, band 1; Amy Beach, Music for Piano (Northeastern NR 223-CD), track 6.

4. Myrna Garvey Eden, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Sculptor, and Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, Composer: A Comparative Study of Two Women Representatives of the American Cultivated Tradition in the Arts (Ph.D. diss., Syracuse University, 1977, UM 77-30, 784), 275-80. Marmaduke Sidney Miles, The Solo Piano Works of Mrs. H. H. A. Beach (D.M.A. diss., Peabody Conservatory of Music, 1985, UM 85-19, 731), 95-108.

5. The solo piano version of 1906 is reproduced in Amy Beach, Piano Music, ed. Sylvia Glickman (New York: Da Capo, 1982), 58-83. The manuscript score of the orchestral version is in the Fuller Public Library, Hillsborough, N.H.

6. The two-piano version was advertised on the cover of the 1936 revision, but the U.S. Copyright Office received only one copyright application for the two-piano version-on January 29, 1942.

7. Wesley M. Gewehr, The Rise of Nationalism in the Balkans, 1800-1930 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1931), 34.

8. A British commission estimated that in 1876 the Turks destroyed fifty-nine villages and massacred 12,000 men, women, and children (Gewehr, Nationalism, 36).

9. Gewehr, Nationalism, 81. 10. Arthur Wilson, "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach: A Conversation on Musical Conditions in

America," The Musician 17:1 (January 1912), 12. 11. "Mrs. Beach Plays Original Work," Musical Courier (Feb. 12, 1907), 17. This review

is an early indication that, although the work is based on four separate themes, the first theme is used so extensively as to overshadow the others.

12. These themes, currently in the Fuller Public Library, Hillsborough, N.H., are reproduced in Block's liner notes for the Northeastern recording cited in note 3. The circumstances surrounding Beach's first hearing of the themes and her subsequent com-




position of the variation set while waiting for the written version are described fully in Wilson, Musical Conditions, 12.

13. Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, Variations on Balkan Themes, op. 60 (Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt, 1906), 2.

14. Bulgarian ethnomusicologists have prepared numerous anthologies of Balkan folk tunes. These provide ready access to tens of thousands of melodies and texts. Among the works I consulted for this article were: Vasil Stoin, comp., Narodni pesni ot Timok do Vita [Folksongs from the Timok River to the Vita] (Sofia, 1928); Angel Bukureshtliev, Vasil Stoin, and Raina Katsarova, comps., Rodopski narodni pesni [Rhodope folksongs] (Sofia, 1934); Nikolai Kaufman, comp., Bulgarski gradski pesni [Bulgarian urban songs] (Sofia, 1968). In addition to these anthologies, the following studies were particularly helpful: Boris Kremenliev, Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music (Berkeley: University of Cal- ifornia Press, 1952); Birthe Traerup, East Macedonian Folk Songs (Copenhagen: Akademisk

Forlag, 1970); Stoian Dzhudzhev, Bulgarska narodna muzika [Bulgarian folk music], 2 vols. (Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo, 1970).

15. Kaufman, Bulgarski gradski pesni, no. 31: "Makedoneu Zhalno Pee"; nos. 38 and 38a: "Stara Planina"

16. Robert U. Nelson, The Technique of Variation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1948), 112.

17. Kurt von Fischer, "Variations," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20 vols., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1980), vol. 19, 551-52.

18. Nelson, Technique, 112-20. Nelson points out that motivic development and thematic transformation are very close, and often the distinction is not clear. Since Beach focuses primarily on a three-note motive, this article will use the former term, with the

understanding that the latter is also applicable in places. 19. Miles, Solo Works, 95-108. 20. Nikolai Kaufman, "Bulgaria: Folk Music;' New Grove Dictionary, vol. 3, 432. 21. See John S. Weissmann, "Verbunkos," New Grove Dictionary, vol. 19, 629-30. 22. Lindsey E. Merrill states that only two works in Beach's entire output end on a

minor triad: "Arctic Night" from Eskimos, op. 64 no. 1, and "Anita" from Three Songs, op. 41 no. 1. To these can be added one further example: A Cradle Song of the Lonely Mother, op. 108. Lindsey E. Merrill, "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach: Her Life and Music" (Ph.D. diss., University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1963), 18.

23. Even while arguing in favor of the revised edition, Miles is forced to note the

incongruity of this ending. 24. Beach's works were published exclusively by Schmidt until 1914, the year of her

return from an extended tour of Europe. From then until 1922 none of her new com-

positions was published by Schmidt. In subsequent years a number of her publications were again handled by the Schmidt Company. For a thorough discussion of her relations with the company, see Adrienne Fried Block, "Arthur P. Schmidt, Music Publisher and

Champion of American Women Composers," in The Musical Woman: An International

Perspective (New York: Greenwood Press) vol. 2 (1984-85), 145-76. 25. Letter to the Arthur P. Schmidt Company, May 9, 1921, Schmidt Collection, Library

of Congress, Music Division. 26. Letter to Henry Austin, June 10, 1935, Schmidt Collection. 27. Letter to Henry Austin, Aug. 2, 1935, Schmidt Collection. 28. United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress. Schmidt's printed copies of

the revised edition state that the copyright was assigned to Beach in 1934. The Copyright Office has no record of this transaction, however, and the work passed into the public domain when its copyright was not renewed in July 1934.

29. Letter to Henry Austin, Apr. 8, 1936, Schmidt Collection.



Documents

Motivic Development in Amy Beach's Variations on … · During the succeeding decades the Macedonian people clamored for independence, ... Of unknown origin, these tunes have passed