UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 26 December 2007

I, Shu-Ting Yang, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of:

Doctor of Musical Arts

in:

Piano Performance

It is entitled: Salute to Bach:

Modern Treatments of Bach-Inspired Elements in

Luigi Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale

di Annalibera and Heitor Villa-Lobos’

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

This work and its defense approved by:

Chair: __Jeongwon_Joe,_Ph.D.__________ __Eugene_Pridonoff,_M.M._______ __Elizabeth_Pridonoff,_M.M.____

Salute to Bach: Modern Treatments of Bach-Inspired Elements in

Luigi Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

A doctoral document submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Keyboard Division of the College-Conservatory of Music

by

Shu-Ting Yang

16 November 2007

B.M., National Taiwan Normal University, 1999 M.M., Indiana University, 2002 P.D., Indiana University, 2003

Project Advisor: Jeongwon Joe, Ph.D.

Abstract

Being two of a few Bach-inspired masterpieces in the twentieth-century keyboard

repertoires, Luigi Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera and Heitor Villa-Lobos’

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 contain the application of modern treatments on long lasting

traditional subjects: the Baroque music style and the B-A-C-H motif. In this document, I discuss

both composers’ multi-style blend (neo-Baroque/Serialism for Dallapiccola and

neo-Baroque/Nationalism for Villa-Lobos) side by side through a close examination of their

biographical background and stages of evolution, followed by a theoretical analysis of these two

representative works. Dallapiccola’s mature dodecaphonic technique, along with the usage of

symbolism and canonic writing are perfectly fused in Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, as the title suggests, shows Villa-Lobos’ ingenious combination of

Brazilian folk materials with a Baroque-like style. Finally, I compare the orchestral versions and

piano versions in terms of the treatment of Bach-inspired elements through the orchestration.

iii

Copyright © 2008 by Shu-Ting Yang All rights reserved

iv

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have helped me to complete this

document: to my piano professors, Elizabeth and Euguene Pridonoff, whose musicianship in

piano performance and passion in piano education have been and will be the model in my

musical journey; and to my advisor, Dr. Jeongwon Joe, whose profound musical knowledge and

insightful guidance make it possible for me to complete this document.

Special thanks to my parents, their selfless love and support have always given me

strength to pursue my goals. To my husband, whose companionship and assistance in computer

technology have made the writing process a pleasant experience. To my daughter, whose arrival

has been the biggest motivation for completing this document.

v

Table of Contents

List of Tables 2 List of Musical Examples 3 Chapter 1. Introduction: Neo-Baroque as A New Twentieth-Century Musical Stream:

Bach-Inspired Elements in Modern Music 6 Chapter 2. Luigi Dallapiccola and His Musical Style

A. Biographical background 10 B. Stages of tonal transformation and connections with the serialist method 13 C. Piano output 15

Chapter 3. Modern Treatments in Bach-Inspired Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera

A. Compositional background 17 B. Homage to Bach 17 C. Modern treatments: serial methods 18 D. Analysis of each movement 20

Chapter 4. Heitor Villa-Lobos and His Musical Style A. Biographical background 47 B. Stages of evolution and connections with folk materials 50 C. Piano output 51

Chapter 5. Modern treatments in Bach-inspired Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

A. Homage to Bach 54 B. Compositional background 55 C. Modern treatments: neo-classic method and nationalism 56

D. Analysis of each movement 57 Chapter 6. Comparison Between the Piano Originals and the Orchestrated Versions A. Dallapiccola: Variazioni per orchestra 78 B. Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 83 Chapter 7. Conclusion: Contributions of these Two Pieces Through

Modern treatments of Bach-Inspired Elements 93 Bibliography 95

List of Tables Table 3.1. Matrix of the row of Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 19 Table 3.2. Diagram of the B-A-C-H motif in “Accenti” from

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 25 Table 3.3. Diagram of the canonic relationship of “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno

Musicale di Annalibera 27 Table 3.4. Diagram of the B-A-C-H tetrachord in “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno

Musicale di Annalibera 28 Table 3.5. Organization of the rows in “Contrapunctus secundus” from

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 30 Table 3.6. The hidden tetrachords in “Contrapunctus secundus” from

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 32 Table 3.7. Relationship of the rows in “Fregi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 34 Table 3.8. Presentation of the rows in “Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius” from

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 36 Table 3.9. Detail formal diagram of “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 38 Table 3.10. Usage of the rows in “Colore” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 42 Table 3.11. Structural analysis of “Ombre” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 44 Table 3.12. Structural analysis of “Quartina” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 45 Table 5.1. Analysis of phrasing in section A of “Preludio” from

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 60 Table 5.2. Diagram of section B in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 66

2

List of Musical Examples Example 3.1. Innovative linear-styled chordal analysis of the B-A-C-H motif in “Simbolo”

from Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 2-5 21 Example 3.2. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-5 22 Example 3.3. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 9-16,

for the relax-tense phrasing and the slow-fast harmonic rhythm 23 Example 3.4. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 17-20 23 Example 3.5. “Accenti” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-4 25 Example 3.6. “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-4 27 Example 3.7. “Linee” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-2 and mm. 6-7 29 Example 3.8. “Contrapunctus secundus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera,

mm. 1-3 31 Example 3.9. “Contrapunctus secundus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera,

mm. 5-6 31 Example 3.10. “Fregi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 35 Example 3.11. “Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius” from

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-5 36 Example 3.12. “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera mm. 1-9 38 Example 3.13. Sectional examples of “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 39 Example 3.14. “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera mm. 41-44 40 Example 3.15. “Colore” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera,

mm. 1-3 (with circled notes) 41

Example 3.16. Section A and B of “Ombre” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-3 and 8-9 43

Example 5.1. The arpeggio motive in “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No.4 58 Example 5.2. The royal theme from Bach’s Musical Offering 58

3

Example 5.3. The arpeggio figures from Bach’s Toccata from Partita in E minor, BWV 830 59

Example 5.4. Application of the passacaglia melody in section A of “Preludio”

from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 59 Example 5.5. “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 23-27 61 Example 5.6. “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 28-32 62 Example 5.7. “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 1-16 63 Example 5.8. “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 17-22 64 Example 5.9. Circle of fifths in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4,

mm. 33-43 66 Example 5.10. Modern notation in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4,

mm. 71-73 67 Example 5.11. Folk tune “Ó mana deix’eu ir” from Northeastern Brazil 68 Example 5.12. Introduction of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4,

mm. 1-6 69 Example 5.13. Section A Part I of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4,

mm. 7-22 70 Example 5.14. Section A Part II of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4,

mm. 23-30 70

Example 5.15. Section B of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 38-48 71

Example 5.16. Left-hand melody in Section B of “Aria” from

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 68-74 72 Example 5.17. “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 12-25 75 Example 5.18. The “Black key versus White Key” technique used in “Dansa”

from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 66-72 75 Example 5.19. The “Sharp versus Flat” technique used in “Dansa” from

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 89-97 76

Example 5.20. “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 120-134 76

4

Example 6.1. The 1st movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 21-23 79 Example 6.2. The 3rd movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-4 80 Example 6.3. The 7th movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-6 81 Example 6.4. The 9th movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-6 82 Example 6.5. First page of “Preludio” from the orchestral

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 84 Example 6.6. Canonic writing in section B of “Preludio” from the orchestral Bachianas

Brasileiras No. 4 85 Example 6.7. Cello section in the recapitulation of “Preludio” from the orchestral

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 85 Example 6.8. Rehearsal nos. 1 and 2 of “Choral” from the orchestral

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 86 Example 6.9. Rehearsal no. 7 for the continuity of the B-flat notes in “Choral” from

the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 87 Example 6.10. Rehearsal no. 3 for the extra melody in flue and oboe sections

of the “Aria” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 88 Example 6.11. Rehearsal no. 5 for the extra sixteenth-note figure in the bassoon section

of “Aria” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 88

Example 6.12. Opening of “Danza” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 90 Example 6.13. Clarinet line after rehearsal no. 2 of “Danza” from

the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 91 Example 6.14. Extra canon found in rehearsal no. 5 of “Danza” from the orchestral

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 92

5

6

Chapter 1. Introduction

Neo-Baroque as A New Twentieth-Century Musical Stream:

Bach-Inspired Elements in Modern Music

In the history of Western music, fundamental stylistic shifts have occurred several times, yet

these never happened all at once. Although they may appear as revolutionary movements to

previous generations, most of the stylistic shifts have their roots in the past. At the turn of the

twentieth century, the collapse of tonality appeared as a reaction to over-developed chromaticism

during the late nineteenth-century Romantic period. The rise of nonfunctional harmony, atonality

and later twelve-tone theory, the requirement of national identity, and the involvement of new

technology brought about a huge diversity in musical styles throughout the twentieth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, Nationalism, Neoclassicism, and Serialism stood

out as the main streams. Nationalism in music continued as the result of national identity. Folk

music continued to catch composers’ attention while searching for new compositional materials.

Neoclassicism, as a counter to Modernism and Expressionism, encouraged composers to look

back to antecedents in the Baroque and Classic periods. Serialism was considered the alternative

to the tonal system for future generations by the Second Viennese composers. As these styles

existed side by side, the integration of multiple styles often occurs. Composers such as Bartók

and Heitor Villa-Lobos, on the one hand, incorporated Neoclassicism in their Nationalistic style.

On the other hand, Schoenberg and Luigi Dallapiccola, synthesized Neoclassicism with their

Serialist method.

The term “neo-Baroque,” derived from Neoclassicism, is used specifically with artistic

creations which display important aspects of Baroque style. Johann Sebastian Bach, the leading

7

representative of the Baroque, has been an inspirational source for modern composers. Both his

musical style and his name itself, the famous B-A-C-H motif, have received modern treatments

throughout music history. A published catalogue for the 1985 exhibition “300 Jahre Johann

Sebastian Bach” gives us a comprehensive study about works related to Bach and the B-A-C-H

motif.1 This list contains more than four hundred works by at least three hundred composers,

from the earliest piece composed by Jan Pieterszoon Sweekinck in the seventeenth century

(obviously not after J. S. Bach) to the most recent piece Fantasy on B-A-C-H für Kalvier (1985)

written by Jack Behrens. J. S. Bach himself also played with his own last name as the third

subject in the last fugue of his Art of Fugue. Later composers, including J. S. Bach’s sons, C. P. E.

Bach and J. C. Bach, and later generations such as Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Liszt, Robert

Schumann, Brahms, Busoni, and Leopold Godowsky, followed J. S. Bach’s contrapuntal

procedures and featured the B-A-C-H motif in their fugal writings. As for modern treatments of

Bach-inspired elements, Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra, Webern’s String Quartet, and

Penderecki’s St Luke Passion are noted examples. But one might notice that only a few

well-known twentieth-century composers, such as Arthur Honegger, Vincent d’Indy, Charles Ives,

and Francis Poulenc, used Bach-inspired elements in modern keyboard works compared to

previous generations.

From these limited works, Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera and

Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No.4 offer a valuable comparison of their modern treatments

of Bach-inspired elements in piano repertoire: the multi-styled blend of neo-Baroque/Serilaism

(in Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera) and neo-Baroque/Nationalism (in Bachianas Brasileiras

No.4). Furthermore, some surprising coincidences between both composers’ lives and these two

1 Ulrich Prinz, 300 Jahre Johann Sebastian Bach: sein Werk in Hs. u. Dokumenten, Musikinstrumente

seiner Zeit, seine Zeitgenossen (Stuttgart, Tutzing: Schneider, 1985).

8

works also triggered my intension to examine beyond their synthesis of styles.

While only a few writers have previously discussed either of these two pieces in any

detail, none have yet compared these works side by side. Most of the scholars who discussed the

pieces I will analyze in my document have different focuses. Raymond Fearn and Eero Tarasti’s

books broadly cover each composer’s lives and individual works,2 yet none of them offer

insightful analysis of those specific pieces I have chosen. Sue Burnett Petito’s Ph.D. dissertation

focuses on performance practices in five of Dallapiccola’s piano works (in different ensembles,

not just for solo piano), while Roberta Rust’s DMA dissertation is devoted to the general

structural/stylistic evaluation of Villa-Lobos’ middle period and the comparative study of

recorded performances, also focusing on the performing aspects of the pieces.3

Dallapiccola’s unique dodecaphonic system has been exposed to the theoretical

microscope by numerous scholars. Discussion about individual movements, such as ”Simbolo”

and “Ritmi,” or the whole set of Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, can be found in David Lewin,

Scott Norris, Armand Guy Qualliotine, and John Stephen Boccheri’s writings.4 However, the

pure analysis of Dallapiccola’s dodecaphony will fall outside the scope of my document.

In the following chapters of my document, I will first focus on the similarities and

2 Raymond Fearn, The Music of Luigi Dallapiccola (Eastman Studies in Music. Rochester, N.Y.:

University of Rochester Press, 2003); and Eero Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Life and Works, 1887-1959 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1995).

3 Sue Burnett Petito, “The Piano Works of Luigi Dallapiccola (1904–1975): An Analysis for Performance.”

(Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1989); and Roberta Rust, “Piano Works from Hietor Villa-Lobos’ Middle Period: A Study of Chôros No. 5, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, and Ciclo Brasileiro.” (D.M.A. diss., University of Miami, 1991).

4 David Lewin, Musical Forum and Transformation: Four Analytical Essays (New Haven, Conn.: Yale

University Press, 1993); Scott Norris, “An Analysis of Luigi Dallapiccola’s Simbolo and 17 Times for String Quartet.”(Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1997); Armand Guy Qualliotine, “Extended Set Procedures in Two Compositions of Luigi Dallapiccola.” (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1986); and John Stephen Boccheri, “An Approach to Twelve-tone Music: Articulation of Serial Pitch Units in Piano Works of Schoenberg, Webern, Krenek, Dallapiccola, and Rochberg.” (Ph.D. diss., University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1975).

9

differences of both composers’ lives, backgrounds, styles, and works. Although they are close

contemporaries, the Italian Dallapiccola and the Brazilian Villa-Lobos achieved their

international recognition through different media. None of them received thorough and complete

formal musical training, yet both of them were influenced by European composers from France

and Austria, and were able to discover their own personal paths. Secondly, I will discuss

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 individually and explore how

Dallapiccola and Villa-Lobos fused their personal backgrounds with Bach-inspired elements,

followed by the analysis of the orchestral versions of both works. Coincidentally, both

composers wrote an orchestral version several years after completing the piano version. The

analysis of each composer’s method of orchestration and also the comparison of the original

piano pieces with their orchestral versions in terms of the treatment of Bach-inspired elements

will be included in my discussion.

10

Chapter 2. Luigi Dallapiccola and His Musical Style

Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975), with a mixture of conservative and progressive in his

compositional style, possessed a settled position in twentieth-century Italian music history. His

musical style changed as he struggled to search for the right way to express himself. His

transition to freedom from tonality transformed from early stages of diatonic and modal-tonal, to

chromatic, and then finally arrived at a serial method. Being fascinated by dodecaphony, he

“decisively established the twelve-tone techniques as the major dynamo of his music” during

World War II.5

For him, the twelve-tone system of composition was not only a technique, but also a

method of showing “expressive necessities.”6 According to Robert P. Morgan, Dallapiccola, as

the first Italian composer to engage serialism, successfully created a personal style of expressive

intentions by combining his own esthetic need with a re-digestion of the Second Viennese

school’s twelve-tone method.7

A. Biographical background

1. The Early Years (1904-1931)

Born in Pisino, a disputed territory with a complex political background, Dallapiccola’s

early musical training was disrupted. The multi-cultural influences of his hometown contributed

5 Raymond Fearn, The Music of Luigi Dallapiccola, Eastman Studies in Music (New York: University of

Rochester Press, 2003), 50. 6 Ibid. 7 Robert P. Morgan, “Dallapiccola,” in Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern

Europe and America (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991), 253.

11

to the “formation of his artistic personality” shown in his compositions.8 Changes of residency

during his early childhood might disturb his musical training, but the impact of broadened

contact with masterpieces heard outside of his birthplace was immense. Between 1917 and 1918,

while being exiled to Graz, he heard German masters’ music, such as operas of Wagner and

Mozart. The influence was so significant that he decided to be a composer and this was recorded

later in 1968 in a letter to Wagner’s grandson:

In the Opera House in Graz, in May 1917, when I was thirteen years old, it was The Flying Dutchman that made me make the decision to dedicate myself to music….

For years this opera seemed to me the very pinnacle of Richard Wagner’s operas….I first realized on that evening what landscape could be in music….And at the doorway of the theater, after the musical miracle, another miracle, but this time one of nature.9

In 1921, the impact of Debussy’s music made him take three years off to realize its

meaning; in 1924, after the rudimental contact of Schoenberg’s music through his theory teachers

at the Florence Conservatory, for the first time he heard works written by the Second Viennese

School in a concert performing Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, and the influences of serial ideas

shown later throughout his life; in 1930, during a trip to Vienna, Mahler’s First Symphony

opened one more door for him.10

2. The Middle Period (1931-1945)

After an extensive study with Vito Frazzi in Florence, Dallapiccola’s fundamental music

training came to an end. From 1931, his exploration of all aspects of music became self-guided

8 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 1. 9 Luigi Dallapiccola, letter to Wolfgang Wagner, 15 April 1968, Dallapiccola Archive, Gabinetto Vieusseux,

Florence. 10 John C. G. Waterhouse, “Dallapiccola,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy,

http://www.grovemusic.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu (accessed November 10, 2007).

12

upon score studying and the influences of Berg and Webern became momentous. The first

encounter with Berg happened in 1934, the time he started to be known as a composer attributed

to another famous Italian musician, Alfredo Casella’s promotion.

Political disturbance again played an important role in this period. During World War II,

Dallapiccola’s non-political stand made it hard for him to keep a pleasant life. For a while, he

had to seek refuge around the country. Surprisingly, this political suppression never fully stopped

him from musical activities. Instead, he concertized to non-Nazi occupied countries and met

Webern in Austria in 1942.

3. The Late Years (1945-1975)

Unlike the previous two periods, Dallapiccola’s life after WWII became more stable and

was “free from external disturbance.”11 With resuming a normal social life, his important role in

the International Society for Contemporary Music in 1946 made him world-famous. Trips around

the world in the 1950s brought him to the United States and Western Europe. With appearances

in lectures and performance of his music around the world in the 1960s, his reputation

culminated with the première of Ulisse in 1968. Thereafter, declining health dramatically

decreased his compositional output but not his public activities. On the morning of February 19,

1975, he passed away with a relapse of pulmonary edema and left an unfinished work on his

piano and desk.

11 Waterhouse, “Dallapiccola.”

13

B. Stages of tonal transformation and connections with the serialist method

Like so many of the twentieth-century composers, Dallapiccola’s works reflect his style

shifts in searching for a personal use of dodecaphony. As “one of the first non-Germanic

composers to use the twelve-tone technique,” he successfully carried over Italian music tradition

which roots back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.12

Much of his music during the early years related to his birthplace and was written for

voices in various ensembles. Almost all remained unpublished and were considered by the

composer himself as an “apprenticeship.”13 At the age of twenty, without actually being a

student of Schoenberg, Dallapiccola’s musical horizons broadened by perceiving Schoenberg’s

serial music and methods. From the mid-1930s, many works showed his attempts to incorporate

serial materials, but not until the late-1940s did he truly reach maturity in the usage of serial

methods. As Fearn noted:

Much of Dallapiccola’s music up to the end of the 1930s, when serialism began to emerge as an element in his musical language, was grounded in modal writing, and was thus to a large extent free of the chromatic saturation that had been evident in the pre-serial music of the Viennese composers. The influence of Frazzi was obviously dominant in many of these very early works from Dallapiccola’s apprentice period, but some characteristics that are relevant to the composer’s late compositions can also be seen.14

Music from the middle period was experimental using the serial method. The conjunction

of modal, diatonic, chromatic, and serial elements in his writings became stereotyped. His unique

ways of applying serial methods were different from the Second Viennese School. For him, the

12 Larry Sitsky, ed., “Luigi Dallapiccola,” in Music of the Twentieth-century Avant-garde: A Biocritical

Sourcebook (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002), 117. 13 Ibid., 118. 14 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 7.

14

twelve-tone technique was not a strict and inflexible compositional method. On the contrary, as

Sitsky noted, “the freedom he allowed himself in the development of his thematic materials

enabled him to choose either a diatonic or twelve-tone directions or a blend of both.”15

Dallapiccola also once said, “I have used the 12 tones of the row as a general color, as an

atmosphere in the whole piece, not as a principle of construction.”16 Piccolo concerto per

Muriel Couvreux, a strong diatonic piece, written between 1939 and 1941, revealed

Dallapiccola’s atmospheric and colorific application of the serial idea. In Canti di prigionia, for

the first time Dallapiccola used the same row in all movements, but the function of the row as a

unifying component was not yet mature. Not until Tre poemi in 1949, did he use a single row as

“a thread running through the entire composition.”17

The influences of Berg and Webern were significant especially after personal

acquaintance with both of them. Works such as Volo di notte and Canti di prigionia shows Berg’s

traits in vocal setting, instrumental writing, and also diatonic characteristics of the row. Webern’s

influences appeared in his late years. Liriche greche, for instance, dedicated to Webern on his

sixtieth birthday in 1943, represented his respect to the master of the Darmstadt school. In

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, Webern-like pointillism, aphorism, and contrapuntal, canonic

writings are detectable. With the maturity of his personal dodecaphonic technique, the refined

balance between his personal lyricism and application of the tone rows makes his music unique.

As Wood noted,

15 Sitsky, “Luigi Dallapiccola,” 119. 16 Luigi Dallapiccola, letter to Vogel, 3 January 1940, Dallapiccola Archive, Gabinetto Vieusseux,

Florence. 17 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 134 .

15

He is capable of the monumental, but I love best his gentle, delicate lyricism: his music sings. What he really learnt from Webern was not so much the enlargement of the musical language, but the paradoxical lesson which Webern’s own work shows so clearly: that lyricism, the singing line, on one hand, and the most skilful of contrapuntal devices on the other, are, the pair of them, bosom friends who help each other, not sworn enemies who have to be reconciled.18

C. Piano output

Under close examination, one can easily notice that Dallapiccola composed a fairly small

amount of instrumental music. Works written for voices in different ensembles dominate most of

his compositional territory. Although considered “quintessentially a vocal rather than an

instrumental” composer, Dallapiccola proved his “sensuous Italianate lyricism” in his abstract

instrumental works as well.19 Among his about four dozen works, those relatively limited

quantity of instrumental works are not “large-scale in design or ambition.”20 However, “they do

provide an illuminating perspective on his musical thinking as a whole.”21

In spite of being a good pianist himself and teaching piano lessons for over thirty years,

he composed only three pieces for solo piano: Sonatina canonica in E-flat Major on ‘Capricci of

Niccolò Paganini (1943), Tre episodi dal balletto ‘Marsia’ (1949), and Quaderno Musicale di

Annalibera (1952). The other two piano works in different ensembles are Musica per tre

pianoforte (Inn) (1935) and Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux (1939-41).

Musica per tre pianoforte (Inn) is Dallapiccola’s first purely instrumental piece in a

three-part cycle. Influences of various composers can be detected: the Ravel-like Baroque

18 Hugh Wood, “Tributes to Dallapiccola,” Tempo 108 (1974): 17-18. 19 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 130-1. 20 Richard Whitehouse, Luigi Dallapiccola: Complete Works for Violin and Piano and for Piano CD Sleeve

Notes. (Naxos Music Library 8.557676, 2006). 21 Ibid.

16

prelude, the Stravinsky-like non-developmental blocks, Mussorgsky’s “Promenade” theme in the

beginning, and etc. Sonatina canonica in E-flat Major on ‘Capricci of Niccolò Paganini is his

first solo piano work, written almost twenty years after he began to compose. With his profound

background in piano, he was fully aware of the possibilities of the modern piano even with his

first attempt. In all five piano works, the timbral expressions of piano, the characteristic

polyphonic writings, and the unique lyricism in voicing enable him to proclaim a domain in

twentieth-century Italian keyboard literature.

17

Chapter 3. Modern Treatments in the Bach-Inspired Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera

A. Compositional background

Composed in 1952, Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera [Annalibera’s Musical Notebook]

is perhaps the most purely attractive instrumental composition among Dallapiccola’s non-vocal

writings. Dedicated to his daughter on the occasion of her eighth birthday, this piece was written

under the commission of the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival. With its

complexity and depth of philosophy, this piece is not meant to be played by youths or beginners.

Being the first wholly dodecaphonic work and the last piano work of Dallapiccola, the strict

application of a single row in all eleven pieces shows his uppermost personal taste in twelve-tone

music. The selection of strong diatonic tone rows, the lyricism of melodic lines, and the

symbolism of constructions flawlessly fuse together as Dallapiccola’s tribute to J. S. Bach. As

David Burge noted,

Dallapiccola’s masterpiece for the piano is the eleven-movement Quaderno Musicale

di Annalibera…A far deeper link between the two composers is found in the superior and elegant quality of the counterpoint that dominates most of the eleven pieces. Every sort of canonic interplays is handled with apparent effortlessness…

For the composer and performer both, this work is a marvelously clear and musically exquisite demonstration of a unique and gifted composer’s approach to the twelve-tone technique.22

B. Homage to Bach

From the title, Dallapiccola dropped a hint of Bach’s Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena

Bach [Anna Magdalena’s Notebook]. The musical terminology-based titles used for each

movement resemble keyboard etudes of the nineteen century. Besides, through those titles, this

22 David Burge, Twentieth-Century Piano Music, Eastman School of Music Studies in Musical Genres and

Repertoires (New York, N.Y.: Schirmer Books, 1990), 159.

18

abstract work becomes a tool to express his personal feelings and this kind of compositional

attitude reminds us the musical philosophy of composers in the Baroque period. They may also

imply Dallapiccola’s intention to drill his mature dodecaphony by using a single row as a thread

for the whole set.

The groupings of movements, arranged by the composer himself in the indications of the

program page, suggest the suite-like Baroque style. All eleven pieces are divided into six groups

with “Simbolo” as the introductory movement and “Quartina” as the conclusive one. The middle

sections consist of four groups: Accenti – Contrapunctus primus, Linee – Contrapunctus

secundus, Fregi – Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius, and Ritmi – Colore – Ombre.23

The alternation of non-contrapuntal movements with strict contrapuntal movements in three out

of those four groups might propose the Prelude-Fugue arrangement of Bach’s Well-Tempered

Clavier and the intervallic canonic design of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. As Fearn states, “the

titles given to the contrapuntal movements (Contrapunctuc primus, secundus…) are indebted to

those in the Art of Fugue.”24 More Baroque-like elements used in formal structure, texture, and

phrasing will be mentioned later in the discussion of each movement.

C. Modern treatments: serial methods

Besides those retrospective elements that remind us of music of previous periods (mostly

Baroque music), Dallapiccola, as a twentieth-century composer, showed his innovative ability in

his unique dodecaphony. Throughout the lifelong search for a proper adoption of serial methods,

Dallapiccola for the first time presented a single tone row for all movements to serve as a

23 Luigi Dallapiccolla, Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera (Milan: Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1953).

24 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 157.

19

unification device. Applied in all forms (prime, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion),

this row is often presented as a whole in different settings (see Table 3.1 for the matrix of all

possible forms). The tonal/modal quality of the row selection alongside the free usage of

repetition marks Dallapiccola’s personal serial methods. The applications of the forms vary from

movement to movement according to the differences of the textures. For instance, chordal

employments of the row are found in movements I, II, VII, and X while melodic employments

permeate movements III and IV. Furthermore, within the linear textures of movements III and IV,

each hand is dodecaphonically independent while in movements I and II, the same row consists

in both hands.

Table 3.1. Matrix of the row of Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera

A# B Eb Gb Ab D Db F G C A E

A Bb D F G Db C E F# B G# D#

F Gb Bb Db Eb A G# C D G E B

D Eb G Bb C Gb F A B E C# G#

C Db F Ab Bb E Eb G A D B F#

F# G B D E Bb A C# D# Ab F C

G Ab C Eb F B Bb D E A F# C#

Eb E Ab B Db G F# A# C F D A

Db D F# A B F E G# A# Eb C G

Ab A C# E F# C B D# F Bb G D

B C E G A Eb D F# G# Db Bb F

E F A C D G# G B C# F# D# A#

20

According to my observation, the B-A-C-H motif can be considered as Dallapiccola’s

choice of “cell” in his personal twelve-tone methods. This cell is used not only as the prominent

outline of “Simbolo,” but also as the main thematic material in all movements. The emphasis of

the semitone relationship can be found everywhere, even in the B-A-C-H motif. Detailed

analysis of the B-A-C-H motif and semitone relationship will be examined in the next section.

D. Analysis of each movement

I. Simbolo

Being the introductory movement, the prelude-like function is well preserved in

“Simbolo.” In this movement, the row and the B-A-C-H motif are stated clearly. Sometimes, the

B-A-C-H motif can be perceived very clearly but other times, it is not perceived yet serves as a

structure basis. Samuel Morse Magrill stated in his thesis, “the B-A-C-H motif appears in

seventeen guises and can be viewed as one of the structural elements of the movement.”25 Yet I

believe this is only partially correct. Magrill took the B-A-C-H motif into consideration only

when it appears in the melodic outline. In my document, I will include the B-A-C-H motif used

in the chordal structure as well. Both melodic analysis and chordal anatomy will enable me to

explain Dallapiccola’s personal concept of serial method more thoroughly. The chordal anatomy

I will present in this document is not in the traditional vertical format. The B-A-C-H tetrachord

(0123) is preserved in the layered linear format with two varieties (Example 3.1). Therefore,

according to my count, there are a total of forty-three presentations of the B-A-C-H motif in the

whole “Simbolo.” Furthermore, the row is presented in 2+2+2+3+3 groupings in vertical

interval/chord format (Example 3.2). The first dyad is two semitones. Semitones play an

25 Magrill Samuel Morse, “The Principle of Variation: A Study in the Selection of Differences with

Examples from Dallapiccola, J. S. Bach, and Brahms.” (D.M.A. diss., University of Illinois, 1983).

21

important role in the whole set and the B-A-C-H tetrachord as well since the tetrachord itself

contains two dyads of semitones in the original form (Bb – A and C – B). Therefore, the subtle

weaves are formed by the row in vertical division and the B-A-C-H tetrachord in horizontal

direction.

Example 3.1. Innovative linear-styled chordal analysis of “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 2-5.

Analysis of the B-A-C-H tetrachord in three layers and three varieties.

1. The original B-A-C-H motif

2. Variation 1 of the B-A-C-H motif

3. Variation 2 of the B-A-C-H motif

22

Example 3.2. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-5.26

m.1 m.2 m.3 m.4 m.5

Vertical analysis: 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 12 tone

Horizontal analysis: m.1 semitone dyad (A# B)

m.2-5 3 layers of B-A-C-H tetrachord (see above)

Several formal possibilities can be found by different analytical methods.

According to the groupings of the row, texture, and phrasing, this movement can be divided into

three sections. Section A (mm. 1-16) has the 2+2+2+3+3 divisions of the row with chordal

texture and the alternation of the relax-tense phrasing based on a slow-fast harmonic rhythm

26 Luigi Dallapiccolla, Quaderno. The rest of the music examples used in this chapter are from the same

source with the permission of the publisher.

23

(Example 3.3).

Example 3.3. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 9-16, for the relax-tense phrasing and the slow-fast harmonic rhythm.

Section B (mm. 17-37) has the 3+3+3+3 groupings, mostly melody-accompany texture, and the

square four-bar phrasing (Example 3.4).

Example 3.4. “Simbolo” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 17-20.

24

Coda (mm. 38-46) returns to 2+2+2+3+3 division with chordal texture. According to the tempo

changes, it has three sections as well. However, the divided point will be slightly different:

section A (mm. 1-16) is the same as previous analytical method; section B (mm. 17-28) has a

faster tempo; section C (mm.29-46) starts with a tempo.

The fusion of Baroque/Bach elements with modern compositional techniques is well

presented in this movement. Baroque/Bach related elements include the symbol, which refers to

Bach’s name; the introductory spirit (introduces the row and the B-A-C-H motif), which matches

the Baroque preludes; and ternary form, which belongs to one of the traditional forms of Baroque.

Modern treatments include the twelve-tone method, which is applied in the B-A-C-H tetrachord;

and the frequency of meter changes, which is often used in modern music.

II. Accenti

As the title suggests, this is an etude for accents. Dallapiccola carefully noted different

articulations and subtle changes of accents on almost every single note in this movement.

Precision of touch is required and is guided by the composer in the front page. Each measure

contains half of the row in vertical direction. Therefore, a complete row is presented in every tow

measures. With chordal textures permeate the whole movement, the linear B-A-C-H motif

becomes the only horizontal part that can easily catch listeners’ attention. Different from the

previous movement, the only tetrachord used in this movement is the variation 1 of the B-A-C-H

motif. The rotation of prime and retrograde of the row forms the four-bar phrasing in the binary

form. The interaction of chordal presentation of the row and the linear B-A-C-H motif in the

inner voice again weave a unique web to show Dallapiccola’s creativity (see Example 3.5 and

Table 3.2 for the relationship of the B-A-C-H motif in variation 1 format and the row).

25

Example 3.5. “Accenti” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-4.

Table 3.2. Diagram of the B-A-C-H motif in “Accenti” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

measure row form B-A-C-H variation 1

mm.1-2 P0 Eb – D – Db – C

mm.3-4 R1 C# - D – D# - E

mm.5-6 P0 Eb – D – Db – C

mm.7-8 R3 D# - E – E# - F#

mm.9-10 P4 G – F# - F – E

mm.11-12 R1 C# - D – D# - E

mm.13-14 P2 F – E – Eb – D

mm.15-16 R1 C# - D – D# - E

In this movement, traditional elements include the binary form, the two-bar or four-bar

phrasings, and the meter. Modern treatments are: the usage of the B-A-C-H in variation 1 format,

the irregular accents, rhythmic unstability due to the irregular accents and rests, and also the

web-like dodecaphony.

26

III. Contrapunctus primus

Contrapunctus primus is the first contrapuntal writing of the whole set. Being the second

piece in the first inner group, its softness in dynamics and lyric lines offers a vivid characteristic

contrast to the rigid, angular “Accenti.” The application of strict canons shows Dallapiccola’s

profound foundation in polyphonic writings. For the first time, the row is presented in linear

direction instead of chordal texture. According to the number of the voices, the whole piece can

be divided into three sections: section A (mm. 1-8) is a two-part canon in unison; section B (mm.

9-12) is a three-part canon with outer voices in unison canon; and section C (mm. 13-18) is a

four-part canon with two pairs of unison canon.

The subtle rhythmic arrangements between/among contrapuntal voices show Dallapiccola

craftsmanship. In section A, the left hand (dux) presents a complete row every four measures

while the right hand (comes) follows with retrograded rhythm in three-fourths value (Example

3.6). In section B, the bottom line again plays dux 1 in the four-measure period while the middle

voice plays dux 2 in the manner of inversion when compared to dux 1. The comes follows dux 1

in a unison canon with retrograded rhythm in three-fourths value just as section A. In section C,

the dux 1 of the bottom line and the comes 1 in the middle voice interact the same way as section

A while the top line plays both dux 2 and comes 2 in consecutive order with retrograded rhythm

in half rhythmic value (see Table 3.3 for the diagram of this canonic relationship). The procedure

used in rhythm suggests Dallapiccola’s transitional experiments on rhythm, further theoretical

analysis can be found in Edward Pearsall’s article talking about the set-theory approach to

rhythm.27

27 Edward Pearsall, “Interpreting Music Durationally: A Set-Theory Approach to Rhythm,” Perspective of

New Music 35, no. 1 (1997): 205-230.

27

Example 3.6. “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-4.

Table 3.3. Diagram of the canonic relationship of “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno

Musicale di Annalibera.

section A section B section C

mm.1-4 mm.5-8 mm.9-12 mm.13-18

comes (P1) comes (R3) comes 1 (RI8) comes 2 (P4)

dux (P1) dux (R3) dux 2 (R6) dux 2 (P4)

dux 1 (RI8) comes 1 (I0)

dux 1 (I0)

The treble-clef notation of all voices offers a limited range for this polyphonic work. The

overlaps and crossovers increase the complexity for both performers and listeners to keep

tracking on the dux and comes. Amazingly, variation 1 of the B-A-C-H motif is detectable due to

melodic outline and rhythmic emphasis. Throughout the movement, the longer notes happen in

every three-note group in the dux state the chromatic B-A-C-H motif continuously (see circled

notes in Example 3.6). In section A, one single note from the tetrachord is pronounced measure

28

by measure. In sections B and C, with the appearances of the second dux, two statements of the

tetrachord occur in the same measure by different voices. Table 3.4 outlines the usage of

variation 1 of the B-A-C-H motif.

The canonic polyphony, brevity, and octave displacement of dodecaphony suggests the

influences of Webern. And yet the row-dominated four-bar phrasing and the clear-cut formal

division reserve the conservative part of Dallpiccola. The complexity of contrapuntal writing

alongside the rhythmic ratio between dux and comes make this serial movement a model for

combining tradition and modern.

Table 3.4. Diagram of the B-A-C-H tetrachord in “Contrapunctus primus” from Quaderno

Musicale di Annalibera.

mm. 1-4 mm. 5-8 mm. 9-12 mm. 13-16

dux 2 F# - G – G# - A G – F# - F – E

dux 1 E – Eb - D – Db Eb – E – F - F# E - D# - D - C# F – F# - G – G#

IV. Linee

“Linee” and “Contrapunctus secundus” form the second group of the inner section.

Forecasted by “Contrapunctus primus,” “Linee” continues the tranquil quality and linear texture.

There are only two statements of the row: one by the right hand (P11) and one by the left hand

(I10). Except for the application of the twelve-tone row in compositional material and five-bar

phrasing, the usage of binary form and melody-accompaniment texture are traditional.

In this song-like movement, Dallapiccola’s specialty in writing vocal music is revealing.

The transparent melodic line is sung in long-note value while the motionless accompanying

29

ostinato is steadily played by the eighth notes. The diatonic/modal quality of the row

arrangement in both melody and accompaniment again confirms Dallapiccola’s personal

preference and also the influences of Berg. The prolongation of the tones in ostinato figure

allows Dallapiccola to employ only two statements of the row for the whole piece. This ostinato

figure also reminds us of the accompaniment used in “Simbolo.” However, the grouping of the

ostinato is irregularly divided into 3+2+3 in this movement according to the meter marking and

the legato groupings. In section A, the accompaniment played by the right hand uses the irregular

grouping while the left hand melody part plays in regular 4/4 meter. Section B reverses this

procedure. This contradictive design creates unstable pauses within serene atmosphere (Example

3.7).

Example 3.7. “Linee” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-2 and mm. 6-7.

mm. 1-2

mm. 6-7

30

The B-A-C-H motif, another special feature for all previous movements, here, for the first

time, is hard to locate either in melodic outline or accompanying ostinato. The simplicity of the

melody-accompaniment texture and the clear-cut binary form make this movement the easiest

piece in the whole set.

V. Contrapunctus secundus

Subtitled “Canon in contrary motion,” this movement is the second with polyphonic

writing in the whole set. The mirror effect of contrary canon is achieved by inversions of the row

used for dux and comes. In twelve-tone theory, the mirror effect exists between prime form and

its inversion, also, it can be found between retrograde and retrograde inversion. Therefore, the

quasi-decisive choices of the row for comes is based on the chosen row of dux. Binary in form,

the two four-bar phrases are separated by a total silence in the middle of the piece. Furthermore,

sections A and B are exactly parallel in motion. Section A starts with the left-hand dux, which is

a half-beat ahead of the right-hand comes (Example 3.8). Section B, on the contrary, starts with

the right hand dux which is again a half-beat ahead of the left-hand comes (Example 3.9).

Organization of the rows is shown in Table 3.5.

Table 3.5. Organization of the rows in “Contrapunctus secundus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

mm. 1-3 mm. 3-4 mm. 5-7 mm. 7-8

R. H. P9 R5 P0 R8

L. H. I7 RI11 I10 R I2

31

Example 3.8. “Contrapunctus secundus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-3.

Example 3.9. ‘Contrapunctus secundus’ from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 5-6.

Texture changes with the choices of the row forms. In mm. 1-3 and 5-7, linear texture is

presented while in mm.3-4 and 7-8, chordal texture becomes dominant. Degrees of perceptibility

in the usage of the B-A-C-H motif vary according to the texture and choices of the row form. For

instance, the B-A-C-H motif and its inversion are audible in mm. 1-3 and 5-7 when the prime

and inversion of the row forms are used. In mm. 3-4 and 7-8, the B-A-C-H motif is hidden inside

32

the chords and is hard to detect (Table 3.6).

Table 3.6. The hidden tetrachords in “Contrapunctus secundus” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

mm. 1-3 mm. 5-7

R. H. C – B – D – C# Eb – D – F - E

(B – A – C – H) (B – A – C – H)

L. H. C – C# - Bb – Cb Eb – E – Db - D

(inversion of BACH) (inversion of BACH)

The analysis of the B-A-C-H motif enables us to peek into Dallapiccola compositional

plot. The chosen inversion form shares a common tone with the prime form when outlining the

B-A-C-H tetrachord. Same interval (T10) applies in both presentations of the tetrachord in mm.

1-3 (P9 versus I7) and mm. 5-7 (P0 versus I10). The common tones (C in m. 1 and Eb in m. 5)

serve a pivotal function for this canon in contrary motion.

VI. Fregi

The title of this movement, frieze, is an architectural term which means the center of the

structure. Musically, being the sixth piece among these eleven pieces, this movement also serves

a central role in the whole set. Many musical characteristics enhance this role by assembling

traits from the previous movements. For instance, the chordal texture of “Simbolo” and

33

“Accenti” is preserved by the left- hand intervallic dyads. The linear and lyrical style of

“Contrapunctus primus” and “Linee” is shown by the right-hand melodic lines. The contrary

motion of “Contrpunctus secundus” becomes its main sectional design.

Binary in form, the two six-bar phrases are inversions of each other in several aspects. In

section A, the right-hand linear melody is later played by the left hand in section B in contrary

motion. The intervallic dyads of the left hand in section A then move to the right hand in section

B (Example 3.10). Forms of the rows follow this mirror device. The groupings of the row change

according to the texture. Two statements of the rows happen in the melodic part in both sections.

However, the 3+3+3+3 groupings of the former statements (mm. 1-4 and mm. 6-9) differ from

the 3+4+3+2 of the later ones (mm. 4-6 and mm. 9-11). Only one statement happen in the

accompaniment voice and the 2+2+2+2+2+2 groupings remain the same throughout the

movement (Table 3.7).

The B-A-C-H motif is more detectable in the form of variation 1 (chromatic tetrachord)

in both statements of the prime form. With the 3+3+3+3 groupings of the prime form, the

tetrachord found in every three-note division resembles the usage of the B-A-C-H motif in

“Contrapunctus primus.” Besides the chromatic tetrachord, the semitone dyads also play an

important role in this movement. They can be found in the openings and closings of each section

as melodic or harmonic intervals. One more interesting discovery was found. According to my

observation, the missing tones in both sections also share a semitone relationship. In section A, E

is missing in row I10 while in section B, F is found missing in row P3. The emphasis of the

semitone dyads is now silently declared.

34

Table 3.7. Relationship of the rows in “Fregi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

section A section B

R. H. P0 R7 P3

L. H. I10 I1 RI6

| inversion |

| inversion |

| inversion |

The semi-conclusive quality also shows in other aspects. The frequent meter changes

remind us “Simbolo” and “Linee.” The rhythmic complexity recalls music of “Accenti” and

“Contrapunctus primus.” In the matter of texture, this movement again shares a common ground

with “Simbolo” and “Linee.” The lyricism of melody and diatonic dyads of accompaniment

again prove Dallapiccola’s ability in poetic dodecaphonic writing.

35

Example 3.10. “Fregi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

36

VII. Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius

Subtitled “Crab canon,” it is the third and most complex polyphonic piece in this set. The

red ink used for the canonic material is placed on the top of the page in an old-fashion way. At

the end of the canonic material, the “2nd volta” indication suggests the backward motion of the

comes. Inside the movement, the crab part of the canon is played in the second half within a

traditional binary form. Each section is comprised of two phrases and each phrase contains two

statements of the row. The canonic material of mm.1-8 repeats in section B while the comes

plays the canonic material simultaneously in a backward direction (Table 3.8). Similar to the

accompaniment of “Fregi,” the row is divided by six dyads yet is shared by both hands (Example

3.11).

Table 3.8. Presentation of the rows in “Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

section A (mm. 1-8) section B (mm. 9-16)

Dux: P0 – R7 – I 5– RI1 P0 – R7 – I 5– RI1

Comes: I1 – RI5 – P 7- R0

Example 3.11. “Andantine amorose e Contrapunctus tertius” from Quaderno Musicale di

Annalibera, mm. 1-5.

37

The B-A-C-H motif, same as “Linee,” is hard to trace and is hidden inside the intervallic

texture. However, the semitone nature, derived from the B-A-C-H motif, suggested in the

opening ostinato of “Simbolo,” saturates the whole movement as “Fregi.” In this movement, both

sections start and end with the Bb – Cb semitone dyad.

The conservative formal structure and canonic polyphony alongside the complex

rhythmic design and crab row application again show Dallapiccola’s refined combination of

traditional and modern treatments.

VIII. Ritmi

Suggested by the title, this is an etude for rhythm. By far the fastest tempo in the whole

set, the energetic spirit, rhythmic patterns, and fragmented rows contribute to this complex

movement. Dominant rhythmic patterns are shown in mm. 1-4. Mm. 1-2 is rhythmic pattern “a”

and mm. 3-4 is rhythmic pattern “b.” Pattern “a” contains a half of the row and pattern “b”

contains the other half. In mm. 5-8, fragments of the rows, rhythmic pattern “a,” and the F# pedal

point made by repetition present Dallapiccola’s unique dodecaphonic writing (Example 3.12).

Divided by contrast textures, the rondo form is for the first time applied. Section A

features a disjunct theme which later reappears in canonic setting. Section B uses one fragmented

row as the long-note melody played by the left hand. Section C, in contrast to previous sections,

is homophonic in texture (see Table 3.9 for detail formal diagram and Example 3.13 for sectional

examples).

38

Example 3.12. “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-9.

Table 3.9. Detail formal diagram of “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

mm. 1-11 12-20 20-28 29-37 38-45 46-57 58-61

section A B A’ C A’ C’ A’

39

Example 3.13. Sectional examples of “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

section A please see Example 3.12.

section B (from m. 12)

section C (mm. 29-37)

40

In all three A’ sections, the disjunction of the theme makes it hard to locate the thematic

material. Example 3.14 shows the complexity of the canonic texture in mm. 41-44.

Along with the fragmentation of the rows and the canonic presentation, the B-A-C-H

motif is not always complete and audible. In section A, only one complete statement of the row

is found in mm. 1-4. The melodic outline brings out the B-A-C-H tetrachord one by one in each

measure. Section B contains only partial of the row on the left-hand melody, therefore, the motif

is not well preserved. In the following two A’ sections, the condensed canonic presentations of

the rows makes the motif hard to be traced. Also, the tetrachord placed inside the homophonic

texture of section C is not meant to be noticed. Instead of focusing on the B-A-C-H motif and

semitone dyads as previous movements, Dallapiccola starts to experiment on the compositional

possibilities made by segmentation of the rows in this movement.

Example 3.14. “Ritmi” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera mm. 41-44.

41

IX. Colore

In contrast to the powerful outer movements “Ritmi” and “Ombre,” “Colore” is the gentle

inner movement of the final group. As the composer indicates, the “affectionate, cradling”

characteristics are carried by simple melody-accompaniment texture. Unlike “Ritmi,” all five

rows used in this movement are complete ones. The prolongation of certain tones is made by

repeating intervallic dyads in the accompaniment instead of ostinato dyads used in “Simbolo”

(Example 3.15).

Example 3.15. “Colore” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-3 (with circled notes).

Binary in form, both sections are connected by common tones in m.8 (C and B for right

hand, G and E for left hand). Section A (mm. 1-8) features two standard four-bar phrasing. Each

phrase contains one statement of the row. The melody-accompaniment texture swaps between

phrases. Section B has a faster tone-row rhythm since one statement of the row is presented in

every two measures except the extended last one (Table 3.10). The B-A-C-H motif is more

audible in the opening and closing phrases. The melodic online and repetitions of the segments

guide audiences’ ears (see circled notes in Example 3.15 for the B-A-C-H tetrachord).

42

Table 3.10. Usage of the rows in “Colore” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

section A section B

mm. 1-4 mm. 5-8 mm. 9-10 mm. 11-12 mm. 13-19

P0 R1 I2 I0 RI4

The exclusive usage of treble clefs and soft dynamics offers a limited register and small

contrast possibility. However, as Fearn stated, “the largely static harmony diverts the listener’s

attention towards aspects of timbre.”28 The color Dallapiccola wants to show is a transparent,

delicate, yet affettuoso sound quality.

X. Ombre

Ternary in form, the shadow effects lie in the dynamic contrast of the outer sections and

the inner one. Section A is marked ff, the row is presented by dyads in repetition pattern. The

connection of section A and B is made by the common tones. Section B is marked pp, the

tremolo figure again reinforces Dallapiccola’s unique way of processing rows. The delicate and

transparent sound quality in section B forms a dramatic contrast with the violent and rigid

attitude in section A (see Example 3.16 for examples of section A and B).

The slow-fast rhythm of the tone-row change in section A later becomes retrograde.

Therefore, in the recapitulation, section A’ (Table 3.11), the tone-row rhythm is fast-slow and

28 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 167.

43

forms a symmetric arch structure in the ternary form. Section B can be divided into two equal

parts according to the tone-row rhythm and the 1+1+1+2 phrasings. Table 3.11 shows the

diagram of tone-row rhythm.

The B-A-C-H motif is often too hidden inside the chordal texture to be audible.

Sometimes, the fragmental presentation of the B-A-C-H motif in the melodic outlines remotely

reminds us the symbol Dallapiccola applied from the very beginning.

Example 3.16. Section A of “Ombre” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 1-3.

Section B of “Ombre” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, mm. 8-9.

44

Table 3.11. Structural analysis of “Ombre” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

Ternary form section A section B section A’

Measures mm. 1-7 mm. 8-17 mm. 18-23

Tone-row rhythm slow-fast steady fast-slow

Phrasing 5+2 (1+1+1+2) 2 2+4

|____________________________________________|

retrograde relation

(arch form)

XI. Quartina

Literally, the title means quatrain, a poem or a stanza of a poem which always contains

four lines of text. Dallapiccola had discussed the relationships between poetic quatrain and

melodrama in his own article writing about Italian opera. He wrote,

I should like to consider here what the poetic quatrain offered to the composer of

the Italian melodrama as a basis for the construction of operatic forms, with specific reference to arias, ariosi, and cavatinas….The music of this quatrain is almost precisely in accordance with the formal scheme…. I have restricted my discussion to the structure of the aria in the melodrama as a musical quatrain, and to the analogy between quatrains in music and poetry.29

Therefore, in the last movement of this mature instrumental work, Dallapiccola’s “a song

without words” is formed. The singing quality in the melodic line reminds us of those beautiful

arias and recitatives written by his Italian ancestors. Furthermore, as the title suggests, the

29 Luigi Dallapiccola, “Words and Music in Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera,” Perspectives of New Music

5, no. 1 (1966): 121, 128.

45

four-phrase structure is predictable. There are two statements of the row in each phrase, one by

the right-hand melody and the other by left-hand accompaniment (Table 3.12). The wide-ranged

disjunct melodies are contrasted to the long-noted chordal accompaniment. The melodies in the

first two phrases are aria-like while the last two phrases resemble recitative by using repeated

notes. As Fearn noted, they are “almost Monteverdian repeated-note palpitations.”30

The B-A-C-H motif is mostly hidden inside the chordal texture of the accompaniment.

The melodic line does not outline the motif in this movement either. Unlike the opening

“Simbolo,” the usage of the B-A-C-H motif apparently is not the main focus for Dallapiccola yet

it serves a background function in uniting the whole set.

Table 3.12. Structural analysis of “Quartina” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera.

Phrase 1 Phrase 2 Phrase 3 Phrase 4

mm. 1-5 mm. 6-9 mm. 10-13 mm. 14-18

R. H. I0 R2 RI8 P2

L. H. R2 RI8 P11 I6

Conclusion

Being one of his mature dodecaphonic works, Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera reserves

Dallapiccola’s musical expression. The diatonic quality and lyricism of the row along with the

traditional formal structure and texture successfully assist Dallapiccola to combine personal

30 Fearn, Luigi Dallapiccola, 169.

46

tradition with modern composition technique. Influences from other composers are obvious. For

instance, the diatonic quality of the row is Berg-like and the brevity and the contrapuntal writing

resemble Webern’s music. The B-A-C-H symbol, the Baroque-like traditional texture, and the

formal structure suggest Dallapiccola’s retrospective attitude. The combination of Neo-Baroque

elements, serial method, and symbolism make this work one-of-a-kind.

47

Chapter 4. Heitor Villa-Lobos and His Musical Style

In the following chapters, I will talk about Villa-Lobos, another modern composer who

used Bach-inspired elements in his solo piano work Bachianas Brasileiras No.4. Although

Dallapiccola and Villa-Lobos both incorporated neo-Baroque ingredients into their solo piano

works, the approach and outcome are very different. Compared to Dallapiccola’s ingenious

combination of the serial method and the BACH motif, Villa-Lobos’ creative fusion of folk

materials and Bach-styled elements also opened a new page for modern composers. Villa-Lobos

was considered one of the most prominent figures in twentieth-century Brazil. In his book The

Music of Brazil, David P. Appleby states, “His attitude toward folk music was a pragmatic

approach of a composer who has found useful raw material to be molded and re-created.”31

Villa-Lobos’ musical style derives from two main influences: the authentic heritage from

European masters and the folk materials from his native land. The distinguished sound of

nationalism and the enormous amount of compositions in all genres make him a token of

twentieth-century Latin music.

A. Biographical background

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Villa-Lobos’ early musical training came from his well-educated

and music-lover father. It was his father who led him into the musical world by teaching him

basic skills and cello. As Villa-Lobos recalled, he always joined his father in various musical

activities when he was little. However, his mother wanted him to become a physician instead of a

31 David P. Appleby, The Music of Brazil (Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1983), 117.

48

musician. Therefore, when his father passed away, the eleven-year-old Villa-Lobos had to

continue his musical journey secretly.

Similar to Dallapiccola, political disturbances affected Villa-Lobos’ childhood.

Surprisingly, in both cases, short-term political exiles actually brought positive impacts to them.

Dallapiccola got the chance to expend his musical horizons by acquainting himself with many

classic music masters’ music. Villa-Lobos for the first time came into contact with rural music

which “charmed him and made a definite imprint on his mind.”32 With these disruptions in life,

Dallapiccola still received interrupted formal musical training. Villa-Lobos, with his rebellious

personality and intervention from his mother, withdrew from the School of Medicine at the age

of sixteen and left home. He then stayed with his aunt. Being a pianist, aunt Zizinha taught him

music of Bach. When he was eighteen, as Vasco Mariz noted, “he was seized with the desire to

discover the country.”33 With those various trips between 1905 and 1913, he traveled around the

northern and northeastern parts of the country. Popular tones and songs he heard from the streets

deeply inspired his national feeling. Thousands of collected musical themes and rhythms later

became the main compositional materials in his classical works. Music of Bach, which was

introduced by his aunt, also fused with popular elements in the series of Brazilian Bachianas.

Back to his hometown, Villa-Lobos married the pianist Lucília Guimarães in 1913. Many

of his new piano works in the 1910s and 1920s were premièred by her. As Béhague wrote,

Compositionally, the period 1912-17 was one of intense activity and marked the maturation of Villa-Lobos’s creative personality. By 1917 he had produced some 100 works, including chamber music, two symphonies, and the ballets….The first official

32 Vasco Mariz, Villa-Lobos: Life and Work (Washington, D.C.: Brazilian American Cultural Institute, Inc.,

1970), 4. 33 Ibid., 7.

49

concert fully dedicated to his work took place on 13 November 1915 and established him at once as an enfant terrible of new Brazilian art music.34

The “Week of Modern Art” in 1922 played an important role in introducing Villa-Lobos

music to his Brazilian audiences. The chaotic reaction from the public revealed the conservative

attitude of his people. However, the boldness and freshness in his music attracted European

audiences’ ears. They were fascinated by the “exotic” sound of this Latin American composer. In

the 1920s, Paris was the capital for musicians. Villa-Lobos’ time in Paris gave him chances to be

acquainted with top musicians such as Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Artur Rubinstein.

Despite his concert tours back in Rio and São Paulo being interrupted by political events

in the early 1930s, Villa-Lobos was aware of the musical needs of his people. He proposed an

educational plan and founded the “SEMA” (Super-intendency of Musical and Artistic Education)

in 1932.35 As Mariz further indicated,

The educational activities of SENA proceeded intensively until the creation of the

National Conservatory for Orpheonic Singing on November 26, 1942…Villa-Lobos was so indefatigable in organizing music teaching in Brazilian schools, in stimulating musicological research, and in recording Brazilian music that his educational work in Brazil is still highly regarded and deserving of the respect and appreciation of all music lovers.36

Musical education activities included not only founding schools but also teaching choral

singing in the schools. Thousands of people learned basic music knowledge and were able to

sing Brazilian music. The achievement of Villa-Lobos’ devotion to promoting musical standards

in his native land was immense.

34 Gerard Béhague, “Villa-Lobos,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, http://www.grovemusic.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu (accessed November 10, 2007).

35 Mariz, Villa-Lobos, 22. 36 Ibid., 23.

50

In the 1940s and 1950s, Villa-Lobos traveled a lot between continents as a conductor. His

career also “took an upward turn internationally.”37 New York city even became the “center of

his activities” in the last years of his life.38 In 1959, after a long concert tour around the world,

his health condition worsened and he passed away several months later. Being a musical

representative for Brazil, numerous celebrities including the president attended his funeral.

B. Stages of evolution and connections with the folk materials

With a total over seven hundred works, Villa-Lobos was considered one of the most

prolific composers in the western music history. Giving the credit to the effort of his second wife,

Arminda Neves d’Almeida, who founded the Villa-Lobos Museum in 1960, a completed

catalogue of his work was released in 1989. Even with such prolific examples, the

quasi-improvisation quality in his music and rebellious personality make it hard to find a clear

trait of evolution. He once told Mariz, “As soon as I feel someone’s influence on me, I shake

myself and jump out of it.”39 It is this kind of attitude that distinguishes him from most

composers. Dallapiccola, for instance, has a continuous thread in finding personal usage of

dodecaphony. Therefore, the developmental stages can be divided according to the maturity of

his twelve-tone techniques.

According to the manner he handled folk materials, tripartite division can be found:

37 Béhague, “Villa-Lobos.” 38 Mariz, Villa-Lobos, 26.

39 Ibid., 10.

51

1. The early years (1887-1920): during the exile period, young Villa-Lobos for the first

time had the chance to be in contact with the popular music he heard from the young companions

from the street. During the teenage period, trips around the country helped him to collect folk

songs and rhythms. Without much compositional experience and formal musical training, he

happily accepted all kinds of folk materials and arranged them literally.

2. The middle period (1920-1945): mostly self-taught, he studied scores of many

composers ranging from Bach and Wagner, to his contemporaries and French impressionist

composers. In this period, his writing skills were more mature and he was able to add more

personal taste while approaching folk elements. The famous sets of Choros and Bachianas

Brasileiras are two representatives of this period.

3. The late years (1945-1959): after a long period of self-exploration, Villa-Lobos already

mastered the technique of employing folk music. Without direct quotation, the spirit of

nationalism is naturally contained.

C. Piano output

Being an extremely prolific composer in all genres, Villa-Lobos composed 727 works in

total. Within the 287 instrumental pieces, 65 are written for solo piano. Most of these solo piano

works contain more than one small piece and those small pieces are grouped in suites or

collections. As André Loss counted, the result is to raise “the number of piano compositions to an

actual of 217 individual pieces.”40 Although Villa-Lobos was not a pianist, the refined and

40 André Loss, “The Villa-Lobos Changes in the Prole do Bebê no 1 and in his Piano Works: A New

Approach to the Study of his Evolution.” (D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1996), 9.

52

energetic quality of his piano works make them first-rate and some of the most popular in

contemporary piano literature.41

Composed in the first stage of his folk-related evolution (1887-1920), A Prole do Bebê

Suites Nos.1 (1918) is a result of Villa-Lobos’ friendships with the famous pianist Artur

Rubinstein. Along with Series 2, they are his most famous works for solo piano. Within these

suites, authentic Brazilian elements are well preserved in the rhythmic-oriented flavor and

folk-like simple form. Brazilian folk music and “imaginative impressionistic flavor” are

successfully blended together.42 Premiered by his first wife Lucília, Carnaval das Crianças

Brasileiras (1920) was dedicated to his nephews and nieces and consist of eight pieces depicting

scenes of Brazilian carnivals.

Many piano works were composed in the second period (1920-1945). As I mentioned

before, in this period, Villa-Lobos’ usage of folk materials was getting mature and his personal

style started to be noted. Rudepoêma (1926), the largest, most virtuosic and powerful of his solo

piano pieces, was dedicated to his friend, the famous pianist Artur Rubinstein. Other pieces

based on Brazilian folk stories, Brazilian Indian, popular Brazilian children’s songs, or popular

Brazilian themes are found in Ciclo Brasileiro, Cirandas, Ten Pieces on Popular Children’s Folk

Tunes of Brazil, and etc.43 Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 is the best illustrations of Villa-Lobos’

personal response to modern and traditional elements. The musical atmosphere of Bach’s style is

fused with the vivid rhythmic patterns and energetic melodic lines of Brazilian folk music.

Works from the late years (1945-1959) contain much less direct quotation of folk tunes.

41 Appleby, The Music of Brazil, 57. 42 Maurice Hinson, Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 1973), 663. 43 Ibid., 662-5.

53

The unconscious fusion of folk elements, modern techniques, and personal approaches make his

music the highest aesthetic in nationalism. As Hinson noted,

This great Brazilian artist began composing in a post-romantic style, moved to impressionism and folklore, later experimented with classicism, and finally synthesized all these elements. Some works are simple and easily understood while others are abstract and highly complex….His keyboard style often involves a wide dynamic range, complex cross-rhythms, improvisatory sweeps, lush sonorities, and a unique manner of handling the pedals.44

44 Hinson, Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, 661.

54

Chapter 5. Modern Treatments in Bach-Inspired Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

A. Homage to Bach

Throughout his life, Bach’s music had always been an important inspiration to Villa-Lobos.

From his early contact with Bach’s music via his pianist aunt, until his later arrangements of

Baroque music including Bach’s Preludes and Fugues into a series of transcriptions during the

middle period (1941), Villa-Lobos had shown his devotion for Bach’s music. A clear statement

about his attitude toward Bach’s music is found in a letter to the Bach Society in 1945.45

For him, Bach’s music is the highest art on earth and is universal. As Bach expressed his

respect to God, his music becomes the most direct communicational tool and represents “folk

music” for all human beings. Mariz wrote, “The series…is a complex of works inspired by the

musical atmosphere of Bach’s style, which Villa-Lobos considered a source of universal folklore

and a link uniting all peoples.”46 Therefore, being fond of folk material, the nationalistic

Villa-Lobos wrote a series of nine Bachianas Brasileiras as his tribute to Bach. As Appleby

noted, “Villa-Lobos believed that there were elements common to baroque music and the

improvisations of Brazilian popular music….He once said that the Bachianas Brasileiras were

the kind of music the Leipzig master might have written had he been born a twentieth-century

Brazilian composer.”47

45 David P. Appleby, Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Life (1887-1959) (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002), 119. 46 Mariz, Villa-Lobos, 40. 47 Appleby, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 120-1.

55

B. Compositional background

Composed between 1930 and 1945, the order of the series of nine Bachianas Brasileiras

does not correspond with the “actual order of the works’ creation.”48 Similar to the series of

fourteen Chôros, the usage of folk materials permeates the whole set. However,

multi-movements are employed in Bachianas Brasileiras instead of the single movements in the

Chôros. Villa-Lobos’ skillful ways of creating Bach-styled Brazilian music is underlined by the

special dualism of the titles for every movement of Bachianas Brasileiras (except No. 9). One

title is written in Portuguese, as a “reference to Brazilian culture, mainly some genre of folk

music” and the other is “borrowed from the tradition of baroque music.”49 An insightful

explanation had been made by Simon Wright, who wrote,

The dual, ‘bi-cultual’ titles given to most of the movements in the series provide the

real clue to what Villa-Lobos was about: a true synthesis of Brazilian and European musical language, a distillation of the vibrant Chôros style, and an attempt to tame it within European forms…. The Bachianas are the spiritual counterpart to Villa-Lobos’s practical work in introducing the choral and instrumental masterpieces of European music to the people of Brazil.50

Similar to Chôros, various ensembles are found in this series of Bachianas Brasileiras.

Only No. 4 is written for solo piano (just like Chôros No. 5). The completion dates of each

movement in Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 suggest that Villa-Lobos did not have a continuous

thread for the whole piece. The last movement was actually finished first in 1930 while the first

two movements were completed in 1941. As Tarasti noted, “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 as a

whole is based on the potpourri form, in which the various movements have no thematic or tonal

48 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 202. 49 Ibid., 181. 50 Simon Wright, Villa-Lobos (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 86-7.

56

relation with one another.”51 Therefore, unlike Dallapiccola’s Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera,

which is based on a single set for all movements and is intended to be performed as a set,

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 doesn’t have this limitation. However, in my point of view, if we

take the formal structure into consideration, the suggestion of a baroque suite, which is intended

to be played as a set, is clear.

C. Modern treatments: neo-classic method and nationalism

Without much formal musical training, Villa-Lobos’ writings are fresh and instinctive.

Most of his works feature bold harmony and vigorous rhythm. However, when he tried to access

Bach-inspired elements, the neo-classic approach suddenly appears in this series. Therefore,

many scholars tend to compare the dramatic change of writing attitude between two of his

internationally famous series of works: Chôros and Bachianas Brasileiras. As Wright noted, “to

a large degree the Bachianas discard the colouristic chordal clusters of the Chôros, their bizarre

instrumental combinations and sound effects, their intricate rhythmic devices, and their

astringent harmonic vocabulary; bi-tonality is absent, the harmony being predominantly tonal.”52

Mariz also wrote, “the Bachianas Brasileiras constitute an aesthetic retrogression for a composer

who wrote the Chôros, they represent a valuable experiment in the juxtaposition of certain

harmonic counterpoints and the melodic atmosphere of rural or urban areas of Brazil to the

music of Johann Sebastian Bach.”53

As many of Villa-Lobos’ piano works, folk materials play an important role in this series.

51 Tarasti, Villa-Lobos, 202. 52 Ibid., 86-7. 53 Mariz, Villa-Lobos, 40.

57

However, the quotation of actual folk tunes is rare except for the third and fourth movements of

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4. The ingenious combination of neo-baroque sonorities and Brazilian

folk melodies make this piece one of the best examples of Villa-Lobos’ unique style.

D. Analysis of each movement

I. Preludio – (Introdução)

As the titles suggest, this movement functions as an introduction as the prelude of a suite.

Completed in 1941, this movement was dedicated to Tomas Teran. Considered the most

Bach-like among all four movements, the ascending arpeggio of the single motive played by the

right hand resembles the opening phrases of the “Royal Theme” from Bach’s Musical Offering

and the Toccata from Partita in E minor, BWV 830. A close comparison is listed below in

Examples 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3. The result of the comparison, as Tarasti noted, “illustrated how the

dynamism of Bach’s phrasing and its tonal tension, a genuinely baroque-like dramatic gesture, is

transformed with its arrival in the tropics into a languid figure of eighth notes whose esthetic

content is rather the depiction of the geographical vastness of Brazil, the silence of a desert’s

endless landscape.”54

Ternary in form, the divisions of this “monothematic” movement are based on the

harmonic language of the left hand, the changes of texture, and the tonality.55 In section A (mm.

1-18), along with the arpeggio motive in the right hand, the usage of passacaglia melody and

circle of fifths are found in the inner voice and bass line. A passacaglia literally means a melody

in the bass and is a typical compositional method for baroque period. However, in this section,

54 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 203. 55 Rust, “Piano Works,” 53.

58

the passacaglia melody floats between inner and bass parts (see Example 18 for the application

of the passacaglia melody). Furthermore, the irregular phrasing (5+4+4+5) is related to the

applications of the passacaglia (see Table 5.1 for detailed analysis of each phrase). The motif

changes in inner phrases with improvisatory decorations (circled parts in Example 5.4).

Example 5.1. The arpeggio motive in “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

Example 5.2. The royal theme from Bach’s Musical Offering.

59

Example 5.3. The arpeggio figures from Bach’s Toccata from Partita in E minor, BWV 830.

Example 5.4. Application of the passacaglia melody, circle of fifths, and circled decoration of the arpeggio melody in section A of “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No.4.

60

Table 5.1. Analysis of phrasing in section A of “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

Phrases Measures Placement of the passacaglia melody

1 mm.1-5 inner voice (bass = circle of fifths)

2 mm.6-9 bass

3 mm.10-13 bass

4 mm.14-18 inner voice (bass = circle of fifths)

In section B (mm.19-32), the tonality changes from B minor to its subdominant key (E

minor) and then moves back to B minor when the recapitulation (section A’) arrives. The

passacaglia melody is replaced by the chromatic bass line. Three innovative and irregular phrases

(4+5+5) comprise this section with a canonic texture. Special triple-clef notation is applied in the

middle phrase as the point of imitation appears. In measures 23 to 27, the canonic texture can be

inspected in two directions. First, the middle voice resembles the melodic outline of the top voice.

Second, the chromatic descending motion of the inner voice parallels the half-note bass line

(Example 5.5). From measures 28 to 32, the bass line changes to ascending motion and again

parallels the inner line while the melody becomes extremely improvisatory (Example 5.6).

Section A’ (mm.33-41) comprises two irregular phrases (4+5). In this section, the motive

is played by the left hand in the inner voice or bass part for the first time and is combined with

the passacaglia melody. The final statement of the motive (mm. 37-41) is made by octaves and

accents in ff dynamics as a sign for arrival. “The unresolved seventh degree of the closing

61

chord,” as Tarasti noted, “seals the Villa-Lobosian quality of this bachianas.”56

Throughout the movement, Latin flavored sentiment is well preserved in the motive,

along with the Bachian elements and texture to create a unique combination that shows

Villa-Lobos’ ingenious craftsmanship.

Example 5.5. “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 23-27.

56 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 203.

62

Example 5.6. “Preludio” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 28-32.

II. Coral – (Canto do Sertão)

The usage of Bach-like technique in the chorale harmonization confirms the title.

However, the chorale melody here is a nostalgic “Song of the Desert/Jungle” which is derived

from a “religious song of the Catholic sertanejas in the deserts of Northeast Brazil” accompanied

by the singing of an araponga bird (blacksmith bird).57 Araponga is a kind of bird found in

many Brazilian jungles. Villa-Lobos transcribed its monotonic singing into the persistence of

B-flat notes which appear at regular intervals throughout the whole movement. From Example

57 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 203.

63

5.7 we can see the chorale texture formed by a steady half-note harmonic rhythm while the top of

the chords carry the main melody. The chorale melody comprises two square 8-bar phrases (mm.

1-8 and mm. 9-16) and the continuous B-flat notes appear on top of the chorale melody with

accents.

Example 5.7. “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 1-16.

64

Binary in form, the division of A and B sections is based on the operation of the chorale

theme. Section A (mm. 1-32) contains two complete statements of the theme and each statement

is 16-measure in length. In the first statement, the chorale theme is placed on the top of the

chorale texture and is played by the right hand along with the repeated B-flat notes. In the second

statement, the texture changes to melody-accompaniment style. The melody here is carried by

the left hand while the eighth-note accompaniment played by the right hand contains an oriental

flavor due to the usage of pentatonic scales. The B-flat notes disappear in this part and resume in

the next section (Example 5.8).

Example 5.8. “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 17-22.

65

With a much longer B section (mm. 33-92), the structure for the whole movement is very

Baroque-like. Section B can be subdivided into four parts according to the usage of the theme

(Table 5.2). In part I (mm. 33-50), the fragmentation of the chorale theme is presented in

two-measure sequences. Similar to the first movement, the usage of a circle of fifths progression

is found in the bass line (Example 5.9). Part II (mm. 51-58) for the first time in this movement

contains no fragment of chorale melody, but the two-bar sequences continue in a descending

motion while the singing of an araponga bird hovers over the high B-flat notes. Part III (mm.

59-70) resembles part I but is in condensed length. Part IV (mm. 71-92), on the contrary, is a

prolongation of part II with a six-measure coda. The half-note rhythmic pace of Part II is

replaced by the whole-note pace. In this part, with Villa-Lobos’ marking “como um orgão” (like

an organ), a special pianistic technique is required (as he indicated, “Press the keys down without

letting the hammers strike the strings”). The modern notations and organ-like sonority show

Villa-Lobos’ innovation in combining Baroque quality and modern technique (Example 5.10).

Moreover, this organ-like sound in the last part echoes with the quotation of the Catholic theme

from the beginning. Along with the tintinnabulation of the bird calls, the colors Villa-Lobos

added in this aural canvas seem to have the ability to bring all listeners back to the Brazilian

church in a remote district.

In this movement, Villa-Lobos’ nationalistic treatments of Bach-like elements are

prominent. The usage of chorale texture, formal structure, traditional tonality (in c minor), and

conservative phrasing resemble Baroque music. Villa-Lobos’ unique nationalism is shown by the

employment of folk chorale themes and the depiction of araponga sound. His characteristic

compositional techniques, such as the circle of fifths and suspended sevenths (in mm. 33, 35, 37,

39, 41, and 43), are skillfully fused with nationalistic and Baroque-like materials.

66

Table 5.2. Diagram of section B in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

Part Measures Feature

I mm.33-50 2-bar sequences of chorale theme, no Bb repetition

II mm.51-58 2-bar sequences, no chorale theme, with Bb notes

III mm.59-70 condensed Part I

IV mm.71-92 prolonged Part II with coda

Example 5.9. Circle of fifths in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 33-43.

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Example 5.10. Modern notation in “Choral” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 71-73.

III. Aria – (Cantiga)

Being one of the few exceptions in Bachianas Brasileiras, this movement contains a

recognizably direct quotation of a folk tune. As the titles Aria or Cantiga (sobre um tema do

Nordeste) indicate, the folk melody is based on a theme from Northeastern Brazil which implies

the influences of Spanish troubadour songs. Adhenar Nobrega, a musicologist who is also a

specialist on Bachianas Brasileiras, has identified the original folk tune as “Ó mana deix’eu ir”

(Sister, let me go) (Example 5.11).58 This grave, hymn-like folk melody constitutes the basis of

all the thematic material in this movement with some rhythmic modifications.

58 Adhemar Nobrega, As Bachianas Brasileiras de Villa-Lobos (Rio de Janeiro: Museu Villa-Lobos, 1971),

74.

68

Example 5.11. Folk tune “Ó mana deix’eu ir” from Northeastern Brazil.

Ternary in form, this movement opens with a six-measure introduction. The introduction

is a self-contained unit which comprises four parts. From top to bottom, first we see a static

repetition of the F notes, beneath that are descending chromatic major chords in the 2nd inversion.

On top of the I-II-V-I bass line is again a static repetition of the F notes. The emphasis on the F

notes suggests the tonal center: f minor, for the whole movement (Example 5.12).

69

Example 5.12. Introduction of the “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 1-6.

Section A starts from measure 7 but the main quotation of the theme doesn’t show up

until measure 23. Part I in section A (mm.7-22) is formed by four four-bar phrases and the

melodic material comes from the ending part of the quoted theme (Example 5.13). Part II of

section A (mm.23-37) consists of two complete statements of Villa-Lobos’ version of the quoted

tune. Villa-Lobos slightly modified the rhythmic arrangements of the quoted tune into

pan-quarter notes (Example 5.14). With rall. and rit. tempo change markings, this section doesn’t

result in a slower section, instead, the next section is in a Vivace tempo.

Section B is a brief scherzo-like acceleration in this movement. The quarter-note texture

of section A changes to an eighth-note texture. The tenuto markings on every quarter note in

section A are replaced by staccato markings on every eighth note in this section. Preceded by

eight introductory measures (mm.38-45), the quoted tune appears in a condensed length

(Example 5.15). After the meter change in measure 68, the quoted tune for the first time is

carried by the left hand in octaves. In this climax section (mm.69-80), the intensity and energy

are conveyed by the left-hand tune in octaves and the violent rhythmic figure of the right hand

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(Example 5.16). After a period of cool down, the A’ section resumes with the quarter-note texture

and a moderate tempo.

Example 5.13. Section A Part I of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 7-22.

Example 5.14. Section A Part II of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 23-30.

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Example 5.15. Section B of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 38-48.

72

Example 5.16. Left-hand melody in Section B of “Aria” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 68-74.

Section C ends with a coda that remotely echoes the opening introduction and it results in

an arch-like symmetric form for this movement. Unlike the strong Bach-influences in the first

movement, the Bach-inspired elements are not obvious here. Monothematic, chorale-like texture

and traditional functional harmonic language might suggest the conservative side of Villa-Lobos.

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However, the prominent folk flavor lies in the faithful quotation of the folk tune. As Tarasti noted,

this movement “can be considered one of Villa-Lobos’s most successful ambientations of folk

music.”59

IV. Dansa – (Miudinho)

Similar to the Gigue of a Baroque suite, this set of Bachianas Brasileiras ends with a

fast-rhythm dance movement. Composed first in 1930, this toccata-like movement bears a

Portuguese subtitle “Miudinho,” which means “tiny.” Miudinho is a traditional folk dance from

Northeastern Brazil related to the samba. Samba, one of the most popular Brazilian music forms,

is considered a national music style of Brazil. Miudinho, a close relative of the samba family,

shares many similar traits with a samba, such as duple meter and syncopations. As Appleby

noted, Miudinho “is one of the steps in the samba, and the pacing creates the same kind of fast

movement and excitement one experiences in the Spanish zapateado.”60

The energetic dance character is preserved by the fast tempo (muito ritmado e animado,

very rhythmic and animated) and running sixteenth notes. The placement of sfz on up beats, the

“triple groupings of the sixteenth notes within a duple meter,”61 and the usage of syncopations

on a left-hand melody, all together create a “continuous sensation of metrical instability.”62 The

main melody in this movement “has been borrowed from a tune, Vamos Maruca, recorded in São

59 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 205. 60 Appleby, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 126. 61 Ibid. 62 Appleby, The Music of Brazil, 137.

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Paulo and also is to be found in Villa-Lobos’s own collection Guia prático as melody no.128.”63

The formal structure of this movement is ternary. Section A starts with an eleven-measure

introduction. The ostinato-like figure in the right hand suggests a toccata-like texture. Left hand

material consists of the repetition of intervals in perfect fifths as the pedal point and resembles

the sound of a large organ in Bach’s music. The quoted melody appears at measure 12 in the

inner voice with accents. The hymn-like quality of the melody is expressed by a narrow-ranged,

stepwise contour (Example 5.17). After a complete statement of the melody, in measure 30,

another melody formed by alternation of black and white keys appears again in an inner voice,

followed by a passage of sixteenth notes shared by both hands (mm.37-43). The emphasis of Gb

or F# creates a leading tone feeling, which will be resolved in G in the next passage. Now in

measure 44, the toccata figure is carried by the left hand and the quoted melody transposed a

perfect fifth up is played by the right hand in octaves. Before this section ends, another special

alternation of black and white keys appears again in measure 66 and the application of “Black

Key versus White Key” shows Villa-Lobos’ unique piano writing (Example 5.18).64

Section B transposes from C major (section A) to A major. After a short two-measure

introduction, a new theme in 7-bar phrasing is introduced in triplets. The “sharp versus flat”

contrast in usage of accidentals (right-hand sharps, left-hand E flat) creates a polytonal sonority

(Example 5.19). A passage of intense dynamic changes occurs between mm.120 and 134

(Example 5.20). This section ends with a long sustained note that connects with the

recapitulation. The strong V – I feeling ends the recapitulation in the key of C.

63 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 206. 64 Jamary Oliveira, “Black Key versus White Key: A Villa-Lobos Device,” (Latin American Music Review

5, 1984), 33–47.

75

Example 5.17. “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 12-25.

Example 5.18. The “Black key versus White Key” technique used in “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 66-72.

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Example 5.19. The “Sharp versus Flat” technique used in “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 89-97.

Example 5.20. “Dansa” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, mm. 120-134.

77

In this movement, the toccata-like texture suggests the Bach-inspired side of Villa-Lobos

while the quotation of folk melody and strong rhythmic patterns imply his Brazilian side. The

ingenious fusion of both Bachian and Brazilian materials are perfectly presented in this

movement.

Through a detailed examination of this suite based on two main directions: Brazilian

components (Nationalism) and Baroque elements (neo-Baroque), Villa-Lobos’ modern

treatments in this Bach-inspired nationalistic work is evident. However, the balance of Bachian

and Brazilian elements varies from movement to movement. In the first movement, “Prelude,”

the Bachian influence permeates the texture and overrides the Brazilian flavor. The tone color,

established at the beginning, and the fast harmonic rhythm match the characteristics of a Baroque

prelude. On the contrary, in the third movement, “Aria,” the repetition of folk melody

overwhelms the Bachian material. The second movement, “Chorale,” and the fourth movement,

“Dance,” show Villa-Lobos’ exquisite balance of both influences from Bachian texture and

Brazilian folk melody. The refined synthesis of Bach-inspired Brazilian music makes this suite

one of the most valuable piano works of Villa-Lobos.

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Chapter 6. Comparison Between the Piano Originals and the Orchestrated Versions

Coincidentally, both composers wrote an orchestral version after completing the piano

version (Dallapiccola retitled his work Variazioni per orchestra in the orchestral version). Both

have two different versions, Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera is better known for the piano

version while the orchestral version of the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 is more popular. In this

chapter, I will analyze each composer’s method of orchestration in terms of the treatment of

Bach-inspired elements and compare the orchestral and piano versions.

Dallapiccola: Variazioni per orchestra

Composed in 1954, two years after the piano version, this work is the result of

Dallapiccola’s commission from The Louisville Orchestra and was dedicated to its conductor

Robert Whitney. According to Dallapiccola himself, this work is a “literal” transcription of

Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera. The usage of the term “Variation” here is not in the

traditional way. The material to be varied is the single twelve-tone row he selected for all eleven

movements. In this orchestral version, Dallapiccola eliminated the descriptive titles of the piano

version (“Simbolo,” ”Accenti,” and etc.) and only the tempo markings are kept.

In the first movement, the B-A-C-H motif is much easier to trace when the orchestral

version assigns one instrument to be in charge of it. Three layers of the varied B-A-C-H

tetrachord are carried by three different instruments. A different sound quality of each instrument

creates distinguished yet consonant sonority for the chordal texture of the motif. The even tone

color of the piano makes this task much harder to achieve.

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Even though Dallapiccola considered that he made a literal version for the orchestra, the

doubling of certain parts helps to create a fuller sound quality (Example 6.1). The usage of

enharmonic notes also shows the liberal aspect of Dallapiccola in this literal work (see measure

27 in the string section).

Example 6.1. The 1st movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 21-23.

With the chordal texture of the second movement, the only linear material is the B-A-C-H

tetrachord. However, unlike the first movement, the motif is not carried by single instrument. In

most cases, the tetrachord is divided into two parts, each carried by a different instrument.

Therefore, the motif is barely audible without any theoretical assistance.

In the third movement, the orchestration is actually better for the canonic texture. Each

instrument is in charge of one voice and a complete statement of the twelve-tone row is carried

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by the same instrument (Example 6.2). The piano version has its limitation in differentiating

multiple voices. Overlapping of voices is never a problem for the orchestral version. As to the

pronunciation of the B-A-C-H motif, the wide-ranged arrangements of the row are hard for

orchestral instruments to play smoothly. Therefore, the tetrachord is not very audible for

listeners.

Example 6.2. The 3rd movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-4.

In movement No.7, discontinuation of the instrumental sound discourages listeners’ from

hearing a complete statement of the row. Here, the row is carried by different instruments which

makes the canonic writing even more complex (see Example 6.3 for the divided first statement of

the row in the string section).

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Example 6.3. The 7th movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-5.

The colorful sonority of the orchestral version makes the eighth movement one of the

most interesting movements in the whole set. The usage of percussion and contrabassoon create a

diversity of sound. Sectional divisions are more obvious with the changes of instrumentation.

The overlapping in the piano version is not a problem in the orchestral version of the

ninth movement. The melody-accompaniment texture is clearly carried by different

instrumentation. Whenever the string section plays the melody, the accompaniment is played by

the winds, and vice versa (Example 6.4).

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Example 6.4. The 9th movement of Variazioni per orchestra, mm. 1-6.

In general, both piano and the orchestral versions have their advantages and

disadvantages. Being the instrument with the widest range, the octave displacement of the row is

never a problem for piano. However, it is not the case for orchestral instruments due to the

limitation of range. Wide-ranged disjunct melodies are hard for one single instrument to carry. In

the piano version, the single tone color of the piano makes it hard to bring out the B-A-C-H

motif when needed. For the orchestral version, published in his original hand-witten version, the

colorful sonority of the orchestral version brings a new phase to Dallapiccola’s mature

twelve-tone music.

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Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4

This orchestral version was composed in 1941, the same year as the first two movements

of the piano version. As an extremely prolific composer, Villa-Lobos is equally talented in both

piano and orchestra writings. Several spots in the piano version even suggest instrumental

timbres. As Tarasti noted, “The comparison of these two versions provides more knowledge

about Villa-Lobos’s orchestration during that period, although it is difficult to evaluate in which

version he found a better tonal solution.”65 Compared to the “literal” transcription in the

orchestral version, Villa-Lobos’ orchestral transcription is more “liberal” by adding some

colorful doublings and extra materials.

The first movement is interpreted by a string orchestra. The first melodic sequences are

carried by the first violin section then taken over by the solo violin in measure 6. Extra musical

material (not used in the piano version) appears in the first violin section at rehearsal no. 1

(Example 6.5). The canonic writing in section B is now played by different string instruments

and the antiphonal singing between violin 1 and viola/cello is what the piano can hardly achieve

(Example 6.6).

“In the recapitulation,” as Tarasti noted, “the piano version’s main theme is placed in the

tenor; in the orchestral version in the cellos which provides it with a special, impressive timbre

(Example 6.7).”66

65 Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos, 202. 66 Ibid., 203.

84

Example 6.5. First page of “Preludio” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

85

Example 6.6. Canonic writing in section B of “Preludio” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

Example 6.7. Cello section in the recapitulation of “Preludio” from the orchestral Bachianas

Brasileiras No. 4.

86

With the help of contrabassoon and double bass, the low C in measure 6 of the second

movement is properly delivered. The main melody is first carried by oboe and then doubled by

horn in rehearsal no. 1. In rehearsal no. 2, the melody is transferred to the cello section (Example

6.8). The ostinato bird calls (B-flat notes) are now played by flute and xylophone throughout the

whole movement without exceptions. In the piano version, the repetitive B-flat notes discontinue

from measure 71 to the end due to instrumental limitation. From the orchestral version we can

tell, Villa-Lobos actually intended to keep the ostinato in mind for the whole movement

(Example 6.9).

Example 6.8. Rehearsal nos. 1 and 2 of ”Choral” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

87

Example 6.9. Rehearsal no. 7 for the continuity of the B-flat notes in ”Choral” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

The free usage of extra musical materials in the third movement can best describe

Villa-Lobos’ flexibility in the rearrangement of the original piano version. In rehearsal no. 3, the

flute line is doubled by oboe in playing a melody which is not used in the piano version

(Example 6.10). More examples are found throughout the whole movement. An extra

sixteenth-note figure used in the rhythmic B section again shows Villa-Lobos flexibility in

orchestral writing (Example 6.11).

88

Example 6.10. Rehearsal no. 3 for the extra melody in flue and oboe sections of ”Aria” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

Example 6.11. Rehearsal no. 5 for the extra sixteenth-note figure in the bassoon section of ”Aria”

from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

89

The motoric last movement has several traits that resemble the previous one. The

doubling in the lower notes of the toccata-like sixteenth notes produces a clear melodic outline

throughout the whole movement. Example 6.12 shows the doubling in violin II and viola

sections. An extra arpeggio line in triplet, not in the piano version, appears several times after

rehearsal no. 2. Example 6.13 shows the clarinet line. An extra canon occurs in rehearsal no. 5

between violin and trumpet sections and again shows Villa-Lobos’ skillful rearrangement in the

orchestral version. (Example 6.14).

Similar to the series of fourteen Chôros, which contains only one piece for piano in

Chôros No.5, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 is also the only one piano piece in the series of nine

Bachianas Brasileiras. Among those various ensembles, the purpose of the piano work is evident.

Villa-Lobos keeps the piano in mind when writing those series. The orchestral version, on the

one hand, can provide an example for Villa-Lobos’ orchestration of this period. The piano

version, on the other hand, can also offer a useful example of the composer’s compositional

development. Although the orchestral version is more popular, the piano version has its own

purpose. As to the treatments of the Bach-inspired elements, both piano and orchestral versions

convey the Bachian/Brazilian flavors equally well.

90

Example 6.12. Opening of “Danza” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

91

Example 6.13. Clarinet line after rehearsal no. 2 of “Danza” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

92

Example 6.14. Extra canon found in rehearsal no. 5 of “Danza” from the orchestral Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4.

93

Chapter 7. Conclusion

My intention is to promote these works by linking them through their Bach-inspired

elements and highlighting their originality. Dallapiccola, with Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera,

successfully merged his personal taste for the twelve-tone system along with use of the B-A-C-H

motif; with Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, Villa-Lobos effectively demonstrated the value of

Brazilian folk music along with Bach’s influence. Even though they approached Bach-inspired

materials from two totally different angles, the results continued the over-three-hundred year

Bach tradition and again proved that inspiration can be found in tradition and that Bach is one

enduring source.

The unique dualism used in Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera and Bachianas Brasileiras

No. 4 triggers my interest in discussing these two composers and pieces side by side.

Dallapiccola, being one of the pioneers in early twentieth-century Italian dodecaphonic writing,

modified the twelve-tone techniques that he learned from the Second Viennese School and

transformed them into a personal style. The free usage of repetition, the strong modal/diatonic

choices of the row, along with the symbolism hidden behind the B-A-C-H cell, successfully

expresses Dallapiccola’s lyrisim in Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera. Following the steps of his

Brazilian nationalism pioneers such as Alexandre Levy (1864-1902) and Alberto Nepomuceno

(1862-1902), Villa-Lobos’ boldness and freshness in using folk materials quickly caught

attention. Multi-style, Baroque/Nationalism, is well presented in the series of Bachianas

Brasileiras. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 contains different ratios of Bach/Baroque elements to

Brazilian folk materials in each movement. It starts with a very Bach-like prelude movement and

then moves on to a second movement which synthesizes Brazilian bird calls, a religious tune,

94

and a Bachian chorale. The third movement contains direct quotation of a folk tune, followed by

a perfectly balanced combination of “toccata-Samba” in the last movement.

In contrast to the innovative dualism of musical characteristics, the forms used in both

pieces are relatively conservative. In Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera, six out of eleven are in

binary form. The rest of the movements are in ternary form, rondo form, or four-phrasing form

(the last movement “Quartina”). In Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, three out of four movements are

in ternary form, except the second movement which is in binary form. The manner of applying

traditional forms shows the Neoclassicism aspect of both composers. It also matches their

musical trends. For Dallapiccola, the usage of traditional forms resembles his twelve-tone

models, the second Viennese school composers. As to Villa-Lobos and most of the composers in

Nationalism, they focused on exploring the new materials from folk music instead of innovating

forms. Therefore, another form of dualism, the combination of tradition (form) and modern

(serialism/nationalism) is found in both works.

As two of a few examples of twentieth-century Bach-inspired works, Quaderno Musicale

di Annalibera and Bachianas Brasileiras No.4 receive little attention from today’s pianists. None

is in the standard repertoire. I hope that through my theoretical analysis of each composer’s

employment of Bach-inspired elements and personal styles, this document will not only lead

more scholars to discover the value of these compositions but will also encourage more pianists

to consider performing them more frequently.

95

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Brazil: Circa 1870-1920.” Ph.D. diss., Tulane University, 1966. ______. Music in Latin America, an Introduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1979. ______. Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Search for Brazil’s Musical Soul. Austin, Tex.: Institute of Latin

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Qualliotine, Armand Guy. “Extended Set Procedures in Two Compositions of Luigi Dallapiccola.” Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1986.

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III. Scores and Recordings Dallapiccola, Luigi. Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera. Milan: Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1953. ______. Variazioni per orchestra. Milan: Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1954. ______. Complete Works for Violin and Piano and for Piano. Duccio Ceccanti, violin; Roberto

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Marsia; Variazioni per orchestra. James Ehnes, violin (1st work); BBC Philharmonic; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor. Colchester, Essex, England: CHAN 10258 Chandos Chandos, 2004. Compact disc.

Villa-Lobos, Heitor. The Piano Music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. New York: Consolidated Music

Publishers, Inc., 1973. ______. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 (for orchestra). New York: Ricordi, 1953. ______. Bachianas Brasileiras. Jose Feghali, piano (3rd work); Rosana Lamosa, soprano (5th

work); Nashville Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Mogrelia (1st work), Kenneth Schermerhorn, conductors. Naxos Music Library 8.557460-62, 2006. Compact disc.

______. Complete piano music. Vol. 1. Débora Halász, piano. Djursholm, Sweden: CD-712 BIS;

New York: Qualiton Imports, 1995. Compact disc. IV. Websites Béhague, Gerard. “Villa-Lobos, Heitor.” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy.

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