JAVS Spring 2010

S TUDENT L IFE F LOURISHES AND C ADENZAS IN THE B AROQUE AND E ARLY C LASSICAL C ONCERTO

by Annette Isserlis

instructive. In addition to the stan dard A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing by Leopold Mozart, another excellent manual is Judy Tarling’s Baroque String Playing for Ingenious Learners . Tarling deals with many different aspects of ornamentation, citing sev eral examples where composers have supplied their own. Robert Levin, who is a remarkable exponent and authority concerning classical improvisation, has published a set of cadenzas for the Mozart violin con certi. These cadenzas contain practi cal formulas for those who want to do it themselves! This article, then, will attempt to provide a few ground-rules and some inspiration for composing one’s own cadenzas, as well as the means to embark upon improvised flourishes. I have taken the Telemann Viola Concerto as my Baroque concerto model, but these principles will apply to Galante style sonata movements as well. The Stamitz Concerto in D Major, op. 1 is a later, longer, and more compli cated work, but we will see that the cadenzas here grow from the same roots in many respects, although they can be proportionately longer.

text of a concerto. I have compiled a basic list of its uses, which is by no means comprehensive. However, I have slanted my view of the purposes specifically toward the viola, as opposed to any other instrument, as our needs differ from the rest of the string family: 1) To draw attention to one’s tone by providing a solo spot free of orchestral texture 2) To express oneself without tempo restriction combined with spontaneous rhetoric 3) To show improvisatory skill while drawing from favored aspects of a concerto movement I will enlarge upon these points individually, although inevitably there will be some overlap. 1) The viola offers rich sonorities, particularly in its lower and middle registers. The individual ity of each instrument’s voice is the fascinating result of each craftsman’s solution to the inherent anomaly between pitch 4) To show off one’s best technical points while giving a last blast!

The art of improvisation and rhetorical embellishment on the violin has many fine exponents, including Sigiswald Kuÿken, Lucy van Dael, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Andrew Manze, and Rachel Podger. Applying this art to the viola needs consideration of which aspects will suit the mellow tones best. My own experience has shown that the freedom to impro vise is essential, as is flair and fan tasy, but it should always spring from musical considerations in matters of harmonic language, style, and proportionate length. I encourage my own students to be able to improvise an inner part to a written or heard melody with bass accompaniment, as well as to be able to supply their own bass-line to a melody. This is a good basis for improvising solos with confi dence. Embellishment is a tool to enhance the performer’s communi cation of rhetoric. Personally, I have absorbed as much as I could from what sounded natu ral and effective in practice. One’s brain, ears, and musical instinct are the finest creative source. While trial and error is the most effective way to acquaint oneself with the art, there is some reading material that is

We will start with a look at the purpose of the cadenza in the con

and available string-length. Know your viola’s best tonal

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