Danse Ce Soir!
Fiddle and Accordion Music of Québec, by Laurie Hart and
Greg Sandell, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., 2001; 192 pages; $29.95.
From the frontier fusions
of the Athabascan fiddlers to the pure Scottish strains heard in the
Maritime Provinces, Canada is home to some of North America's most intriguing
folk-violin traditions. Quebec boasts a particularly fecund fiddle heritage
rich with distinctive rhythms, unique phrasing, challenging bowing,
and lots of deliriously "crooked" tunes.
Despite thousands of 78
rpm commercial recordings of traditional music and a small-but-steady
stream of new CDs by revival bands in the province, the Quebecois repertoire
has been poorly documented in print, and the music has survived in the
traditional manner—passed down from musician to musician. Outside
the region, the music has been limited to a small coterie of devoted
enthusiasts, including a burgeoning group of admirers south of the border.
This splendid new volume was a ten-year labor of love by Yankee fiddler
Laurie Hart and pianist Greg Sandell, and it goes a long way towards
documenting this worthy tradition.
The 122 transcriptions provide
a core repertoire derived from many of the most significant practitioners
of the tradition—mostly fiddlers and accordionists. The historic
role of instrumental folk music in Quebec is the accompaniment of dancing,
and the repertoire comprises reels, six-huits (equivalent to jigs in
the Irish or Scottish traditions), galopes, marches, gigues, clogs,
valses, and valse-clogs. Each form is well represented in the collection,
and there are detailed notes about the quirks and characteristics of
each rhythm. The extensive introduction also includes notes on the history
of the region and its music, and player-oriented information about typical
modes, idiomatic ornamentation, syncopation, bowing, and other matters
of style.
The authors organized the
book by players, and each section begins with a brief biography of the
source musician followed by several tunes associated with that player.
There are specific notes on the provenance of each tune, as well as
some handy style tips and accompaniment details, including suggested
chords for accompanying each tune. Unlike the rudimentary backup styles
found in many folk-dance traditions, accompaniment in Quebec is a relatively
sophisticated affair, and Hart and Sandell have included a useful primer
on the typical sequences, harmonies, substitutions, and voicings employed
by pianists and guitarists in the region. The book also provides contact
information for organizations, festivals, and music camps that feature
Quebecois music, as well as an extensive discography and a brief bibliography.
A companion CD featuring
the playing of Hart and Sandell presents a selection of 32 tunes in
a variety of settings, with fiddle and accordion taking turns on the
lead voices, sometimes unaccompanied, other times with piano, guitar,
or the spirited clogging associated with fiddling in Quebec providing
the pulsating backup. The CD is nice listening, and it brings the details
of the printed page to life as real music.
In all, an excellent introduction
for those new to the tradition, and an essential resource for anyone
already smitten with the bounce and swing of Quebecois music. To see
the complete table of contents and list of transcriptions or to purchase
the book and CD online, visit www.frenchcanadiantunebook.com.
Simon Rattle:
From Birmingham to Berlin, by Nicholas Kenyon, Faber and Faber,
2002; 358 pages; $30.
As one of the most charismatic,
and outspoken, figures in the classical music world, Sir Simon Rattle
was honored last December as Musician of the Year at a lavish Carnegie
Hall ceremony. This new biography, from music critic Nicholas Kenyon
of the New Yorker and the Times of London, chronicles
the celebrated conductor's seemingly tireless trek from Liverpool schoolboy
to his recent appointment as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Along the way, Rattle has lived up to his name, shaking up the status
quo and challenging the music community to reinvent itself. "The repertory
is in a terrible state," Rattle told Kenyon. "Most conductors, with
the exception of someone like Esa-Pekka Salonen, aren't really committed
to new music. . . . That's the most dangerous thing for our music culture."
—Greg
Cahill
Violin Making:
A Practical Guide, by Juliet Barker. The Crowood Press, 2002; 128
pages; $35; ISBN 1-86126-436-4.
Today we see violin making
schools not just in Mittenwald, Cremona, and Mirecourt, but all over
the world: Students learn lutherie in China, the United States, Canada,
England, and Japan. Juliet Barker, trained at the Bavarian School of
Violin Making and a professional maker, restorer, and teacher, outlines
the process of building a violin, from choosing wood to stringing the
finished instrument, in her new book Violin Making: A Practical Guide.
The book opens with a primer
on the history of violin making and a brief description of instrument
design. Barker explains how the violin evolved into the shape we see
today, with interesting side notes accompanying a labeled diagram of
the front, back, and side views of a violin. For example, the shape
of the C-curves (the half-circle indentations that intercept the upper
and lower bouts of violin-family instruments) was initially incorporated
into the violin's design to allow room for the bow to properly cross
the strings. Barker further explicates, "The C-curve also supports the
arch of the back and the front [of the violin], so the practical demands
of the player led to a practical design. The arching itself is necessary
to withstand the pressure the strings put on the bridge." Interestingly,
this design, once established in 1550, has never changed.
Such in-depth information
prevents the later step-by-step violin-making descriptions from seeming
condescending. Barker's writing style is open and informative and includes
colorful asides and personal know-how (such as her description of tools
for violin making as well as examples of tools that amateur makers can
fashion themselves to save money).
The book includes 200 artistically
presented color photographs and diagrams, which provide added insight
into the making process. The text also includes a valuable appendix
including measurements for the violin, viola, and cello; English, Italian,
French, and German lutherie terms; useful reference sources; and a list
of trade suppliers.
—Heather
K. Scott
The New Grove
Mozart, by Cliff Eisen and Stanley Sadie. Palgrave, 2002; 131 pages;
$12.95; ISBN 0-312-23325-6.
The conductor Otto Klemperer,
when asked who his favorite composers were, listed a handful of the
great masters, but purportedly excluded Mozart. When questioned to this
point, he replied, "Oh, I thought you meant the others." Mozart's place
in history is firmly established, and The New Grove Mozart outlines
the reasons why this Viennese musician and music writer is now considered
the most universal composer in the history of Western music. The book's
text is broken up into two major sections. The first half covers Mozart's
ancestry and early childhood and then goes on to catalog his travels,
compositions (both early works and products of his late years), and
his death. The second half of the book is a comprehensive list of Mozart's
works set up in much the same style as The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians: Each listing is set in a table, sorted by musical
genre, including number, key, title, instrument(s) used, the date of
composition, authentication, edition, and remarks from the authors.
—H.K.S.
The New Grove
Haydn, by James Webster and Georg Feder. Palgrave, 2002; 178 pages;
$14.95; ISBN 0-312-23323-X.
Haydn, the son of a wheelwright,
was meant to follow the church. But the ambitious youth bucked his parents'
wishes, instead pursuing a musical career. Called the "absolute musician,"
Haydn is widely recognized as the father of the symphony and an integral
player in the evolution of the classical style. Authors James Webster
and Georg Feder take the reader back to Haydn's early childhood and
then through his studies in Vienna, Esterh‡zy, and London. Background
on the composer's personality and compositional style and method are
discussed, and an in-depth and lengthy list of Haydn's works closes
the book. Much like The New Grove Mozart, this listing mimics the format
of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
—H.K.S.
J. S. Bach:
3 Sonatas (plus Air in G, Arioso, and Ave Maria; originally for
viola da gamba); $15; catalog no. 102. J. S. Bach: Six Suites for
Solo Cello; $15; catalog no. 100. G. Degli Antoni: 12 Ricercate
for Solo Cello; $19; catalog no. 104. L. Boccherini: Concerto
in B-flat (Original and Grutzmacher edition); $9; catalog no. 103.
J. Brahms: 2 Sonatas (Opp. 38 and 99); $12; catalog no. 105.
J. Haydn: 2 Concertos (in C and D); $15; catalog no. 101. C.
Saint-Sa‘ns: Concerto No. 1 in A minor (plus Allegro Appassionato;
The Swan); $15; catalog no. 106; Amati Music, 2000.
I have often complained
in print about scores that have been too heavily edited, as well as
those with impossible page turns. I am happy to report that Amati Music
is trying to rectify these problems—for cellists. The brainchild
of cellist, editor, and arranger Andrei Pricope, Amati Music offers
clear, unedited parts for much of the standard cello repertoire—in
a series entitled "My Edition." These parts have neither fingerings
nor bowings. Says Pricope, "the idea of ÔMy Edition' is to help advanced
students and performers with uncluttered parts that have convenient
page turns and layout, as opposed to parts with old- fashioned, stylistically
inappropriate editing." This series includes cello sonatas and concertos
by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Schumann (the Schumann is forthcoming,
as is the Beethoven), and Saint-Sa‘ns. Amati's nonedited version of
the Bach Suites offers the Prelude of the Fifth Suite in both an easy-to-read
four-page version and a small-print two-page version—acknowledging
the treacherousness of memorizing that fugue. There's also Boccherini's
B-flat concerto in both original and Gruetzmacher versions. (See my
article in Strings July/August 1993, "Boccherini's Cello Concerto in
B-flat." It is nice to see both editions included here for comparison.)
Amati Music also provides
an extensive étude collection of unjustly forgotten works from
the 19th century, as well as challenging, tasteful transcriptions for
cello of works from the violin and viola repertoire, such as the Bach
violin sonatas and partitas, the viola part to the Mozart Sinfonia
Concertante, and Brahms viola sonatas. Amati will soon include cello
parts to standard chamber music repertoire and some larger ensemble
works. Many more titles are in the works, and Amati plans to expand
in the near future to cover violin and viola repertoire as well. You
can reach Amati Music at www.amati.net;
or via email at amati@onebox.com;
(877) 33-CELLO, PO Box 268604, Chicago, IL 60626.
—Sarah
Freiberg
