| A LOOK INTO THE THEMATIC ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF GEORGE WALKER SONATA NO. 1 FOR SOLO PIANO |
| Sunday, 01 July 2007 | |
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A LOOK INTO THE THEMATIC ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF GEORGE WALKER SONATA NO. 1 FOR SOLO PIANO (1953) by Charles Joseph Smith George Walker (1922- ), an African-American composer who had already won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1996, was a little bit like composers Igor Stravinsky and Franz Liszt, because like them, Walker changed his compositional styles in his lifetime. He was known for such pieces as the "Lyric For Strings", a brief piece for string orchestra that seems to hint at Aaron Copland's style, sounding gentle, reflective, and quite retrospective. Bruce Duffie, a longstanding radio announcer of a Chicago classical radio station, WNIB 97.1 FM, used that piece as a final selection on the station in 2001 before going on a permanent sign-off after over 30 years of classical broadcasting. The First Piano Sonata (1953) was one of Walker's greatest accomplishments in contemporary piano repertoire, partially because he borrows two American folk tunes in the second and third movements (using the techniques of theme-variations and also thematic quotation). But it is the first movement of that sonata which shows Walker's originality of music composition while still maintaining the structure of what was classical sonata form. I would call this "neoclassical sonata form", because even though the harmonies break the rules of what is considered the Classical period, the sonata form by itself remains virtually unchanged. Through my analysis of the structure of the first movement, it seems like Walker had paid homage to some of the musical techniques done in the past while he was in the process of forging brand new ones: Exposition (mm. 1-48) The first theme is introduced in several parts; there is an angularmelody in the right hand in eighth notes (mm. 1-2) and then, there are running sixteenth notes (mm. 3-6) that sound pseudo-chromatic and less angular than the former. Finally, this first theme ends with a military bent (mm. 7-8). There is a transitional section in mm. 12-21. Parts of the first theme--the 2nd part of the theme in sixteenths. The second theme starts in mm. 22 (Meno mosso). This is more lyrical than the first, and more triplets than sixteenth notes dominate the section. The closing theme of the exposition actually starts in the triplet climax in m. 38 to the highest point in m. 40. Freeform cadenzas in mm. 41 and 43 seem to be almost in the style of C.P.E. Bach, but there are also shades of the Impressionists (Debussy and Ravel) and Scriabin as the cadenzas focus on broken quartals and quintals. Measure 44ff. shows the introduction of the march theme (which would be the third main theme of the sonata). No definite ending to the exposition, but it seems to end in measure 48, where the dotted triplet rhythm is introduced. Development (mm. 49-94) More sixteenth-note passages which were part of the first theme are modified.The dotted rhythms intersperse the passages and disappear after m. 55. Ragtime-like syncopated sixteenths are in contrapuntal motion in mm. 61-63. A pedal point on E in m. 70 introduce the inner sixteenth runs that were used in the first theme. It explodes into a climax in m. 74 into a freeform cadenza almost akin to that of mm. 41-43. The Meno mosso in m. 78ff. shows the recalled second theme of the exposition, with the approximate key center being A minor. The recurrence of the third theme in m. 84 then competes with the entrance of the recurring second theme in the exposition. The ending of the development starts on m. 89. The passage has time signature changes common in early Stravinsky pieces (for instance, Rite of Spring). I would call this passage a quasi-ragtime bridge, because it has syncopated montunos seen in ragtime music. The bridge leads to an octave climax on m. 94. Recapitulation (mm. 94-139) From m. 94ff, the reprise is like the beginning, except that m. 94 has an 11/8 meter. Key centers from A sharp minor and the V of F-sharp minor appear in mm. 102-103. The reprise of the transitional theme starts off in the key center of D minor, changing quickly to B-flat minor (enharmonic of A-sharp minor), in mm. 106-107. The end of the transitional theme (m. 116) leads to a key center of the V in C-sharp minor, followed by a lyrical second theme that seems to focus more on fourths than that of the second theme in the exposition. The opening of the closing theme (m. 130) takes out two measures---it is actually abbreviated. Two freeform cadenzas appear like in the exposition---one on the key center of F# minor, (m. 132) and another in D# minor (m. 133) A menacing march theme (as in the exposition's closing theme) occurs in mm. 135-138, followed by an arpeggio passage on an Am7 (add 4) chord. Coda (mm. 139-155) Here, there is a variation of the transitional theme (from mm. 12-21) in mm. 140-142. The mood is held back and rather quiet. At the Meno mosso (mm. 140-142), there is an partial inverse of the first theme in the right hand...the mood is even calmer. A climax builds up with accelerated tempo leading to a faster tempo (mm. 143-148). The rest of the finale becomes more agitated in mm. 149 ff. Running sixteenth notes in ragtime-style octaves (which depicts a crazy montuno) permeate in both hands, with a fusion-like jazz ending in mm. 154-155. Therefore, Walker's musical elements in the themes of the movement are quite versatile. This is because he mixes jazz elements (especially ragtime) as well as classical, so the result is a crossover of the two styles. The same mixture of classical and jazz elements in that Walker sonata movement also appears in Gershwin's Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue. MEET THE AUTHOR - click Read more... below Charles Joseph Smith, born in October 22, 1970, is the son of Joseph Smith (deceased) and Emma Smith and brother of Stanley Smith (deceased). He started playing the piano when he was eight and composing music when he was ten. This came not only when he heard Stanley play the piano earlier, but also when Charles acquired his own musical talent soon afterwards. His piano teachers included James Williams, Sophia Zukerman, Emilio del Rosario, Pawel Checinski, Sharon Rogers, Kenneth Drake, Gustavo Romero and William Heiles. His composition teachers were Charlotte Lehnhoff and Sever Tipei. At one time, he was a pianist for he Commonwealth Community Church, accompanying for the Gospelaires youth choir and the sanctuary choir. After completing elementary and high school courses at Beacon Therapeutic School, he went to Roosevelt University. There, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University (which is now the Chicago Center For the Performing Arts). He also earned an Master of Music in Piano Performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a high school student, Charles was a frequently awarded musician. For instance, in 1984, he won first place in the CAMTA (Chicago Area Music Teachers Association) piano contest. He received the Zoltán Kodály Academy and Institute Honorary Award in 1987 at the Three Arts Club in Chicago--one of the youngest musicians to ever receive the award. In 1988, he won first place in the Society of American Musicians (SAM) competition at Roosevelt University, in Chicago. In the same year, he won first place in the Classical Music and Composition categories in the ACT-SO competition in Chicago (The acronym means African-American Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics, which was founded by Vernon Jarrett, who is now deceased) He then represented ACT-SO in the national Competition in Washington D.C. and won second place in Classical Music. In 1989, he took first place in the local competition in the same categories and represented ACT-SO in the National Competition in Detroit, Michigan. In 1990, he won the ACT-SO First Place Award in Musical Composition at the local level, and represented ACT-SO in the national competition in Los Angeles. During the summers of 1985-1989, he attended music camps at Illinois State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Chapman College in Orange County, California. He also attended a Summer Piano Workshop at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1993. He also competed in the Nathaniel Dett Club music competitions (sponsored by The National Association of Negro Musicians, or NANM) in 1990, where he won the local competition and won second place in the piano category at the national competition in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, he won the local competition again in 1991 and represented NANM in the national competition in Newark, New Jersey. He started his undergraduate studies at Roosevelt University on a 4-year partial scholarship. While at the school, Charles performed his sophomore, junior, and senior recitals in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He earned a Franklin Honor Society Award in 1994 and was placed in the Who's Who Of American Students In College and Universities from 1994-95. During that time, he was featured on a side issue of the campus' Torch newspaper with student journalist Regina Waldroup. In addition, he also was featured as a guest soloist with the South Side Family Chamber Orchestra on at least seven occasions, under conductors like Delano O'Banion and Terrance Gray. Charles had done performances of piano concertos from Beethoven, Mozart, and Edvard Grieg. At one time, Charles and the orchestra performed outside the Daley Plaza in Chicago in July 1987. Charles developed a strong interest in opera , especially when he went to Roosevelt University. He became assistant musical director for Roosevelt University's Opera Theatre in the 1993 production of The Magic Flute and the 1994 production of Carmen. His recognition on the University of Illinois campus spread almost rapidly. He played piano for plenty of talent shows all around campus, as well as did some accompanying work. At one time, he performed his own set of piano compositions in his own recital at 1997. Later, he was on a full front-page story in the Daily Illini on May 2000, written by Milton Carrero and photographed by Jesse Evans. He completed his doctoral work by doing an extended paper and performing in two lecture-recitals; his thesis was the Franz Liszt operatic arrangements for the piano. In February 2003, he also appeared on a side page of the same newspaper after performing in a Black History Opening Ceremony at the Illini Union at the campus, in 2003, which was televised repeatedly on the campus local channel for two weeks. He was also featured in the same year during the Culture Shock International Festival on the same campus. In addition to his campus accomplishments, he had some success as a pianist abroad. He attended the French Piano Institute in Paris in July 2000 and won an Honorable Mention in their final recital and competition. He went to Italy in 2001 to compete in the IBLA Grand Prize International Competition in Sicily, where he won an Honorable Mention for Musicianship. In the same year, he also performed in a master class under famous Hungarian pianist Csaba Király at the International Piano Master Class in Budapest. In 2003, he assumed part-time vocal accompanying duties at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University (Chicago), under former opera greats Michael Best, Jonita Lattimore, and Richard Stillwell for about two years during regular school semester periods. In March 2005, he performed his contemporary solo piano composition "Smooth Suspense" at the School of Designing a Society House Theater weekend in Urbana in March 2005. In May 2005, he performed background piano music during the Beverly Home Tour in Chicago. In June 2005, he attended the College Music Society's Music Technology Conference at Illinois State University at Normal, IL, which he demonstrated a brief PowerPoint lecture of a sample college class outline. In July 2005, he appeared in the first paid overseas recital, a salon recital in the French town of St. Martin-de-Londres, with pianists Kimiyo Mochizuki and Christophe Sirodeau, and organized by Pascal Herpin, the president of the Préludes organization. During the recital, he performed the complete Visions Fugitives by Prokofiev, and the complete Rite of Spring arranged by pianist/composer Vladimir Leyetchkiss. In July 2005, he collaborated with professional Latin signer, Yammika Cespedes, in Berlin, Germany, completing a romantic salsa song, False Pride. He also attended his first major keyboard conference, the International Keyboard Institute Festival, being an auditor in plenty of master classes and recitals, and seeing performances from pianists Leslie Howard and Earl Wild. In August and October 2005, he also played his first piano gigs at the Iron Post in Urbana, IL, and also at Café Luna on the south side of Chicago. In October 2005, he attended his first electro-acoustic composition conference, Electronic Music Midwest, at the Kansas City Kansas Community College, (in Kansas City, KS) , where his original tape composition, "Synth vs. Synth", was featured. In November of the same year, he was invited to be in a chamber performance during Laurie Lee Moses' composition recital, in her piece, "From These, All", conducted by H. Roz Woll. at his first alma mater (Roosevelt University). In addition, in December 2005, he made his debut as a choral audience member in the 30th Annual LaSalle Bank's Do-It-Yourself Messiah at the Civic Opera house in Chicago, IL. Finally, after a semester hiatus, he resumed his part-time accompanying duties at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University (his first alma mater). In February, 2006, Charles participated in the Black History Celebration concert sponsored by the Chicago Music Association, performing the complete Sonata no. 1 by living African-American composer George Walker, and also performed his operatic piano transcription "Non più andrai" from Act II of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in honor of Mozart's 250th birthday. In addition, in the same month, he collaborated with minister of music, Randall Bradford, at the Commonwealth Community Church's Black History Celebration Choral Concert, where he also performed his original Negro Spiritual medley and did piano accompaniment for Nate Williams, a bassist who was formerly with the African-American singing group, The Ink Spots. In addition to his piano accomplishments, he also has an interest in creative writing, especially poetry. He also adores almost all types of dancing, including hip-hop, capoeira, freestyle, ballroom, Latin, nightclub, line dancing and swing dancing, and his most favorite dance is the salsa. He also continues to compose music, and is planning to expand his piano repertoire to include a lot more of his original piano compositions as well as music by other composers. ADDENDUM: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Charles delivered another postodctoral lecture on Salvatore Martirano at the Society of Electroacoustic Musicians Conference in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University on March 2007, and also did a special piano lecture for students of Timothy Ehlen (his former piano teacher) called "The Late Works of Franz Liszt" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Smith Hall. This was his first postdoctoral lecture at his second alma mater (his first was Roosevelt University). Charles had accepted a part-time church keyboard position at the Hartzell United Methodist Church in Chicago. His big event at the church was his piano performance in the Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore DuBois on April 2007. He had been featured on the side page of the News-Gazette (newspaper of Champaign-Urbana, IL) on a profile by reporter/photographer Christine des Garennes on April 2007. On that same month in 2007, his piece, "Samba in F-sharp minor for One Piano, Four Hands", had its debut public performance by the pianist-duo of Donna Gross Javel and Bonnie Anderson at a public library in Massachusetts. Charles Smith is now currently competing in the 2007 IBLA Awards Competition Competition for the first time as a composer, being selected as one of the 20 composers chosen to compete every year out of hundreds of applications. He is also invited to perform at the John Cage Musicircus at the Chicago Cultural Center on October 2007. To listen to Charles Smith, visit: |
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