Today I received an email from violinist Geoffry Wharton, retired concertmaster of the Cologne Symphony and owner of Audrey Call's beautiful Gagliano. He has understandably done a good bit of research on Call, and recently came upon new information about her jazzy suite, Canterbury Tales, which sheds an entirely new light on the composition! 

But first, a little recap. I wrote about the piece in a blog post from 11/25/2014 (here, if you'd like to read it) and it turns out I was completely off in my assumptions about it! The piece is not about the book by Chaucer at all, but, as Wharton writes:

Oops. Reminds me of the final exam I took for a college English class in which I wrote a lengthy essay on the wrong chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses.

So now, looking at the piece from this perspective, it all makes sooooo much more sense.  

In the first movement, "To a Lady From Baltimore," the suave introduction does evoke Wallis Simpson and the elegant excess of which she was fond. God Save the King, as indeed Edward needed to be, appears around 1:27-1:45, preceded by a heraldic fanfare. That's followed by a minor version of Here Comes the Bride (1:57-2:20), which tapers out to nothing and the introduction material returns.

From my 2014 recital, which was a return to playing after eight years on the sidelines (I'm not responsible for the piano's intonation, but I apologize for my slips):

www.dropbox.com/s/kl5u2s5dfqmushk/07%2014y11m08%20Cora%20Cooper.mp3?dl=0
​
Movement 2, "The Bishop Checkmates," features a stealthy, slippery theme which morphs into everyone's first harmonic minor tune, the "Snake Charmer." Seems like Call thought the announcement by a clergy member was a little underhanded. According to an article in The Guardian, "What really sparked public awareness of Edward VIII's relationship with Simpson, and the abdication crisis that might follow, came thanks to the words of Bishop Blunt of Bradford whose pulpit denunciation in 1936 exposed the whole crisis." The snake charmer tune arrives at 0:34-0:54.

www.dropbox.com/s/0dmualq6se7nk5b/08%2014y11m08%20Cora%20Cooper.mp3?dl=0

I kept wondering if the third movement had anything to do with Billy Strayhorn's jazz standard, "Take the A Train," but Google tells me it was written in 1939, and Call published Canterbury Tales in 1937. There is certainly a lot of "train" music in the movement, but I can't find any historical reason for the stereotypical "asian" sound of the fifths throughout the movement. In any case, in "The Duke Takes A Train," Edward VIII rides off into the sunset, presumably with Wallis in tow.

​www.dropbox.com/s/9y1i0aahfkps7np/09%2014y11m08%20Cora%20Cooper.mp3?dl=0

While this charming suite is currently out of print, you can find a short jazz solo by Call in volume four of the anthology. It's called The Witch of Harlem, and there's a recording on the "Soundfiles" page. You can learn more about Call's life at the 2014 blog post linked above.

What better way to celebrate women this month than through videos of young students playing their music? There have been some wonderful concerts using pieces from the anthology this year, and happily some videos are available from the performances. Kudos to the teachers embracing new material and exposing their students to women composers. To quote the hashtag of Claire Allen, #WomenWriteMusic too!

One of Claire's students, by the name of Hannah, was the spark behind her adoption of violin music by women into all her student's lives. Claire was having a competition in which students could earn earn points by reading about composers. Six-year-old Hannah came to her lesson and asked, "Why are all the composers we read about men?" Excellent question!

In this video from last June, Claire's student Jiening is playing "A Picture," a movement from a suite by Edith Lynwood Winn titled From the Carolina Hills. Winn (1867-1933) was a pioneer in American music education. She studied violin in Boston with Julius Eichberg, and in Germany with Bernard Listemann. Should you go into a library with a good section on violin pedagogy, you'll likely see some small and well-used books whose titles start with the words, "How to Study..." and go on to name Kreutzer, Rode, Fiorillo, and Gavinies. Those are the works of Ms. Winn. She wrote a number of teaching pieces like this suite. "A Picture" and two other movements can be found in volume 1. 

​The grand finale of the Allen Violin Studio's #WomenWriteMusic recital was a group performance of "The Ice Skating Pond," the fourth movement of Kansas native Hannah Bartel's Kansas Memories Suite (also in vol. 1). Students love this suite! Hannah, now Hannah Bartel Groening, was a student of mine at Kansas State University. She was a composition major and violinist, and writes very beautiful and playable music. A full-time mom now, Hannah has caught one of her toddlers sitting at the piano "composing" already! I think of Hannah as one of the new generation of composers, but maybe her two-year-old is ahead of us already.   

​In February I gave a presentation to string teachers at our state music teachers convention on the anthologies, and in preparation I asked both Claire and Amy Beth Horman for reactions from their students to the pieces. One of Amy's students, ten-year-old Risa, wrote an incredibly beautiful response:

    "Playing well-known wonderful pieces written by male composers always makes me feel great, but playing unknown still beautiful pieces written by female composers makes me feel special.
    After listening to the piece titled A Sketch, I instantly fell in love with it. Its delicate, graceful and poetic melody touched my heartstrings and it was hard to believe that such a beautiful piece went unappreciated.
    I could easily connect with the piece probably because it is written by a woman. I felt proud and privileged whenever I performed the piece because I was pretty sure that no one there had ever heard it before and I felt like being an ambassador for the piece.
    Working on the piece was more than just learning a piece but a more special experience to me.I am fortunate to be able to have such an experience. Thank you so much." 

Risa was a winner of the American Protege competition, and got to play in Weill Recital Hall last summer. She chose to play Ellicott's A Sketch for the occasion (and I was able to go and hear it!) She also performed it on Potter Violins' Classical Open Stage-- check out their Facebook page and YouTube channel for lots of great videos!

tRosalind F. Ellicott (1857-1924) was the daughter of the Bishop of Gloucester in England, and had a musical mother. Ellicott studied two years at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but most of her training was private. A Sketch was her first published work (in 1883), and can be found in vol. 3 of the anthology. In addition to short works, Ellicott wrote some large-scale compositions, including a fantasia for piano and orchestra, and her Dramatic Overture received performances in England and as far away as Chicago. Thanks to Risa and her pianist Brad Clark for such a beautiful performance!

Also in volume 3 is New Zealand composer Claire Scholes' delightful Knee's Up Mambo. Scholes (born in 1980) is a mezzo soprano based in Auckland, where in addition to composing she works as an arranger, and teaches voice and piano privately. She is known for her vocal and choral writing, but I think her string writing is fantastic! 

Kayleigh, another student of Amy Beth Horman, also performed this piece on Potter Violins' Classical Open Stage. It is such a fun work, and in a style we violinists don't get much chance to explore in the standard literature! Spoiler alert-- for the third volume of the viola anthology, I've commissioned a new piece by Scholes, which is Bollywood-inspired! Dust off your C-strings, because you're going to want to play it!

Two historical and two contemporary women composers played by a bunch of young violinists-- a great way to celebrate Women's History (and future!) Month. Do you have videos of students playing anthology pieces? I'd love to see them and share them with the world! 

Tiptoe Dance by Gail Ridgway Brown 
Where to put it: Middle of Book 2, Gavotte from Mignon-ish: after Low 1 has been introduced, and after some pizzicato prep has been done.
 
Tiptoe Dance is a great piece for putting a lot of skills together, but not necessarily for teaching them. Students should be comfortable with high 2/low 2 patterns as well as low 1’s and the C Major Scale before learning this piece. It has some fun fast scales, as well as one little lick that’s reminiscent of Gossec Gavotte.  The theme can be done either on the string at the balance point, or brush stroke, depending on the student. It also ends with a fast transition to a pizzicato chord that needs some isolation practice and some pizzicato prep (see: Green Tomatoes).
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Isolate the 16th note runs and teach them separate bows, then hooked martele, then slurred.
• Isolate m. 9 and make sure the student lifts the high 2 while playing the last 3rd finger to reach back for the low 2.
• Use the 8th rests to make sure the bow hand is released and flexible in the air (you can have them shake the bow during the rest to check this).

Dance of the Gnomes, by Charlotte Louise Woodbridge 
Where to put it: Middle of Book 2 – pairs nicely with Two Grenadiers
 
Dance of the Gnomes uses many of the same skills as Two Grenadiers, from the ability to switch between d minor and D Major to the many finger patterns used. Both the bowings and rhythms are simpler than in Two Grenadiers, so depending on the student, this piece can either be preparation for Two Grenadiers or reinforcement afterwards. There are double-stops, but they’re mostly open strings and add a great element of fun. The slurs in the D Major section also help to strengthen the bow skills needed in Suzuki Book 2. Several well-placed ritards also help students develop musical pacing and sophistication.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Work a lot on arm levels – slurs can be done as martele to help feel the arm drop to the new string during the stop.
• Teach the D Major section with slurs as martele to help both with level crossings and bow distribution.
• Isolate M. 28 to work on the tritone across the strings from 3 to low 4.
• For the student already doing some 3rd position work, the very last note of the piece (m. 20) can be done in 3rd on the G string.

‘Lil Blue, by Hannah Bartel 
Where to put it: Middle – end of Book 2
 
‘Lil Blue is a beautiful piece that features a lyricism not found in many of the pieces in Suzuki Book 2. Students should be able to play a 2 octave A Major scale before they tackle this piece. This is a much friendlier introduction to A Major than Boccherini Minuet. It’s in ¾, and as every phrase starts on an upbeat, provides ample opportunity to discuss strong and weak beats and bow speed. Lots of good 4th finger practice as well.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Do work on breathing on an upbeat so the student learns to cue it well.
• Having the student sing this first helps them learn where to breathe naturally.
• Depending on where the student is, teaching the slurs as hooked martele can always be usefule, but if the student’s bow arm is already well developed, you can skip this step and go straight to the slurs.

The Marionettes, by Eve Hungerford 
Where to put it: Late Book 2
 
The Marionettes is another great piece in A Major that’s friendlier than Boccherini Minuet. Its cheerful and upbeat character make it a favorite of my students. There are some fun repeated downbows on the G string which give us a chance to work on landing at the frog and pulling the arm weight in the bow. Students will become very comfortable with alternating high 3 and ringing 3.  Dotted rhythms in the middle section will help reinforce the rhythmic concepts introduced in Two Grenadiers and Witches’ Dance. There is also opportunity to work on the left hand frame with plenty of 1 – 4 octave passages.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• The middle section is a great place to talk about subdivision. The tendency is for a student to turn the dotted rhythm into a triplet rhythm. I have them play the 16th note subdivisions, then I play the subdivision while they play normally, then transition them to thinking the subdivision while they play.
• Isolate the 1 -4 octave sections and talk about hand balance, keeping the left thumb soft, and ringing intonation.
• Isolate the repeated downbows. Have the students land right at the frog, do a pinky pushup or some exercise to feel that their thumb is flexible and that their weight is in the back half of their bow arm.
• For students shifting to 3rd position, the last note of this piece can be done in 3rd position on the D string.

Aria, by Ethel Barns 
Where to put it: After Gavotte from Mignon in Book 2
 
Aria is a beautiful piece in g minor that helps develop a lyrical tone and more sophisticated phrasing. Particularly after the faster pieces in the middle of Book 2 (Two Grenadiers, Witches’ Dance, and Gavotte from Mignon), this makes for a dramatic change in character and allows the student to work on their low 1’s and 4’s in a slower paced piece. There are lots of opportunities to talk about breathing (like a singer, since an aria is a song!), phrasing, and pacing. Two simple doublestops at the end allow for a little technical push as well.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• I almost always have students sing and write words to this piece before learning it.
• Have the students play the quintuplets separate bows, then hooked martele before the slurs. A little rhythmic work may be needed to help them make the 5 notes even within the beat.
• The last line needs some isolation to work on changing from 8ths to triplets.
• The doublestops at the end are worth isolating to talk about string levels and left hand frame.

Many, many thanks to Claire Allen for her thoughtful analysis and helpful hints on using these pieces! Check out all the wonderful activities at the Potomac Arts Academy, where Claire teaches (in addition to her own studio, Allen Violin Studio) and is co-ordinator of chamber music. Fairfax, Virginia is lucky to have her!
 
 
 
 
 

Without further ado, here is the next installment of Claire Allen's article!

The Ice Skating Pond, by Hannah Bartel 
Where to put it: After Minuet 2, and then anywhere in Suzuki Book 2
 
This is a phenomenal piece, and my students simply adore it. Especially when they’ve been working hard to master the more sophisticated bow patterns, playing this piece is a huge relief and lets them just play. I don’t teach this piece until after a student has done Minuet 2 and is fairly comfortable with both low 2 and high 3 patterns. Students will want to play this piece fast right away, and rather than rein them in too much, I make sure that there isn’t really anything new for them to learn in it so they can just run.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Spend the first week on intonation, especially the 4th fingers. Have students stop and hold ringing 3’s and 4’s and tune them to the open strings.
• If you haven’t done so already, this piece is the perfect piece to introduce how to work with a metronome.
• Use dotted rhythm patterns (again with a metronome) to increase speed.
• Depending on the student, you can also have the metronome on half notes and then have them march quarter notes (while playing) to help keep them steady.
• It can be fun to do a travel bow from the frog to the tip in measures 10-11 for a dramatic dimuendo and to play the recap at the tip, then a reverse travel bow for the crescendo in m. 17-18.

 
Buy My Pine, by Edith Winn 
Where to put it: Musette
 
Buy My Pine is a fun, fiddle-ish piece. I’ve found that it works best around the Bach Musette in Book 2 to work both on D Major finger patterns across all four strings as well as slurs that are a little less complicated than those in Musette. There are also opportunities for a lot of good level work.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Isolate the 4th finger passages in advance.
• Teach the runs first playing each note twice (doubles), then separate bows, then hooked marteles, then slurs.

 
A Picture, by Edith Winn 
Where to put it: After Minuet 2
 
A Picture works very nicely with Minuet 2. It reinforces the Down Up-Up bowing, and also has some great opportunities for building the connection between the high 3rd finger and the 4th finger. There’s more high 2/low 2 finger patterns, and some fun passage work across the strings. Depending on the student, the bowstroke can either be detache on the string at the balance point, or you can have them bounce it a little bit. There are also a great ritardandos to where you can talk about pacing and breathing.
 
Note: I don’t always teach this piece – I use it more in the Minuets if a student is really getting things quickly and needs more repertoire to go in depth.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Isolate the runs in advance – doubles, singles, and rhythm patterns if needed.
• Point out the key change for the B section in advance.
• M. 25 – 26 and the analogous passages following them also work well if you slur the first two notes and then do an up-bow on the last quarter note of the measure.
• Many opportunities for bow circles and discussion of flexible bow fingers for a soft landing.

 
Green Tomatoes, by Hannah Bartel 
Where to put it:  Early Book 2, after Musette
 
Students love the fact that Green Tomatoes is almost entirely pizzicato. The D Major finger patterns as well as the bowing patterns in the arco section work well to reinforce the work they’ve done in Musette. Playing this much pizzicato helps prepare them for the ending of Gavotte from Mignon later in the book.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Teach the pizzicato without the bow at all first – have them plant the thumb and pluck.
• Stage two involves holding the bow while plucking.

 
Note: I teach Gossec Gavotte after Bourree in Book 2, so this serves as prep for that as well. Green Tomatoes would also be good between Happy Farmer and Gossec Gavotte in Book 1 if you teach the pieces in that sequence.


Part 3 coming very soon!

First of all, I promise to get back to writing blog posts very soon! Last summer all my writing energies went into creating a textbook for an online "Women in Music" class, from which I will make a few posts. I'm a little embarrassed to see that the wonderful Claire Allen is filling in for me yet again. Claire organized and prepared eight of her students for a very special recital this past June 4 called "Women Write Music," and it was one of the highlights of my life! All the students played pieces from either volume 1 or volume 2 of the anthology, Claire and I played the beautiful "Nocturne" by Rebecca Clarke from Three Pieces for Two Violins and Piano (published by Prairie Dawg Press), and she performed the three "Romances" by Clara Schumann and the 4th movement of Amanda Maier's "Six Pieces for Violin and Piano" from volume 4 (listen to her performance on the Sound Files page!) David Norfrey was a wonderful collaborative pianist for the program. The students all played Hannah Bartel's "The Ice Skating Pond" for a group finale:

https://www.facebook.com/AllenViolinStudio/videos/858341297626750/ 
 
Since Claire has been using the pieces from the anthology so successfully, I asked her if she would share her thoughts on how she has decided to integrate them with the Suzuki repertoire. Being the generous person that she is, she sent me this wonderful guide for 12 of the pieces. Here are the first four. Many thanks!

An Old World Minuet by Eve Hungerford 
Where to put it: Suzuki Book 1, after Allegretto & Andantino
 
An Old World Minuet is a charming piece that introduces the ¾ time signature in a friendly way that allows the student more time to adjust to the key of D Major. There are good opportunities to work on level changes, simple slurs, and 4th fingers. It doesn’t require as sophisticated a bow arm as the Bach Minuets, so this is a nice introduction.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Have the student count out loud or play subdivisions yourself during the dotted quarter notes so they hold them full value.
• Depending on the student’s level of coordination, have them do a “Minuet step” while either singing, clapping, or playing the piece. A “Minuet step” = one big step to the side, two small steps, and then repeating the process in the opposite direction.
  

​
The Gipsy Fiddler by Eve Hungerford
Where to put it: Suzuki Book 1, before Etude (I teach this right after An Old World Minuet)
 
This piece is the most wonderful low 2 piece. It has the advantage of not using any 3rd or 4th fingers, so the student can focus on the relationship of the low 2nd finger to the 1st finger. The piece is in minor, so the student hears how dramatic the shift to low 2 is. There are no high 2’s in this piece, so there is minimal confusion.
 
Gipsy Fiddler also uses a lot of slurs, but in fairly simple patterns, and also helps students work on developing a full, sustained tone. It continues work in ¾, with a contrasting middle section in 4/4 that introduces students to meter changes much earlier than the Suzuki books do.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• To avoid overwhelming students with slurs and low 2’s at the same time, I have them play each note twice (“doubles"), separate bows.
• Once they’re comfortable with the finger patterns, I have them play 3 hooked martele instead of 3 slurred to ensure that the contact with the string is good and that they know how to divide the bow.
• Finally, we integrate the slurs once the finger patterns and the bow division are comfortable.

 
Note: After Gipsy Fiddler, I like to use the Bohemian Folk Song in e minor and All Through the Night from Barbara Barber’s Solos for Young Violinists, Volume 1 to work on the idea of high 2 on the D string and low 2 on the A string in G Major. I also do a lot of work on the two octave G Major scale and arpeggios before teaching Etude.
 

Rainy Daze, by Hannah Bartel
Where to put it: Rainy Daze fits well anywhere between the Minuets through all the G Major pieces in the early part of Book 2.
 
Rainy Daze gets students using all the patterns from the G Major Scale over all four strings, in a variety of both step and skip patterns. This piece works especially well between any of the Bach Minuets in Book 1 – my students love the fresh, contemporary, fiddle-inspired style and find it a welcome contrast. There are a lot of two and four note slurs, which help strengthen those skills before proceeding forward in the Minuets. I’ve found that students who have played Rainy Daze before Musette in Book 2 handle those slur patterns much better, as well. There’s also one really fun line with a little bariolage to introduce the idea of backwards string crossings.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Leaving the 3rd finger down from m. 18 – 20 in the bariolage section also lets you work on hand frame, if you’re so inclined.
• Have the students practice singing the introduction and then coming in on beat 4.
• Have the students play all the slurs as hooked martele first. You can monitor both the bow distribution and ensure that the string levels are changing while the bow is stopped.

The Bumblebee, by Anna Priscilla Risher
Where to put it: Like Rainy Daze, The Bumblebee can work well between the Minuets or also in early Book 2.
 
The Bumblebee does great pre-trill preparation, including three glorious measures of 3-4 for a good 4th finger workout. It’s much more scalar than Rainy Daze, and helps reinforce patterns in G Major as well. The concept of 3/8 may be a little tricky for students at this level to understand, so a little rhythmic work outside the piece is needed. All the slurs also help create a sustained sound, and having one bar per bow is usually fairly easy for students to remember. A few well-placed ritardandos and fermatas make for wonderful lessons about musical pacing and timing, as well as breathing and cuing your pianist.
 
Teaching Tricks:

• Teach separate bows first
• Use hooked marteles before adding the slurs to help with bow distribution.
• Depending on the student, you can talk about using smaller amounts of bow at the beginning of the crescendo and then increasing it to make a crescendo. 

A great joy for me is hearing from people about their use of the anthology pieces, and student reactions to the music. It's been particularly wonderful to correspond with Claire Allen, a Suzuki teacher in Virginia. She has been a wonderful champion for incorporating pieces by women into her teaching (see her blog post from last October on the subject at http://www.claireallenviolin.com/blog/game-changer#comments). She recently wrote to me about how she is integrating pieces from volume one into Suzuki Book 1:

"I wanted to write and thank you again for the wonderful Violin Music By Women anthology. I've been using it in my studio for the last few months, and my students positively adore it. The first two pieces, "An Old World Minuet" and "The Gipsy Fiddler," fit beautifully in the middle of Suzuki Book 1. I use the Minuet right after Andantino to stay in D Major just a little longer and to introduce 3/4 time and the minuet before we get to the big Bach ones. Then, I use Gipsy Fiddler to introduce low 2. I like to teach low 2 long before we get to Etude, and Gipsy Fiddler is perfect since there are only low 2's in it! My students love how dark and moody the piece is, and they also adore the slurs."

She has an exceptional student, five-year-old Jiening Zhang (who has already been studying with Claire for a year and a half!) Jiening recently played "The Ice Skating Pond" from Kansas Memories Suite as an audition piece for an honors recital, and was accepted! Her parents have given me permission to post the video here for your enjoyment:

Look at that beautiful bow arm! What great energy in her strokes.

Claire also writes, "We're all excited in our studio - these pieces make such a lovely contrast with the Suzuki folk songs."
Check out her blog (http://www.claireallenviolin.com/blog) -- she always has interesting and thoughtful ideas!

Another teacher in my town, Katherine Okesson, has told me that she uses the first volume with more advanced students for position and shifting work. The first piece, "An Old World Minuet," fits beautifully in fourth position. "The Gipsy Fiddler" is a great piece for shifting between first and third positions. The beautiful "Aria" by Ethel Barns is perfect for practicing a budding vibrato. If you've found new uses for the pieces, or great ways to incorporate them into your sequence of pieces, I'd love to hear about it!

Volume four is filled with great memories of three composers in particular-- Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Libby Larsen, and Lauren Wells. Two are firmly established, leading American composers, and one was in graduate school when we met by chance.

I think it was the summer of 2008 that I got the crazy notion of emailing the three most respected American women composers about my anthology project. What could happen? I certainly wouldn't be any worse off if I never heard from them. So emails flew to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Libby Larsen and Joan Tower, and then I set about cleaning the house and doing all those summer things that never happen during the school year. I think I was actually dusting when the phone rang. "Hi, this is Ellen Zwilich, and I think your anthology is a great idea. I would love to be part of it." Gobsmacked. I think I managed not to fangirl at her too much. She was absolutely gracious and was so helpful in putting me in touch with appropriate contacts at Theodore Presser. Her Partita for violin and piano was written for a high school student of Louise Behrend, and so was already tailor-made for the project. Dr. Zwilich was kind enough to offer the whole work for my use. Unfortunately, it would have made the volume too long, so she chose the "Tango" movement as the best stand-alone piece. Please do look for the whole Partita-- it is a terrific work, accessible and attractive! 

The boost that phone call made to my ability to complete the whole shebang was immeasurable. She made me feel both validated and inspired. Having the first woman to earn the Pulitzer Prize in Music encourage me was a tremendously special encounter.

Joan Tower and Libby Larsen also returned my emails, to my astonishment. Ms. Tower was lovely and supportive, but she didn't have anything readily available and  unfortunately the timing was not right for a commission. 

Libby Larsen is an amazing confidence booster. Such a positive and caring person! We arranged to meet in Minneapolis when I was traveling there, and had a really wonderful lunch together. It was right before the 2008 presidential election, and as we discovered common political leanings, she sent me a "Baroque Obama" t-shirt afterwards (with President Obama's face superimposed over Bach's in his iconic portrait). I brought along some of the other volume four pieces for her to look at, and she talked about wanting to do something very rhythmic and driving, perhaps even with speech involved. Needless to say, I was fine with anything she wanted to do! Imagine my surprise when Blue Piece arrived-- it's a dreamy, languorous piece conjuring up images of smokey rooms and cosmopolitans. I love it. 

Ms. Larsen kept her commission fee intentionally low to help out, saying she just wanted to be a part of the project. Never having commissioned a piece before (I like to start at the top), it didn't occur to me until it was almost finished that that meant I could also dedicate it to someone. After some thought, I realized I wanted to dedicate it to all my violin teachers, in thanks for the many hours they dedicated to me. 

My violin case is responsible for the inclusion of Serpentine in the anthology. I travel with a cute Tonareli shaped case that sits upright like a cello, taking up much less room sitting around airports waiting for the next flight. In 2011, while I was staring off into space between flights at the Kansas City airport, a young woman complimented me on the case, which of course started a discussion. Yes, she was a violinist, originally from Kansas City, but was getting her master's degree in composition from the University of Delaware. "Hmmm... there are no coincidences," I thought. I asked if she'd written anything for violin and piano, and explained about the anthology. A few days later, there was was an email from Lauren Wells in my inbox with a pdf and recording of Serpentine. I thought it was a great introduction for young players to contemporary idioms, including mixed meters and less tonal writing. I was also really excited to be able to publish a young composer in a volume with established contemporary greats and historical figures. Lauren now lives in Seattle and is involved in many forms of music making, both traditional and experimental. I think I remember her telling me that she has also been on a roller derby team. An exceptional young woman!

About two weeks ago (November 8, to be exact), I had a lot of fun presenting a lecture-recital that featured three suites by 20th-century American women composers. It was fun for a lot of reasons: one, the music was goofy and unlike anything I'd ever performed before; two, I got to work with our fabulous collaborative pianist, Amanda Arrington; and three, it was a big step forward for my playing after eight years of recovering from various injuries and illnesses. Looking on the bright side, if not for the enforced time away from playing, I never would have created this anthology!

I had found Audrey Call's Canterbury Tales Suite during anthology research, and even though it's in a jazzy style unnatural to me, I wanted to play it. Then I received an email last year asking me if I knew about Susan Dyer's An Outlandish Suite. The fine folks at interlibrary loan found it for me, and I loved how unusual and quirky it was. All I needed was one more piece of Americana to round out the program, so I went back to my roots and brought out a work from volume one, the Kansas Memories Suite by Hannah Bartel (now Hannah Groening). It made for a very light-hearted little recital!

Hannah Bartel Groening (b. 1985) was born in Cimarron, Kansas, growing up in the country with many siblings in a musical family. She was a composition student at Kansas State and graduated with a B.M. in 2008. Violin is her primary instrument, and she was a delight to work with. Hannah is married now and lives in Dodge City, Kansas, with her husband and young son. She teaches violin and piano, composes, and is an avid gardener. Last year was apparently a bumper crop for tomatoes!

I commissioned this suite from her for the first volume of the anthology. She writes wonderfully for strings, and has a natural gift for melody. Each movement captures a moment from her childhood, and focuses on a different technical aspect of violin playing: string crossings, pizzicato, legato, and perpetual motion. The pieces are not only useful for teaching, but are really fun to play! Below are links to sound files for the first and third movements:

"Rainy Daze" 
https://app.box.com/s/jt7bqa8ydihjxpq43obe

" 'Lil Blue"
https://app.box.com/s/tn0crpr1yf2xhzutpnl6

The next composer on the program was Audrey Call (1905-2001), who grew up in Marion, Indiana (also the birthplace of James Dean). Call began violin studies at age three and appeared as a prodigy from age eight into her teens. Graduating from high school in 1923, she began studying at the Sherwood Music School in Chicago. Call won two violin competitions in 1926, and mdd her debut with the Chicago Symphony in 1927. From there, it was off to Paris for "finishing" at the Paris Conservatoire, where she earned the "Premier Accessit de Violon" in 1928.

On her return to America, Call got involved in radio broadcast work. She was the violin soloist for the "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio show for several years, and married the show's orchestra conductor, Ulderico Marcelli, in 1937. Call also played on the radio shows of other luminaries of the day, including Dennis Day, Imogene Coca, and Ronald Coleman. She was also a staff violinist for both NBC and CBS. The 1930's also saw her turn her hand to composition. Call wrote a number of "novelty solos" for violin and piano in a jazzy/blusey/big band sort of style popular at the time (The Witch of Harlem is one, which you can find in volume four of the anthology). Her style has been compared to that of Joe Venuti, though I'm not sure how apt that comparison may be.

Call had one son with Marcelli, and the marriage was a long and presumably happy one. She continued to compose and play, and was a dedicated violin teacher in Sunland, California. After her death, a music scholarship was established in her name at Santa Rosa Junior College. Call played a Gagliano violin, which is now owned by the concertmaster of the Cologne Philharmonic, Geoffrey Wharton.

The Canterbury Tales Suite is in three movements, each of which seems to present a character from the stories. Full disclosure-- I've never read the book so I am guessing at the correspondences based on an internet synopsis. Sorry! Please correct me if you know better. The first movement, "To a Lady from Baltimore," I'm guessing to be related to the Wife of Bath, a fun-loving, risqué, scarlet-dress-wearing woman of five marriages. The music is seductive, interrupted in the second part by a march and a sinister take on "Here Comes the Bride." Call makes use of whole-tone scales (perhaps a French influence?), upbow staccato, glissandi, and harmonics.

"To a Lady from Baltimore"
https://app.box.com/s/sledq46b1ap5q4xzgyhp

The other two movements, in my humble and uninformed opinion, depict the Friar and the Knight, respectively. The second movement starts with rather furtive music, and later launches into a jazzy, somewhat disguised version of the snake-charmer tune. The Friar was a slime-ball; he dressed like a beggar to get money, pretends he has a lisp for sympathy, calls the poor scum, and carries little presents for pretty girls. I'm stretching terribly for the third movement. The Knight went on many crusades, and the opening sounds like a meandering horse's gait. The piece then launches into stereotypical "Asian" music-- lots of double stop 4ths and 5ths-- indicative of travels in the east. And then somehow it all becomes train music, with "all aboard" glissandi and chugging. Lots of fun!

Lastly, a composer who was totally new to me! Susan Hart Dyer (1880-1922) was a dedicated violin teacher and composer with a very colorful upbringing, especially for her time. Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Dyer's father was a Navy Commodore who took his family with him on his travels. They spent considerable time in Guam, where her father was governor, and also in the Philippines. Dyer entered Peabody Conservatory in 1897, and received her teacher's certificate in 1902. She later studied composition at Yale with Horatio Parker, and received her degree as well as the Steinert Prize for composition in 1914. While in New Haven, Dyer taught music at the Neighborhood House Settlement School, where she was devoted to the welfare of the poverty-stricken students. Hand-written notes in the school records show the interest she took in each individual. For one student, she wrote, "Came over and over again to inquire about violin lessons. At that time said his mother wouldn't buy him a fiddle and we had none to lend. Now there are two idle and would advise looking him up, as it would be a very good thing for him to come to the school; he needs it."

Dyer moved with her parents to Winter Park, Florida, and taught at Rollins College from 1914-1922 (serving as director of the conservatory from 1916). She resigned from Rollins to become the Director of the Greenwich House Music School Settlement, but sadly died within a few months of taking the post.

Dyer was known for her keen sense of humor, which is readily apparent in An Outlandish Suite. I didn't know what to expect from such a title, but I think it relates to the idea of "outliers"-- people from the fringes of society at that time. The original program notes for the posthumous premiere stated, "Under this title Susan Dyer grouped together some of the musical impressions and reactions of years of travel. Through all her voyages and varied sojourns as a naval officer's daughter, she kept her sharp ears open to whatever music was wafted her way; and this suite is her vivid response to the musical color and emotional temper of races black and red and white and yellow." The first movement, "Ain't it a Sin to Steal on a Sunday," is subtitled "Negro Song." There were many versions of this tune, from "Ain't it Grand to Live a Christian" to "Ain't it a Sin to Beat Your Wife on a Sunday." This version was used as an encore in the 1922 musical Shuffle Along, the first all-black cast Broadway show. Movement two, "Florida Nightsong," bases the piano part on the birdcall of the chuck-will's widow (which you can hear here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chuck-wills-widow/sounds). This movement was performed and recorded by Heifetz. The unusual third movement is a Seminole ceremonial dance, the chicken dance (no, not the one you do at weddings). The piano part gets more and more insane as it goes along, with Amanda describing it as a "robot chicken on fire," and me to say, "this chick has issues." The "Panhandle Tune" is a cowboy song adapted by Dyer with beautiful simplicity. Lastly, the fifth movement is "Hula-hula," to be played "Not too fast, but with savage rhythm" yet "insinuatingly." The violin has many quick slides meant to suggest steel guitar. This quirky suite is very violinistic in writing and full of surprises!

"Florida Nightsong"
https://app.box.com/s/8rendp3yy1ylkkldcabm

"Chicken Dance"
https://app.box.com/s/miua9l0q34edf361j2cr

Getting to talk with composer and pianist Marga Richter has been one of the most delightful experiences to come out of creating the anthology. This feisty, 80-something-year-old is an active woman of strong opinions and great humor. Our phone conversations since 2008 have covered moving to a new house (after being on the roof fixing the old one), many forceful and entertaining political discussions, worry for a bassoonist friend’s recovery from Bell’s palsy and talk about her latest compositions. She is an inspiration who has come to be known as “Aunt Marga” to said bassoonist and I.

Professionally, Ms. Richter has had a career marked by honors and successes both in America and abroad. Her work in the 1950’s and 1960’s, notable in itself, also helped pave the way for later women composers such as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Joan Tower. She has received grants, awards and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, the National Federation of Music Clubs, Meet-the-Composer and ASCAP.  Her 1964 ballet, Abyss, was commissioned by the Harkness Ballet and performed in most of the major cities of Europe and North and South America during the next few years. It has since been added to the repertoires of the Joffrey and Boston Ballet Companies. Ms. Richter’s compositions have been played by over 45 orchestras throughout the world, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphonies, and the London Philharmonic. She has written of her work, “Visual experiences and nature are the primary inspirations for Marga Richter's music. Sources as varied as the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, a New England winter scene and the exotic landscape of Tibet have all served to trigger the composer's creative responses.” Her music has a unique sound, frequently dissonant and always intriguing. You can find much more information, including a works list, at www.margarichter.com.

Richter studied piano with Roslyn Turek, and composition with Vincent Persichetti and William Bergsma at Juilliard, receiving a Master’s Degree in 1951. In a lovely note she sent me dated September 26, 2008, Richter wrote, “I arrived in Manhattan, NEW YORK, 65 years ago today, after a Greyhound bus trip from Robbinsdale, MN. It was a glorious sunny day and like stepping into a whole new world, with mother, brother, dog and Steinway upright in tow!” The whole family relocated so that Marga could pursue her dreams halfway across the country. Her life is now the subject of a full-scale biography by Sharon Mirchandani, published by the University of Illinois Press. 

In our first conversation about the Three Pieces for Violin and Piano, she first blurted out, “Where on earth did you find that thing?” Richter had written the work during the Kennedy administration, after hearing that Kennedy’s press secretary (Pierre Salinger) had a young son who played violin. She thought he might like to play something different, so wrote it and sent it off. Other than receiving a letter of thanks on White House stationary, nothing more happened with it for forty or so years. I found it listed in the New England Conservatory library, the manuscript presumably donated by the Salinger family. In that same 2008 note, Richter wrote, “[I] am very happy that my Three Pieces will see the light of day.” Happy to oblige!

I really wanted to include a piece that would be a great introduction to more contemporary harmonies and mixed meters before the last volume of the anthology. The Three Pieces are largely playable in first and third position, but feature asymmetrical and mixed meters (the first movement mostly alternating 7/8 and 4/4 measures) and dissonance. The violin part is quite fun to play, especially the driving first movement with a somewhat primal eighth-note brush stroke motif. One word of warning—the piano part is very difficult! In particular, the third movement necessitates a slower tempo than the violin part seems to indicate. The pianist is generally twice the speed of the violinist, with a great deal of chromaticism and tricky rhythms.

As a challenge to that brainy kid, and an ear-opening first exposure to “mid-century modern” music, check Marga Richter’s Three Pieces for Violin and Piano. You’ll be glad you did!

I have to admit to a certain fascination with the early 20th century. The clothes! The changing times! All things Downton Abbey! And of course, the professional female violinists breaking new ground in their era. Irma Seydel (1896-?) was one of those young women, achieving virtuoso status and making her way as a concert soloist at least into the 1920's.

Seydel was helped along by having a father in the Boston Symphony, who started her on the violin at the age of three. She studied with the renowned violinist, composer, and teacher Charles Martin Loeffler from the age of ten, and later on made the obligatory "finishing" trip to study in Europe (though I have not discovered with whom she studied). Seydel clearly progressed rapidly, and in 1909, at the age of 13, she was soloist with the Gurzenich Orchestra in Cologne. During her career, she was to perform with the Berlin, Leipzig, and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In America she appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Baltimore Symphonies, and multiple times with the Boston Symphony.

Seydel often performed the Saint-Saens B minor Concerto, including its premiere performance with the San Francisco Symphony in 1913. The reviewer for that concert wrote, "The youthful virtuoso has spirit, vigor and sympathy. She plays with faultless Intonation and exhibits a rare capacity for expression. She was recalled for two encores, playing Schumann's immortal 'Traumerei' exquisitely."

World War I disrupted Seydel's plans for another European tour, but she stayed active on the home front. The Musical Courier of 1918 (from which this picture was snagged) reported that she "has proved herself as great a patriot as she is an artist," spending two months that summer playing for soldiers and the wounded at various forts and a naval hospital. "Although there were no printed programs," the article continues, "Miss Seydel always played until long after 'lights out in the barracks' on some of the islands. The well-liked violinist and her accompanist, Edna Stoessel, both charming girls, were entertained and chaperoned by Y.M.C.A. men, and created much enthusiasm wherever they appeared."

Seydel also made appearances drumming up business for the Edison Musical Instrument Company. An ad in the May 12, 1918 Reading (PA) Eagle, the Metropolitan Phonograph Company announced a concert at the Rajah Theater in which Seydel, Marie Morrisey (contralto with the Metropolitan opera), and cellist Jack Glockner would "sing and play with and without the Edison, for the purpose of comparison-- see if you discern one from the other." Seydel recorded Kreisler's Liebeslied on an Edison wax cylinder, and later two 78 records (Beethoven Minuet in G and D'Ambrosia Canzonetta). Syracuse University has made an mp3 of the Kreisler recording available here. I love technology! You can hear that, like Kreisler, she uses an almost continuous vibrato. Her approach to rubato and slides are quite conservative for the time. The recording is dated as from 1924.

Seydel married in 1921, an event which seems to have been undertaken in haste. A notice in the March 26 Musical America is headlined, "Waives Five Days Clause When Musician Marries in Boston." The spouse was one William Dunbar, "a member of the theatrical profession." I don't know how long the union lasted, or whether or not it provided wedded bliss, but maybe it's not a good sign that Seydel registered a piece entitled "Dirge" for copyright a few months later. She never took his name professionally, at any rate.

In the late 1920's, Seydel served as concertmaster with the Boston Women's Symphony. She taught violin and solfeggi, possibly at the New England Conservatory, from 1920 to 1937, and is listed in a document of new Department of Music hires for Boston schools in 1946. It seems her concertizing reached at end sometime in the 1930's. 

Besides the Bijou Minuet in Volume Two and the Minuet in Volume One, I looked at two other compositions by Seydel. Valley of Dreams and A Sunset Picture were both copyright in 1927, and are significant departures from the earlier minuets. Somewhat impressionistic in character, both were more dissonant and dreamy. I remember not liking either one very much, but now I wish I could to review them again and see I what I think.

Bijou Minuet suited the need for a straightforward, entertaining piece in 1st and 3rd position. Of technical note is the bowing in the A section, which could be treated as either elementary upbow staccato/hooked bowing, or as "standing spiccato"-- upbow circle lifts that don't travel. The scalar motion in the outer sections lends itself very nicely to learning note/finger placement in 3rd position, in everyone'a favorite key of D major. The trio spices things up a bit with chromatic 16ths on many downbeats. I used the "modern" chromatic fingering rather than sliding fingers. In several spots, a shift is required from open A or E to the 3rd finger in 3rd position. Students can test their growing feel for the location of 3rd position with these "leaps of faith!" Alternations between forte and piano dynamics about every two measures provides great fodder for work on sound and bow control. For it's 48 measures, Seydel's Bijou Minuet supplies plenty of meaty technique to keep a student satisfied!