Style, Culture, and Politics in Piano Waltzes of the Early Twentieth Century: Ravel
(1911), Hindemith (1922), and Prokofiev (1940)
by
Hwayoung Noh, B.M., M.M.
A Research Document
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance
Approved by
Dr. William Westney
Chairperson of the committee
Dr. Lora Deahl
Dr. David Forrest
Mark Sheridan
Dean of the Graduate School
August, 2016
Copyright 2016, Hwayoung Noh
Texas Tech University, Hwayoung Noh, August 2016
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor, piano professor, and chair of
my committee Dr. William Westney, who encouraged and supported me in completing
my DMA degree. Under his guidance, he has expanded my musical abilities and opened
my mind not only as a pianist but also as an artist. I thankfully had the opportunity to
study with him in piano performance and make the greatest achievement.
My sincere thanks also go to the rest of my committee and research professors, Dr. Lora
Deahl, Dr. David Forrest, and Dr. Mei-Fang Lin, for their encouragement, insightful
comments, and guidance of my document.
I would like to thank Dr. Carla Cash, who helped me obtain my piano pedagogy
certificate. Her support and expertise led me to be a good educator.
To my family, friends and colleagues, thank you for supporting me while I pursued my
doctoral degree at Texas Tech University; your faith in me is a continuous inspiration.
I am eternally grateful to my husband for his continued and unfailing love; his support
and understanding underpinned my persistence and made the completion of my degree
possible. Your prayers for me sustained me thus far.
Finally, my thanks go to all the people who have supported me to complete this document
and DMA degree. Also, I thank God, my Father, for allowing and guiding me through all
my life. I have experienced your guidance every day. I will keep on trusting you for my
future. Thank you Lord.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………………………………….. . ii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………. iv
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ……………………………………………………….v
LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………………. vii
CHAPTER 1 …………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Introduction
History of the waltz
From the minuet to the waltz
The Waltz in the nineteenth century
CHAPTER 2 …………………………………………………………………………… 12
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911)
CHAPTER 3 …………………………………………………………………………… 32
Paul Hindemith (1845-1937): “Boston” from Suite 1922, op.26 (1922)
CHAPTER 4 …………………………………………………………………………….43
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano
Sonata No.6 (1940)
CHAPTER 5 ………………………………………………………………………….... 54
Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………… 56
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Texas Tech University, Hwayoung Noh, August 2016
ABSTRACT
In the first half of the early twentieth-century, extreme political and social
turbulence worldwide influenced cultural, political, and social circumstances that in turn
had an impact on composers’ musical language. This phenomenon influenced
individualistic musical aesthetic, and composers developed their own unique musical
style. Like many musical styles, the waltz was an opportunity for composers to be unique,
and it also represented a social phenomenon.
In the early nineteenth century, Romanticism highlighted dance as an important
part of the expression of spirit. The simplicity of the waltz meant that it could be learned
easily; therefore, people ranging from the nobility to the lower classes enjoyed the dance
equally, and it became predominantly a social dance. The waltz was further developed as
a musical form in the nineteenth century. The waltz was politically important as it related
closely to the social circumstances of nations and represented the spirit of democracy and
individual expression. At the turn of the twentieth century, many composers remained
interested in the genre of waltz. Ravel established in the waltz the essence of pleasure and
nostalgia as great art, Hindemith incorporated in the waltz the German urban society of
the time and expressions of freedom, and Prokofiev created nostalgic emotion,
humanized sound expression, and escape from reality reflecting the social consciousness.
Therefore, this study explored the style, culture, and politics in the twentieth
century music through the lens of three piano compositions that are markedly different,
even though they all share the dance form.
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LIST OF EXAMPLES
1. Viennese waltz accompaniment ...…………………………………………...8
2. Schubert, Valses nobles, Waltz No.6, mm. 1-16 ...…………………………16
3. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz II, mm. 6-20 ...………………16
4. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 10-14 ......……………17
5. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 15-23 ……………...17
6. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz V, mm. 21-24 ………………18
7. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 68-72
and Waltz IV, mm. 1-2 ...…………………........……………………………..…19
8. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VI, mm. 56--60
and Waltz VII, mm. 1-2 ...……………………………….......…………………..19
9. Strauss, Kaiser Walzer, Op.437, Walzer II, mm. 37-44
and Walzer III, mm. 1-11 ...………………………………...……………………20
10. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1-4 ...……………….21
11. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1-5 ...……………….22
12. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 1-2 and 57-58 ...….23
13. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 1-9 ...……………..23
14. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 24-32 ...…………..24
15. Schubert, Valses nobles, Waltz No.1, mm. 1-2 ...…………………………24
16. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1-2 ...……………….25
17. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 143-153 ...……….25
18. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz V, mm. 1-4 ………………..26
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19. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 62-81 ...………….27
20. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 66-70 ……………27
21. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Epilogue, mm. 50-64 .....................29
22. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Epilogue mm 67-72
and Waltz II, mm 41-44 …………..……………………………………………..30
23. Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 1-13 ...……………….38
24. Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 45-64 ……………….39
25. Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 14-31 ………………..41
26. Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 137-163 ……………..42
27. Tchaikovsky,” Valse sentimentale”
from Six Pieces, Op.51, No.6, mm.1-21 ………………………………………45
28. Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo”
from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 1-6 …………….…………………...…….…46
29. Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo”
from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 42-49 ………………………………...…...…48
30. Prokofiev, War and Peace, scene 12 ….……………………..…………….48
31. Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo”
from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 16-18 …….…………………………...……..49
32. Prokofiev, “Allegro moderato”
from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 179-181 ……………………………...…..….49
33. Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo”
from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 7-8 and 9-10 ……...………………...……....51
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LIST OF FIGURES
1. Paul Hindemith, Suite 1922, Op.26 Cover ....…………………………......34
2. George Grosz, Metropolis (Grossstadt) (1917) ………………….………..36
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Twentieth-century music has a wide variety of aesthetics. The change in social,
political and cultural circumstances brought about a phenomenon that influenced many
composers’ musical styles. I choose twentieth-century waltzes. Lilting and lively, the
waltz conveys different moods and characteristics. Therefore, I will examine the stylistic
traits and political and historical influences of the traditional waltz genre through the
comparison of Maurice Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911), Paul Hindemith’s
“Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26 (1922), and Serge Prokofiev’s “Tempo di valzer
lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6 (1940).
In chapter 1, I explore the origin of the waltz and the relationship of social classes
and the dance using the minuet and the waltz. Moreover, I will briefly examine the
Strauss, Lanner, Schubert, and Chopin waltzes of the nineteenth century. In chapter 2, I
discuss Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales including the aspects that impact his valse
related to French culture and how he innovates with the nineteenth century waltz and his
musical language. In chapter 3, I research Hindemith’s “Boston” from Suite 1922. In the
1920s, Hindemith was influenced by Expressionism and American culture, and I examine
how Hindemith uses these ideas in his music. In chapter 4, I research Prokofiev’s musical
trends reflecting Russia political issues in the first half of the twentieth century. In
addition to his musical language, I also explore his meaning of the waltz.
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HISTORY OF THE WALTZ
The word “waltz” originates from the German verb walzen, which means to
wander, turn, or glide, and was used to refer to a revolving or whirling dance movement.
The word walzen and a dance called the walzer are mentioned in various sources from
around the middle of the eighteenth century. The origin of the modern waltz is uncertain,
but it can be considered to have evolved from both the volta and the ländler. Many
pictures show dance characteristics based on the whirling or turning movement of the
waltz. Moreover, the function of this dance is a lively “after-dance” in triple time.1
The volta was a Renaissance court dance popular in the sixteenth century, the
twirling movement and the succession of the steps resembling the later whirling dance
motion of the waltz. The name volta comes from the Latin voltare, which means to turn
and signifies the leaping element in dancing. The volta was associated with the galliard,
an “after-dance” in triple time linked with the pavane or paduana, a dance in duple time.2
The volta consists of five steps or cinq pas in French (cinque passa in Italian).3 The
French court proclaimed the volta as an official dance and it was popular in the
Elizabethan court.4
The ländler was close to the modern form of the Viennese waltz, originally an
Austrian folkdance. It was danced by a couple together in a slow tempo; it is a turning
Alpine dance to music in a three-four time signature with lilting melody and large leaping
1
Eduard Reeser, The History of the Waltz (Stockholm: Continental Book Company, 1949), 2-10.
2
Ibid., 2.
3
Paul Nettl, The Story of Dance Music (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947), 101.
4
Mark Knowles, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances: Outrage at Couple Dancing in the 19th
and Early 20th Centuries (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, North Carolina, 2009), 17.
2
Texas Tech University, Hwayoung Noh, August 2016
intervals. The dance was performed with a singing or yodeling accompaniment, or
sometimes a fiddle or alpine wind instruments. The yodeling accompaniment particularly
helps to increase the profound swinging movement and lifting motion in the dance. The
ländler became popular in the late eighteenth century in Germany and Austria. Mark
Knowles, in his book The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances, wrote that “dance
historians believe this leaping movement originally grew out of ancient fertility rites and
was used to implore the divine to bring a rich harvest.”5 The ländler’s revolving dance
was no different from the steps of the waltz, apart from the tempo.6
FROM THE MINUET TO THE WALTZ
The popularity of the waltz was due to the changing social phenomena of the
nineteenth century. The most important characteristic of the waltz is the turning and
whirling motion. This feature represents individual expression escaping the strict rules of
previous dance forms. As a result, many romantic and the twentieth century composers
became interested in composing the waltz. To understand how this influenced the culture
and society surrounding the waltz, it is beneficial to track the circumstances of the
contrasting minuet. Through the minuet to the waltz, we see the important features that
influenced the dance characteristics of waltz music.
The change in social norms reflects the differences between these two dances.
Before the waltz appeared, court dance was the main form of dance during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The court dance represented the members of the
5
Knowles, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances, 21-22.
6
Reeser, The History of the Waltz, 16.
3
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aristocracy and established the social system. In eighteenth-century Europe the minuet,
with its sophisticated choreography and underlining of manners, exemplified court
dance.7
The minuet requires considerable study and practice, as well as ability. SimpsonCandelaria identifies the most typical characteristics of the dance as follows: “The minuet
was a product of its age… it became the choreographic expression of the stiff and rigid
ceremonial that governed high society in the eighteenth century.”8 Moreover, Goethe
writes that “Nobody ventures unconcernedly to dance unless he has been taught the art;
the minuet in particular, is regarded as a work of art and is performed, indeed, only by a
few couples.”9 Consequently, the minuet was the exclusive property of aristocracy.
In late eighteenth-century Europe, the decrease of the minuet’s popularity
corresponded with the decreasing influence of courtly life. The French Revolution
eliminated the domination of the aristocracy and their position of social and economic
power. This phenomenon encouraged the mixing of nobility and tenants and freed dance
from its formerly strict rules, resulting in a dance revolution.10
As social life was increasingly democratized across Europe towards the end of the
eighteenth century, the contredanse became popular.11 It went by many names, such as
7
Yaraman Sevin, Revolving Embrace: The Waltz as Sex, Steps, and Sound. Hillsdale (NY: Pendragon
Press, 2002), 1.
8
Joyce Simpson-Candelaria, “The Waltz: Its Pervasiveness in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, and
Its Transformation into a Symbol of the Biedermeierzeit in the Works of Joseph Lanner, Johann Strauss,
and Franz Schubert ” (MM thesis, The University of British Columbia, 1976), 6.
9
Ruth Katz, "The Egalitarian Waltz", Comparative Studies in Society and History 15 no.3 (1973): 370.
10
Ibid., 373.
11
Ibid., 3.
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ländler (country dance), deutsche Tans (German dance), Steirische (dance from Styria, in
south-eastern Austria), and dreher (turner).12
In contredanse the partners are not arranged in hierarchical relation to a central
figure, or to each other, but as a social group.13 This dance was converted from a
hierarchical form performed by well-trained dancers into a form of individual expression.
Unlike the minuet, which required a grasp of social hierarchies and rigorous training and
skill, contredanse could be danced by anyone.
In Don Giovanni, Mozart portrayed the minuet as a high society eighteenthcentury dance. In contrast, the waltz was simple and regarded as a vigorous and vulgar
dance of the people during this period. In other words, the minuet and waltz symbolize
completely different social strata. In the ballroom scene in Don Giovanni, the aristocrats
dance a minuet, Don Giovanni and Marcellina dance the contredanse (portraying a link
between the nobility and the common people), while Leporello and Masetto—on the
bottom rung of the social ladder—dance a waltz.14
The waltz grew in popularity during the Romantic period. Romanticism
deemphasizes the formal and conventional point of view and emphasizes the instinctive
unpredictability of individual expression. The Romantic Movement held the crucial
conviction that individual and educated artists should have the freedom to improve and
contribute to the delight of the public, not just satisfy the privileged class. Beforehand,
12
Peter Van Der Merwe, Roots of the Classical: The Popular Origins of Western Music (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004), 239.
13
Sarah R. Cohen, Art, Dance, and the Body in French C
Cambridge University Press, 2000), 205.
14
(New York, NY:
Mosco Carner, The Waltz: With 4 Plates in Colour & 31 Black-And-White Ill. (London and NY: Max
Parrish and Co. Ltd, 1948), 14.
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the middle class considered art as expressing recognition of nobility and indifference
towards the lower classes. However, Ruth Katz asserts that, as the Romantic Movement
rose to prominence, “[the middle class] began to think of art as individualistic and
idiosyncratic, a ‘matter of taste’ which might vary among different people, different times
and different places.”15
Romanticism highlighted the important role of dance in the expression of the
spirit. In this period in history, dancing the waltz was one of the best ways to express
freedom from authority and rules. As previously noted, its simplicity meant it could be
learned easily, and in contrast with the uniformity of the minuet, the waltz emphasizes
individual expression. It does not require close study. The individual is encouraged to
make his or her own modifications and interpretations.16 One of the most important
aspects of the waltz is the participation of all, allowing people from the nobility to
members of the lower class to enjoy the dance equally. As a traveler from Bavaria noted:
The people here are excessively fond of the pleasure of dancing; they need only
hear the music of a waltz to begin to caper, no matter where they are. The public
dance floors are visited by all classes; these are the places where ancestors and
rank seem to be forgotten and aristocratic pride laid aside. Here we see artisans,
artists, merchants, councilors, barons, counts and excellencies dancing together
with waitresses, women of the middle class, and ladies.17
The waltz was also developed as a purely musical form in the nineteenth century.
Moreover, the Vienna Congress of 1814–1815 encouraged waltzing as a symbol of a new
15
Ruth Katz, "The Egalitarian Waltz." Comparative Studies in Society and History 15 no.3 (1973): 373.
16
Ibid., 371.
17
Carner, The Waltz: With 4 Plates in Colour & 31 Black-And-White Ill., 10.
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society.18 The waltz was danced again and again in the Vienna Congress.19 In addition to
its socially egalitarian nature, the whirling motion of the waltz can be considered to
signify an escape from reality.20 Politically, the Viennese waltz embodied the spirit of
democracy in the nineteenth century. Hanslick claimed that the waltzes of Johann Strauss
II reflected the spirit of liberality and democracy during the Habsburg Empire. 21
THE WALTZ IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The history of the early waltz can be traced from the 1786 opera Una cosa rara,
by Spanish composer Vicente Martín y Soler (1754-1806). The opera Una cosa rara was
first performed in Vienna in 1786. Even though the opera does not clearly show the
historical beginnings of the waltz, it is evident that the dance type in the opera is nothing
more than a slow minuet and a vocal duet part, showing an early waltz type.22
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the waltz had become a distinct genre.
Early waltz features were short and repeated many times; as a result, the cyclical form
was fixed. Joseph Lanner’s dance orchestra began to popularize the waltz in Vienna in
the 1820s. In the 1830s, Lanner and the elder Strauss developed the Viennese waltz we
know today, and the younger Strauss subsequently composed many orchestral waltzes.
18
Knowles, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances, 27.
19
Paul Nettl, The Story of Dance Music (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947), 524.
20
Katz, "The Egalitarian Waltz," 375.
21
Nicole Grimes, Siobh n onovan, and Wolfgang Marx. Rethinking Hanslick: Music, Formalism, and
Expression (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2013), 93.
22
Reeser, The History of the Waltz, 39.
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Lanner and the Strausses developed the waltz into a cyclical form that has an
introduction and coda. The waltz has a symmetrical phrase structure, usually with two
eight-measure phrases that are repeated. The harmonies are simple, mostly tonic and
dominant, changing once per measure.
A Viennese waltz has a strong downbeat in a triple meter. According to Mosco
Carner, “the quickening of the pace and disappearance of the heavy stamping on each
beat of the bar inevitably led to the typical waltz accentuation ONE-two-three.”23
Compared with an early waltz, which has each of three beats accented, Viennese people
tended to dance in a lively way with a fast tempo, which led to the accent on the first beat.
Most characteristic of the Viennese waltz rhythm is the anticipation of the second beat,
the “um-pah-pah” of the bass rhythm (see example 1).24 Example 1, the Viennese rhythm,
“as usually performed” in the caption.
Example 1: Viennese waltz accompaniment
Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was one the most famous composers of dance music
in the nineteenth century. His dance music became an important component of Vienna’s
23
Carner, The Waltz, 23.
24
Ibid., 23.
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cultural milieu. He composed most of his works in the 1820s, including approximately
five hundred dances for piano solo.
Schubert was involved in an intimate gathering of people, and his music was often
performed in private homes for his circle of friends. His piano dance music was designed
for social gatherings and for amateur pianists. He composed more than one hundred
delightful and intimate waltzes for piano. His most famous waltzes are the thirty-four
Valses Sentimentales, D. 779 (1823), the twelve Valses Nobles, D. 969 (1827), and
Grätzer Walzer D. 924 (1827).
Schubert was powerfully influenced by Lanner’s waltz, and Schubert’s form is
similar to the Lanner/Strauss form: usually two sixteen-measure phrases as two distinct
sections, which are repeated. Schubert’s motives correspond to the waltz steps. He
usually used two measures for the six-step complete circle. The eight-measure phrase in
the section is repeated. The melodic element in his music was more to give expression to
a poetical romanticism than to be used for dancing.25 On the other hand, Margaret Notley
states that “Schubert composed functional rather than stylized dances, so he worked
under clear technical constraints…”26 Harmonically, he used the innovation of his own
unexpected modulations.
Frederic Chopin (1810–1849) was an important nineteenth-century composer of
keyboard concert waltzes. Chopin’s native city of Warsaw was connected to the social
and artistic trends of Vienna and Paris, and the waltz gradually became popular there too.
Eight of his seventeen waltzes were published in 1831–1849 and others were published
25
Reeser, The History of the Waltz, 41.
26
Christopher Howard Gibbs, The Cambridge Companion to Schubert (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1997), 138.
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posthumously. Chopin transferred the Viennese dance to the salons of the Parisian
aristocracy.27
Some Chopin waltzes are brilliant and grand; others are wistful and melancholic.
Compared to Schubert’s waltz form, Chopin’s waltzes have ABA formal structure and
many involve a short introduction and coda, leading to an exciting finish.28 The most
important characteristic of Chopin’s waltzes is the melodic arches shaping the eightmeasure phrase, which expand the dance motives and correspond with the complete
rotation of the dance motion.29 His waltzes require technically demanding pianism.
Chopin contributed greatly to the evolution of the waltz as a musical form from a
functional dance piece to a concert piece.
Other notable composers such as Weber, Liszt, and Brahms composed waltzes as
concert piano music in the nineteenth century. The waltz was truly a major musical genre
during this period.
At the turn of the twentieth century, many composers were still interested in the
genre of waltz music. Waltz music, through its extra-musical implications, was able to
communicate directly with audiences. According to Yaraman, “Musically, the
characteristics of the waltz—its meters, melodic structure, and accompaniment—are
27
Kyung-Ae Kim, “Concert waltzes for solo piano” (DMA document, The West Virginia University, 1999),
13.
28
Stewart Gordon, A History of Keyboard Literature: Music for the Piano and Its Forerunners (New York:
Schirmer Books, 1996), 301.
29
Halina Goldberg, The Age of Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press 2004), 126-127.
10
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readily recognizable by the audience, which is familiar with the genre and for whom it
has pleasurable associations.”30
30
Sevin, Revolving Embrace, 45.
11
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CHAPTER 2
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937): VALSES NOBLES ET SENTIMENTALES (1911)
Ravel’s valse was oriented toward the nineteenth-century Viennese waltz, yet it
clearly shows his distinctive style. How did Ravel combine traditional elements of waltz
style with his individualistic innovations?
Between the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and World War I, French nationalism
led to a flourishing of art. Ravel was proud of his French and he epitomizes the
impressionist and neoclassicist schools that were so typically French at the turn of the
century. He composed two waltzes, Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911) and La Valse
(1922). Pre World War I, Ravel composed Valses nobles et sentimentales as an homage
to Schubert’s 12 Valses nobles, and the 34 Valses sentimentales in its title signifies the
“life” of the piano waltz. After World War I, La Valse was composed as an homage to
Johann Strauss II in its music and structure, and it celebrates both “life” and “death.”31
The “life” and “death” aspect of Ravel’s waltzes can be considered from both a
musical aspect and from their historical situation. Michael Puri describes Valses nobles et
sentimentales as “embodying the prewar hedonism of the so-called banquet years in
Paris,” and the violence of La Valse as “replaying the catastrophic effects of the Great
War on Old Europe and its cultural heritage.”32 World War I divided the old Europe of
Valses nobles et sentimentales from the new Europe of La Valse. Carl Schorske stated
31
Sophia Grobler, “The Life and Death of the Piano Waltz” (DMA document, University of Cincinnati,
2007), 48.
32
Michael J. Puri, Ravel the Decadent: Memory, Sublimation, and Desire (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011), 168.
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that “La Valse reenacted not only the ‘violent death of the nineteenth-century world’ but
also the fate of the individual in the midst of this societal upheaval.”33
Even though Ravel related Valses nobles et sentimentales and La Valse to the
nineteenth-century Viennese waltzes by modifying and innovating his own style, La
Valse expresses much more bitterness and desperation than Valses nobles et
sentimentales. In La Valse, Ravel tore apart the original elements of the waltz, using
asymmetrical phrase structure, dissonance, and tone clusters, and destroyed the meter. La
Valse started out as an orchestral piece and moved into a darker and violent mood, and
Valses nobles et sentimentales started as a piano piece and morphed into subtle and
intimate dance. Ravel’s two valses are very different in terms of both musical elements
and historical influences.
The Valses nobles et sentimentales is a cyclic form that consists of seven waltzes
and an Epilogue, and was composed for solo piano in 1911. The solo piano music was
first performed by the composer Louis Aubert, its dedicatee, in May 1911 at the Societé
Musical Independante.34 The composer’s name was not mentioned, but the audience
guessed the author on slips of paper. Ravel himself said, “The title Valses nobles et
sentimentales sufficiently indicates my intention of writing a series of waltzes in
imitation of Schubert ... The seventh waltz seems to me to be the most characteristic.”35
Ravel arranged the orchestral version and the scenarios of Valses nobles et
sentimentales in 1912 for the ballet Adélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs. The ballet is set in
33
Puri, Ravel the Decadent, 169.
34
Paul Roberts, Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel (Milwaukee, WI: Amadeus Press, 2012),
93.
35
Arbie Orenstein, Ravel: Man and Musician (New York: Columbia University Press, 1975), 175.
13
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Paris, home of the courtesan Adélaïde, around 1820. Ravel wrote the scenarios of
Adélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs. Therefore, some knowledge of these scenarios is
helpful for performers in creating their interpretations of Valses nobles et sentimentales.
There are seven scenes and an Epilogue of the Adélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs as in the
original piano music:
Scene 1 While the couples are waltzing or engaged in tender conversation,
Adélaïde comes and goes. She is wearing a tuberose (a fragrant white flower), the
symbol of sensual pleasure.
Scene 2 Enter Lorédan in a melancholy mood. He offers her a buttercup, and
the exchange of flowers that follows symbolizes Adélaïde’s pretended affection
and her suitor’s love for her.
Scene 3 Adélaïde sees from the flower offered her that Lorédan’s love for her
is sincere, but the marguerite (a daisy-like flower) she gave to Lorédan tells him
that his love is not returned. Lorédan tries a second time, and this time the reply is
favorable.
Scene 4 The lovers dance together affectionately, but are interrupted by the
entrance of the Duke.
Scene 5 The Duke presents Adélaïde with a sunflower (a symbol of empty
riches) and a diamond necklace, which she puts on.
Scene 6
Lorédan in despair presses his suit, but is repulsed flirtingly.
Scene 7 The Duke begs Adélaïde to give him the last waltz. She refuses, and
goes in search of Lorédan who strikes an attitude of tragic despair. Finally he
yields to her insistence and they go off together.
Epilogue The guests retire. The Duke, hoping to be asked to stay, receives from
Adélaïde’s hands a branch of acacia (symbol of Platonic love) and departs in high
dudgeon (angrily). Lorédan approaches looking very sad. Adélaïde goes to the
window and breathes the scent of the tuberose. Suddenly Lorédan appears on her
balcony in a state of agitation, falls on his knees and presses a pistol to his head.
But Adélaïde smilingly produces from her corsage a red rose and falls into his
arms.36
The quotation in the score is taken from Henri de Regnier’s novel Les Rencontres
de monsieur de Breot (1904): “The delightful and always noble pleasure of a useless
36
Willard A Palmer, ed, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (S.l.: Alfred Muisc, 1988), 5.
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occupation.”37 Ravel’s internal spirit and hedonism are revealed through the quotation
and through Valses nobles et sentimentales.
The most important characteristic of the Viennese waltz is the rhythm and
accompaniment. The bass rhythm pattern consists of a continuous “um-pah-pah,” and the
first beat in each measure is accented. The circling of the dance is indicated in the music,
which is highly repetitive and cyclical. The Viennese waltz slightly anticipates the second
beat in each measure to increase the turning feeling and make a faster and lighter rhythm.
As a result, the third beat of the waltz feels slightly delayed.
Normally, Viennese waltzes consist of a two-measure short motive and eightmeasure balanced phrase. Marx identified the motive in the dance as representing the
three-step half circle and the six-step complete circle.38 Each measure or two-measure
phrase corresponds to the dance motive. Similarly, Schubert’s Valses noble and Ravel’s
Valses nobles et sentimentales clearly shows the short motive (mm.9-16) to be a
Viennese waltz characteristic (see examples 2 and 3).
37
Orenstein, Ravel, 175.
38
Sevin, Revolving Embrace, 21.
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Example 2: Schubert, Valses nobles, Waltz No.6, mm. 1-16
Example 3: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz II, mm. 6-20
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Ravel followed the Schubertian characteristics of a balanced phrase, lilting
rhythms, unexpected harmonic subtleties, and straightforward form—some of the
defining elements of a Viennese waltz. However, Ravel does not stick to the traditional
Viennese waltz’s “um-pah-pah” accompaniment. His accompaniment patterns are
constantly varied, and consist of chords (see example 4), broken chords (see example 5),
or single bass lines based on the harmony (see example 6).
Example 4: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 10-14
Example 5: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 15-23
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Example 6: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz V, mm. 21-24
The Viennese orchestra waltz music of Johann Strauss has a short introduction
and coda. It consists of a small number of waltzes with transitional material between
them; each waltz tends to preserve the rigid framework of typical waltz rhythm and
melody. Generally, a single Viennese waltz-set keeps one character or personality
throughout the suite of five dances in the cycle. The transition aspect is very important in
traditional waltz. By contrast, a Schubertian waltz is a series of short pieces that lack a
separate introduction, transitions or coda. Ravel’s waltzes followed those of Strauss in
revealing elaborate technique in the transitions between one waltz and the next. Waltz III
and IV clearly show the passage-linking waltzes, which are the most noteworthy
transitions of Ravel’s valses. This transition is revealed in the orchestral version of waltz
III and IV marked “Enchaînez” (link together).39 The beginning of waltz IV and the
ending of waltz III share multiple elements such as dynamics, meter, hemiola rhythm,
motive, melodies, tessitura, and texture (see example 7). The opening theme derives from
the last two measures of waltz III. Similarly, the introduction of waltz VII shares the
ending of waltz VI (see example 8).
39
Peter Michael Kaminsky, Unmasking Ravel: New Perspectives on the Music (Rochester, NY: University
of Rochester Press, 2011), 69.
18
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Example 7: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 68-72 and Waltz IV,
mm. 1-2
Example 8: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VI, mm. 56--60 and Waltz VII,
mm. 1-2
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Compared to Ravel, Strauss occasionally used transitions for effecting a
modulation from one waltz to the next; however, he never employed the same element to
link two waltzes (see example 9). Strauss’ purpose was to modulate to the key of the next
waltz, whereas Ravel’s transitions served to bridge the gap between two waltzes.
Therefore, even though Ravel followed aspects of musical tradition, he did it in an
unconventional way.
Example 9: Strauss, Kaiser Walzer, Op.437, Walzer II, mm. 37-44 and Walzer III, mm.
1-11
One of Ravel’s major innovations relates to harmony. His harmonies are very
complex, with characteristics of Impressionism, and they anticipate jazz harmonies.
20
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Ravel even said that “harmonically Valses nobles et sentimentales is harder than
‘Scarbo’.”40
One of Ravel’s trademarks of harmonic language is his use of the minor and
major seventh chords or the diminished octave. Based on those harmonies, Ravel uses the
seventh, ninth, and eleventh chords with added seconds and sixths. He creates colorful
harmony with different flavors, which lead to the broadest result dramatically and the
richest harmonically. Ravel states that the opening two measures of Valses nobles et
sentimentales “consist of a linear progression, E sharp (beats one and two), to F sharp
(beat three), to G (prolonged through measure two)” (see example 10).41 The three
chromatically ascending notes make the opening sonority. The energetic acidity of the
unresolved appoggiaturas produces an exquisite opening.42
Waltz No. 2 features minor triads with major sevenths on the first beat. For
example, the first measure outlines a G minor/Major seventh chord followed by an F
minor/Major seventh chord in measure 2 (see example 11).
Example 10: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1-4
40
Roger Nichols, Ravel (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 127.
41
Orenstein, Ravel, 176.
42
Ibid.
21
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Example: 11 Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1- 5
Stuckenschmidt states that “the concept of chord-timbre, as distinct from the
chord itself, characterizes Ravel’s entire lifework and creates in these Valses, in a
magical way, a harmonic world of chromatic neighbor-tones.”43 Ravel’s innovations of
harmony are related to a basic tonality. In addition, Ravel’s exploration of harmonic
language is firmly based on tonality with modal inflections.44 Consequently the most
characteristic of his melody aspects is the mixture of tonality and modality. Waltz III
starts in the Aeolian mode, beginning on E. Example 12 shows the same melody with E
Aeolian mode (left side) and G major key (right side). In measures 1 to 2 and 57 to58,
Ravel harmonized the melody using dominant to tonic relationship, and also modally (see
example 12).
43
Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt, Maurice Ravel: Variations on His Life and Work (Philadelphia: Chilton
Book Company, 1968), 142.
44
Orenstein, Ravel, 132.
22
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Example 12: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 1-2 and 57-58
Rhythmically, Ravel employed a lot of hemiola and sophisticated rhythms. Waltz
III starts with the typical three-four waltz rhythms that change to hemiola in measure 5 to
6 (see example 13). Moreover, he uses the hemiola in entire phrases of eight measures,
for example in measures 25 to 32 (see example 14).
Example 13: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 1-9
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Example 14: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz III, mm. 24-32
In the opening of Waltz I, Ravel borrows the rhythm of Schubert’s first Valses
nobles (see example 15), but he shifts the rhythm with the same note value and order.
Therefore, Schubert’s upbeat becomes Ravel’s downbeat (see example 16).45 In Waltz
VII, in which the accent moves to the second beat in both hands in measure 147, 149,
151, and 153 (see example 17, beat-two accents are shown in boxes in the example).
Example 15: Schubert, Valses nobles, Waltz No.1, mm. 1-2
45
Nichols, Ravel, 125.
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Example 16: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz I, mm. 1-2
Example 17: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 143-153
Moreover, his rhythm is difficult because of the emphasized subtle elasticity of
the pulse.46 In waltz V, the first beat tied note causes the center of gravity to transfer to
the second beat of the bar. Also, the A and G sharp should be played with a noticeable
tenuto (see example 18).
46
Deborah Mawer, The Cambridge Companion to Ravel (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000),
217.
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Example 18: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz V, mm. 1-4
The tonality, mode, whole-tone scale, and bitonal texture in the middle section of
the seventh waltz are striking. The example shows a bass harmony in F major in measure
55 to 76, while the melody (right hand) is mostly in E major (see example 19). In another
example, a pedal point of F underlies bitonal chord changes in waltz VII in measures 66
to 70 (see example 20).47 Ravel said that the No.7 waltz was his favorite and the most
characteristic of his work.48
47
Orenstein, Ravel, 134.
48
Stuckenschmidt, Maurice Ravel, 142.
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Example 19: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 62-81
Example 20: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Waltz VII, mm. 66-70
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Strauss’s Viennese waltzes always finish with a coda. The coda consists of the previous
waltz melodies recapitulated, usually in their original keys. A distinctive feature of Valses
nobles et sentimental is its Epilogue, which recollects the themes of the previous waltzes
(except for Waltz V) in unexpected and unpredictable ways as “involuntary memory”
(see example 21).49 As was common in baroque music, Ravel also uses the pedal point in
the Epilogue. The last thirty-five bars of the Epilogue present the bass G continually,
which makes the past memories vanish into thin air. The last presenting melody derives
from Waltz II (see example 22).
Michael Puri describes voluntary and involuntary memory as follows: “Voluntary
memory is a faculty of the conscious intellect, controllable but unilluminating in its
results, while involuntary memory is an unconscious faculty that brings the past suddenly
and vividly to life but cannot be summoned at will.”50 Even though Ravel’s epilogue is
similar to Strauss’s coda, his compositional style is distinctive. Ravel’s epilogue is unique
and indicates nostalgic memories. Ravel himself stated that:
It is at the piano that a poet of sound often finds his most beautiful rhymes, testing
with his own ear multiple audacities of acoustical reaction, so as to calculate the
finest effect for future listeners. It is where he measures, with exquisite delight,
differing degree of seductiveness or astringency, where he develops his alchemy
of sound in which is distilled his most intoxicating perfumes or his most fatal
positions.51
49
Puri, Ravel the Decadent, 144.
50
Ibid.
51
Roberts, Reflections, 91.
28
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Example 21: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Epilogue, mm. 50-64
29
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Example 22: Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Epilogue mm 67-72 and Waltz II,
mm 41-44
Starting with Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, many twentieth-century waltzes
contain nostalgic memories of the nineteenth-century waltz. One of the methods for
addressing memory is thematic recollections that indicate the outgrowth of both
recollected past and the recollecting present; the motifs of the previous waltzes rapidly
blow in and fade away. Henriette Faure said:
The paradox is that within this hazy texture [ce flou] each motif presents its
particular character, now spirited, not finely sculpted, now elegant. The difficulty
comes in presenting each shape without compromising the tempo, in creating
absolute precision within this atmosphere of dreams. Gradually, in Ravel’s world
as in Liszt’s and Schubert’s, the music faces into a silence in which all that
remains is suggestion. The contrast with the intense life of the preceding waltzes
is startling, and the listener becomes separated from reality.52
52
Roberts, Reflections, 106.
30
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The waltz at the fin de siècle was a genre in progress from the nineteenth into the
twentieth century as well as a point of nostalgia for a defunct or obsolescent culture.53
The mournful Epilogue represents the presence of the past in the previous waltzes, but
recreates Ravel’s modern harmony and the different characters of his previous theme.
Ravel strove to turn the spirit of pleasure, based on the characteristics of the nineteenthcentury waltz, into high art. His impressionist style and exquisite technique created
qualities of elegance, pleasure, entertainment, and nostalgia. According to Robert, “he not
only ‘emphasise(s) the contours’ of the music but creates contours where none had before
existed.”54
53
Puri, Ravel the Decadent, 22.
54
Roberts, Reflections, 95.
31
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CHAPTER 3
PAUL HINDEMITH (1845-1937): “BOSTON” FROM SUITE 1922, OP.26 (1922)
Paul Hindemith was a German composer. Suite 1922, Op. 26 was composed in
1922 after World War I and consists of five movements, including “Shimmy,” “Boston,”
and “Ragtime,” that reflect the American jazz dance style.
Jazz spread rapidly in Europe in the post-World War I period. Artists, writers and
composers considered America’s city life—its popular music, movies, and capitalism—to
be the new direction of modernism and America the rightful ruler of the postwar age.55 In
her book Opera for a New Republic: The Zeitopern of Krenek, Weill, and Hindemith,
Susan Cook tracked the appearance of American jazz in the so-called Weimar Republic
of the 1920s, stating that its acceptance showed it was a significant musical genre of the
age.56 However, in the 1910s and early 1920s, many German musicians were not
convinced that jazz was a musical genre of real quality. They felt jazz had an ambiguous
sound. Michael Budds wrote that “the 1920s served as a transitional period when most of
the ensembles played music that was part jazz... and part dance and popular music of
other genres.”57 Hindemith’s Suite 1922 clearly shows the unique influence of American
culture on German society after the First World War. Michael Budds argued that “jazz in
Germany followed a totally different pattern of dissemination and growth from that
55
Susan C. Cook, "Jazz as Deliverance: The Reception and Institution of American Jazz during the Weimar
Republic." American Music 7, no.1 (1989): 31.
56
Susana C. Cook, Opera for a New Republic: The Zeitopern of Krenek, Weill, and Hindemith (Ann Arbor,
MI: UMI Research Press), 1988, 41-75.
57
Cook, “Jazz as Deliverance,” 64.
32
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which occurred in England and France.”58 It was in this context that Hindemith explored
the foreign jazz dance genre and meshed it with his own cultural experience.
As a young man Hindemith played popular music in restaurant and hotel lobbies.
There, he learned the popular music style. However, despite its influence on him, he
modified that style into his own unique style, inspired by social and cultural circumstance.
His jazz dance aspects can be considered in the context of the urban society in
Weimar. Hindemith’s own drawing on the cover of Suite 1922 portrays a street scene in a
German city with a busy intersection, buses, an electric tram and crowds of hurrying
people (see figure 1).59
Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales resembles modern jazz harmony in
aspects such as its chord structure of 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, and chromatic altered chords.
It sounds like intimate. In spite of Hindemith’s use of popular dance, Boston is not
composed in an intimate style. Hindemith’s music lacks the dominant 9th, 11th and 13th
harmonies we can hear in Ravel’s valse. The music is highly chromatic and violent.
58
Michael J. Budds, Jazz & the Germans: Essays on the Influence of "hot" American Idioms on 20thcentury German Music. (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2002), 66.
59
Bryan Randolph Gilliam, Music and Performance During the Weimar Republic (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994), 16.
33
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Figure 1: Paul Hindemith, Suite 1922, Op.26 60
60
"Das Marienleben." Paul Hindemith, http://www.hindemith.info/en/life-work/biography/19181927/werk/das-marienleben/ (accessed 15 Mar. 2016).
34
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The hectic center of the Weimar culture and its chaotic social environment is
directly expressed in Hindemith’s music. Writing about Weimar, Bryan Gilliam stated
that “The aesthetic of the machine heralded by the pre-war Futurists had become a reality:
the motoric, metallic, percussive qualities of post-war music seemed to mirror life’s
accelerated tempo, its spirited commerce, heavy industry, mass transit systems, and
swelling urban populations.”61
Another example of this cultural aesthetic is George Grosz’s Expressionist
painting Metropolis (1917) (figure 2). In Metropolis Grosz used very vivid colors, like
fiery red and flame blue, to express powerful and distorting emotions; the people and
objects are chaotically and randomly depicted, therefore the perspective is disorienting.
These unsettling characteristics are similarly revealed in expressionist music.
61
Gilliam, Music and Performance During the Weimar Republic, 16.
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Figure 2: George Grosz, Metropolis (Grossstadt) (1917)62
Musical expressionism was based on the adoption of new conceptions of melody,
harmony, tonality, rhythm, timbre, and form. According to Elliott Antokoletz,
The expressionist composer exploited the possibilities of distorted word
accentuation, athematicism and nonrepetition, harmonic dissonance in
conjunction with wide and angular melodic leaps, unconventional uses of
instrumental timbre and register, and more concentrated and uniform use of
materials in contexts of relentless intensity, in an effort to induce increased
emotional intensity.63
62
"Expressionism," Expressionism,
http://faculty.cua.edu/johnsong/hitchcock/pages/expressionism/expressionism.html (accessed 15 Mar.
2016).
63
Elliott Antokoletz, Twentieth Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1992), 9.
36
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Hindemith was influenced by German musical expressionism and reveals his own style
through the musical atmosphere. He was developing his own angular musical
characteristic.
Hindemith uses the old American ballroom dance called the Boston. The Boston
waltz first appeared in 1834, demonstrated by Lorenzo Papanti at Mrs. Harrison Gray
Otis’s Beacon Hill mansion in Boston, Massachusetts.64 It was differently danced and
slower than the Viennese waltz that was popular in the nineteenth century. The Boston
was popular in the 1910s in England; after World War I, it became a popular dance in
Germany, known as the “English waltz,” and as a “hesitation” waltz with frequent
suppressions of beats or whole bars in the accompaniment. Unlike the Viennese waltz,
which is danced with feet turned out and a lilting motion, the Boston waltz is danced with
parallel feet and a “natural walk.”65 Instead of the “um-pah-pah”, the Boston has a sliding,
gliding motion with the accent on the second beat. Hindemith’s “Boston” shows the
dragging motive without the “um-pah-pah” accompaniment in measure 1 to 13 (see
example 23).
64
Knowles, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances, 34.
65
Frances Rust, Dance in Society: An Analysis of the Relationship between the Social Dance and Society in
England from the Middle Ages to the Present Day (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), 82.
37
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Example 23: Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 1-13
The hesitation waltz, which is a variation of the Boston waltz, has frequent pauses
that we can see in measure 4, 49, 53, 56, and 59 in Hindemith’s “Boston” (see example
24). Like in the dance, the performer can consider playing with a slight pause in these
moments.
38
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Example 24: Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 45-64
In Hindemith’s Boston waltz, we can find components of jazz and Expressionism.
Jazz elements include syncopation of rhythmic pattern, improvisational style, quartal
harmony, bitonality and small repetition.66 Quartal harmony not only becomes common
in the twentieth century music but is also used in jazz by composers/arrangers who want
66
Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz: The First Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 154.
39
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to apply this modern sound.67 In his dissertation, Nelson Neves claims that “the style of
jazz ...... interest in harmonic richness of colors, for which quartal harmony provided a
great deal of numerous possibilities, and matched so well the requirements of modern
jazz vocabulary and its aesthetic values.”68 Elements of German Expressionism include
violent melodies, dissonant harmonies, extreme dynamic contrast, heavy texture and
emotional sonority.
For example, Hindemith combines quartal harmony with traditional minor chords
in measures 15-18. In measures 25 to 29, a repeated pattern of jazz elements and
dissonant harmonies, with vital energy (which is the Expressionism element), create
emotional intensity (see example 25).
67
Ted Pease, Jazz Composition: Theory and Practice (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2003), 63-66.
68
Nelson Neves, “A comprehensive analysis of jazz elements in Marlos Nobre’s piano music through
selected works” ( MA document, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007), 132.
40
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Example 25: Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 14-31
Like the subjective and distorting emotion of Grosz’s Expressionist painting, Hindemith
creates a violent and angular mood in the middle of his recitative section. In the recitative
section, extreme contrast between the dynamic unison and octave in the melody leads to
an intensive disclosure (see example 26).
41
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Example 26: Hindemith, “Boston” from Suite 1922, Op.26, mm 137-163
The harmony in the very first chord of the piece (example 23) is ambiguous as to
whether it is C sharp major or minor; it seems to run away from realistic description and
seems to represent something otherworldly. Whenever this chord appears throughout the
piece, it seems like a breaking down of aggressive emotion and it creates a mysterious
mood. Hindemith’s “Boston” is an interesting way to explore the potential beauty of a
waltz, but totally different from Ravel’s music. Hindemith’s “Boston” incorporates
German Expressionism and jazz aspects, embodying the subjective emotions of
modernity in the German urban society of the time through violent, distorted and
exaggerated elements and expressions of freedom.
42
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CHAPTER 4
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953): “TEMPO DI VALZER LENTISSIMO”
FROM THE PIANO SONATA NO.6 (1940)
Prokofiev’s music style and life were powerfully affected by two world wars and
the Russian revolution of 1917. After the revolution, he left Russia and lived in the
United States and Europe. In 1936, Prokofiev returned to the Soviet Union, where his
musical style gained a new simplicity. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union’s approach to art
was to dictate the use of socialist realism. Therefore, in Prokofiev’s later period, his
works and those of other Soviet composers were oppressed by this dominant political
idiom.
Socialist realism aimed to describe the ideal Soviet society. The national
composition policy demanded hopeful, nationalistic music that was accessible to the
people. Antokoletz writes that:
The main attention of the Soviet composer must be directed towards the
victorious progressive principles of reality, towards all that is heroic, bright, and
beautiful. This distinguishes the spiritual world of Soviet man and must be
embodied in musical images full of beauty and strength.69
The musical aspects of socialist realism are harmonic clarity, simple and
comprehensible melody, and expressive straightforwardness. Prokofiev moved toward
the simple new musical style in five ways. First was the use of classical line, as in neoclassicism. Second, he uses crude harmonies to express strong emotions. Third was the
toccata, or motoric line. Fourth was the lyrical melody line. His melodic styles were
meditative and expansive, and they related to Russian folk music.70 Last, he used a
69
Antokoletz, Twentieth Century Music, 315.
Boris Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and the Performer (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2008), 11.
70
43
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patriotic, nationalistic style. The three “war sonatas” represent this style. Even though
Prokofiev avoided familiar harmonies and his tonality was at times obscure, Boris
Berman argues, “Prokofiev’s music is usually based on a firm sense of tonality. Whatever
tonal uncertainty and ambiguity one experiences, mainly in developmental passages, they
are mostly short-lived.”71
In one of his war sonatas, Prokofiev marked the third movement of Sonata No.6
explicitly as a slow waltz, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo.” Sonata No. 6 was composed in
1939–1940, before the USSR became actively involved in World War II. Even though
the war did not influence Prokofiev’s sixth sonata, the political tension in the Soviet
Union during this period clearly influenced his mood and spirit. Sonata No.6 has a
tempestuous energy and a prevailing air of anxiety. 72 The middle of the third movement
has a different mood, however. It is a slow waltz that has a beautiful melody that evokes
memories of the past. As mentioned previously in chapter 1, the whirling motion of the
waltz can be considered to imply an escape from reality. Likewise, in my view Prokofiev
may use a waltz to signify freedom to escape political tension.
The waltz genre was Prokofiev’s favorite dance, and we can find this dance
component in his other genres, including symphonies, sonatas, ballets, and operas.73
Prokofiev used traditional and contemporary rhythms with national elements.
Russian waltz music first appeared in the nineteenth century in the work of Glinka.
After Johann Strauss traveled the world performing waltz music, it became a leading
71
Ibid., 14.
72
Ibid., 129.
73
James Bakst, A History of Russian-Soviet Music (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1966), 302.
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genre in Russia in the nineteenth century. However, some elements of the Russian waltz
are different from the Viennese waltz.
The Viennese waltz has a strong rhythm with the first beat accented, a short
motive melody line.74 Russian waltzes have a lyrical and long melody line and a
symphonic style (see example 27).
Example 27: Tchaikovsky, “Valse sentimentale” from Six Pieces, Op.51, No.6, mm.1-21
Operatic and symphonic texture aspects are important Russian musical elements
that found their way into the waltz. Prokofiev adapted the Russian operatic lyricism in his
late period. He avoided over-sentimentality, but presented his lyricism with deep feeling
74
Bakst, A History of Russian-Soviet Music, 303.
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and a warm sound. In this late period, Prokofiev often composed his lyrical ideas in C
major, the “white key.”75 His lyrical phrases are explicit, the orchestral sonorities feature
generous melodic line, vast in range, and chromatic motion. These lyrical ideas are
clearly shown in his slow waltz (see example 28).
Example 28: Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm.
1-6
Even though Russian waltz has the same “um-pah-pah” pattern of accompaniment,
there is no anticipated second beat. Unlike the joyful and intimate general feeling of the
Viennese waltz, the third movement is a slow and majestic waltz, which has a cosmic
depth. However, even though the Russian waltz is slow and stately, it has a similar lilting
chord on the second beat in the bass. For example, in measures 1 to 3, the second beat
chord should be light, not heavy, and the third beat leads to the first beat, due to the
shaping of a long melodic line. Therefore, each beat needs to consider in differently.
75
Israel V. Nestyev, Florence Jonas, and Nicolas Slonimsky, Prokofiev (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford
University Press, 1960), 470.
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Boris Berman described the rhythmic inflection of the beats as follows: “the first as a
longer one, the second as a light one, and the third as leading into the next bar….often in
a very concrete way.”76
Another aspect of the Russian waltz is a soft and unified floating unaccented
texture.77 The middle of Prokofiev’s waltz has a floating unaccented texture with a
repetitive motive in the left hand in measures 42 to 46 (see example 29). Moreover, this
section (mm.42) is analogous to the scene of Prince Bolkonsky’s delirium in War and
Peace,78 in which the repetitive motive describes the prince’s heartbeat stopping forever
(see example 30).79
76
Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas, 146.
77
Bakst, A History of Russian-Soviet Music, 303.
78
Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas, 137.
79
Ibid., 138.
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Example 29: Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm.
42-49
Example 30: Prokofiev, War and Peace, scene 12
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The Viennese waltz has a coda that recapitulates the previous waltz theme. Also,
in Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, the epilogue collects the previous waltz themes.
Ravel’s epilogue, like Prokofiev’s waltz, brings to mind nostalgic memories. In measures
16–19, motif A of Prokofiev’s third movement (see example 31) derives from the B
motive in the first movement (see example 32), thereby making the movements more
interconnected.
Example 31: Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm.
16-18
Example 32: Prokofiev, “Allegro moderato” from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm. 252-256
In the nineteenth century, many Russian composers, such as Tchaikovsky and
Glanzunov, composed waltzes or waltz-like movements in their ballets and symphonies.
Like them, after his return to Russia, Prokofiev composed major two ballets, Romeo and
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Juliet and Cinderella, while composing his Piano Sonata No.6. The third movement of
Prokofiev’s sixth sonata is similar to the style of his ballet waltzes. The orchestral style of
the writing evokes the sonority of the Cinderella waltzes with their corresponding warm
and passionate emotion.80 The same repetitive floating rhythm presents in the third
movement (mm.42–44).
Glinka and Tchaikovsky used traditional elements in their waltz music, and
Prokofiev’s melodies and harmonies also resemble elements of Russian folk song style.
For example, the polyphony creates an abundance of vertical harmony and reveals a
peculiar chromatic tendency. Prokofiev does not use the chromatic scale as a system of
tone rows like Schoenberg, rather as a device for colorful movement over a foundation of
diatonic chords.81
The Russian compositional style is characterized by an abundance of singing
melodies. For example, Tchaikovsky’s waltzes are melodically attractive and
dramatically suggestive. Like the nineteenth-century Romantic waltz, Prokofiev’s long
melody is lyrically expressive and it moves freely through alternating registers and
modulates to a variety of keys. The first theme is in the key of C major, then the theme is
revealed again in the new key of A-flat major with various changes that give it an
improvisatory freedom. Another national element suggests the sonority of church bells,
evoking emotional moments. This “epic” quality is a hallmark of Prokofiev’s late style,
and revealed especially in the war sonatas (see example).82 The top voice D in measures
80
Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas, 137.
81
Bakst, A History of Russian-Soviet Music, 301.
82
Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas, 31-32.
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7-8 and G in measures 9-10, bell-like intonation and the below the voice in right hand
represent the dominant lyrical melody.
Example 33: Prokofiev, “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6, mm.
7-8 and 9-10
Therefore, the national component showed in Prokofiev’s interest in the epic
history of his homeland and in his tendency toward a profoundly lyrical melodic style,
much like that of his ancestor Russian composers.
The change of compositional style to “New simplicity” due to Stalin’s political
diktat meant that the waltz was one of the best movements for Prokofiev to show his
musical tendency and socialist realism. In his early period he disapproved of the
emotionalism of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, since he considered it to be in “bad
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taste.”83 However, in his late period, Prokofiev’s sympathies moved toward the lyricalspirit element, like Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Medtner.84 The expressive meaning
of music became the one of the basic doctrines of his artistic dogma. According to Israel
Nestyev,
The principle of Socialist Realism, put forward by the leading Soviet ideologists,
helped many honest artists, including Prokofiev, to follow a course of truly
progressive innovation. Now Prokofiev’s search for new means of expression was
no longer based on the cold calculation of the constructivist, or on the desire for
self-display, but was prompted by a determination to reflect reality truthfully. And
when the old expressionist tendencies occasionally reappeared in certain works of
the forties, they were more or less in the nature of a bow to the past; by then, what
had triumphed in Prokofiev’s music was the spirit of truth, a love for man and
nature, and a realistic portrayal of Russia’s past and present.85
Prokofiev’s artistic ideas grew more profound, meaningful, and purposeful, and
adapted to the expression of new ideas. Boris Berman wrote of Prokofiev’s romanticism
that “His mastery combined dynamic impetuousness and willful power of intellect;
youthful freshness, spontaneity and concentrated seriousness… True, it had not a hint of
improvisatory quality (in this regard, Prokofiev’s piano playing parted ways with the
Romantic performing style).”86
His humanized sound expression was reflected in Prokofiev’s waltz by social
consciousness: Also, as an artist contemplating the contemporaneous trends of neoclassicism and modernism, he developed his unique harmonic based on a sense of
tonality. The musical elements and the waltz genre create emotions that reveal his life
and national situation, tension, hopes, and dreams in purposeful musical intonations.
83
Nestyev et al., Prokofiev, 456.
84
Ibid., 465.
85
Ibid., 468.
86
Berman, Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas, 42.
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Prokofiev used the waltz dance to express nostalgic emotions. Miakovsky commented on
the “power and daring’ of this music” and also the novelty of its style, which he called “a
mixture of the old and the new Prokofiev.”87
87
Nestyev et al., Prokofiev, 324.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
The waltz was developed not only as a dance but also as a musical form in the
nineteenth century. Lanner and Strauss established the Viennese waltz as orchestral
music, and many nineteenth-century composers, such as Weber, Schubert, and Chopin,
contributed to its development as a musical form, from functional waltzes to great piano
concert pieces. Moreover, the waltz was politically important as it related closely to the
social circumstances of nations, and represented the spirit of democracy and individual
expression. Thus, we find that one of the key traits of the waltz is individual expression
and freedom, a characteristic it shares with much of the innovative music of the twentieth
century.
During the years 1910–1940, extreme political and social turbulence worldwide
influenced cultural, political, and social circumstances that in turn had an impact on
composers’ musical language. The waltz music reflected these changes.
In Valses nobles et sentimentales, Ravel harmonized the traditional Viennese
waltz elements and add his innovative musical traits in an attempt to establish in the
waltz the essence of pleasure and nostalgia during the heyday of the genre as great art.
Hindemith’s “Boston” explored his subjective emotions and incorporated
influences from American popular dance and the extra-musical elements of German
Expressionism that were popular at the time; these influences lent his music a kind of
freedom characterized by odd and intense emotions.
Prokofiev’s “Tempo di valzer lentissimo” from the Piano Sonata No.6 shows the
Romantic tendency of the expansive, slow waltz. Prokofiev followed the traditional
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Russian waltz flavor and humanized sound expression reflecting the social consciousness,
in which individuals struggled with a fate beyond their control.
The performing musician’s job involves the process of re-creating the composer’s
ideas. Understanding extra-musical elements such as historical background or political
issues and musical elements like compositional mastery is helpful in creating
performance interpretations that are rich and imaginative.
My hope is that this study will help the performer, student, and teacher explore
some vivid trends in twentieth-century music through the lens of three piano
compositions that are markedly different from each other, even while they all share the
same rich dance form.
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