De Pedro 2011 APPC, Play Piano Play - The Pedagogy of Friedrich Gulda

PLAY PIANO PLAY: THE PEDAGOGY OF FRIEDRICH GULDA Jovanni Jovann i -Rey de Pedro Pedro

After winning the International Geneva Competition at age 16, Viennese pianist Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) was exposed for the first time to American jazz music on a visit to New York in 1950. Fascinated by its rhythms and harmonies, this event marked the beginning of a lifelong passion to break barriers between the classical and jazz idioms and combine the two genres. Although Gulda met great success as a crossover pianist, his piano compositions failed to receive the attention deserved. This lecture recital will examine Gulda’s contribution to crossover piano pedagogy, “Play Piano Play – 10 – 10 übungsstücke für Yuko”. INTRODUCTION

When I was a boy, my father always advised me to expand my musical horizons. Aside from my weekly classical piano lessons, he encouraged me to take up various instruments and read from lead sheets (him being a classical-turned-pop pianist himself). The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts provided the opportunities I needed to take this a step further. I continued my classical training but additionally participated in everything from singing in various ensembles, to playing in the percussion ensemble, to conducting the symphony orchestra, to accompanying Josh Groban (who was one year ahead of me) as he sung the lead role in the schools’ production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. I was at an age where everything interested me and, much to my father’s delight, I took full advantage of the school’s award winning jazz program jazz program and joined the “lab band” and finishes courses in jazz theory.

Singing in the gospel and jazz choirs and playing piano in the lab band changed the way I thought and felt about music. Although I admit that I never became a ‘real’ jazz musician, I was fascinated and completely absorbed in the ‘groove’ and freedom of the music that I spent a lot of time practicing scales (blues, pentatonic, octatonic and the like) and memorizing chord changes to standards. Being constantly exposed to this music brought a certain relaxation and confidence to my playing which shined when I played classical music as well.

In order to pursue my studies in classical classi cal piano further, I reluctantly reluctantl y gave up jazz activities, as I found it near impossible to practice and excel in both idioms. However, as a student a few years later at the Vienna Conservatory, I was required to take a jazz improvisation class taught by Roland Batik and was introduced for the first time to the set Play Piano Play by Friedrich Gulda. I knew of Gulda as a classical musician but not of his life and resounding success as a jazz pianist. Batik, who had studied with Gulda and was himself famous for th

10 Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Proceedings

Jovanni-Rey de Pedro Page 1 of 19

fusing jazz and classical music in his compositions and recital programs, encouraged us to get to know these pieces and I found these the perfect blend between freedom and discipline – a chance not only to play in the jazz style, but also create and learn. Creativity became almost as important as technique itself and it was attractive to me that the performer played an important role in formulating spontaneously the structure of some pieces through improvisation. Unlike the works of other jazz-styled composers such as George Gershwin, Morton Gould and Nikolai Kapustin, Gulda’s set not only requires moments of improvisation, but encourages interpretational liberties such as added embellishments notes inégales (and égales) and improvised accompaniment. This paper will follow several of Gulda’s exercises from Play Piano Play and offer an analysis into their technical and creative demands.

BIOGRAPHY

Friedrich Gulda was one of the most successful, albeit controversial, crossover jazz-classical musicians ever. He performed with the likes of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinul, but was internationally known as a brilliant pianist of impeccable technique. His sensitive and intellectual interpretations of the classical masters, from Bach to Debussy, has earned him a distinguished reputation and a position in Decca’s Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century series.

Gulda was a free and eccentric spirit who caused controversy among the Viennese and concert-going public for his unorthodox practices. Among these was the life-long attempt to break barriers between classical and jazz idioms by freely incorporating both genres in his concerts. He became bored and disillusioned with the concert circle and turned to more eccentric projects. Possessing a large amount of repertoire, Gulda often changed programs last minute to maintain the sense of improvisation. He would also improvise at length, not always to the delight of audience members. He caused an uproar in by canceling his summer master class at the Salzburg Mozarteum in order to make an appearance at New York’s Birdland Jazz Club and rejected standard concert attire, appearing naked with his girlfriend for a rendition of Schumann songs on the recorder (Blom, 2001).

In 1969, the Vienna Academy of Music awarded Gulda the prestigious Beethoven Ring, which he rejected in protest to what he regarded as a constricting educational system. This was only one of many more difficulties between Gulda and Vienna. Music critics with openly th



hostile towards his experimental work, and he created more tension in the 80s when he failed to show up for scheduled concerts.

The introduction to Gulda’s documentary, So What?! offers, in his own words, the essence of his life (2007):

Many people consider my very existence a scandal. It’s scandalous when someone constantly does things that ordinarily shouldn’t be done. You don’t play Mozart or Beethoven and go to a jazz club two hours later. I don’t lead a normal life. There are some things that I just don’t do although everyone else does. Anyone who thinks and lives as I do is a constant scandal. And when certain events make that obvious, then it’s obvious, that’s all. Basically my whole life is a scandal.

Gulda once said (2007), ‘To be somebody important in Austria you first have to be dead.’ So in 1999, he pulled one of the most memorable scandals in history and sent a fax from Zurich Airport announcing his death, only to have a resurrection party a few days later.

Friedrich Gulda was born on 16 May 1930 in Vienna to Friedrich Johann and Marie Aloysia Gulda, both teachers. He began piano lessons at age 7 with Felix Pazofsky at the Wiener Volkskonservatorium where he studied until 1942. In 1939, he composed his first piece, Allegretto fuer Klavier and the next year, composed two scherzi for piano.

Gulda entered the Reichshochschule fuer Music Wien in 1942, where he studied piano with Bruno Seidlhofer and theory with Joseph Marx. His first public performance took place in the Brahms-saal on 20 December 1944. On June 24, 1944, Gulda performed with the Viennese Symphony Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.

His first experience with jazz was over ‘enemy radio’ broadcasts from Britain that his father listened to in Vienna during the war; influences of which one can hear in his Klavierstueck of 1946.

Also in 1946, Gulda controversially won the International Competition in Geneva against Belgian pianist Lode Backx. This led to concert engagements around the world, as well as his debut solo recital in the Grosse Musikvereinssaal on 10 December. th



Gulda composed the Mass in B Major in 1947 as his final piece for Professor Marx. Between 1948 and 1949, Gulda went on to perform more than 60 concerts across Europe and South America.

The turning point in his life was a visit to New York. On 11 October 1950, Gulda made his Carnegie Hall debut. After the concert, he received his first impressions of live jazz when he visited the infamous “Birdland” Jazz Club in New York. He became more involved with jazz after an subsequent encounter with trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie following a performance with the Chicago Symphony in 1951. Gulda did not believe society’s rule that people belonged to certain groups, artistically and socially. That one is either a classical or jazz musician. So he crossed over deliberately.

In 1955, Gulda opened “Fatty’s Saloon”, which became the focal point of the Viennese jazz scene and one of Europe’s largest jazz establishments. This same year, he made the first recordings of his own jazz compositions and arrangements. In 1956, only a few years after his first run-in with jazz, Gulda played his first gig at the Birdland Club in New York, followed by an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Gulda’s crossover generated bad reviews at first in 1956, however since the worlds remained separated, it didn’t hurt his career.

Gulda continued, through 1960, to give classical concerts. However, many pieces such as the Prokofiev 7

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Sonata and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition disappeared from his

repertoire.

Through the early 1960, Gulda incorporated more jazz into his concerts. Some pieces composed during this time were the 3 jazz pieces ( A Wild One, Awakening , and Tehran), Music for 3 Soloists and Band and Music for Piano and Band . He even played baritone saxophone for the first time during a jazz-workshop-concert, and would perform half-classic, half-jazz concerts with a trio. Gulda acknowledged that at first, he was nothing at jazz. He recalled having to work long and hard and, although the right people started to notice him, they still not take him seriously.

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In 1964, Gulda composed his Prelude and Fugue for solo piano and founded the EurojazzOrchester, a jazz trio and a big band. He initiated the Viennese International Competition for Modern Jazz in 1966, followed by the International Music Forum in Ossiachersee, with the theme, “Improvisation in Music – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”.

1970 and 1971 saw a number of premieres including the exercises cycle Play Piano Play which were his handbook on teaching classically-trained musicians how to ‘swing’, and perhaps his most famous piece for piano, the Variations on ‘Light My Fire’ .

Gulda entered an era where the border between normality and madness seemed most unclear. He drastically cut back playing classical altogether for a while and turned his attention to ‘free music’. Free music had one rule: To refuse to acknowledge any rules at all. People did have problems with his ‘free music’, as there were many empty hall and financial setbacks (Gulda, 2007).

Towards the late 70s, Gulda programmed more and more classical music, but often had no fixed program to show elements of improvisation and spontaneity. His goal was ultimately to keep options open as to what to play and how to play it until last minute in order for the audience to encounter the artistic experience of “hearing Gulda”. Despite this revival of classical music, he still did not adhere to the unwritten rules of concert etiquette, using amplified sound and lighting effects.

In the years prior to his death, Gulda held dance parties and raves with DJ Pippi and the Paradise Band and Girls, and played regular techno sessions with the Liverpool DJ Vertigo (Blom, 2000).

One of Gulda’s wishes was to die on Mozart’s birthday, so, on 27 January 2000, Friedrich Gulda died of a heart attack at the ago of 69.

PLAY PIANO PLAY – AN OVERVIEW

Published by Papageno in 1971, Play Piano Play are a set of ten exercises dedicated to his second wife, Yuko, which are intended for students who desire to develop mastery of the piano, as well as develop the essential qualities “soak up” the fundamentals of modern piano style (Gulda, preface). th



The ten exercises for piano are, as the original sub-title indicates, practice pieces based on the most valuable lessons Gulda himself learned: simple blues, rhythm, ballad, stride, the feel for the walking bass, some pop rhythms and Latin-American elements, as well as the basic stimuli to develop the ability to improvise. Gulda designed these series of etudes to serve a dual purpose: first as preparatory pieces intended to help [classical] pianists achieve one of the steps within what Gulda called the ‘long road to freedom’, and secondly as pieces t o bring fun ( spass machen) to the performer through practicing and audience through listening (Gulda, preface). One can ultimately look at these pieces and regard them as a handbook in providing classically trained perf ormers with the means to learn how to ‘swing’, and in teaching them how jazz inflections differ from classical music (Hamelin, 2).

From the preface of the first published edition, Gulda advises one the performing and teaching of Play Piano Play (1971):

Should one perform this as a complete cycle, the order should remain the same/be adhered to. Should one select a few of their favorites, the choice of the order is up to the performer. They are also suitable as single encore pieces. The pedagogical purpose however would be fulfilled best when one practices in the following order: 9, 1, 5, 4, 2, 8, 6, 10, 3, 7. The further the student progresses, the more improvisatory modifications are permitted and hoped-for, certainly required. One can realize Piece 9 without improvisational “know how” as “complete”, but this does not work for piece 7. There, improvisational “know how” is needed! The student will be led “by the hand” to an extent: The goal is, that out of an academic “key - pusher”, a true musician will come forth. If he becomes this one, not only will he have success by the performance of these pieces, but also to be appropriately prepared to master of the more difficult works in the present book (1971, Preface).

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IX. Allegro, dolce

This first exercise in Gulda’s progression addresses mainly rhythm and hand coordination. Although written in 3/4, the ‘perpetual -mobile’ accompaniment figure is notated in 6/8. The only exception to this is when the harmonies change from E minor to B minor in m. 52 and 116. The main rhythmic scheme of the right hand melody is the Latin-American sesquialtera. With similar rhythmic features to a hemiola, their differences lie in the historical and cultural usage. The hemiola is a European rhythmical device in which three units of duple meter are notated as if they were two units of triple meter. Historically, the hemiola rhythm was used only as a ‘momentary intrusion’ in works Western European art music. The sesquialtera is of Spanish origin, however was ‘probably derived from the Arabic rhythm called “saraband” and eventually found itself integrated into the dances of Latin America. Its characteristic feature is the alternation or superposition of duple and triple time within groups of six quavers (de Pedro, 35). Examples of this rhythm are found in the final movement of Ginastera’s Piano Sonata, Op. 22 and Bernstein’s “America” from West Side Story. Because of this mix-metered rhythm, a strong emphasis on the first beat is desired. The piece is in binary form with a simple harmonic structure (following a short 4- bar introduction) of: B minor for 32 bars, E minor for 16 bars, B minor again 16 bars and repeat. The melody, however, starts in B pentatonic and later uses hints of the dorian mode when harmonized. Technical difficulties include maintaining a balanced and relaxed hand to execute the repeated notes in the left hand thumb and right hand pinky, as the accompaniment figure switches hands. This requires a great deal of stamina as this moves at a high rate of speed. Because of the changing rhythmic feel, concentration is required as the melody and accompaniment switch hands. The melody is harmonized throughout the piece in parallel 3note and 4-note chords, reminiscent to a brass or saxophone section, but also to harmonization techniques used by Bartok, Ginastera, and Debussy, to name a few. A flexible wrist action is needed to successfully execute the 2-note slurs as well as the short, articulated th



notes. I. Moderato

Exercises No. 1 already explores a number of jazz elements; namely the swing rhythm (or what Gulda notates as notes inégales), a walking bass line, free and notated ornamentation, harmony and voicing, and a taste of a short, virtuosic (albeit notated) improvisation.

This exercise is structured in ternary form, AABA, with the 16-bar A sect ions being a 4-voice fugue in G major, and the contrasting B section being freer and improvisatory-like with a walking bass line moving through ii-V-I progressions in Bb, A and finally G.

From this point on in the cycle, notes inégales becomes an important feature. Although Gulda does not make any attempt to teach or explain the exact execution of notes inégales, he does refer to it in the preface as the ‘jazzy, French style’ (Gulda, preface). Referred in modern jazz terminology as a “swung note”, it is interesting to observe that Gulda referred to the Baroque practice of playing consecutive eighth-notes unequally in an exercise which begins with a fugue. Though notated as equal time values, eighth notes in jazz are performed with unequal value and are commonly triplet-based – therefore alternating between long and short as shown.

Swinging, however, is not just about rhythm, but articulation as well and although Gulda has not left us any literal explanation, we can find a practical explanation in a later work. Gulda used the subject of this fugue in the first of his Sechs Etueden fuer Chor, Keyboards, Drums and Percussion. In this piece, he notates the subject in 12/8 time, thus writing out the swing rhythm. The syllables he used, common in scat (or vocal) solos, reflect the articulation of each note and gives us, as performers, insight into swing playing.

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By following this example, we see that in accordance with jazz style, the first note being on the offbeat is accented. ‘Du’, ‘Di’ and ‘Dl’ refer to shortening of note values, and that an articulation is implied on the syncopated ‘Da’, therefore making the last ‘Di’ of the first measure almost staccato-like.

In his recording of this exercise, Gulda freely ornaments the fugue subject in the repetition of A, and its eventual return. Among the devices he uses are r falls (or short glissandi), turns, scoops and note repetitions that slightly modify the rhythm.

The B section is made of two contrasting parts. The first eight bars features a walking bass line accompanying a melody using thirds and sixths. Here, Gulda notates dotted eighthsixteenth, known as ‘Hard swing’, to make the upbeats faster, almost appoggiatura -like. The bass line must be played legato, but each note must be articulated to recall the sound of a plucked string.

At m. 25, the walking bass stops on a downbeat accent calling attention a four- bar ‘run’, which is a rapid descending, or ascending, usually right-hand passage on the piano in the form of a continuous scale, or a scale with variations (Brotman). Like in many jazz runs, patterns are dependent on chromatic passing tones and suspensions. This makes the patterns unusual and, at times, uncomfortable. The left hand offers an initial insight into jazz harmonization as the suspended F#7 chord is at first without a bass note.

Technical difficulties of this exercise include the interpretation of notes inégales, voicing and division between hands usually associated in playing polyphonic music, fingering in nontraditional patterns.

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II. Alla Marcia, risoluto

Exercises No. 2 is very reminiscent of a piece for jazz band because of its “solo versus tutti” implications. It is the first piece in pedagogical order to require improvisation, though only in small sections over a single harmony. With a tonal center of F, one can choose to utilize the F blues scale The improvised sections are organized in what jazz musicians call “stop choruses”, which is a designated solo section where the rhythm section (or tutti) play on the first beat of each measure. In the case of this piece, the tutti occurs on the fourth (upbeat) and first beats (Flamme, 265-66).

The piece begins with a twelve-bar theme (A) is based on several contrasting motivic materials. The first 2-bar motive ( x), in F-dorian, is marked forte. In four voices, the tenor and soprano state the highly syncopated theme in parallel octaves with the other two voices filling out the harmonies. Interesting is the notated rhythm, as the first beat orally appears to be an anacrusis. This motive is in the middle register of the piano. Contrasting to this is the second motivic group ( y), in F major marked piano, where 5 chords (with beginning appoggiatura) move in parallel motion in a higher register. The third motive ( z ) in m. 9 is a boogie-woogie swing in the dominant of F major.

The B section is comprised of two stop choruses of eight bars each introduced by a short walking bass. The tutti stops are always the sub-dominant and tonic, which allows the performer to improvise in short segments. Gulda has written out his own improvisation in a third system for the right hand as a recommendation to help the student understand the language. Among his suggestions are harmonies in fourths, triplets, chromatic grace-notes, th



fast note repetitions, syncopations, ornaments and swing eighths. Following these choruses is a short, 3-bar interlude that recalls the boogie- woogie motive z of the opening.

Section C is an 8-bar episode that briefly features a variation on stride piano technique, which is a style of piano playing that alternates the left hand between bass (on the first and third beats) and a chord (on second and fourth beats). Also present are block chords in semi parallel motion (that is the outer voices move in parallel motion) and unison figures in both hands.

Sections A, B and C are repeated. A is written lightly ornamented and with short fills to be played under the long, sustained notes of x. This time the tutti in the stop chorus is in a higher register, implying a bass solo. Again, Gulda writes out a recommended path: the first chorus with short, single-voiced, swinging figures then in parallel octaves.

Section C is re-written in full octave chords in the right hand, and an accompaniment where a reach of a minor 10

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is necessary. A virtuosic descending arpeggio followed by ascending

octaves interrupts the parallel chords. A is then brought back again in its entirety with further developed fills in y. The coda in m. 105 is an expansion and re-voicing of motive y and ends pianissimo in a plagal cadence.

VIII. Tempo giusto e risoluto

Another exercise in ABA (ternary) form and featuring 3-part fugal writing, Exercise No. 8 explores the jazz-rock idiom, heavily built on tonic and dominant harmonies. Flamme finds three contrasting elements which Gulda unifies in the first 16 bars: 8 bars of polyphonic writing, a 4-bar chords passage and a 4-bar bass ostinato on E with A major and E major chords (Flamme, 271-72). The use of the slide (grace note) is more prominent and, together th



with the bass ostinato, become stylistic tools for improvisation in Section B.

Section A begins with a short but articulated fugal subject that uses straight rhythms with a rock-pop drive. The exposition follows quite strictly that of a Baroque fugue, with the Dux and Comes in E minor and B minor, respectively. The polyphonic writing is abandoned after the exposition for blocked chords in a typical rock rhythm cadencing in E minor, then E major. The four bar vamp in E major at the end of Section A is resolved to A major at its return.

Section B is an 8-bar chorus based four, 2-bar riffs in E minor and B minor that can be expanded. Gulda writes his own “improvisation” as a model, but also gives the footnote, “The more advanced student would know how to expand and shape [Section B].” (Gulda, 35). This is the first time that Gulda gives the freedom to expand a whole section. The Gsharp/G-natural and D-sharp/D-natural relationships imply use of an E Blues and B Blues scale. Unlike Exercise No. 2, the amount of improvising at a given time is expanded to an 8 bar chorus instead of small motives in between ‘stops’, and use of two scales is required.

There are several new techniques that Gulda introduces in Section B. The first of which is the use of the sostenuto pedal to hold the low E throughout this section. Side- slipping in the accompaniment allows for chromatic movement implying tonic and dominant harmonic changes. E minor is notated as G-sharp, D and G-natural. B minor is notated as A, D-sharp and G. Gulda here is exploring extensions as G, used as a common tone, is both the third of E minor, and thirteenth scale degree of B minor.

Technical difficulties are the execution of heavily syncopated rhythms, voicing and division between hands usually associated in playing polyphonic music, double and rapid grace-notes, fast register changes, use of sostenuto pedal and improvisation using E and B Blues scales.

VI. Presto possible

One of the more technically difficult and fast-paced pieces, Exercises No. 6 makes full use of the double-escape action of the piano with rapid, repeated notes that are reminiscent of Prokofiev’s Toccata or Debussy’s La serenade interrompue (Ex. 1), which Gulda is known to have

had

in

his

active

concert

repertoire

(Flamme,

270).

The

structure

is

AA`BA``BA```BA`BC. There are two main structural components, the afor ementioned rapidth



note section, which changes tonal centers to F minor and G minor upon its returns (A), and an improvisation sections over a two-bar, fast stride piano riff on a i-II-V-I progression (B). This section remains in C minor.

1) Debussy: La serenade interrompue

The main theme (A) starts with a strong, accented downbeat of unison Cs in both hands, followed by rapid middle Cs played by alternating hands. This one-line melody reaches to the flat fifth and eight scale degrees before making a gradual descent , briefly visiting tones from the G Blues scale (D-flat, B-natural and B-flat), before being repeated again. In the repetition of A, octaves dominate the right hand melody, while the left hand continues with single notes.

Section B is also 12 bars, but divided into 4 groups of 2 bars each. The first of which are in the tonic, C minor, then two beats of D7 (II) and two beats of G7 (V). Gulda again notates an improvisation for the first appearance of B, but expects the performer to improvise upon the subsequent two returns. In his improvisation, Gulda utilizes the C Blues scale and puts emphasis on the flat-fifth scale degree of C minor, which is F- sharp/G-flat.

The coda continues in eight bars of stride piano te chnique before quoting the opening theme a final time, both hands in octaves. A final C blues scale in descending unison octaves brings the piece to an exciting close.

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Despite the rapid tempo, one must continue to feel the notes inégales. In fact, Gulda advises to practice notes inégales diligently and slowly. Although notes inégales is nearly impossible to do in such a rapid tempo, practicing as such will lighten the touch on the left hand, making the alternation between hands less difficult. X. Allegro pesante

Exercise No. 10 is the culmination and unification of the all the technical and creative demands made of the student from the previous exercises covered. Notes inégales dominate the piece rhythmically, and offbeat accents, which anticipate the harmony of the subsequent bar, are prevalent (called rhythmic and harmonic anticipation) (Creighton, 2009).

The theme, in unison octaves, is presented in three phrases of four bars each. The melody, in common time, is distinctly in bebop style, as each phrase ends prematurely on the second half of the fourth beat and explore upper extensions of the harmony (flat-13, flat-9, sharp-4). In this case, Gulda uses the diminished-fifth/augmented-fourth as the truanced ending – first descending, then ascending as the first phrase is repeated in inversion. The theme is repeated in the next chorus in octaves in the right hand, with a majority step-wise counterpoint (also in octaves) in the left. It must be ensured that careful attention to the release of short notes be made.

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The compositional style of the subsequent choruses (groups of 12 bars) follow the structure of the theme in which textures and different jazz idioms are changed every four bars. The first four bars of the next chorus (starting at m. 25) feature “solo versus tutti” writing (in this case “duo versus tutti as the solo line is notated in unison octaves) similar to Exercise No. 2. The next four bars are a solo piano (notated) improvisation with syncopated accompaniment mainly using dominant seventh chords followed by four bars of a bass solo.

The next chorus (12 bars) makes more technical demands of the performer. It begins with a transposed version of the previous bass solo, but in double thirds for the right hand. The right hand then accompanies the rising triplet figures in the bass. This figure is a series of writtenout mordents, and can also be seen in the twentieth variation of Beethoven’s C minor Variations, WoO 80. The final four bars are augmented chord arpeggios over a dominant (V) pedal tone.

2a) Gulda: Exercise No. 10

2b) Beethoven: Variations in C minor, WoO

The next two choruses are blues choruses in C Major. The first of which has a written-out improvisation and walking bass line, the second of which only has chord changes. Gulda permits the performer to expand and modify the blues chorus, taking as many repeats as necessary. Gulda requests a similar accompaniment in the second chorus and leaves the walking bass line up to the performer. In taking more choruses, further accompaniment 1 2 techniques suggested are Garner-style chords , stride piano and comping . The coda features a final statement of the first seven notes, but in rotating octaves after the C 3 pickup . The first two notes are notated in semi-quavers with a minim duration, then the last four notes (F-C-B-D) in crotchet duration. This technique recalls the first movement of Schubert’s Sonata in A minor, D. 784.

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3a) Gulda: Exercise No. 10

3b) Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 784 (I.)

Among the technical difficulties are playing melodic octaves, rhythmic precision, execution of double turns for stylistic purposes, rapid virtuosic passagework in both hands, double thirds, C Blues improvisation with walking bass, use of sostenuto pedal, and rotating octaves.

SUMMARY

Just as Bach wrote out his improvisations and ornaments as a pedagogical tool for his students to learn the style, the exercises in Gulda’s Play Piano Play serve the same purpose. To learn style – jazz style.

Pieces of the cycle not discusses but worth mentioning here are No. 5, which is a walking bass etude, and No. 7, the last of the pedagogical cycle. No. 7 is a ballad in which only the melody is notated, giving the performer freedom to improvise from the chord charts. This ability, perhaps the highest skill in improvisation, requires utmost skill in chord voicing, lead sheet reading and ‘fill’ playing.

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As highlighted above, Play Piano Play, when learned in the pedagogical cycle combines the technical discipline of notated ‘classical’ music and the creativity and freedom of jazz idioms. This system will give a player the tools necessary in both improvisation skills and technical mastery to allow one to tackle further, more complex compositions of Gulda (Gulda, 1971, Preface). Among Gulda’s other pieces for piano include the famous Variations on the song

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‘Light my Fire’, composed in 1971, the year of Jim Morrison’s death, a 3 -movement Sonatine ( Entrée, Ballad , Shuffle) and the Piano V ariations.

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REFERENCES

Blom, Philip. (2000, February 1). Friedrich Gulda: Gifted pianist on a musical journey from the classics to jazz. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituaries Brunner, Gerhard and Martin Elste. "Gulda, Friedrich." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/subscriber/article/grove/mu sic/12018 (accessed March 13, 2011). James, Burnett and Jeffrey Dean . "Jazz." In The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/subscriber/article/opr/t114 /e3532 (accessed March 13, 2011). th Cosse, Peter. (1998). Liner notes to Great Pianists of the 20 Century: Friedrich Gulda I [CD]. Translated by Mary Whitthall. USA. Philips. th Cosse, Peter. (1999). Liner notes to Great Pianists of the 20 Century: Friedrich Gulda II [CD]. Translated by Mary Whitthall. Netherlands. Philips. Creighton, Randall. (2009). A man of two worlds: classical and jazz influences in Nikolai Kapustin’s Twenty Four Preludes, Op. 53. Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation, the University of Arizona, Retrieved from http://randycreighton.com/music/kapustin/KapustinFinalComplete.pdf de Pedro, Jovanni. (2008). Search for Identity: Musical History of Argentina and Stylistic Influences in the Piano Works of Alberto Ginastera until 1952. Master of Music dissertation, Trinity College of Music. Flamme, Friedrich. (2006). Der Pianist und Komponist Friedrich Gulda: Studien zu Repertoire und Kompositorischem Schaffen. Goettingen: Cuvillier Verlag. Gulda, Friedrich. (1971). Play Piano Play (Klavier-Kompositionen). Austria. Papageno. Hamelin, Marc-Andre. (2008). In a State of Jazz [CD] UK. Hyperion Records LTD. Kraus, Gottfried. (2004). Liner notes to Friedrich Gulda/ Beethoven, Bach [CD]. Translated by J & M Berridge. France. Andante. Kraus, Gottfried. (2005). Liner notes to Friedrich Gulda, piano [CD]. Translated by Charles Johnston. France. Andante. Siepmann, Jeremy. (2005). Liner notes to Friedrich Gulda: Decca Beethoven Recordings 1950-1958 [CD]. UK. Decca Music Group Limited. So What?! Friedrich Gulda: A Portrait . 2007 [DVD] Directed by Benedict Mirow and Fridemann Leipold. Germany: Deutsche Grammophon GMBH. (Narrated b y Friedrich Gulda and Ulrich Mühe)

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About the Author: Filipino-American pianist Jovanni-Rey de Pedro holds degrees from the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien (Austria) and Trinity College of Music (England). He has performed in venues in Asia, North America and Europe, and is a laureate of numerous international competitions. Jovanni has served on the teaching staff at City University London, the New Ross Chamber Music Festival (Ireland) and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp (USA), and has presented at conferences for the College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association and World Piano Conference. Currently, Jovanni holds a teaching assistantship at the University of Michigan where he is a doctoral candidate in Piano Pedagogy and Performance.

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De Pedro 2011 APPC, Play Piano Play - The Pedagogy of Friedrich Gulda

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