Christina Jennings: Recording the Music of George Rochberg

Part I

Christina Jennings

I love my job teaching at the University of Colorado Boulder. This position allows me to work with outstanding young flutists from a wide range of backgrounds who are passionate about the community we have created at CU- a rich environment for learning, inspiration, and beautiful flute playing. I am so honored to be able to work in this setting! One of the truly incredible opportunities of university teaching is the sabbatical, granted every seven years after receiving tenure (which I did last year!). I will be on leave from CU this Fall semester and look forward to a bouquet of activities including: learning new repertoire, taking some intense yoga classes, rekindling my piano chops, and perfecting my strawberry rhubarb pie recipe! But my main focus will be recording a CD, the first volume of a recording of music for flute by the American composer, George Rochberg. I have been eager to make this recording for many years. I’ve known Mr. Rochberg’s music my entire life and feel a strong connection with his voice. He is not widely known among flutists but I think he should be, and I believe this project will expose flute players to some very beautiful and strong music.  Powell flutes asked me to report on this project as I go along, for which I am very grateful! Here are the details of the composer and the music I will record:

This CD will be the first of two volumes of a recording of music for flute by George Rochberg (1918-2005). Volume One will include three pieces: Caprice Variations, Between Two Worlds and Slow Fires of Autumn. Mr. Rochberg is one of the most important composers of the last century and as I will outline, I am especially qualified to undertake this project: the composer worked closely with my father and was a potent influence on my own musical development.

George Rochberg

George Rochberg was a product of the artistic turmoil of the mid-twentieth-century and he inherited the forbidding atonal aesthetic of the second-Viennese school of Berg and Schoenberg, composer. Soon after the death of his teenage son in 1964, Rochberg experienced a personal and artistic crisis, and he eventually abandoned serialism in favor of tonality, an aesthetic shift that provoked powerful reactions from audience and critics. At the 1971 premiere of his Third String Quartet at Lincoln Center, the final chords were greeted with a wild standing ovation, which was made up of nearly equal parts cheering and booing. In the article George Rochberg's Revolution (First Things June/July 1998), Michael Linton proposes that:

Some revolutions are noisy affairs from the start. The riot with which the Parisians greeted the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring comes immediately to mind. But other revolutions start quietly and get noisier only with time. Twenty years after the event, the first performances of George Rochberg’s Concord Quartets appear to have been the beginnings of that second kind of revolution.

Concord String Quartet (#6 movement 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xf9_JYLQvA

This music was the soundtrack of my childhood, and I absorbed Rochberg’s distinctive musical vocabulary during my own development. The composer’s quartets 3-6, were written for the Concord String Quartet, in which my father, Andrew Jennings, was the second violinist. In his posthumously published memoirs (Illinois, 2009), Rochberg described the close collaboration with my father and his colleagues, as well as the special significance in his oeuvre of the monumental Caprice Variations, originally conceived for violin.

Link to my YouTube video of a few of the caprices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GusPPjaFXnk

My recording plan will allow me to work with 10-time Grammy award nominee recording engineer and producer Judith Sherman, and to collaborate with outstanding musicians for a September recording session at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City. George Rochberg was a member of the distinguished Academy, and the performance hall in the Academy’s historic academy is widely considered one of the best acoustical spaces for classical music recording.

The Caprices Variations are my transcriptions from the original 1970 collection for solo violin. These movements are entirely based on a single theme of Nicolo Paganini and demonstrate the stylistic compositional variety that Mr. Rochberg was known for. My transcription of 20 of the original 50 caprices, employ a variety of techniques that use the flute to its fullest capacity. The other two works for flute and one instrument are substantial, beautiful compositions that are not yet widely known among flutists. Both Between Two World and Slow Fires of Autumn are subtitled Ukiyo-E which is translated “pictures of the floating world” and refers to a style of Japanese painting and woodblock making. These pieces weave into their language a Japanese sound, in particular Slow Fires uses a popular Japanese folksong in its final moments. Between Two Worlds is for flute and piano and I will collaborate with Lura Johnson of the Baltimore Symphony and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Slow Fires of Autumn for flute and harp will be played with June Han of Yale University and The Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Both of these musicians are considered to be at the top of their field and have recorded and performed widely in the new music arena.

Timeless: Kate Prestia-Schaub

This week, we had a chance to chat with Powell player Kate Prestia-Schaub about her new CD, Timeless.  Kate collaborated with composer and pianist Martin Kennedy, who joined the recording project as Kate’s artistic partner.  Timeless is Kate’s debut CD recording, but it has been in the works for over 10 years.  We were able to find out more about the history behind the recording when we spoke with Kate…

In 2002, Kate was ready to record her first CD.  She had all the repertoire lined up and began rehearsing with pianist, composer, and recording engineer Steve Kaplan in Malibu, CA.  About two weeks before the recording was scheduled to commence, Steve was killed in a plane crash.   She was heartbroken, not just because of the musical partnership – but he was also a close family friend.  Feeling the need to have space from her loss, Kate discontinued the work on this recording.

Shortly after the project was discontinued, Frederick Lesemann wrote Slow Music for Piccolo Alone for Kate, much to her surprise.  Dr. Lesemann was Kate’s orchestration professor at USC, and she premiered this piece on her final Master’s recital at USC in Los Angeles in 2003.  Slow Music is also included on a recording of Dr. Lesemann's works to be released later this year.  After hearing Kate perform at a NFA convention in 2005, composer Daniel Dorff contacted Kate with an idea for a new piccolo and piano showpiece he had started for her.  In 2009 Flash! was completed and premiered at the International Piccolo Symposium.  Flash! also won the IPS composition competition for 2009.  Finally, in 2010, Martin Kennedy contacted her with yet another newly formed idea for a piece!  Once Martin’s Desplazamiento was completed, it was premiered at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Festival in 2013. 

Realizing that Kate had accumulated three incredible new pieces for piccolo, and that they would become “timeless standards” in the piccolo repertoire, she came back to the idea of recording.  She pulled out some of the repertoire from the 2002 project, and the new pieces that had been written for her fit perfectly in the mix; better even than the original plan!   Kate also realized that she had found a monstrous pianist and good friend in Martin, and asked if he would come out to California and record the album.

Martin Kennedy came out to California from St. Louis this summer to record the CD with Kate.   With only a one-week time span in which to work, Kate and Martin were able to complete the project on time, before Martin’s return.  Kate told us that they were able to do a little bit of rehearsing, recording, and mixing each day.  The CD was produced and recorded by the incredible Peter Sprague at his studio in Encinitas. 

Looking back on the process of recording the CD, we asked Kate about the most memorable elements.  She told us, 

Martin brought a ton of energy to the project, and he has had a lot of experience in recording.  Being a composer, Martin was able to give me a bigger perspective on all of the pieces, which helped me grow musically.  We were able to get his piece exactly the way he wanted it.  It was humbling to have the opportunity to speak with all the composers; I could attempt to make all their music the way they wanted it – not just the way I wanted it.  I could also bring the music to life a little better because I knew the people it came from!”

The recording process also had a strong impact on Kate in the sense that she was able to truly reflect on her own playing.  She elaborated on this particularly monumental element of the process:

You’re your own worst critic.  You want to fix everything.  During the editing process, I listened so carefully to every detail – each rhythm, every interval, runs, expression markings, balance; everything! There is an appropriate amount of criticism needed to create a good product, but at a certain point, you have to stop picking everything apart, and just enjoy the music.  I had to learn to let myself be human.  There’s definitely a huge learning curve in the process – learning how much to fix and how to simply let it be.  Now that I have given it some space, and don’t have to correct anything anymore, I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Timeless is available through Kate Prestia-Schaub’s website,  CD Baby,  iTunes,  and  Google Play.

Preview the tunes on Kate Prestia-Schaub’s facebook page.  For more information on Kate, visit her Powell Academy Page, where you can also schedule lessons with her.

Enhancing Private Lessons with Everyday Technology

By Morgann Davis

Morgann Davis

While it’s easy to view some of today’s amazing technology as a distraction, there are many ways we can easily use the devices and services that have become so commonplace to quickly improve and enhance the private lesson experience. Odds are good that you or your students own at least one of the following: smart phone, iPod, tablet (iPad, Nook, etc.), desktop computer or laptop with a camera and microphone, hand-held video camera, or a digital camera with video capabilities. The odds are also great that there are more ways to use these devices than you realize to help your students improve quickly!

Apps are perhaps the most obvious way we can utilize our smartphones, iPods and tablets. There are amazing music teaching tools available for private and classroom instruction that are very detailed, but there are also great, sometimes simple, freebies that are easy to incorporate. YouTube has a free app that easily allows you to search for videos you’d like to share with your students. Links can be emailed directly from the app, or cut and pasted directly into a text message to the student. There are also lots of excellent, free tuners and metronomes available. I particularly enjoy using insTuner with my students, as it gives them simple guidance on whether they are sharp or flat, and which way to tune their instrument. It is also gives a more stable reading of the pitch than some other free chromatic tuner apps, and will play pitches in different octaves if you want to tune to a drone. There are also great apps for learning or referencing scales, like Scales & Modes (although this one costs $1.99, it provides a wide variety of scale types). Many more apps are available beyond those listed above, including ones that help with ear training and theory (some of these are free as well!), but I find these to be particularly useful. Now, every student has access to things like a metronome or tuner, even if their parents forget to take them to the music store!

As a student, I was told to record myself more times than I can remember (and I hate to admit, more often than I actually found the time to do!). Now, there’s very little excuse for a student not to record audio or video of a portion of their practice time. Even without a smart device, anyone with a computer that has a video camera can record themselves. For example, if you have any type of apple computer, you have a camera and a program called Photo Booth. Although the quality is a bit crude, this free program that is included with the computer more that serves the purpose of providing an outside ear and eye during practice. Students are never far from their phones, so I frequently encourage mine to set their iPhones or iPods to video instead of camera and place it on the stand. If viewing themselves from this vantage point makes them feel nervous, they can face the camera toward the stand. They’ll get a decent quality audio from this to use in analyzing their playing.  My favorite way to use video in lessons, however, is to record a problem spot in a piece or exercise using my phone and then email it to the student and their parent, asking them to watch the video and make notes on what they noticed before their next lesson. I have also done this with recital performances. My students are often shocked by what they observe (both good and bad)! For those of us wishing to make higher quality recordings for ourselves or our students, there are microphones that can be attached to your smartphone from companies like TASCAM that come with apps to operate them and edit the audio you record.

There is also an amazing wealth of resources beyond YouTube that can aid with performance practice and preparation. As a young student, I had no access to music libraries or catalogues of recordings, but today’s students can hear almost any musician from the comfort of their own homes. Beyond tutorials that have been recorded by flutists such as James Galway and Emmanuel Pahud (many of which are available on YouTube), there are free “radio” resources that allow us to access countless recordings. Even iTunes provides free radio where we can listen to classical, jazz or world music. My current favorite program for listening in the context of lessons is Spotify. Unlike Pandora, which generates playlists based on the genre of music or type of artist you searched, you can search for a specific artist or piece in Spotify’s enormous data base, then create and save playlists, even in the free version! For a small monthly fee, you can access your playlists using any device that’s logged into your account. The feature I find most valuable, however, is the ability to share your playlists. Gone are the days of burning CDs for students and hoping they don’t get lost before they make it home. Instead, you can share playlists with a student (even via their parents, if you prefer) with specific recordings you want them to hear through email (once someone has an account they can also opt to follow or subscribe to your playlists). I’ve made an example playlist that I might give to a young student that displays a variety of flutists and styles so you can try it out here: Teach Flute.

Another favorite performance enhancement tool for my studio is Smart Music. For just $40/yr and the one time purchase of a microphone to go with the program, you have access to a wealth of accompaniments. Using the microphone, you can play along to a set tempo (which you can adjust to your liking), or set the program to follow you. While this is obviously no replacement for a real pianist, it has been a tremendous help preparing my students for the first rehearsal with their accompanist when the piece is too difficult for me to play along.

A fun website that my students access often is flutetunes.com. Just like the name implies, there’s lots of free sheet music on this site as well as scales, staff paper, a tuner, and a glossary of musical terms!

From a business perspective, there are a multitude of ways technology can easily and instantly upgrade your teaching experience. Social media used the right way can actually be very effective for networking with other musicians, and for staying connected to your students and their parents. I think most people have become aware that it’s best to keep your personal life and business separate, so if you go this route you may want to create a twitter handle or facebook page specifically for business purposes. I use a Facebook page for my studio (DavisFlute Studio) to post resources, information about recitals and auditions, and the dates of classes for my students. Programs like GoogleDocs or Doodle can be used to help ease scheduling events like classes and recitals. You can even allow tuition payments by credit card for a minimal fee using your smartphone and devices like Square. There are also amazing sites like Weebly where you can easily make a sharp looking website for free. I paid just $40 for a yearly subscription to Weebly Pro so that I can tailor and update my website, MorgannElyce Davis, flutist, however and whenever I like.

These ideas are truly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how technology can enhance lessons for both you and your students. The key is to have fun discovering what’s available and to carry the creativity you use in your teaching into the way you use technology! 

Flute Scale and Intonation

By Paul Edmund-Davies

I am full of admiration for people who take a scientific approach to the whole process of putting a flute together. There are very logical and valid reasons for trying to make the instrument as close to perfection as possible, and the dedication shown by the few in attempting to evolve the flute further is to be applauded.

Paul Edmund-Davies

One could now have lengthy discussions about precise measurements and distances. However, like many, I am not a scientist, and as such not qualified to make absolute comment on the merits of one flute scale over another, other than through my observations of what I personally experience as a performer. It has also to be noted that advances in flute design and making over the past four decades or so has been significant to the extent that many flute makers across the globe are now making outstandingly good instruments.

However, it should be remembered that in the end, there is no such thing as an in tune flute. What finally comes out of the instrument is the responsibility of the performer, not the instrument itself. It is up to the musician to use his or her intelligence and ears to play the instrument that they have in their hands to the best of their ability. This includes having a precise concept of pitch and the relative distances between notes. Whilst the correct positioning and size of the holes on the flute are of obvious importance, there are many more factors beyond the construction of the instrument that need to be considered in the art of playing in tune.

A key area that seems to be ignored in this discussion is individual physiology. This has a colossal impact on the character and pitch of the sound that comes out of the flute/flute player. Fact: we are all constructed differently, therefore, we will blow flutes in very varying ways. What might well work for me is not necessarily going to work for someone else. Yes, there are starting blocks to work from, but these won’t always lead to the same conclusions.

 *Note -- This post is an excerpt from "In My Opinion," a post Mr. Edmund-Davies wrote for his own blog.  To read the full article, visit http://blog.pauledmund-davies.com/?s=scale.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.priorparkcollege.com/gallery.asp?galleryID=52.

Choosing "The One"

The NFA is quickly approaching, and here at Powell, we are busy preparing inventory to bring.  With so many flutes in one spot, this convention is attractive to those who are seriously considering a flute purchase.  We always look forward to speaking with teachers, whether they are looking for flutes to recommend to their students, or accompanying their students for the decision-making process.  As both you and your students try flutes, it is important to take several factors into consideration before making a final decision. 

Often times, there are several contenders to choose from before selecting "the one."  You and your students will compare the flutes and evaluate factors including tone, response, projection -- and of course, price.  At the convention, you'll have the chance to speak with associates from the companies, so it is an optimal chance to ask questions.  But what should you ask?  Well, we know you will have a list of important questions of your own, but if your student is going alone, s/he may not be familiar with some of the "specs" (specifications) and terms.  Discuss terms and features with them -- tube thickness, pitch, and mechanism options like split E, C# trill, D# roller.  We all want to carefully consider the value of our purchases -- especially when selecting a flute.  Materials are particularly important -- what material is used for the body?  What about the materials for the headjoint and mechanism?  Materials will often have their own set of terms -- is it a solid metal?  Is it plated?  Powell's President, Steven Wasser, write about this topic in a post on our Flute Builder blog at http://www.flutebuilder.com/2012/10/the-gold-in-gold-flute_3.html.  You will hear specs on mechanisms, too -- is it a pinned mechanism, or is it pinless?  What type of pads are used?  Finally, you want to make sure that your students ask about the warranty terms.

Whether flute trials take place at the convention or when you get home, the questions on features and specs are always important.  If you are at the convention, you'll have the chance to ask questions, and company associates are happy to help.  When you are at home, you'll still want to keep these questions in the forefront.  Check the companies' websites, and if you cannot find information that is important to you in this process, or if something is not clear, make sure to contact the company directly -- it will be WELL worth it!

Efficiently Laying the Foundation for Our Music

By Morgann Davis

            Consider how much time you have spent discussing or practicing concepts relating to breath control and support in your time as a musician. We practice long tones, breathing exercises, and excerpts like Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune for the duration of our flute lives. Our teachers tell us about the diaphragm, and use many varying explanations for the way our breathing apparatus works to allow us to make beautiful music.

            As wind instrumentalists, our air gives life to our music and a voice to our instrument. It is the determining factor in how our message is carried from conception to reception. We are often taught from a young age that support comes from somewhere: our abs, our diaphragm, from using the muscles to expel the air. There is validity to many explanations of “support,” but for the time being, I’d like to challenge you to think of support as something: an efficient airstream carried by the natural use of our muscles. Our breathing apparatus has to help us, but it does not create the sound, and will do its job correctly if we breathe in the way our bodies were built to. What truly supports our sound is a fast and consistent air stream, crossing the flute at the optimum angle.

Posture: Creating the pathway for your air 

            When teaching I tackle this concept from the start by making sure that my students are taking a natural and methodical approach to their stance and how they hold their instruments. I pull from a mixed bag of concepts that originate in Alexander Technique, Body Mapping and from experiences with my own teachers. Students are often better at using their bodies naturally at a young age, so I find that even my youngest students can grasp these concepts early on.

            Often, we focus on what our upper bodies do when we play our instruments, but pick up your flute as you would for a performance and notice for a moment what happens to your lower body. Most likely, you will find that one hip or the other is tense or locked, or perhaps you have limited mobility in your knees. My teacher, Katherine Borst Jones, often reminded us “you are a tree.” Your feet are grounded, but your legs (and hips) remain free to allow you to move in the breeze. Moving up from the roots, we must make sure to have freedom for movement in our hips. Try imitating the way you would throw a ball underhand with both your left and right arms. One hip will likely be more stiff than the other, and if you pick your flute up you’re just as likely to find the opposite shoulder is holding unnecessary tension. I found this awareness of whether my hips were locked in place during lessons with Jean Ferrandis, who is very conscious of any excess energy wasted on tension or unnatural movements. This part of our posture is not always associated with air use, but you will find that a freer lower body means more ease and efficiency in air flow and a more natural posture for the rest of the body.
            
            After evaluating our lower bodies, we come to the core, certainly a well-discussed and well-analyzed component of wind playing. In my own students, I encourage a natural use of the core muscles that is engaged, but never pushes on the air. We explore how to do this by using exercise balls and wall sits, amongst other physical activities. Older students have found common threads between an engaged, natural use of the core muscles and yoga. (A strong core goes a long way, but remember support is air, not a sit-up!). The goal is to use the large muscle groups to support your overall posture in a way that does not encourage you to constrict or push, especially with the abdominal muscles.
            
            All of these areas of sound production could be discussed at a much greater length, and the upper body is no different. I aim for my students to understand that the large muscle groups in their back (underneath the shoulder blades) can help to support the action of their arms, allowing freedom from tension in the shoulders and upper arms. A lack of upper body tension allows the lungs to expand as they are meant to, the air to move freely, and the sound to resonate.

            Finally, lift your flute to your chin or watch your students do the same. In a majority of my students I notice that the head moves forward to meet the flute, often with the chin down. I call this the “flutist’s thinker” (picture the famous statue). It seems obvious, but with so much to teach we often overlook this part of our students’ posture. Fixing it will create an instant improvement in breathing and air flow!

Air: The foundation of your music

            Having evaluated how your student’s posture and stance (or your own) may be hindering a natural use of the muscles and breathing mechanism, the air should now be able to move more freely to support your sound. Just as I did previously, I’d like to encourage you to challenge the more traditional definition and think of support as the use of a natural, efficient air stream.

            In order to support the sound with your air, you must first consider the intake. To be sure you are using all the space that’s available to you in your lungs, try taking your normal “big” breath standing as you would to play. Then, do the same while you are bent at the waist with your neck and arms relaxed. Did you expand in a different way? Did you have more air? This is my favorite way to demonstrate that we can breathe in 3D! Now, replicate that breath while standing.

            With a refreshed concept of how much air we can take in, we must put it to good use by being sure that it moves fast, freely, and consistently. I would imagine we all feel we are doing this to some extent. If you’ve ever recorded yourself practicing and then listened back, however, you know that our perception of our playing and the reality are often different. I particularly enjoy finding more concrete ways for myself and my students to see the way our air is working (or not working) as we would like.

            The use of pinwheels to encourage air speed and consistency was introduced to me by Katherine Borst Jones. I use them in a variety of ways in my studio now, from showing students whether their air changes during or at the end of a phrase or long note, whether they are changing the speed or amount for varying dynamics, or if they are stopping their air during articulated passages. There are many breathing devices that show these aspects of “supporting” with the air, but I enjoy using pinwheels because of the affordability. I send them home with students, and encourage them to tape them to their stands at embouchure level!

            The direction our air travels follows a close second in importance to the consistent speed it moves. If you remember the “flutist’s thinker” from before, it makes sense that our air is often directed too far into the flute. An added detriment is that an air stream that is aimed down will produce a more “direct,” laser-like tone up close that may be pleasing to the player but will project poorly in an ensemble or recital. The more distance we put between where the air leaves our embouchure and the edge of the embouchure hole where it splits, the better our sound will resonate and project. When teaching, I often provide analogies for my students encouraging them to picture their air traveling higher across the flute than it actually will. An example of this is relating direction to the pinwheel, asking them to picture a small wheel at the back of a recital hall that they must spin by blowing up across the flute and the top of the music stand.

The journey begins:

            Even without touching on the intricate embouchure related aspects of moving the air freely, there is more than enough to consider when it comes to how we support our sound. Our entire body is engaged in breath control and creating the foundation and voice of our music. The air supports our musicality, tone, dynamics, vibrato, articulation....the list can go on for quite a long time. Air is truly the life of our music as flutists, and the best path to the strongest foundation and support is the natural and efficient use of our bodies.

 
* To read more about Morgann Davis, visit her website at  www.morgannelycedavis.com