Doctoral Degrees (Music)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Music) by Subject "Cello music -- History and criticism"

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    Contemporary performance of the sonatas for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven as informed by Carl Czerny
    (2016-03) Martens, Peter; Ludemann, Winfried; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Music.; Magalhaes, Luis Miguel de Araujo.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation places the sonatas for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven into the context of a continuing discussion about the composer’s metronomic tempo indications (MTIs) for a large number of his own works, many of which were added retrospectively after the patenting of Maelzel’s metronome in approximately 1815. There seems to be an increasing consensus that these indications deserve serious consideration when performing such works. The sonatas for cello and piano happen to fall into a category of works for which the composer did not leave MTIs. But it is in the writings of his associate and former pupil, Carl Czerny, that one does find a source that not only includes MTIs, but also performance instructions for these works. Despite its title, the book Carl Czerny – On the Proper Performance of All Beethoven’s Works for Piano is not limited to a discussion of his works for solo piano, but also contains specific mention of the sonatas for cello and piano as well as all his other chamber music with piano. Therefore this source is given a central position in the present study. The authenticity and validity of Czerny’s text is evaluated, leading to the acceptance of Czerny as a reputable and qualified figure to pronounce on Beethoven interpretation, in this case specifically on his sonatas for cello and piano. In addition, Beethoven’s preoccupation with tempo is examined within the context of a conceptual study of the notion of tempo. Following the newly established premises of Performance- or Practice-based Research the performance of the sonatas in accordance with Czerny’s instructions and at his MTIs is then included as an integral part of the study. At the same time this research is anchored within three relevant streams of current discourse: Historically Informed Performance Practice and the performance history of the works in question, both of which are underpinned by the notion that the musical work is ultimately realised in its performance. Consequently, the interpretations, captured on CD, experiment with and reveal new knowledge about Beethoven’s six sonatas for cello and piano through performance. To place these sonatas in an even wider context the study also includes performances of Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, Haydn’s cello concerto in D major, the second sonata for cello and piano in F major by Brahms and the sonata for cello and piano by Shostakovich. Finally, a South African link is created by the inclusion of Peter Klatzow’s sonata for cello and piano.