Page 103 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 7, zvezek 16 / Year 7, Issue 16, 2011
P. 103
a Biffio, NEW EXTENSIONS OF THE BEAUTIFUL CELLO TONE
complexity of the compositional process. The central point for interpretating the
paradoxical nature of time is its realization in motor activity.
While the motor skills meld with each other and form new visible elements,
the tone intervals are in a state of suspense: exclusively in the beginning and at the
end of the activity the pitch is hardly recognizable.
Schmidt-Mechau has developed nine motor activities for the cellist, which can
function independently or be combined in a counterpoint manner:
Right hand activities:
– tangential movement across the instrument (pizzicato, down- and up bow)
– concentric movement (string crossing)
– longitudinal movement along the string (bow glissando and hand glissando
from the pegbox to the endpin, wiping)
– vertical movement (battuto, bow pressure, Bartók-pizzicato)
– turning around the centre line (ordinario, col legno)
– turning around the cross axis (bow angle on the string)
Left hand activities:
– vertical movement (stopped notes, flageolet, tapping)
– longitudinal movement along the string (shifting, glissando, wiping)
– transversal movement (fingering on adjacent strings, pizzicato, pitch
bending)
These movements are worked out in a “quasi serial counterpoint” (preface by
Schmidt-Mechau). The resulting movement intervals are related to tone intervals
from minor second to major seventh, up- and downwards. To my question
concerning the choice of the cello Schmidt-Mechau answered via email on
September 28, 2009:
„The possibilities of the instrument are, first of all, a question of perception to
me. Thereby I keep on discovering novelties, often as a result of ‘faulty’ or
‘incorrect’ play. The cello is an instrument of almost limitless possibilities. […]
The cello‘s material nature is of a much greater interest to me in this context. You
will have seen in my biography that I worked as a carpenter for 15 years. Matthias
refers to that, which he then expresses as: ‘To Friedmann the cello is always just a
wooden box as well.’“(Email Schmidt-Mechau 29.9.2009)
With a genuine sense of humor in his pointed remark, Schmidt-Mechau refers
back to Lachenmann’s “instrumental musique concrète” (Lachenmann 1996:
381) in Pression (1969), which left its impression on many contemporary
compositions. Above all, Lachenmann experienced all the effects for Pression on
103
complexity of the compositional process. The central point for interpretating the
paradoxical nature of time is its realization in motor activity.
While the motor skills meld with each other and form new visible elements,
the tone intervals are in a state of suspense: exclusively in the beginning and at the
end of the activity the pitch is hardly recognizable.
Schmidt-Mechau has developed nine motor activities for the cellist, which can
function independently or be combined in a counterpoint manner:
Right hand activities:
– tangential movement across the instrument (pizzicato, down- and up bow)
– concentric movement (string crossing)
– longitudinal movement along the string (bow glissando and hand glissando
from the pegbox to the endpin, wiping)
– vertical movement (battuto, bow pressure, Bartók-pizzicato)
– turning around the centre line (ordinario, col legno)
– turning around the cross axis (bow angle on the string)
Left hand activities:
– vertical movement (stopped notes, flageolet, tapping)
– longitudinal movement along the string (shifting, glissando, wiping)
– transversal movement (fingering on adjacent strings, pizzicato, pitch
bending)
These movements are worked out in a “quasi serial counterpoint” (preface by
Schmidt-Mechau). The resulting movement intervals are related to tone intervals
from minor second to major seventh, up- and downwards. To my question
concerning the choice of the cello Schmidt-Mechau answered via email on
September 28, 2009:
„The possibilities of the instrument are, first of all, a question of perception to
me. Thereby I keep on discovering novelties, often as a result of ‘faulty’ or
‘incorrect’ play. The cello is an instrument of almost limitless possibilities. […]
The cello‘s material nature is of a much greater interest to me in this context. You
will have seen in my biography that I worked as a carpenter for 15 years. Matthias
refers to that, which he then expresses as: ‘To Friedmann the cello is always just a
wooden box as well.’“(Email Schmidt-Mechau 29.9.2009)
With a genuine sense of humor in his pointed remark, Schmidt-Mechau refers
back to Lachenmann’s “instrumental musique concrète” (Lachenmann 1996:
381) in Pression (1969), which left its impression on many contemporary
compositions. Above all, Lachenmann experienced all the effects for Pression on
103
