Mucynsky Trio

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

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I,______________________________________________,hereby submit this as part of the requirements for thedegree of:

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in:________________________________________________

It is entitled:________________________________________________

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Approved by:________________________

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THE FIRST PIANO TRIO BY ROBERT MUCZYNSKI

a thesis submitted to the

Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Division of Keyboard Studies of the College-Conservatory of Music

March, 2003

by

Gregory Christian Kostraba

B.A., The American University, 1989 M.M.., University of Cincinnati, 1991

Committee Chair: Robert Zierolf

THE FIRST PIANO TRIO BY ROBERT MUCZYNSKI

BY: GREGORY CHRISTIAN KOSTRABA

THESIS ADVISOR: ROBERT ZIEROLF

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a framework for the interpretative understanding of

the First Piano Trio, Op. 24 (1966-67) by Robert Muczynski through a discussion of the distinctive

qualities of his music, an overview of his chamber music with piano, and a detailed analysis of the

trio. It is hoped that this study, which includes direct correspondence with the composer, will

promote interest and performance of this distinctive yet little-known composition.

The document includes four chapters. Chapter One provides an overview of the composer,

including general style characteristics, biographical information, and awards and commissions he has

received, then discusses the need for this study.

Chapter Two summarizes the career of Muczynski's only composition teacher, Alexander

Tcherepnin, as a means of determining the techniques that Muczynski was taught, then discusses in

detail the distinguishing characteristics embedded in Muczynski's music. Knowing these elements-or

"fingerprints"-can help guide performers through the complexities of Muczynski's music and

provide an understanding that can lead to successful performances of his compositions.

Chapter Three provides a brief overview of Muczynski's extensive body of chamber music

with piano, including stylistic comments made by the composer, reviewers, and others who have

studied the pieces. These observations will provide insight into particular characteristics of these

works, including compositional style, musical and non-musical influences, and formal procedures.

Chapter Four discusses the First Piano Trio in detail, including issues of form, harmonic

motion, melodic and rhythmic content, and thematic transformation. It also focuses on performance

considerations such as Muczynski's ensemble writing, and issues such as the balance between the

instruments, the use of similar material in different guises by each instrument, and the unity and

variety within the various textures employed.

As a summary, Chapter Five places the fingerprints in the context of the First Piano Trio.

Appendix A includes a bibliography and discography of Muczynski's chamber music with piano.

Appendix B contains a complete list of the composer's works by genre.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Robert Muczynski for his inspiration and friendship over the course of

many years. I first became acquainted with Muczynskis music early in my tenure at the College-

Conservatory of Music. Robert Garcia and I went to the Hamilton County Public Library in

downtown Cincinnati frequently to borrow LP and CD recordings. One day, while riffling through

the stacks, I found two LPs of Muczynski Plays Muczynski. It was a composer with whom I was

unfamiliar, so I took the recordings home and listened to them. The Second Piano Sonata struck me

immediately as a masterpiece, so I purchased the score in Dallas in 1990 and began to learn it. After

performing the sonata on a recital in the fall of 1992, I sent the recording to Muczynski. I did not

receive an immediate reply, and in the meantime had found out about the Flute Sonata and played it

on a doctoral recital the following spring (and on WGUC, an event that eventually led to my career

in radio, but thats another story). I sent that recording to Muczynski as well. This time, his reply

came quickly. He enjoyed the performance of the Flute Sonata but was quite candid in his criticisms

of the Second Piano Sonata. We have corresponded frequently in the intervening years as this

doctoral thesis took shape, and as I have continued to champion Muczynskis music in the concert

hall and on the radio.

Thanks also to Dr. David Tomatz and Gordon Epperson, my committee: Robert Zierolf,

Stephanie Schlagel and William Black, Valerie Cisler, Marlon Kiser at WGTE-FM in Toledo, Greg

Cornelius for his technical expertise, and many others for their time and assistance. I am grateful to

my parents and wife for enduring many years of intermittent work on this project, thankful for the

encouragement I received from Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff, and appreciative of the many years

of inspired teaching by the late Richard Fields. Glory to God in all things!

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ......................................................................................................... iv

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION ....................................... 1 Need for the Study ....................................................................................................................... 5

II. ELEMENTS OF MUCZYNSKI'S STYLE: THE FINGERPRINTS ........................... 8 A. Studies with Alexander Tcherepnin ..................................................................................... 9 Scales ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Interpoint ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Individual Use of Traditional Forms ......................................................................................... 16 B. Other Fingerprints .................................................................................................................. 18 Rhythm .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Harmony ....................................................................................................................................... 20 The Muczynski Chord ............................................................................................................. 25 Widely-Spaced Sonorities ............................................................................................................ 28 Piano Writing ................................................................................................................................ 30 Melody ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 36

III. AN OVERVIEW OF MUCZYNSKI'S CHAMBER MUSIC WITH PIANO ................ 37

A. SONATAS ............................................................................................................................... 38 Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 14 ........................................................................................... 38 Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 25 ........................................................................................... 42 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, Op. 29 ....................................................................... 48 B. OTHER WORKS FOR TWO INSTRUMENTS ............................................................. 50 Time Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 43 ................................................................................ 50 Moments for Flute and Piano, Op. 47 ......................................................................................... 54 C. TRIOS ...................................................................................................................................... 57 Fantasy Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 26 ................................................................. 57 Second Piano Trio (Violin, Cello, Piano), Op. 36 ................................................................... 62 Third Piano Trio (Violin, Cello, Piano), Op. 46 ...................................................................... 68

IV. FIRST PIANO TRIO, OP. 24 .................................................................................................. 74 First Movement ............................................................................................................................ 77 Form ............................................................................................................................................. 77 Themes and Motives ................................................................................................................... 78 Theme I ......................................................................................................................................... 78 Theme II ........................................................................................................................................ 79 Theme III ...................................................................................................................................... 81 Development ................................................................................................................................ 83

ii

Recapitulation and Coda ............................................................................................................. 84 Harmony ....................................................................................................................................... 84 Modulation .................................................................................................................................... 85 Bass Line ....................................................................................................................................... 86 Texture ........................................................................................................................................... 87 Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo ....................................................................................................... 90 Second Movement ....................................................................................................................... 91 Form ............................................................................................................................................. 91 Themes and Motives ................................................................................................................... 92 Theme I ......................................................................................................................................... 92 Theme II ........................................................................................................................................ 93 Theme III ...................................................................................................................................... 93 Closing Theme ............................................................................................................................. 95 Harmony ....................................................................................................................................... 95 Tempo and Meter ........................................................................................................................ 97 Texture ........................................................................................................................................... 99 Third Movement .......................................................................................................................... 99 Andante I ........................................................................................................................................ 100 Trio .............................................................................................................................................. 103 Andante II ...................................................................................................................................... 105 Fourth Movement ......................................................................................................................... 107 Form .............................................................................................................................................. 107 Themes and Motives .................................................................................................................... 108 Theme I .......................................................................................................................................... 108 Theme II ......................................................................................................................................... 110 Development ................................................................................................................................. 112 Theme III ....................................................................................................................................... 113 Recapitulation and Coda .............................................................................................................. 114 Harmony ........................................................................................................................................ 115 Bitonality ........................................................................................................................................ 115 Scales .............................................................................................................................................. 118 Rhythm, Tempo, and Meter ........................................................................................................ 122 Texture, Dynamics, Register, Articulation ................................................................................ 123

V. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................... 127 Form .............................................................................................................................................. 128 Themes and Motives .................................................................................................................... 128 Scales .............................................................................................................................................. 128 Vertical Interpoint ......................................................................................................................... 129 Harmony ........................................................................................................................................ 129 Rhythm and Meter ........................................................................................................................ 130 Texture ............................................................................................................................................ 131 Piano Writing ................................................................................................................................. 132 Recommendations for Further Research .................................................................................. 133

iii

APPENDIX A: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY ....................................................... 134

APPENDIX B: COMPOSITIONS BY ROBERT MUCZYNSKI .............................................. 143

LIST OF TABLES Table Page

3-1 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SECOND MOVEMENT (Sonata for Cello and Piano) ......................................................................................... 45

3-2 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THIRD MOVEMENT (Second Piano Trio) ....................................................................................................... 66

4-1 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT (First Piano Trio) ............................................................................................................ 77

4-2 THREE-VOICED TEXTURES IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT (First Piano Trio) ............................................................................................................ 88

4-3 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SECOND MOVEMENT (First Piano Trio) ........................................................................................................... 91

4-4 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THIRD MOVEMENT (First Piano Trio) ........................................................................................................... 100

4-5 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE FOURTH MOVEMENT (First Piano Trio) ........................................................................................................... 107

4-6 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST THEME AREA (First Piano Trio, Fourth Movement) ........................................................................ 108

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LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example Page

2-1 Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/iv, mm. 154-55 ........................................................... 12

2-2 Muczynski, Desperate Measures/xii, m. 19 ............................................................................ 12

2-3 Tcherepnin, Piano Concerto No. 3 in B-flat, op. 48/i, mm. 22-24 ............................... 13

2-4 Tcherepnin, Piano Trio, Op. 34/iii, mm. 130-31 ............................................................. 14

2-5 Tcherepnin, Prelude, Op. 85 No. 11, m. 18 ...................................................................... 14

2-6 Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/i, mm. 1-3 ................................................................... 15

2-7 Muczynski, Flute Sonata/i, mm. 1-3 .................................................................................. 15

2-8 Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/ii, mm. 1-6 .................................................................. 16

2-9 Muczynski, Prelude, Op. 6, No. 4, mm. 1-2 ...................................................................... 18

2-10 Muczynski, Prelude, Op. 6, No. 4, mm. 26-29 ................................................................. 18

2-11 Muczynski, Suite, mm. 61-69 ............................................................................................... 18

2-12 Muczynski, Third Piano Trio/iii, mm. 133-36 .................................................................. 19

2-13 Muczynski, Desperate Measures/viii, mm. 1-6 ...................................................................... 19

2-14 Muczynski, Seven, No. 1, mm. 1-4 ....................................................................................... 20

2-15 Muczynski, Dream Cycle, No. 2, mm. 49-51 ....................................................................... 21

2-16 Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 47-50 ...................................................................................... 21

2-17 Muczynski, Third Piano Sonata/i, mm. 43-50 .................................................................. 22

2-18 Muczynski, Time Pieces/iii, mm. 1-9 .................................................................................... 22

2-19 Muczynski, Masks, mm. 152-64 ........................................................................................... 23

2-20 Muczynski, Moments/ii, mm. 32-37 ..................................................................................... 24

2-21 Muczynski, Alto Saxophone Sonata/ii, mm. 116-19 ....................................................... 24

2-22 Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/i, mm. 50-57 ................................................................................ 25

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2-23 Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/iii, mm. 9-18 ................................................................................ 25

2-24 Muczynski, Desperate Measures/iv, mm. 1-4 ........................................................................ 26


2-26 Muczynski, Masks, m. 164 .................................................................................................... 27

2-27 Muczynski, Suite/i, mm. 1-9 ................................................................................................ 27


2-29 Muczynski, Sonatina/i, mm. 1-5 ......................................................................................... 29

2-30 Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/ii, mm. 30-33 ............................................................................... 29

2-31 Muczynski, Piano Concerto No. 1/ii, mm. 19-21 ............................................................ 29

2-32 Muczynski, Desperate Measures/i, mm. 29-32 ...................................................................... 30

2-33 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/iii, mm. 148-51 ............................................................... 31

2-34 Muczynski, Cello Sonata/iv, mm. 166-70 .......................................................................... 31

2-35 Muczynski, Time Pieces/i, mm. 93-96 .................................................................................. 31

2-36 Muczynski, Flute Sonata/ii, mm. 131-34 ........................................................................... 32

2-37 Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 1-5 .......................................................................................... 32

2-38 Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 32-39 ...................................................................................... 33

2-39 Muczynski, Piano Concerto No. 1/i, mm. 71-78 ............................................................. 33

2-40 Muczynski, Toccata, mm. 53-57 ............................................................................................ 34

2-41 Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/ii, mm. 1-12 ................................................................................. 35

2-42 Muczynski, Alto Saxophone Sonata/i, mm. 1-4 ............................................................... 36

3-1 Muczynski, Flute Sonata/ii, mm. 52-56 ............................................................................. 40

3-2 Muczynski, Flute Sonata/iv, mm. 1-5 ................................................................................ 41

3-3 Muczynski, Cello Sonata/i, mm. 1-13 ................................................................................ 44

3-4 Muczynski, Cello Sonata/iv, mm. 118-29 .......................................................................... 46

vi

3-5 Muczynski, Alto Saxophone Sonata/i, mm. 13-15 .......................................................... 49

3-6 Muczynski, Time Pieces/i, mm. 1-4 ....................................................................................... 51

3-7 Muczynski, Moments/iii, mm. 43-46 .................................................................................... 56

3-8 Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/iii, mm. 31-36 .............................................................................. 60

3-9 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/i, mm. 1-2 ....................................................................... 63

3-10 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/i, mm. 110-11 ................................................................. 64

3-11 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/ii, mm. 14-16 .................................................................. 65

3-12 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/iii, mm. 1-5 ..................................................................... 67

3-13 Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/iii a) B melody, mm. 26-27 ....................................................................................................... 67 b) C melody, m. 48 ................................................................................................................ 67 c) D melody, mm. 65-67 ...................................................................................................... 68 3-14 Muczynski, Third Piano Trio/iii a) Theme, mm. 2-3 ................................................................................................................ 71 b) Var. I, m. 37-38 ................................................................................................................. 71 c) Var. II, mm. 51-52 ............................................................................................................ 72 d) Var. III, mm. 73-74 .......................................................................................................... 72 e) Var. IV, mm. 90-91 ........................................................................................................... 72

4-1 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/i, mm. 1-3 ............................................................................ 75

4-2 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/ii, mm. 1-2 ........................................................................... 75

4-3 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iii, mm. 3-4 .......................................................................... 76

4-4 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, mm. 1-3 .......................................................................... 76

4-5 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/i, mm. 1-6 ............................................................................ 78

4-6 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/i, mm. 17-20 ........................................................................ 79




vii

4-10 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/i a) Theme IIIb, m. 67 ............................................................................................................ 82 b) Theme IIIb, m. 75 ............................................................................................................ 82

4-11 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/i, mm. 134-37 ...................................................................... 83








4-19 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/ii, mm. 1-7 ........................................................................... 92

4-20 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/ii, mm. 25-29 ....................................................................... 93



4-23 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/ii, mm. 96-100 ..................................................................... 96

4-24 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/ii, mm. 119-24 ..................................................................... 97



4-27 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iii, mm. 3-5 ........................................................................... 101

4-28 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iii, mm. 12-14 ....................................................................... 102


4-30 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iii a) mm. 35-36 ........................................................................................................................... 104 b) mm. 39-40 ........................................................................................................................... 104


viii


4-33 Muczynski, First Piano Trio a) iii/mm. 5-6 .......................................................................................................................... 109 b) iv/mm. 1-3 ......................................................................................................................... 109

4-34 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, m. 7 .................................................................................. 110

4-35 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, mm. 46-47 ....................................................................... 111

4-36 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, m. 110 .............................................................................. 112

4-37 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, mm. 139-41 ..................................................................... 113



4-40 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, mm. 38-40 ....................................................................... 117




4-44 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, 221-28 .............................................................................. 120

4-45 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, 64-67 ................................................................................ 122

4-46 Muczynski, First Piano Trio/iv, 38-45 ................................................................................ 124


1

CHAPTER I

Introduction and Background Information

For almost fifty years, Robert Muczynskis music has received acclaim from performers,

critics, and audiences alike. His extensive output includes many sonatas and character pieces for solo

piano; works for other unaccompanied instruments including flute, cello, tuba, organ, harpsichord,

and percussion; piano and alto saxophone concertos; works for orchestra, chamber orchestra, and

chorus; music for nine documentary films; and an extensive body of chamber music.

Critics commonly designate Muczynski as a traditionalist, a term used by Gilbert Chase in

Americas Music to refer to one group of American composers in the 1930s. According to Chase, this

groupheaded by the indefatigable Howard Hansonhad one thing in common, they do not

break with the past. How closely they adhere to it is a matter of degree, and varies from individual to

individual.1 In Music for Piano: A Short History, F. E. Kirby lists Muczynski among later composers

who remained true to this tenet, using an essentially tonal and functional harmonic idiom but

expanded to include dissonant elements, applied for the most part to forms inherited . . . from

nineteenth-century Romanticism.2 In a recent article, Walter Simmons wrote, Muczynski is . . .

one of Americas most distinguished traditionalist composers still active today, from the generation

that came of age during the years following World War II. He is also one of the most widely

performed.3

Born in Chicago on March 19, 1929, Robert Muczynski enrolled at DePaul University in

1947 as a piano performance major, studying with Walter Knupfer. Muczynski received a Bachelor

1 Gilbert Chase, Americas Music: From the Pilgrims to the Present, revised second edition (New

York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 549. 2 F. E. Kirby, Music for Piano: A Short History (Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1995), 392. 3 Walter Simmons, A Muczynski Retrospective, Fanfare 24 (July/August 2001): 62.

2

of Music degree from DePaul in 1950 and a Master in Music degree two years later. When

Alexander Tcherepnin joined the DePaul faculty in 1949, Muczynski became one of the very first

American students to study composition under [him].4 Although Muczynskis interests increasingly

turned to composition, he remained a piano major.5 He used his skills in both areas, performing his

Sonatina on his Masters recital and his Divertimento for piano and orchestra on his graduation

concert.

Muczynskis career as a composer/pianist soon flourished. In 1953, he received a

commission from the Fromm Music Foundation that resulted in his Symphony No. 1. The

following year, the Louisville Orchestra commissioned the Piano Concerto No. 1, which he

recorded for the Louisville First Edition Recording Series. Muczynski went on to perform the

Concerto with the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago in 1955 and with the Chicago Symphony

Orchestra three years later. Also in 1958, he made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall, performing

a recital of his own compositions. New York Times critic Harold Schonberg has called Muczynski a

skillful pianist [who] proved a convincing exponent of his own music. . . . [He] knows all the

idiosyncrasies of the piano.6

From 1956 to 1959, Muczynski served as chairman of the piano department at Loras College

in Dubuque, Iowa. In addition, he taught theory, music history, and composition, gave numerous

solo and chamber music recitals, frequently appeared on radio broadcasts, and performed his Piano

Concerto No. 1 with the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra. The Ford Foundation sponsored

Muczynski as composer-in-residence in the Oakland, California secondary school system for the

4 Robert Muczynski, letter to author, 20 April 1993. 5 That was mainly in order to change to a comp. major there were quite a few additional/

different curriculum requirements and I just wanted OUT from under the rigid academic blanket, already! Muczynski, letter to author, 26 November 2000.

6 As quoted in Valerie Cisler, The Piano Sonatas of Robert Muczynski (D.M.A. thesis, University of Oklahoma, 1993), 117.

3

1959-60 and the 1960-61 school years. After additional study with Tcherepnin in Nice, France in the

summer of 1961, Muczynski received another Ford Foundation Fellowship as composer-in-

residence in the Tucson, Arizona secondary school system for the 1961-62 school year. In addition

to his compositions written as part of the Young Composers Project, Muczynski continued to

receive commissions, so he devoted himself full time to composition for two years hence.

At the invitation of Rudolf Ganz, Muczynski received a one-year appointment as visiting

lecturer at Roosevelt University in Chicago beginning in 1964. The following year, he joined the

music faculty of the University of Arizona as part-time instructor in theory and piano. After

becoming a full-time Assistant Professor, Muczynski became an Associate Professor in 1970 with

the responsibilities of teaching piano, composition, and orchestration. Four years later, Muczynski

became area coordinator for composition and member of the Graduate Committee, positions he

held until his retirement in 1988.7

Muczynski has received many honors, including the International Society for Contemporary

Music (ISCM) Prize for his Suite for Piano, Op. 13 and the Concours Internationale Award for his

Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 14. He also received 23 consecutive ASCAP Creative Merit Awards

and a Guggenheim Fellowship in addition to the aforementioned Ford Foundation Fellowships.

Muczynskis Alto Saxophone Concerto was nominated for the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Music. In

addition, contestants at several national and international piano competitions have been required to

perform Muczynskis works, including the 1977 William Kapell University of Maryland International

Piano Competition (Maverick Pieces for solo piano) and the 1980 Gina Bachauer International Piano

Competition (Masks for solo piano). The Flute Sonata has also been a required work at numerous

flute competitions.8

7 Muczynski, Curriculum Vitae sent to the author, 26 November 2000. 8 Nicholson, 5.

4

Muczynski has been the featured guest composer at the University of Wyoming, Washington

State University, and Colorado State University in addition to the 1985 Music Educators National

Conference, 1988 College Music Society national convention, and 1991 Music Teachers National

Association national convention. Each event featured recitals of Muczynskis solo piano music,

chamber music, or both.9 In 1983, the United States Information Agency commissioned Muczynski

and several other composers to write a piece for the first year of its Ambassadors of Culture

project.10 The project assisted outstanding American pianists by arranging recital appearances for

them in foreign countries. Muczynski composed an 11-minute work, Dream Cycle, which was

performed by pianist and University of Houston professor Nancy Weems in the former Soviet

Union, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and other countries.11

Since his retirement from the University of Arizona, Muczynski has been remained active

performing and recording his own compositions. Because of vision problems, however, he has been

composing far less frequently. Muczynski has written only two works since 1988: Moments, Op. 47

for flute and piano in 1993, and Desperate Measures (Paganini Variations), Op. 48 for piano the

following year.12

9 Cisler, 2. 10 Ibid. The other composers included Ross Lee Finney, Lee Hoiby, and George Perle. 11 Ibid. 12 Am facing eye surgery this fallIts been an ongoing thing with the visionTherefore, I

dont write letters as often as I used to (HUNDREDS!) and NO music, now, for over a year. Hopefully, the surgery will correct the problem. Muczynski, letter to author, 15 July 1996.

5

Need for the Study

Despite his impressive credentials, Muczynski and his music have been generally ignored by

academia, although this situation has been changing since the 1980s. There are just a handful of

doctoral theses devoted to the composer; John Hawkins examines the solo piano literature through

Maverick Pieces, Op. 37 in general terms,13 Valerie Cisler focuses on the three piano sonatas,14 two

theses discuss Muczynskis Second Piano Sonata in the context of other music of the time,15 and two

theses concern Muczynski's music for winds (with and without piano).16 No theses or dissertations,

however, have treated the chamber music for strings, an extensive body of work that includes the

three piano trios, Cello Sonata, and String Trio.

The composer sees his decision to write in a traditional tonal framework as the reason for

this neglect. If you didnt embrace the favored trends of the day, it was a virtual shutout,

Muczynski wrote, especially in university circles where theorists delighted and salivated over the

new notation via graphs, charts, and diagrams of every sort.17 From the late 1950s through the

early 1970s, as Valerie Cisler elucidates in her thesis on Muczynskis piano sonatas, many composers

of tonal music were denied support and recognition by academics, music critics, and others who had

the power to decide which composers received commissions, publicity, and performances.18 Except

13 John A. Hawkins, The Piano Music of Robert Muczynski: A Performance-Tape and

Study of His Original Works for Piano Solo (D.M.A. thesis, University of Maryland, 1980). 14 Cisler (see chap. 1 n. 6). 15 Benjamin Woods, The North American Piano Sonata in Transition (D.M.A. thesis,

University of South Carolina, 1991) and Karen Marie Fosheim, Similarities Between Two Dissimilar American Piano Sonatas of the 1960s: The Second Piano Sonatas of Robert Muczynski and Robert Starer (D.M.A. thesis, University of Arizona, 1994).

16 Anne Marie Thurmond, Selected Woodwind Compositions of Robert Muczynski: A Stylistic and Structural Analysis (D.M.A. thesis, University of Georgia, 1996) and Susan Elaine Nicholson, Selected Woodwind Works of Robert Muczynski (D.M.A. thesis, University of Miami, 2000).

17 Robert Muczynski, Letters, Fanfare 5:1 (1981): 2. 18 Cisler, 36-57.

6

for special cases such as Rorem and Corigliano, Paul Snook added, many of these [traditionalist

composers] have subsisted in an artistic limbo on the obscure margins of an increasingly atomized

musical culture extended throughout the university systems of the Mid and Far West.19 This

artistic limbo is personified by the experiences of Muczynski, who despite receiving tenure at the

University of Arizona dealt with an unsupportive administration that deemed him too traditional.20

This dismissive attitude from what Simmons calls the academic musical establishment

toward traditionalist composers still affects Muczynski's reputation. Just to mention a few examples,

Muczynski goes unmentioned in textbooks by Watkins (1988), Morgan (1993), and McCalla (1996),

as well as books for a more general readership by Dubal (1989) and Struble (1995).21 Despite these

obstacles, Muczynski's works remain in print, and continue to enjoy a steady following . . . from

performers Out There.22 As the composer recently noted, My statements from ASCAP reveal a

great wave of interest and numerous performances in USA. . . . Also, the foreign countries are on the

increase for me: England, Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Beijing, Australia, etc.23 In

addition, recordings of Muczynski's works have become more frequent, the music for flute in

particular. (See Appendix A.)

Lack of research on much of Muczynskis chamber music with piano and steady interest

among performers are compelling reasons to engage in additional study. Furthermore, there is the

19 Paul Snook, review of Muczynski Plays Muczynski, Vol. I by Robert Muczynski, Fanfare 4

(1981): 119. 20 Cisler, 417. 21 Glenn Watkins, Soundings: Music in the Twentieth Century (New York: Schirmer Books, 1988).

Robert P. Morgan, ed., Modern Times: From World War I to the Present (London: Grenada Group and The Macmillan Press, 1993). James McCalla, Twentieth-Century Chamber Music (New York: Schirmer Books, 1996). David Dubal, The Art of the Piano: Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings (New York: Summit Books, 1989). John Warthen Struble, The History of American Classical Music: MacDowell Through Minimalism (New York: Facts On File, 1995).

22 Muczynski, letter to author, 28 July 2001. 23 Muczynski, letter to author, 28 February 1994.

7

quality and distinctiveness of the music itself. Chapter II will focus on some of the elements that

make Muczynskis style so attractive to performers and audiences, components the composer in a

letter to Fanfare magazine called fingerprints. 24 Knowing these elements can help guide

performers through the complexities of Muczynski's music and provide an understanding that can

lead to successful performances of his compositions.

Finally, it is also hoped that this study of Muczynski's First Piano Trio will increase awareness

and appreciation of this work and encourage performers to program this distinctive and important

composition.

24 Muczynski, Letters, 2.

8

CHAPTER II

Elements of Muczynskis Style: The Fingerprints

I have come to the conclusion that the originality we all thirst for is really something inherent in the personality behind the manipulation of what is available. I dont believe that Brahms ever invented a new chord, but when we hear a work by Brahms we know its author instantly. Of the composers I admire, . . . it seems that the most striking are those who somehow managed to imbue their music with their own unique personalities, or what I call fingerprints.25 Robert Muczynski From his earliest published work (the Sonatina for piano from 1949) to the most recent

(Desperate Measures for piano from 1994), Muczynski's music is imbued with his personality and has a

character all its own. In trying to describe the many facets of this personality, however,

commentators frequently compare particular elements of Muczynski's music to those of other

twentieth-century composers. For instance, in a recent article in Fanfare, Walter Simmons writes:

One might identify its underling stylistic currents with reference to the phraseology of Bartk, the

harmonic language and overall rhetoric found in the piano works of Barber, a fondness for five- and

seven-beat meters reminiscent of Bernstein, and a piquant sprinkling of blue-notes within its

melodic structures.26 Understanding Muczynskis personality on its own terms and then placing his

fingerprints within the context of specific pieces can help performers more successfully render

these compositions.

Muczynski is reluctant to discuss specific compositional techniquesI do wish academia

would stop trying to x-ray music and just let it Be. . . . Who really cares about the how when its

only the what that counts?27 Nevertheless, this chapter will discuss in close detail the

fingerprints that make up his compositional personality. First, it will summarize the career of

25 Robert Muczynski, Letters, Fanfare 5 (September/October 1981): 2. 26 Walter Simmons, A Muczynski Retrospective, Fanfare 24 (July/August 2001): 63. 27 Robert Muczynski, letter to author, 28 July 2001.

9

Muczynski's only composition teacher, Alexander Tcherepnin, as a means of ascertaining the

techniques that Muczynski was taught, then discuss in detail the distinguishing characteristics

embedded in Muczynski's music that indicate its author within just a few measures.

A. Studies with Alexander Tcherepnin

Tradition, as the secured continuity of know-how, is made evident in the existence of

schoolsnot so much in the sense of established institutions, Ernst Krenek wrote in 1962, but

of groups of individuals who in the sequence of a few generations exhibit a kind of teacher-student

relationship of varying degrees of formality or, more frequently, informality.28 In her thesis on

Muczynski's piano sonatas, Cisler explores what could be considered a school (although she does

not call it such): the intricate connection between Nikolai Tcherepnin, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander

Tcherepnin, and Muczynski.29 Alexander Tcherepnin was Muczynskis first and only composition

teacher. Therefore, an understanding of Tcherepnins compositional techniques would be helpful in

understanding Muczynskis music.

The son of the distinguished conductor, composer, and teacher Nikolai Tcherepnin,

Alexander Tcherepnin was born in St. Petersburg on January 21, 1899 (Julian calendar). His family

left Russia in the fall of 191830 and moved to Tblisi, Georgia. Cut off from the rest of the world

as he put it, Tcherepnin received his first important stimulation from folk music and developed a

28 Ernst Krenek, Tradition in Perspective, Perspectives in New Music 1 (Fall 1962): 37. 29 Valerie Cisler, The Piano Sonatas of Robert Muczynski (D.M.A. thesis, University of

Oklahoma, 1993), 69-72. 30 The quantity of exceptional composers who fled the Bolshevik Revolution and/or the

newly-formed Soviet Union between 1917 and 1921 is staggering. They most prominently include Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, and Nikolai Medtner.

10

system of polyphony, which he called interpoint, as a reaction against Impressionism.31

As the Bolsheviks expanded their influence into the Caucasus, the Tcherepnin family moved

to Paris in 1921. In his 28 years there, Tcherepnin found the environment exceptionally stimulating.

Not only was he in contact with composers such as Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Honegger, and

Milhaud, he also found the freedom to develop in his own manner:

Interestingly, the influence that Paris generally had on foreign composers has been to make them find and be themselves. . . . For my part, I was not taken with Impressionism, saw no virtue in Faure (time has changed this opinion) or in the use of a banal tune to shock, in the manner of Satie. And jazz, which fascinated many French composers, did notand does notfascinate me.32 This development included the nine-note scale (C, D-flat, E-flat, E, F, G, A-flat, A, B, C),

which he first theorized in 192233 and used often during his years in Paris. In addition, Tcherepnins

extensive travels during this timehe concertized, composed, and sometimes took up temporary

residence in London, Vienna, Shanghai, Tokyo, Egypt, Palestine, Crete, and many other placeshad

an impact on his compositions. Ideas dont come out of the blue sky. You absorb whats around

youthe people in your community. Like a novelist identifies himself with whats around him, so

does a composer, giving back in his music what hes absorbed.34

Following his successful 1948 concert tour in the United States, Tcherepnin was invited to

teach at DePaul University in Chicago, taking the place of Ernst Krenek. He began the following

year and stayed until 1958. During these years, Tcherepnin became interested in new formal designs,

and at the same time synthesized the technical devices he had used previously, including scales,

31 Phillip Ramey, Tcherepnin at Seventy, New York Philharmonic Program Book, February

1969, 28, as quoted in Guy Wuellner, The Complete Piano Music of Alexander Tcherepnin (D.M.A. thesis, University of Iowa, 1974), 12.

32 Ramey, 29-30, as quoted in Wuellner, 13. 33 Although the first appearance of the nine-step scale came in the Sonatine Romantique, Op. 4,

from 1918, the conscious theorization of it came only in 1922. (Tcherepnin quoted in Wuellner, 42.)

34 Ramey, 40, as quoted in Ibid., 22.

11

harmonic systems, and polyphonic procedures, often in combination.35 He also taught a number of

students, including his sons Serge and Ivan, Pierre Barbaud, Gloria Coates, John Downey, Phillip

Ramey, Aribert Riemann, and his first full-time American student, Robert Muczynski,36 who

benefited from these explorations. Downey recalled his lessons with Tcherepnin in this way:

We discussed trying to formulate my own personal vocabulary of chord progressions with their own internal laws of harmony, of constructing my own personal scales, of trying to establish my own system of contrapuntal relationships based on a much broader concept of dissonance than I had been accustomed to. . . . I remember vividly the excitement with which I observed Tcherepnin gradually unfold to me his concept of interpoint as I was working on unraveling my own fugal perceptions. This lively contrapuntal rhythmic style peppered the finale of my Second Piano Sonata [which Downey was writing at the time], as I seized the implications of his novel idea.37

Muczynski credits Tcherepnin with helping him find his own voice: His impact on me

personally was incalculable . . . he was completely supportive, optimistic, and inspiring as a teacher

and friend. Without his guiding vision I doubt Id be a composer.38 He denies, however, that

Tcherepnin had a direct influence on his compositional style. In fact, Muczynski wrote,

Tcherepnin used to laugh and remark, What I like about you, dear Bob, is that you listen to what I

have to say at our lesson and then, next week, you have discarded it and found your own way!39

Nevertheless, several of Muczynskis fingerprintsthe use of particular scales, techniques

analogous to interpoint, and the individual use of traditional formswere ideas taught by

Tcherepnin.

Scales: Like other late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers, including Rimsky-

Korsakov, Bartk, and Messiaen, Tcherepnin created his own scale and wove it throughout his

35 Wuellner, 106. 36 Muczynski, letter to author, 28 July 2001. 37 Enrique Arias, Alexander Tcherepnin: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,

1989), 235-36. 38 Muczynski, as quoted in Arias, 241-42. 39 Muczynski, letter to author, 28 July 2001.

12

compositions. This nine-note scale developed from Tcherepnins interest in the sound of the major-

minor tetrachord. He extended the 3 semitone1 semitone3 semitone iteration upward to reach

the octave to create the following six-note scale: C, E-flat, E, G, A-flat, B, C. Combining this scale

with its inversion (C, A, A-flat, F, E, D-flat, C), Tcherepnin then created a nine-note scale (C, D-flat,

E-flat, E, F, G, A-flat, A, B, C) that he used in melodic and harmonic structures.40

Similar scales appear frequently in Muczynskis music, but they tend not to be used

systematically. Instead, the scale Muczynski uses most frequently is created by the placement of two

adjacent tetrachords (either 0145, 0134, or an alternation of the two). These passages work especially

well for the pianist because the tetrachords fit naturally under the handswhen coming across this

pattern, the pianist should finger each 1 2 3 4. As a result, these passages, almost always found in

quick tempi, sound more difficult to play that they actually are.

Example 2-1: Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/iv, mm. 154-55 Allegro molto

5

4

5

4

ff

con brio

0145

0145

0145

broadly

sost. ped.

marc.

Example 2-2: Muczynski, Desperate Measures/xii, m. 19

f

0134

0134

(molto)

pi

0134

0134

40 Arias, 41-43.

13

There are instances in which Muczynski uses scales for melodic material, Cisler observes, but

they are a result of subjective, not objective intention; the melody creates the scale, the scale does

not create the melody.41 One exception to this observation can be seen in the second movement of

the Cello Sonata as shown in Chapter III.

Interpoint: Guy Wuellner describes Tcherepnins procedure called interpoint as a type of

polyphony in which the independence of the voices is stressed, rather than their dependence on one

another.42 Willi Reich has described the goal of interpoint as follows: to construct polyphonic

form chiefly in broken, intersected lines, the thematic insertions being evoked and made clear

simultaneously by breaks in the part-writing.43 Tcherepnin has defined three types of interpoint:

vertical, horizontal, and metrical.44

Vertical interpoint, or hocket, is a combination of melodies that alternate their respective

attack points, avoiding coincidental attacks of normal contrapuntal procedure.45 A clear example is

seen in the piano part of Tcherepnins Piano Concerto No. 3 in B-flat.

Example 2-3: Tcherepnin, Third Piano Concerto, Op. 48/i, mm. 22-24

3

4

3

4

3

4

2

4

2

4

2

4

Bsns.

Pno.

41 Cisler, 99-100. 42 Guy Wuellner, Alexander Tcherepnin, Piano Quarterly 100 (Winter 1977-78): 30. 43 Reich as quoted in David Ewen, The World of Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice-Hall, 1968), 823. 44 Wuellner, 67. 45 Medieval term . . . for a contrapuntal technique . . . in which sounds and silences are

dovetailed through a staggered arrangement of rests in two or more voices. Stanley Sadie, ed., The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1988), s.v. hocket.

14

In horizontal interpoint, the composer staggers entrances of the same material (frequently

scalar passages of four or five notes) between the voices. Tcherepnins Piano Trio ends in constant

eighth-notes in horizontal interpoint which is abruptly ended in the last measure.46 The beginning

of the coda is shown in Example 2-4:

Example 2-4: Tcherepnin, Piano Trio, Op. 34/iii, mm. 130-31

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

Metrical interpoint, or polyrhythm, uses contrasting rhythms in different voices

simultaneously.47 For example, in Tcherepnins Prelude, Op. 85, No. 11, the notes in the treble clef

are organized into 3/4 + 7/8 + 2/4 while those in the bass clef are in a recurring 5/8.

Example 2-5: Tcherepnin, Prelude, Op. 85, No. 11, m. 18

mf

46 Wuellner, 337. 47 Simpler types [of polyrhythm], such as the use of 6/8 against 3/4, are usually called cross

rhythm, while the term polyrhythmic is used for the bold rhythmic clashes often encountered in 20th-century music. Willi Apel and Ralph T. Daniel, The Harvard Brief Dictionary of Music (New York: Pocket Books, 1960), s.v. polyrhythm.

15

When asked whether a few of the fingerprints of his music were analogous to procedures

used by Tcherepnin, particularly interpoint, Muczynski replied, Its just silly about Sashas so-called

interpoint. He explained it to me in 1949 and, to this day, I dont know what the hell it is or why Id

need it. I am never drawn to nor enchanted by artificial means of composing a piece.48 Although

Muczynski does not use interpoint per se, part of the excitement and activity found in his music

comes from the use of techniques similar to vertical and metrical interpoint.

Whereas Tcherepnin uses vertical interpoint to combine two melodies, Muczynski alternates

the attack points of the melody and accompaniment. Two examples will show this clearly. The

opening of the Second Piano Sonata uses a regular alternation of attacks:

Example 2-6: Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/i, mm. 1-3

5

4

5

4

Allegro q = 126-132

3

4

3

4

f

sostenuto

con ped.

The highly syncopated opening of the Flute Sonata uses an irregular alternation of attacks.

Example 2-7: Muczynski, Flute Sonata/i, mm. 1-3

Piano

Allegro deciso h = 96

p

p

This alternation of attack points propels the music by allowing rests in the melodic line (especially

important for a flutist!) without inhibiting the flow of the music.

48 Muczynski, letter to author, 28 July 2001.

16

Horizontal interpoint is not a technique Muczynski uses in his chamber music or solo piano

music. However, he utilizes metrical interpoint frequently and in the same manner as did

Tcherepnin. The second movement of the Second Piano Sonata, for example, combines recurring

4/8, 3/8, and 4/8 measures in the treble clef over a recurring 6/8 in the bass clef.

Example 2-8: Muczynski, Second Piano Sonata/ii, mm. 1-6

4

8

4

8

Con moto q = 132 , ma non tanto

3

8

3

8

4

8

4

8

3

8

3

8

4

8

4

8

p

sostenuto

semplice

l.h. sempre stacc., senza ped.

Individual Use of Traditional Forms: Tcherepnin expressed the importance of form in his

musical thinking in 1962: It is form and not the musical language that makes a composition long

living. Every musical language becomes sooner or later outdated, but the message expressed by it in

adequate form survives.49 Tcherepnin used traditional formal designssuch as sonata-allegro,

variation, and song formin a highly individual manner. Often, he altered proportion and

procedures depending on the melodic material used and frequently employed cyclic procedures.

For example, Tcherepnin placed a second development section between the main theme

group and the subtheme group in the recapitulation of the Sonatine Romantique and substituted a

theme and variations in place of the development section in the one-movement Second Piano

Concerto. In his variations, Tcherepnin preferred to handle the material freely, without rigidly

conforming to the melodic contour, rhythms, character, or time span of the theme.50 Varied reprises

often found their way into movements in song form. In the Bagatelle in D Major, Op. 5, No. 3, the

49 Wuellner, 25. 50 Ibid., 29.

17

reprise of the opening material is varied in register and articulation, then a coda is inserted that adds

a new rhythmic motive and new harmonies.51

Muczynski also uses traditional formal designs in an individual manner. For instance, there

are several ways one can describe the form of the first movement of his First Piano Sonata. The

composer wrote that the structure is not orthodox sonata-allegro form but, rather, sectional,

alternating slow music with fast.52 Cisler sees the form as a large ABA form with a 32-measure A

section followed by a 126-measure B section and a concluding 23-measure A section.53 Since the

main theme and subtheme groups are developed in the B section of the movement, she also

analyzes the music in sonata-allegro form, noting that it does not follow many of that forms

characteristics.54

Muczynskis few movements in variation form (first movement of the Cello Sonata and

Desperate Measures) are fairly traditional, except for the first movement of the Third Piano Trio, which

will be discussed in Chapter III. As for movements in song form, varied reprises often occur. For

instance, in the Prelude, Op. 6, No. 4, the opening melody is paired with two triads a major second

apart (D-flat major and C-flat major). When the melody returns in octaves in m. 26, it is again

correlated with two harmonies (D-flat major 7th to E major 7th). However, the triads have been

transformed into major 7ths and are placed an augmented second apart.

51Celia Mae Bryant, Teaching One of the Tcherepnin Piano Pieces, Clavier 13 (January

1974), 18-23. 52 Robert Muczynski, Muczynski Plays Muczynski, Vol. I, interview with Phillip Ramey, Laurel

Record, LR-114, 1980. 53 Although the A sections have fewer measures, the slower tempo creates a longer spatial

experience for the listener and thus the length of sections are perceived as balanced in time. Cisler, 157-58.

54 Cisler, 159.

18

Example 2-9: Muczynski, Prelude, Op. 6, No. 4, mm. 1-2

2

4

2

4

Allegretto meno mosso

legato

p e sempre ritardando

Example 2-10: Muczynski, Prelude, Op. 6, No. 4, mm. 26-29 Maestoso q = 112

ff

B. Other Fingerprints

Rhythm: Like many twentieth-century composers, Muczynski makes use of changing meters

over a basic pulse that remains constant (usually in eighth or quarter notes). As David Brin noted:

Driving, vigorous rhythms are Robert Muczynskis trademark. In his music meters may change frequently, but the rhythms are never contrived. While not easy to perform, there is something so natural about these rhythms that they create their own momentum, carrying the performers along, never leaving them grasping for the beat.55

To quote just one example, here is a section from the Scherzo movement of the Suite, Op. 13:

Example 2-11: Muczynski, Suite/vi, mm. 61-68

3

4

3

4

e = e

6

8

6

8

marc.

ff

sf

energico

55 David M. Brin, In Print, Strings 5 (September-October 1990): 13.

19

3

8

3

8

sempre stacc.

Cisler pointed out that Muczynski often propels his rhythms by having two notes of equal length

followed immediately by shorter note values.56 She calls this pattern, usually seen as 3+3+2+2, his

signature rhythm, and notes that it is often accompanied by a change of meter.

Example 2-12: Muczynski, Third Piano Sonata/iii, mm. 133-36

2

4

2

4

3

4

3

4

2

4

2

4

3

4

3

4

ff

tempestoso

(ff )

One variant often found in Muczynski's music is the rhythm 3+3+2/8. But, only once in his

output (variation 8 of Desperate Measures) does he explicitly tie it to the popular Argentinian dance,

the tango.

Example 2-13: Muczynski, Desperate Measures/viii, mm. 1-6

4

4

4

4

Tango (moderato)

f

mf

56 Cisler, 82.

20

f

pi

f

Another rhythmic trait is the avoidance of placing the downbeat in the melodic line, which

Muczynski accomplishes in a variety of ways. In his solo piano music, melody notes on weak beats

are accented, as Cisler observes, emphasizing each eighth note, strengthening syncopations.57

Example 2-14: Muczynski, Seven, No. 1, mm. 1-4

2

4

2

4

Allegro giocoso

q = 160

f marc.

sempre stacc.

Further evidence of the importance Muczynski places on rhythm comes from a letter he

wrote in response to hearing a recorded performance of his Desperate Measures by this author: In

VAR. 10/lines 4 + 5: mf you are not playing the bass part as written. . . . I want that syncopated

figure. Your way is easier and ordinary.58

Harmony: Muczynski derives his harmonies from traditional elements such as major and

minor triads, seventh and ninth chords, and the use of added notes. However, he tends to use these

elements in non-traditional ways, such as this series of consecutive seventh chords to create what

Cisler calls a jazz flavor.59

57 Cisler, 83 58 Muczynski, letter to author, 31 July 2000. 59 Cisler, 95

21

Example 2-15: Muczynski, Dream Cycle, No. 2, mm. 49-51

4

4

4

4

accel.

2

4

2

4

As in the example above, ostinato patterns are pervasive in Muczynski's music and are used for a

variety of expressive purposes. For instance, the alternation of minor triads a whole-step apart

creates a static sense in this passage from Moments:

Example 2-16: Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 47-49 a tempo

mf

3 3

(mf)

Hawkins notes that dissonance in Muczynski's music frequently results from the placing of

ostinato figures underneath melodies or chordal fragments of varying lengths.60 Cisler adds that

Muczynski prepares for changes in pitch center and produces harmonic stability through the use of

ostinato patterns and pedal points.61 These sections tend to be fairly brief, generally between five

and twelve measures in length.

In the first movement of the Third Piano Sonata, for instance, modulation from the primary

key of B-flat to the secondary key of E-flat is achieved through a repeated ostinato figure in the left

hand that consists of a C-sharp-D-sharp-G-sharp chord in the bass and the middle voice rocking

60 Hawkins, 45. 61 Cisler, 354-55.

22

back and forth between E and D-sharp. This dissonant middle voice resolves decisively in m. 49

when the D-sharp enharmonically becomes an E-flat and the new pitch center.

Example 2-17: Muczynski, Third Piano Sonata/i, mm. 43-50

2

4

2

4

Meno mosso

3

4

3

4

p

(p)

con ped.

rit. molto

Andante espressivo (q = 100)

(pp)

mp

cantabile

sempre molto legato

In the third movement of Time Pieces, Muczynski almost immediately sets the key area of D

major by the use of an ostinato pattern in the left hand of the piano. This pattern, which alternates B

and F-sharp minor 7th chords, continues with slight alterations through the first theme area of 19

measures, the first nine of which are shown here:

Example 2-18: Muczynski, Time Pieces/iii, mm. 1-9

4

4

4

4

4

4

Allegro moderato (q = 116-120)

gracefully

mp

poco

sempre legato

simile

23

gracefully

mp

In mm. 152-64 of Masks, Muczynski uses a C-sharp pedal to stabilize the tonal center that

signals the end of the piece:

Example 2-19: Muczynski, Masks, mm. 152-64

3

8

3

8

2

8

2

8

3

8

3

8

2

8

2

8

f e sempre dimin.

subito meno mosso, e sempre rit. al fine

(poco Ped.)

mf

2

8

2

8

3

8

3

8

2

8

2

8

3

8

3

8

mp

(Andante)

p

24

molto rit.

2

8

2

8

3

8

3

8

2

8

2

8

3

8

3

8

pp

sub. sff

Muczynski frequently uses a similar device in his chamber music with piano: a long-held note

in the bass is followed by an eighth note on a different pitch then a return to the long-held note. As

the pitch does not decay entirely, this technique propels the motion of the passage and provides

harmonic stability.

Example 2-20: Muczynski, Moments/ii, mm. 32-37

5

8

5

8

5

8

Pi mosso

(Moderato)

(e = 126)

35

p semplice

mf

p

mf

Example 2-21: Muczynski, Alto Saxophone Sonata/ii, mm. 116-19

mf

p

p sempre

mf

espress.

25

Example 2-22: Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/i, mm. 50-57

55

f

mf

mf

p

The Muczynski Chord: Muczynski's unique sound comes from his manipulation of

particular intervals, including major and minor 2nds, 3rds and 7ths, and the perfect 4th.62 The

principal unifying factor in many of Muczynski's pieces, according to Cisler, is the combination of

the perfect 4th with either the major or minor 2nd, which may serve as primary motivic or melodic

material, and is frequently found in accompaniment patterns and connecting passagework.63 In the

third movement of the Fantasy Trio, this combination is found in the piano run in m. 9, the ostinato

accompaniment figure in mm. 10-15, and in the cellos falling line in mm. 10-11:

Example 2-23: Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/iii, mm. 9-18

10

mf

sf

arco

f

f

(f)

3

3 3

mf non legato

62 Ibid., 100. 63 Ibid.

26

f

mf

f

The same ostinato pattern occurs in the middle section of the third movement of Time Pieces.

Frequently, Muczynski adds a perfect 4th, tritone, or perfect 5th to this combination of

perfect 4th and added 2nd to create a vertical sonority that I have dubbed the Muczynski chord

because of its pervasiveness in the composers music. The 2nd can be placed anywhere within the

chord, yielding three possible inversions. The chord is most often seen in root position, as in the

opening of Variation 4 of Desperate Measures:

Example 2-24: Muczynski, Desperate Measures/iv, mm. 1-4

6

8

6

8

Scherzando

f

Placing the second in the middle of the chord provides the first inversion of the Muczynski

chord, as in the second movement of the Alto Saxophone Sonata:

27


2

4

2

4

2

4

(f)

pi f

poco ped.

In the second inversion of the chord, the second is at the bottom of the sonority, as in the

last chord of Masks:

Example 2-26: Muczynski, Masks, m. 164

3

8

3

8

sub. sff

When Muczynski wants to increase the harmonic tension in a passage where he places the

chord, he combines the tritone with the perfect 4th/2nd combination, as in the opening of

Festival from the Suite, Op. 13:

Example 2-27: Muczynski, Suite/i, mm. 1-9

2

4

2

4

Allegro (alla marcia)q = 120

Piano

(fieramente)

f marc.

28

p sub.

The same chord occurs just before the cadenza in the last movement of the Flute Sonata.

Although the Muczynski chord is used primarily as a harmony, in a remarkable passage

from the Alto Saxophone Sonata Muczynski uses the Debussyian device of chord planing in the left

hand with a series of upward-moving chords comprised of two perfect 5ths. Meanwhile, the right

hand plays the primary melodic motif of the piece as the top note of the Muczynski chord in

second inversion.


9

8

9

8

9

8

184

ff

molto

ff strepitoso

sf

ff

Widely-Spaced Sonorities: The composer often uses widely spaced chords other than the

Muczynski chord to provide harmonic support. As Hawkins notes, Muczynski is partial toward

triads placed in open position in the bass.64 This characteristic is apparent in Muczynskis earliest

pieces, as shown in the first few measures of the Sonatina from 1949.

64 Hawkins, 45.

29

Example 2-29: Muczynski, Sonatina/i, mm. 1-5

2

4

2

4

Allegro con spirito

f

L.H.

p

f

(PED)

These triads can also appear linearly.

Example 2-30: Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/ii, mm. 30-33

30

p

mf sost.

mf sost.

In addition, one often encounters two 5ths stacked upon each other, as in Example 2-28 and in the

Piano Concerto No. 1.

Example 2-31: Muczynski, Piano Concerto No. 1/ii, mm. 19-21

Tempo meno mosso

(q = 54)

2

4

2

4

(e = e)

3

8

3

8

pp

sempre legato

p

(con Ped., sempre)

30

Piano Writing: Because he composes at the keyboard65 and is a highly proficient performer,

Muczynski writes for the piano in an expert and idiomatic fashion. He explores the wide range of

expressive possibilities of the piano, Cisler notes, from the very lyrical and reflective, to the highly

motoristic and percussive, often within one single piece or movement.66 In doing so, Muczynski

frequently calls for virtuosity (never solely for the sake of bravura display, however) and utilizes the

entire range of the keyboard.

Despite the differences in writing solo piano music as opposed to chamber music with

piano, such as the role of the instruments and the balance between them, Muczynskis piano writing

in both contexts is similar. Some elements already discussed include widely spaced sonorities in the

left hand and scales that call for the fingering 1 2 3 4 in each tetrachord that comprises the scale.

Other techniques noted by Cisler include octave unison passagework with the hands together:

Example 2-32: Muczynski, Desperate Measures/i, mm. 29-32

(short)

p

65 something most composers were embarrassed to admit until they found that Stravinsky

did the same, Muczynski, as quoted in Cisler, 127. 66 Cisler, 118.

31

rapid hand alternation:

Example 2-33: Muczynski, Second Piano Trio/iii, mm. 148-51

17

arco

ff

tenuto

6

arco

ff

tenuto

6

repeated staccato pitches, intervals and chords:

Example 2-34: Muczynski, Cello Sonata/iv, mm. 166-70

2

4

2

4

2

4

166

Con brio

arco

sub. p e sempre cresc.

mf e cresc.

sub.p e sempre cresc.

mf

Example 2-35: Muczynski, Time Pieces/i, mm. 93-96

93

marc.

32

and hand crossings:

Example 2-36: Muczynski, Flute Sonata/ii, mm. 131-34

ff con brio

sff

1 2

3

4

1

2

3

4

4

3

2

1

4

3

2 1

sff

sec.

f con brio

4 3

2

1

1

2

3

4

4

(cross over)

3

2

1

5

Melody: One of the most important elements in Muczynski's music is his gift for melody. As

Cisler observes, The fabric of his melodies comes from an inner intention to evoke a particular

character, mood or emotional state.67 David Brin adds, Expressive melodies of all kinds

compliment his rhythms; some boisterous, some inwardly reflective, some lushly romantic, others

jagged and rough, as if describing all sides of a complex and fascinating personality. 68

Boisterous:

Example 2-37: Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 1-5

4

4

4

4

4

4

Allegro (q - c. 132+)

5

Flute

Piano

f

67 Cisler, 99. 68 Brin, 13. The musical examples are mine.

33

Inwardly reflective:

Example 2-38: Muczynski, Moments/i, mm. 32-39

2

4

2

4

2

4

Adagio (q= 54)

4

4

4

4

4

4

35

p

mf

p sempre

3

4

3

4

3

4

broadly

f

(p)

f

3 3

3

3

Lushly romantic:

Example 2-39: Muczynski, Piano Concerto No. 1/i, mm. 71-78

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

6

Andante

Andante

(q - 69)

(q - 69)

(SOLO)

espr.

mf sostenuto

poco

poco

mf

con ped.

(Strings)

p

mf

(Clar.)

espr.

p

34

f

p

(Strings)

mf

p

Jagged and rough:

Example 2-40: Muczynski, Toccata, mm. 53-57

2

4

2

4

4

4

4

4

pi f

sf

These melodies tend to be grouped into phrase lengths of three to eight measures that

follow each other in often-irregular fashion. For instance, the second movement of the Fantasy Trio

begins with a solo cello melody over a repeated pitch in the piano. The melody is divided into

phrases of four and seven measures respectively, each beginning with a similar ascending motive. In

m. 8, Muczynski places an F-flat in the melodic line for the first time; this pitch recurs on the

downbeat of the following measure and provides the mechanism for avoiding the cadence, thus

extending the phrase.

35

Example 2-41: Muczynski, Fantasy Trio/ii, mm. 1-12

3

4

3

4

3

4

3

4

Andante con espressione

Andante con espressione

q - 56

q - 56

arco

p espress.

cresc.

3

sempre p

sost.

(non cresc.)

(Ped. simile)

poco rit.

poco rit.

12

a tempo

a tempo

mf

p

mf

poco rit.

p

a tempo

(p)

Muczynski's melodies, as in the example above, frequently cover wide ranges and contain

wide leaps, which Karen Marie Fosheim contends result in a searching quality.69 These leaps tend

to be within the context of melodies that also feature step-wise motion. In the opening of the Alto

Saxophone Sonata, the melody, which mostly contains seconds and thirds, also features a series of

leaps beginning with a major 6th, then a major 7th, and finally an octave.

69 Karen Marie Fosheim, Similarities Between Two Dissimilar American Piano Sonatas of

the 1960s: The Second Piano Sonatas of Robert Muczynski and Robert Starer (D.M.A. thesis, University of Arizona, 1994), 32-33.

36

Example 2-42: Muczynski, Alto Saxophone Sonata/i, mm. 1-4

3

4

3

4

3

4

Andante maestoso q - 52

4

4

4

4

4

4

3

4

3

4

3

4

Alto

Saxophone

Piano

f espress.

broadly

sf molto legato

(f)

f

3

The extensive use of wide leaps indicates that Muczynski uses an instrumental, rather than a

vocal, approach to melody. As his friend Karl Miller said, I think his ideas come mostly from

melody and pieces grow from there. His music is so instrumental, I can hardly imagine him sitting

down to write an opera, but I think he thinks totally melodically, but not vocally.70

Summary

Muczynski's fingerprintsthe use of particular scales, techniques analogous to

Tcherepnins interpoint, a strong and imaginative sense of form, rhythm, and harmony, widely

spaced textures, including the Muczynski chord, an instrumental sense of melody, and an in-depth

knowledge of the instruments for which he writesare what make his music personal and

distinctive. In the next two chapters, we will see how these fingerprints manifest themselves in the

chamber music with piano and in the First Piano Trio.

70 Cisler, 101.

37

CHAPTER III

AN OVERVIEW OF MUCZYNSKIS CHAMBER MUSIC WITH PIANO

Throughout his career, Muczynski has concentrated on writing works for solo piano and

small chamber ensembles. Seventeen of the forty-eight pieces to which he has assigned opus

numbers are for solo piano. Another twenty-two are for seven or fewer performers, including nine

chamber music works with piano: the Flute, Alto Saxophone, and Cello Sonatas; Time Pieces for

clarinet and piano; Moments for flute and piano; the Fantasy Trio for clarinet, cello, and piano; and the

three piano trios.71

The main reason that Muczynski composed far more music for small ensembles than for

orchestra, especially in the 1960s, was the greater potential for publication, performance, and

recordings.

I observed that the ratio of orchestral performances for a young composer was about one performance every 8-or-9 years. I felt it was FAR too much time & effort to insist for what seemed to be a closed door. . . . Its no joy to pile-up those scores on the dusty shelf! In turning my full attention to composing for various chamber music combinations (plus solo piano works) it came to pass that I made the right choice. . . . But also, I really enjoyed producing them!72 Within this relatively

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Mucynsky Trio