Strategies for TeachingContemporary Music, UsingCanadian Music for StudentInstrumental EnsemblesReproduced with the permission of CMEAJAcme.

Patricia ShandDirector, John Adaskin ProjectProfessor, Music EducationDivision, Faculty of Music,University of Toronto

A BALANCED MUSIC PROGRAM OF

STUDY should include a variety ofcontemporary compositions as well asmusic of other stylistic periods. It isimportant that students understandhow contemporary composers usetechniques from previous periods, andalso how they have developed newtechniques. It is also important to makestudents aware of the range of stylesused by contemporary composers. Andif Canadian students are to becomeaware of their national cultural heri-tage, a good variety of Canadiancontemporary music should be includ-ed in the curriculum, along with musicproduced by composers from othercountries and historical periods.

When developing a program ofstudy, the teacher must first selectmusically interesting compositionswhich are technically within thecapabilities of student performers, andthen must develop strategies forteaching those works so that thestudents understand the compositionaltechniques, master the technicalchallenges, and also experience thecompositions aesthetically.

The purpose of this article is topresent a variety of contemporaryCanadian compositions which aresuitable for student instrumentalensembles, and to suggest someapproaches to teaching these samplecompositions, approaches designed tohelp students hear and understand themusical effectiveness of contemporary

Canadian Husic Educator,

Vol. 32, No. 5 (August 1991)

stylistic features (e.g. dissonance,unusual timbres, asymmetricalrhythms, varying textures, and impro-visation). Consideration is also given toteaching graphic notation, and todeveloping ensemble sensitivity,precision, and listening skills.

All the compositions discussed inthis article have been recommended byexperienced teachers from acrossCanada as being suitable for studentperformers. The selection of composi-tions and the development of teachingstrategies have been carried outthrough the John Adaskin Project(Canadian Music for Schools), anational research project sponsoredjointly by the Canadian Music Educa-tors' Association and the CanadianMusic Centre.

All the selected compost tions arecontemporary in that all are by livingCanadian composers. All these compo-sitions have been written in the latterhalf of the Twentieth Century, yet thereis no single compositional style evi-dent. These compositions are presentedas examples of the rich variety ofCanadian music currently availableand suitable for student performers.

Many Twentieth Centurycomposers have been inspired by thefolk music of their own country. It ispedagogically useful to begin the studyof contemporary musk with somethingfamiliar to the students, and manyteachers find that Canadian composi-tions based. on folk material are very

Vol. 32, No.5, August 1991 27

suitable for students who have hadlittle exposure to contemporary music.When teaching compositions based onfolk songs, it is useful to have thestudents sing the folk songs to helpthem develop a feel for the musicalphrasing. It is also useful to have thestudents analyze how the simple folkmaterial is passed from one instrumentto another in the ensemble. Studentscan also try making their own instru-mental arrangements of folk songs.

Keith Bissell's A Folksong Suitefor Woodwinds1 is a three-movementsuite based on Canadian folk songs. Itis tonal in idiom and is accessible toyoung performers. It is scored for twoflutes and two clarinets, with the bassline written for bassoon or bass clari-net. The suite provides excellentensemble training, since balance, blend,intonation, and rhythm require carefulwork.

Harry Somers' Little Suite forString Orchestra' is another three-movement suite based on Canadianfolk songs. It is scored for violins I andII, viola, and cello. The first movementis a prelude and fugue based on"Lukey's Boat". The lyrical secondmovement is based on the lovelyNewfoundland song, "She's Like theSwallow". The third movementfeatures variations on "Ah! Si MonMoine Voulait Danser! (Come andDance With Me)". All three move-ments are generally tonal, althoughthere are occasional dissonances. Thesuite provides opportunities to workon contrasts in style, mood, articula-tion, tempo, and rhythm.

Morley Calvert's Suite from theMonteregian Hills" for brass quintetis based on French Canadian folksong material. It is a challengingwork for university or advanced highschool students, demanding carefulattention to rhythm, intonation, andensemble.

Many contemporary composi-tions are writtenusing graphicnotation, and require performers tomake musical decisions as theyinterpret that notation. Students need

opportunities to develop the skillsnecessary for performing such music.

Sydney Hodkinson's three-volume Contemporary Primer forBand' is very useful for developingstudents' confidence in interpretinggraphic notation, in exploring sound,and in making musical decisions. Sinceall players read from the graphicallynotated score, they can see as well ashear how each part fits into the whole,and therefore the short studies in thesevolumes are valuable for developingensemble sensitivity. Although the titlesuggests use in a band situation, thestudies are intended to be performedby any number of woodwind, brass,and percussion players, and thereforethey are suitable for chamber ensem-bles, particularly in a situation wherethere are unusual numbers andcombinations of instruments. Thestudies are also suitable for use withplayers of various levels of technicalability, since each player can realize thegraphic notation according to what heor she is technically able to handle.Each player has freedom in developinghis or her own part, but each part mustfit into the musical whole. Hodkinsonalso provides the teacher with sugges-tions for supplementary listening andcreative activities.

Murray Schafer's Minimusie'provides valuable training in listening,improvising, and realizing non-traditional notation. This work can beperformed by any combination ofinstruments and/ or voices. It is wellsuited to mixed chamber ensembles.Performers explore sound and relatetheir sounds to those of the otherperformers in the ensemble. Minimu-sic helps develop the players' ability toimprovise while responding to thesounds around them.

Murray Schafer's Statement inBlue! for orchestra is another composi-tion which develops students' skillsand confidence in interpreting graphicnotation and exploring sound. Eachplayer has freedom in developing hisor her own part, but each part must fitinto the musical whole. The players

and conductor must judge the effec-tiveness of the improvised melodiesand of the different instrumentalcolours and solo lines. If a school hasaccess to a recording of Statement inBlue", students can tape their ownperformance of the composition, andcan compare their interpretation withthat on the recording. The studentsshould be encouraged to focus on thedifferent musical decisions made bythe two groups of performers, and onthe results of those musical decisions inthe overall effectiveness of the perfor-mance.

Harry Somers' Theme forVariations" is another useful trainingpiece for developing improvisationalskills and the players' ability to makemusical decisions. It is written for achamber ensemble with "any combina-tion of instruments". Somers providesa simple framework within whichplayers can work, experimenting withvarious instrumentations, hearing howdifferent a piece can sound when tonecolours are varied. Players can also tryelaborating on the basic musical linesprovided by Somers, creating theirown rhythmic, melodic, and harmonicvariations on Somers' Theme. They canalso listen to recordings of Themes andVariations from a variety of stylisticperiods.

Allan Bell's From Chaos to theBirth of a Dancing stat for band isanother composition which uses somenon-traditional notation. It is a dramati-cally effective work which is program-matic in that it follows the suggestionof the title, moving from the chaos ofthe opening ff dissonant chords andviolent percussive effects and the chaosof unusual sounds and repeatedrhythmic figures in an unmetredstructure, to a tranquil conclusion.Students should be encouraged toanalyze how Bell creates the impres-sion of chaos, and they should also beencouraged to create their own piecesmoving from chaos tv tranquility.Careful rehearsal is needed to achieveprecision and confidence on theopening dissonant chords. Although

Vol. 32. No.5,August 1991 29

the opening is written in 4/4, pausesdisrupt the sense of regular metre. Thesenza misura section which followsalso requires careful rehearsal.

Donald Coakley's The TwentiethCentury Band'? was written to exposeyoung performers to a variety ofTwentieth Century compositionaltechniques. The Third Movement,"Polymetrechordalcluster March,"provides an interesting example of theuse of polymetre and poly tonality. Asthe title suggests, this movementinvolves frequent metre changes (2/4,3/4,4/4 and 5/4 are used, with thequarter note pulse remaining constant),and it also features the build-up ofdissonant chord clusters. In form it is atraditional A B A' march. To helpplayers achieve rhythmic precision, theteacher can have some students clapconstant quarter notes while the otherstudents play their parts as written. It isalso useful to have some studentsconduct the changing metrical patternswhile other students play. For auraltraining, slow, careful work is needed,building up dissonant chord clustersnote by note.

Comparisons can usefully bemade between "Polymetrechordalclus-ter March" and the first of GaryKulesha's Two Pieces for Band" whichis also a march in which dissonant toneclusters and polytonal effects are used.The dramatic quality of Kulesha's"March" should be emphasized inrehearsal. The composer writes thatthere "is no specific image intended,but perhaps this muscular piece couldsuggest the approach of an enemyanny; the middle section is less anx-ious, but just before the D.S., the lowinstruments start to suggest thecreeping return of the mood of theopening." The second of Kulesha'sTwo Pieces, "Through Morning Mist,"is, as the title suggests, an example ofdescriptive music. Students could listento recordings of impressionistic tonepoems such as Debussy' 5 La Mer, andcould compare these with Kulesha's"Through Morning Mist". Kulesha'suse of dynamic contrasts, chromatic

movement, and unusual sound effectssuch as bird calls and unpitchedblowing should be noted. There is aneffective move from dissonance toconsonance at the end of "ThroughMorning Mist" as a major trumpetchord dispels the mist. Kulesha usesgraphic notation, and the performershave considerable freedom in interpret-ing the notation. There are no tradition-al metric or rhythmic patterns. Musicalevents are indicated in terms of second,and careful rehearsal is needed so thatplayers enter confidently on theconductor's cues.

The development of listeningskills is an essential aspect of musiceducation. Breaking a large class orperforming group into small chamberensembles can help develop players'aural skills and ensemble sensitivity,since it is easier for a player to hearhimself and others in a small chamberensemble. Nancy Telfer's Inner Space"for brass quintet provides opportuni-ties to work on intonation and toneproduction and to develop ensembleskills. The composition explores thebrass ensemble's three-octave pitch andtimbral range, using whole-tonemelodic and harmonic structures. Drillon whole-tone scales is recommendedfor each individual player and for thefull ensemble. Students should beaware of the A B A formal design inwhich the ponderous scalar patterns ofthe Adagio sections contrast with thenervous melodic fragments of theWaltz. Students could also analyze thetechniques of melodic developmentused by Telfer in the Waltz (inversion,retrograde, augmentation, diminution,metric transformation, and contrasts ofarticulation and dynamics).

Michael Horwood's Asteroids"for brass quartet (two trumpets, horn,and trombone) uses interesting spatialeffects. The performers, representingfour asteroids orbiting the sun (repre-sented by the audience), are placedbehind, in front of, and beside theaudience. The music seems to move invarious circles-and complexes, givingthe effect of orbital motion. Obviously

this piece presents real challenges forthe ensemble in terms of fluency andblend. Horwood uses pointillistictechniques with quarter notes movingfrom instrument to instrument. Asteady tempo must be maintained, andthe conductor must help the playersshape the pointillistic patterns intomusical lines and shapes. This compo-sition also presents intonation challeng-es, especially where quarter tone effectsoccur in the final section.

David Keane's Circle Dance" isuseful as a preliminary study beforeteaching Asteroids, since Circle Danceinvolves placing performers in a circlearound the room, cuing them to enterone by one. Keane's piece is much lessdemanding technically than is Aster-oids, and therefore the players canconcentrate on developing theirlistening and ensemble skills as thesounds pass from one instrument tothe next. Circle Dance is useful in ateaching situation where there is anunusual assortment of instrumentsavailable, since it is written for anycombination of instruments. Studentscould be encouraged to create theirown compositions using spatial effectsand simple graphic notation, usingKeane's model.

Several contemporary Canadiancomposers, most notably MurraySchafer, have written interesting worksfor performance outside the concerthall, in special natural environments,"Like Horwood's Asteroids, GaryKulesha's Soundings for Brass"employs spatial effects. Kulesha's workwas commissioned for the Festival ofthe Sound in northern Ontario. It wasdesigned to be perfonned with onebrass ensemble (a quintet) on a boatmoving from island to island, and asecond brass ensemble (a quartet) inthe distance, on an island. In a moretraditional concert environment, thetwo brass groups are to be placed as farapart as possible, Spatial separation ofthe players within the "distant"ensemble is also indicated at somepoints in the score. This of coursepresents ensemble challenges. The

Vol. 32, No.5,August1991 31

composition is also challenging becauseof the degree of freedom yet roordinationrequired in the aleatoric passages.

Twelve-tone technique is animportant contemporary compositionaldevice which students should under-stand. Walter Buczynski's Legend No. 917

for string orchestra is based on a twelve-tore row which students should be ableto recognize. Students could develop afuller understanding of twelve-toretechnique by doing compositionalprojects, creating and developing theirown tone rows, and by listening to andanalyzing other dodecaphonic compost-tions. Students could also analyze howBuczynski has developed his musicalmaterial in Legend No.9, passingmelodic and rhythmic rrotives fromvoice to voice.

Harry Freedman's Monday Gigl!for woodwind quintet is an interestingstudy in changing textures, In introduc-ing this work, the teacher should makethe students aware of the rroropoonk,horropoonic, and polypbonk textures.The teacher should also emphasize thejazz influeree evident in the rhythmicand melodic materials which Freedmanuses.

Arother composition which useselements of jazz style is Pastel Blue" for

string orchestra by Norman Symonds,This piece is an interesting example of thestylistic eclecticism of much contempo-rary music. Syrrords' piece is built on afour-bar ground bass figure, and featurescontrapuntal textures. This piece pr0-vides excellent opportunities for analysis,and for comparison with works of earlierstylistic periods. For example, Syrrords'use of a ground bass can be comparedwith Pachelbel's in his well krownCanon. Students should be encouragedto make comparisons between composi-tions, noticing how two composers mayuse a similar compositional technique buthow each composer will use that tech-nique for his own purposes, making it hisown.

The Canadian repertoire andteaching strategies discussed above areintended as suggestions, but obviouslyeach teacher will have to select repertoireappropriate for his or her own students,and will have to develop appropriatepedagogical approaches. 20 In general,however, it is recommended that theteacher seek ways to involve studentsdirectly with the music in a variety ofways, rot only playing but also singing,clapping, conducting, listening, creating,and analyzing. It is important for teachersto make their students aware of how

contemporary composers organizesounds for expressive pt.I11X)S€S - row thevarious elements of music are manipulat-ed by composers and performers tocreate patterns of repetition and contrast,of tension and release. A teacher cannotforce students to enjoy every piece theyplay or hear, but a teacher can belpstudents understand how a piece hasbeen constructed, and can belp them hearwhat is there to be heard by the percep-tive ear. Students without previousexperience playing or listening tocontemporary music have rot learnedwhat to listen for and what to expect in acontemporary composition. Withoutsuch expectations, there is no possibilityof an awareness of the unfulfilledmusical expectations which LeonardMeyer maintains are basic to a meaning-ful musical experience," Through~ to and involvement with avariety of contemporary Canadiancompositions, students may develop anunderstanding and an appreciation of themusic of their own tirre and place.

.NOTES1. Published in 1963 by Boosey and

Hawkes. For more detailed discussionof this piece, see Canadian Music: ASelective Guidelist for Teachers(Toronto: Canadian Music Centre,1978), p.143.

2. Published in 1966 by BMI Canada.Copyright assigned 1969 to Berandol,See Ibid., p.l3S.

3. Published in 1976 by Berandol, SeeIbid., p.144. This composition hasbeen recorded. by the Mount RoyalBrass Quintet on Brass Nova (McGill80012, available from the CanadianMusic Centre Distribution Service).

4. Published in 1973 by Merion Music.See Ibid., p.l13.

5. Published in 1972 by Universal. SeeIbid., p.162.

6. Published in 1966 by BMI Canada.Copyright assigned 1969 to Berandol.See Ibid., p.126.

7. Recorded by the Lawrence ParkCollegiate Orchestra on Threnody:Youth Music by R. MUITi1Y Schafer(Melbourne 4D46).Available from theCanadian Music Centre DistributionService.

8. Published in 1966 by BMI Canada.Copyright transferred to Berandol.

32 Canacian Music Educator

9. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre. See Guidelistof Unpublished Canadian BandMusic Suitable for Student Perform-ers (Toronto: Canadian Music Centre,1987), p.4l.

10. Unpublished. Available from thecomposer. See Ibid., p.16.

11. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre. See Ibid.,p.23.

12. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre. See A Guideto Unpublished Canadian BrassChamber Music Suitable for StudentPerformers (Toronto: CMEA in c0-operation with CMC, 1989), p.95.

13. Published in 1979 by Berandol.14. Unpublished. Available from the

composer. See Guidelist of Un pub-lishedCanadian Band Music, p.2l.

15. See for example Schafer's MUBicforWilderness Lake, written for twelvetrombones. The score, published byArcana Edition in 1981, includes adescription of the premiere perfor-mance and the filming of a perfor-mance with the players at variouslocations on and around the lake. TheRhombus Media film is available fromCanadian Filmmakers DistributionCentre, 67A Portland St., Toronto,Ontario MSV 2M9.

16. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre.

17. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre. See Guidelistof Unpublished Canadian StringOrchestra MUBic Suitable forStudent Performers (Toronto:Canadian Music Centre, 1986), p.12l.

18. Unpublished. Available from theCanadian Music Centre.

19. Published in 1973 by E.C. Kerby Ltd.See Canadian Music: A SelectiveGuidelist, p.l36.

20. The John Adaskin Project guidelistsinclude a wide selection of Canadianmusic suitable for student performers.Each piece included in the guidelistsis evaluated in terms of its level ofdifficulty, technical challenges,musical style, and pedagogical value.All the guidelists are available for salefrom the Canadian Music Centre, 20St. joseph Street, Toronto, OntarioM4Y 1]9.

21. See Leonard Meyer, Emotion andMeaning in Music (Chicago: Univer-sity of Chicago Press, 1956).