PEDAGOGICAL WORKS POR PIANO BY SAMUEL ADLER

PEDAGOGICAL WORKS POR PIANO BY SAMUEL ADLER

by

MEI-YUKTANG, B.A., M.M.

A DISSERTATION

IN

FINE ARTS (MUSIC)

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

August, 2003

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to those individuals who so kindly

assisted me in the preparation of this study. My special thanks are extended to Dr. Lora

Deahl w^ ho patiently guided me through the preparation of this dissertation. Her

encouragement, enthusiasm, and knowledge made fmishing this dissertation possible.

She also provided excellent assistance in proofreading the entire document. The advice

of Dr. Jason Sifford and Dr. Matthew Santa regarding the pedagogica! aspects and

compositional techniques of Adler's works was invaluable. I also wish to extend my

gratitude to Dr. Wayne Hobbs, Dr. Daniel Nathan, and Dr. John Stinespring for serving

on my committee and for their guidance and support. My particular thanks are offered to

Dr. Samuel Adler who graciously answered my questions and to Mrs. Suzanne Tapp who

assisted me with my English on Chapter III. Grateful acknowledgement is also given to

the Graduate School of Texas Tech University for granting me a Summer

Dissertation/Thesis Research Award. Finally, I want to thank my family members in

Hong Kong for their unfailing encouragement, patience, support, and understanding!

11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. BIOGRAPHY 15

III. COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES 29

JV. PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS 71

V. A COMPARISON OF PEDAGOGICAL WORKS FOR 99 PIANO BY BARTK, KABALEVSKY, AND ADLER

VL CONCLUSION 118

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 122

APPENDIX

A. ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GiL4i)C/5/ 127

B. ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GRADUSII 161

C ANALYSIS TABLES FOR Gif^Z)f/5/// 207

D. ANALYSIS TABLES FOR THE SENSEOF TOUCH 247

E. AGRADEDLIST0FADLER'SGi?^i)[/5AND 264 THE SENSE OF TOUCH

111

ABSTRACT

Many new musical styles evolved during the twentieth century. The disjunct

melodies, harsh dissonances, and irregular time-signatures, phrasings, rhythms, and

notations featured in much music of the twentieth century were foreign to those

accustomed to the tonai harmonies of the major-minor system. Consequently, new

techniques and guidelines to performing and teaching this repertoire were in great

demand.

Samuel Adler is a prolific composer whose works include operas, symphonies,

concertos, chamber music, vocal music, and piano music. Adler wrote the Gradus and

The Sense of Touch to pr vide young students with a solid theoretical and technical

introduction to the performance of contemporary music.

The purpose of this study is three-fold: to analyze the pedagogica! piano pieces of

Samuel Adler in terms of their musical and pedagogical content; to compare these

compositions with the works of important twentieth-century piano pedagogues, Bartk

and Kabalevsky; and to propose Adler's works as worthy additions to the pedagogical

canon.

The study of Adler's Gmdus set (1971 and 1981) and The Sense of Touch (1983)

shows that these sixty-eight pieces are short in length but neh in musical content. The

flowing melodies, driving rhythms, coloristic sound effects, and clarity of texture of

Adler's piano pieces are appealing to students. They are recommended by music

scholars, piano teachers, and pedagogues. A comparison of Adler's coUections with Bla

IV

Bartk's Mikrokosmos (1926, 32-39) and Dmitri Kabalevsky's Pieces far Children, Op.

27 (1937-38) and Twenty-Four Little Pieces, Op. 39 (1943) shows that each has its own

function. Nevertheless, Adler introduces a greater number of innovative twentieth-

century techniques than either Kabalevsky or Bartk.

Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch are valuable teaching materials. They

contain a diversity of contemporary styles and systems. At the same time, these works

exemplify Adler's expressive and eclectic compositional style. They are instructive

piano works of high quality that deserve a wider circulation among piano teachers and

students.

LIST OF TABLES

A.l. Gmdus I, No. 1 128

A.2. GmdusI,No.2 130


A.4. Gmdus I, No. 4 133



A.7. GmdusI,No.l 139


A.9. Gmdus I, No. 9 142

AIO. GmdusI,No. 10 144

A.11. Gmdus I, No. n 145

A. 12. Gmdus I, No. 12 146

A.13. GmdusI,No. 13 147

A. 14. Gra(/Ms/,No. 14 148

A.15. GmdusI,No. 15 150

A. 16. Gmdus I, No. 16 151

A17. GmdusI,No. 17 153

A. 18. GrarfM5/,No. 18 155

A.19. GmdusI,No. 19 157

A.20. GmdusI,No. 20 159

VI

B.l. Gmdus II, No. \ 162

B.2. Gradus II, No. 2 164




B.6. GradusII,No. 6 171



B.9. Gradus II, No. 8A 177

B. 10. Gradus II, No. 8B 178

B.ll . Gradus II, No. 9 180

B.12. GraJw^//, No. 10 182





B.l7. Gradus II, No. 15 193

B.l8. GradusII,No. 16 196

B.l9. Gradus II, No. 17 198




VII

C I . Gradus III, No. \ 208

C2. Gradus III, No. 2 210

C.3. Gradus III, No. 3 212





C.8. GradusIII,No. 8 222


CIO. GraJM5///,No. 10 226

C U . GraafMi ///, No. 11 228

C.\2. GradusIII,No. 12 230


C.14. GraflfM5///,No. 14 235


C16. GraJM5///,No. 16 239

C.n. Gradus III, No. n 241

C18. GraJM5 ///, No. 18 243


C20. GradusIILNo. 20 246

vili

D.l. The Sense of Touch, No. l 248

D.2. The Sense of Touch, No. U 250

D.3. The Sense of Touch, No. Ili 252

D.4. The Sense of Touch, No. lY 254

D.5. The Sense ofTouch,No.V 256

D.6. The Sense of Touch, No. Wl 258

D.7. The Sense ofTouch,No. VII 260

D.8. The Sense of Touch, No. Ylll 262

E. 1. Reference Chart for Grading 266

E.2. Graded List of Gradus I 267

E.3. Graded List of GraJu^// 267

E.4. Graded List ofGraJw^/// 267

E.5. GradeListof The Sense of Touch 268

ix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Twentieth-century music stili challenges us today even though we are several

years into the twenty-first century. Most method and instruction books were developed

to deal with Western musical language dating fi-om the last quarter of the seventeenth

century to the late nineteenth century. During this period, certain principles of tonality

govemed Western music. During the twentieth century, this standard system was

undermined by new musical developments. In Contemporary Music and the Pianist,

Alice Canaday states that ".. .traditional defnitions of the elements of music, viz.

'melody,' 'harmony,' 'rhythm,' and even the defmition of what is musical sound, are no

longer adequate. We need to broaden and re-define such musical concepts so that our

teaching, performing and listening can more accurately reflect the true state of music

today."' There is a need to redefine and to expand our musical concepts to adjust to

contemporary "musics."

Within the context of contemporary Western art music, a diversity of styles and

systems have emerged since the late nineteenth century. The music of our time is often

more difficult to understand than that of the previous centuries, even for professional

musicians. Since most of us are accustomed to the tonai sounds of the major-minor

system, our ears tend to reject the unfamiliar dissonant sounds of contemporary harmonic

' Alice Canaday, Contemporary Music and the Pianist: A Guidebook of Resources and Materials (Port Washington, NY: Alfred Music, 1974; reprint, Tumbridge, VT: Trillenium Music, 1997), 5.

language. At the same time, the concept of musical sound has also changed. For

example, in contemporary piano literature, new sonorities are created by tapping or

knocking the piano's wooden or metal parts or by strumming or plucking the strings

inside the piano. Piano pieces explore the full range of the keyboard, and composers

exploit its percussive nature. Now sounds are created by the emphasis on single tones

(for example, points of sound in a pointillistic style), textures (changing texture abruptly),

sound masses (such as clusters), timbres (producing new sounds by using new techniques

with conventional Instruments), and different rhythmic constructs (applying rhythmic

displacement, metric modulation, etc.).^

Contemporary musical elements such as disjunct melodies, harsh dissonances,

irregular time-signatures and phrasings, unpredictable rhythms, and non-traditional

notations are difficult to comprehend and appreciate. Unfamiliarity with musical

elements that are not used in the common practice language of Western music is at the

root of these difficulties. In performing contemporary works for piano, EUen Thompson

points out that "the fingers must adjust to new shapes and combinations of notes, such as

clusters, quarta!, moda! or synthetic scale pattems, while the mind and eye must leam to

grasp widely-spaced groups of notes, intricate rhytlmis, changing meters, a maze of

accidentals, etc."^ Ways of leaming new techniques, gestures, symbols, and styles are

^ Ibid., 6-8.

^ Ellen R. Thompson, Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA: KjosWest, 1976), 17.

required to perform and interpret new music. There is a great demand for guidelines to

understand the various styles and systems of contemporary musical literature.

Frequent, early exposure to contemporary music can remedy the present state of

ignorance about contemporary music. In IVhat to Listenfor in Music, Aaron Copland

argued that the reason why ".. .so many music lovers feel disoriented when they listen to

contemporary music [is that they] seem to accept with equanimity the notion that the

work of the present-day composer is not for them. Why? Because they 'Oust] don't

understand it.'"'* He suggested that "the key to the understanding of new music is

repeated hearings."^ One of the major reasons why the music of previous centuries is

well-received is that it is performed frequently. If contemporary compositions were

performed more often, they would become more accessible and familiar to ali. No one

denies the importance and greatness of our musical heritage. Nevertheless, we should

also be prepared to appreciate and treasure the music of our time.

It is easier to prepare young ears to comprehend contemporary musical literature

before they are conditioned exclusively to traditional harmony. Nonetheless, young

music students are often introduced to contemporary hterature very late in their musical

training if at ali. One reason could be that teachers are struggling to understand

contemporary musical elements themselves. These teachers need assistance in selecting

appropriate contemporary musical literature and training in how to use and teach it.

' Aaron Copland, What to Listenfor in Music (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1957), 242.

' Ibid., 251.

Pedagogues such as Samuel Adler compose piano works to remedy this situation.

He aims to prepare piano students who are inexperienced in contemporary literature to

deal with the more common compositional techniques, styles, and systems of the

twentieth century. Adler's piano coWectons-Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touch-

are intended to expose ".. .the ear as well as the fingers of the student to the demands of

the present and the immediate past."^ Each of these pieces ".. .utlizes a technique of

composition which has become common practice in the last half-century."^

Justification

The purpose of this study is three-fold: to analyze the pedagogical piano pieces of

Samuel Adler in terms of their compositional techniques and pedagogical aspects; to

compare these compositions with the works of important twentieth-century piano

pedagogues, Bartk and Kabalevsky; and to propose Adler's works as worthy additions

to the pedagogical canon.

Bradford Gowen, concert pianist and professor of piano at the University of

Maryland, describes Adler's piano music as of "exceptional quality, well worth the o

attention of pianists seeking inventive and engaging additions to their repertoire." He

notes that "the clarity of texture, flow of melody, rhythmic vigor, satisfying construction,

and, perhaps most characteristically, the hearty emotional communication of ali of bis * Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.

^ Ibid.

* Bradford Gowen, "Samuel Adler's Piano Music," The American Music Teacher 25, no. 3 (January 1976): 6.

best music, give to these piano works a distinction and an audience appeal not commonly

found in today's music."^ One may find the same qualities in Adler's pedagogical works,

which include the sixty pieces of the three-volume set, Gradus, and a later coUection of

eight pieces called The Sense of Touch. According to Gowen, these works are attractive,

brief, clear in intent, instrucfive, and are worthy of a wide circulation.

The pieces in Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch contain a diversity of

contemporary styles and systems. At the same time, these works summarize the eclectic

compositional style of Adler. Adler, in fact, has called himself the "happy eclectc."'

Contemporary musical elements include the use of lyrical, disjunct, angular, and static

melodies; motorie rhythms; dissonant harmonic practices; and homophonic or polyphonic

textures. These sixty-eight pieces are short in length but rich in musical content. The

author hopes that this study will establisb these pieces as important additions to the

teaching repertoire so that more people will benefit fi-om these works.

In spite of the fact that some of the current commercially available piano method

books include materials introducing contemporary music concepts, not ali of them are

popular among piano studios. For example, the Hai Lonard series, published in 1996-

1999, introduces a few cluster chords, whole-tone pattems, and some modality. The

Music for Piano series, pubUshed in 1961 and revised in 1979 and 1994-1996, introduces

pentatonic, modal, and twelve-tone music. The reasons for this lack of popularity are

' Ibid., 8.

'" Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. diss., University of Cincinnati 1999), 15.

varied. First, not ali piano teachers like to use method books. Second, it is possible that

these series may not have been advertised to enough piano teachers. Third, teachers may

not feel it necessary to introduce contemporary musical elements to elementary students.

As a result, most piano students have not been exposed to these more up-to-date piano

method books.

The pedagogical piano pieces of early twentieth-century composers Bartk and

Kabalevsky are stili commonly used to help fili the gap between music of the past and the

present, especially the Mikrokosmos of Bartk. During the latter half of the twentieth

century, composers such as David Diamond," Ross Lee Finney,'^ and Barbara Pentland'^

have written individuai contemporary short piano pieces or collections of piano pieces.

Adler's works are among those that aim to introduce piano students to contemporary

music.

Adler's piano collections Gradus and The Sense of Touch exhibit a greater variety

of contemporary styles and systems than the other available contemporary piano

collections. For example, aleatorie music, twelve-tone music, and pieces that explore the

inside of the piano are included. Anita and Louis Gordon suggest that ''Gradus is an

extremely useful source, both for teaching the techniques necessary to play twenteth-

' ' David Diamond's piano collection Then and Now, published in 1966 by Southern Music, contains eleven pieces and most are atonal.

'^ Ross Lee Finney's 32 Piano Games, published in 1969 by Henmar Press, contains contemporary piano pieces firom easy to moderately difficult.

'^ Barbara Pentland's three books of Music ofNow, published in 1970 by the Waterloo Music, introduce some contemporary musical elements.

century music, and as a brief and simple theoretical introduction to modem music."'''

Lynn Freeman Olson, composer and piano pedagogue, comments that The Sense of

Touch deals with both the technical skills and the compositional devices of contemporary

music and emphasizes physical skills and tactile awareness.'^

The first two volumes of Gradus were published in 1971 and the third volume

appeared in 1981. Each volume of the Gradus contains twenty pieces.'^ The third

volume was composed in response to requests by teachers for works that would bridge

the gap between the first and second volumes. The difficulty ranges from the late-

elementary level to the late-intermediate and early-advanced levels. Each piece uses at

least one twentieth-century compositional technique. For example. No. 5 of Gradus I and

No. 3 of Gradus II feature parallel movement in fourths and fifths. There are twelve-tone

pieces in Nos. 8a-l 1 oi Gradus //and Nos. 16-17 of Gradus III. Nos. 4, 7, and 14 of

Gradus I and four pieces in Gradus //make use of church modes. No. 8 of Gradus III is

written on octatonic collections. In the notes, Adler briefly discusses the compositional

devices used and occasionally provides suggestions for studying these pieces. The Sense

of Touch (1983) was commissioned by the piano journal Clavier. It contains eight short

pieces also introducing the young pianist to techniques used in twentieth-century music.

'" Anita and Louis Gordon, "Contemporary Music for Pianists," The Piano Quarterly 80 (Winter 1972-73): 28.

'^ Lynn Freeman Olson, ''Commissioned by Clavier," Clavier 23 (March 1984): 19-21.

'* If Nos. 8 and 8a are included, there are 22 pieces in Gradus IL Nevertheless, these two pieces are not counted because No. 8 is the matrix table of the twelve-tone row and No. 8a is a preliminary exercise that notates the pitches of the tone row.

For example. No. 1 of The Sense of Touch explores the full range of the keyboard on a

single pitch class. No. 2 features pandiatonicism and contrapuntai technique. No. 8

includes ostinati, clusters, and bi-tonality.

The titles, Gradus and The Sense of Touch, refer to important pedagogical works

of the eighteenth century. Muzio Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum (1817) is a collection

of one hundred pieces that represents a summary of the composer's "keyboard

creativity." The many exercises included in this collection may have been intended as

preparatory material for the compositions included in the set (for example, preludes and 1 -7

canons). Franfois Couperin's influential treatise L'Art de toucher le clavecin (The Art

of Playing [Touching] the Harpsichord, 1717) and C P. E. Bach's Versuch iiber die

wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard

Instruments, part 1 [1743] and part 2 [1762]) discuss the styles and performance practices 1 S

of eighteenth-century France and Germany. Likewise, Adler's Gradus and The Sense

of Touch offer preparatory pieces and instructive information conceming performance

practice, but of the twentieth century. Adler's titles suggest a connection with the

pedagogical purposes of the present and the past.

In the Preface of the first two volumes of Gradus, Adler clearly states the

intention of these pieces: ".. .it is evident that a good number of today's performing

musicians are not well prepared to deal with even a few of the simplest compositional

techniques. The present two volumes attempi to remedy this condition by exposing the '^ Stewart Gordon, A History of Keyboard Literature (New York: Schirmer Books, 1996): 202.

'^ Ibid., 71 and 85.

ear as well as the fingers of the student to the demands of the present and the immediate

past." Although the situation may have improved since the publication of the work,

Gradus and The Sense of Touch continue to be useful and important vehicles for

introducing twentieth-century music to piano students.

There are six chapters in this dissertation. Chapter 1 provides introductory

material stating the justification, review of related research, methodology and materials,

and delimitations of this study. Chapter II focuses on the personal history, teaching

philosophy, and philosophy of music of Samuel Adler. Chapter III discusses the

compositional techniques exhibited in Adler's pieces. Chapter IV examines the

pedagogical aspects of Adler's compositions and provides suggestions on how Adler's

works could be integrated into more traditional courses of study. Chapter V compares

pedagogical works by three twentieth-century composers: Samuel Adler's Gradus and

The Sense of Touch, Bla Bartk's Mikrokosmos, and Dmitry Kabalevsky's Pieces for

Children, Op. 27 and Op. 39. Chapter VI concludes the study. Appendices at the back of

the dissertation contain information about each of the sixty-eight pieces studied and a

graded list of ali the pieces.

Although thorough studies have been made of Bartk's Mikrokosmos and

Kabalevsky's Pieces for Children, there is virtually no research on Adler's Gradus and

The Sense of Touch. The author believes that a thorough analysis of these sixty-eight

pieces would reveal the distinctiveness of Samuel Adler's piano music and enable both

Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.

teachers and students to have a better understanding of bis pedagogical and compositional

techniques and of contemporary music. It is hoped that this study will achieve what

Adler states in the Preface of Gradus: "The aim of these books is not to bring about the

acceptance or rejection of any system, but rather to widen musical acquaintance and to

stimulate the wish to consider more deeply a style, a notational system, or a musical

philosophy."^^

Review of Related Research

In order to uncover existing essential research related to the Gradus and The

Sense of Touch by Samuel Adler, Pieces for Children by Kabalevsky, and Mikrokosmos

by Bartk, many research methodologies were applied. The research process included:

(a) researching different documents, articles, books on twentieth-century/contemporary

music; (b) searching through the Dissertation Abstracts Online and Dissertation

Abstracts published by University Microfilms, Incorporated, a listing of intemationally

published subject-related dissertations and theses;^' and (e) exploring different computer-

assisted research databases such as Worldcat, RILN, RILM, ERIC, and EducationAbs.

Results from searching in Dissertation Abstracts Online revealed that there were

seven dissertations related to Samuel Adler's solo vocal works, chamber music, organ

music, and operas. There is no specific research on Adler's Gradus and The Sense of

Touch. The only existing publications on the subject of this dissertation are three journal

^Ibid.

'^ Dissertation Abstracts Online and Dissertation Abstracts, published by University Microfilms, Incorporated, also provide abstracts for documents written after 1982.

10

articles, the Preface and Notes in the piano score of Gradus, and the brief notes in the

score of The Sense of Touch. The two journal articles about Gradus only provide an

overview for the first two volumes of the set and do not cover the third volume of the

Gradus, which was written ten years after the first two volumes. The journal article

about The Sense of Touch only gives a brief remark on the collection and provides a short

discussion of the piece No. 8.

Research on other books on twentieth-century/contemporary music shows that a

few other sources contain some information on Gradus I and / / Alice Canaday's

Contemporary Music and the Pianist: A Guidebook of Resources and Materials suggests

Gradus I and / / as contemporary pedagogical works. Ellen R. Thompson's Teaching and

Understanding Contemporary Piano Music identifies briefly several contemporary

musical elements found in selected pieces in Gradus I and //. Although Carole

Thibodeaux's "Performance Analysis: A System for Increasing in Piano Students an

Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to Selected Twentieth Century Piano

Music" analyzes two pieces from GradusNo. 16, Gradus I and No. 17, Gradus IIno

other reference is given to any of Adler's other works.

Nevertheless, there are numerous documents available on the piano music,

pedagogical contributions, and compositional techniques of Bartk and Kabalevsky, and

^^ Alice Canaday's Contemporary Music and the Pianist: A Guidebook of Resources and Materials (Tumbridge, VT: Trillenium Music, 1997); Ellen R. Thompson's Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA: Kjos West, 1976); Carole, Thibodeaux, "Performance Analysis: A System for Increasing in Piano Students an Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to Selected Twentieth Century Piano Music" (Ph. D. diss., University of Oklahoma, 1976), 175-179 and 264-269.

11

the musical elements, compositional techniques, and pedagogical ideas of the twentieth

century. Many of these are listed in the selective bibliography as functional resources.

This dissertation has provided an opportunity to study Adler's Gradus and The

Sense of Touch. The author of this study believes that the thorough study of these piano

works will serve as a guide for piano teachers and students to appreciate Adler's piano

music and as a useful source for leaming about contemporary music.

Methodology and Materials

A thorough analysis of Adler's sixty-eight pieces was conducted to identify the

twentieth-century music concepts and compositional techniques that were used. Located

in the appendices are discussions of each of the studied pieces, which bring to light three

important aspects: compositional techniques, pedagogical elements, and practice

suggestions. The pedagogical elements concentrate on a discussion of technical skills,

rather than restating the contemporary compositional techniques covered in the previous

category in the table. The practice suggestions provide ideas on how to prepare students

with warm-up exercises related to the technical skills required in the pieces, how to

practice or study specific rhythmic pattems or figurations, and how to introduce new

elements such as modal scales and different intervals. Such discussions will help readers

to better understand Adler's pieces and to prepare them to study the pieces. A graded list

of ali sixty-eight pieces is presented in the Appendix E to serve as a general reference

guide for studying the pieces.

12

Adler's pieces were compared to pieces in Bla Bartk's Mikrokosmos and

Dmitry Kabalevsky's Pieces for Children, Op. 27 and Op. 39. The result reveals the

similarities and differences among the selected works of these three composers. This

study also provides suggestions for incorporating the pedagogical pieces of Adler into

traditional courses of piano music and proposes Adler's pieces as worthy additions to the

standard pedagogical canon.

Delimitations

For the purpose of this study, the term "contemporary music" refers to serious

Westem art music that has been composed from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Since Adler's Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touch were composed during the early

1970s and 1980s, the contemporary compositional techniques covered are limited to

those that emerged from the late nineteenth century up to the early 1980s. The discussion

in Chapter III, "Compositional Techniques," focuses on some of the major characteristics

exhibited in contemporary music which are illustrated in Adler's piano pieces. Chapter

rV, "Pedagogical Aspects," concentrates on exploring the teaching elements of Adler's

pieces. In Chapter V, a comparison is conducted of Adler's Gradus and The Sense of

Touch, Kabalevsky's Op. 27 and Op. 39, and the first four books of Bartk's

Mikrokosmos. The last two books of Mikrokosmos are excluded from the comparison

because they are on a more advanced level than the other selected works discussed in this

chapter. The category called "Pedagogical Elements" in the analysis tables of the

13

appendices specifically discusses technical skills such as muscular relaxation and wrist

flexibility in each of the sixty-eight pieces.

Conclusion

Samuel Adler is a prolific composer, experienced teacher, and conductor. He

plays a significant role in the contemporary musical scene, particularly in the United

States. The author hopes that this study will establisb Adler's pieces as worthy additions

to the current pedagogical canon. At the same time, this study will serve as a leaming

guide to Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch and may inspire piano students to take a

more serious interest in contemporary music. Like Adler, the author also hopes that

"...the awakened student and teacher, having begun bere, will continue to explore the

complex and diverse music which has been created in our century."

" Samuel Adler, Gradus (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.

14

CHAPTER II

BIOGRAPHY'

Early Years

Samuel Hans Adler was bom in Mannheim, Germany, on March 4, 1928. He was

brought up in a musical family. His first musical influence was bis father, Hugo Chaim

Adler. Hugo Adler was a cantor and the most important composer of the American

Reformed Jewish synagogues in the twentieth century. Hugo Adler studied briefly with

his Mannheim neighbor, Ernst Toch, but was largely self-taught.^ Hugo Adler was also a

biblical scholar and he composed numerous large cantatas. Samuel Adler's mother was a

mezzo-soprano and a pianist. She was able to accompany herself at the piano and sang

songs by Brabms, Reger, Pfitzner, and Mahler.

Samuel Adler's musical experiences began at an early age. He was a boy soprano

in the synagogue choir. At the age of five, he began to leam the recorder, using the

solfeggio system taught to ali Mannheim children. With the help of his grandfather, who

was a violinisi, Adler leamed to read music. At the age of six, Adler heard his first opera.

At age seven, Adler began daily violin lessons with Albert Levy, the former

' The biographical information is drawn from two major resources: Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis. University of Cincinnati, 1999); and Joan Dawson Lucas, "The Operas of Samuel Adler: An Analytcal Study" (Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 1978).

^ Ernst Toch was later a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and professor at UCLA. See Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1999), 1.

15

concertmaster of the locai Pfalz Orchestra. At the same time, he began taking piano

lessons from his father but did not really practice. Adler regrets this rebellion against his

father. When Adler was ten, his family moved to America and settled in Worcester,

Massachusetts, where his father became cantor and musical director of Tempie Emanu-

El.

Adler began to compose music some time after he arrived in America. His first

attempts were songs. Adler recalled that he persuaded his sister, Marianne, to "interpret"

the songs. Soon after realizing his son's interest in composition, his father sent Adler to

Boston every week to study theory, harmony, counterpoint, and form with Herbert

Fromm. At age 12, Adler started his first composition lessons with Fromm; they

established a lifelong friendship. Adler stated that Fromm had a great impact on his early

compositions, especially on his religious music.^ During the same period, Adler also

took violin lessons with Maurice Diamond, a former member of the New York

Philharmonic who was living in Worcester. Adler recalled that he would play violin

sonatas and other pieces for two hours daily accompanied by his father on the piano. By

^ Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1999), 2.

" Joan Dawson Lucas, "The Operas of Samuel Adler: An Analytical Study" (Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 1978), 12.

^ Hill, 2.

Lucas, 13.

16

the time Adler went to college, they had read through ali the violin literature he could

afford to borrow from libraries or to buy with the money he eamed as a soda jerk.^

Adler had excellent opportunities to enrich his musical training during his high

school years in Worcester. He took part in school ensembles as a French hom player in

the band, violinist in the orchestra, and singer in the choms. Adler also served as the

assistant conductor for the high school orchestra. During his high school years and his

first two years at Boston University, Adler and seven friends met every Saturday evening

at Adler's home to play chamber music. The group consisted of four violinists, one

violisi, two cellists, and a pianist. Each group member made arrangemenls of orchestrai

pieces for the group. Under the slrong encouragement of his high school teacher, Albert

W. Wassell, Adler also composed, arranged, and orchestrated works for the different

ensemble groups at school. In addition to his high school courses, Adler also took three

years of theory and two years of music history. By the time Adler was eighteen, he was

quite an accomplished musician.

College Life

After high school, Adler received a full scholarship to major in composition at

Boston University. He studied musicology with Kart Geiringer and Paul Pisk and violin

with Wolf Wolfinsohn. Hugo Norden was his composition teacher. Adler thought at that

' Ibid.

17

time that Norden was "not the greatest influence."^ Norden was a contrapuntalist who

wanted his students to "leam the craf of composition, i.e., counterpoint in the strici and

old sense." Adler wishes that he had taken full advantage of Norden as his teacher.

During this period, with the encouragement and help of Robert King, founder of the

publication Music for Brass and theory professor at Boston University, Adler wrote

pieces for brass instiiments and published several of them. Adler now considers these

early works unsatisfactory and regrets that they are stili being performed.'

Besides composition, Adler showed interest in organizing and conducting during

his Boston years. Because Adler and some other music students were not satisfied with

how the orchestra, choms, and chamber ensemble at school were led, he organized the

Inter-Collegiate Symphony Orchestra. Adler conducted the orchestra, which performed

in the Boston area every six weeks. A choms and a chamber group were also formed.

Although Adler states that these were "very exciting" opportunities, the school

disapproved of these outside performing groups." Consequently, Adler was suspended

from school on three occasions. Eventually, the issue was settled and Adler graduated

from Boston University with his Bachelor of Music degree in 1948.

In the fall of 1948, Adler entered Harvard University and he received his Master

of Arts degree in 1950. During his Harvard years, he took composition lessons with

'Ibid., 15.

'Ibid.

"Hill, 4.

" Lucas, 16.

18

Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, and Paul Hindemith and studied musicology with

Archibald T. Davison and Arthur Tillman Marritt. Of the three composition teachers,

Adler was influenced most by Paul Hindemith. As a visiting professor from Yale

University, Hindemith presented his Norton lectures in residence at Harvard for one year.

Adler described Hindemith as "a tremendous teachervery exacting. He made his

students write in [Hindemith's] own style."'^ Adler had two lessons a week from

Hindemith for a year. He states that it was hard at the beginning to understand the

master, but after he had dose contact with Hindemith, it "took many years to shake the

actual Hindemith sound."'^ Adler has been thankful for Hindemith's teaching technique

and style.

Adler characterizes his relationship with Walter Piston, the other composition

teacher at Harvard, as a "cool one, but a very good one. Piston was not the kind of man

you could know very well."''' The friendship between the two became much closer after

Adler graduated. Adler claims that Piston was a very tmstworthy and good friend.

Although Adler studied with Randall Thompson for one year, he was not greatly

influenced by Thompson. Adler thought that "Thompson did not particularly like my

music. There was never very much of a relationship, although I respected the man and

stili do."'^

'^ Ibid., 18.

'^Ibid.

'^Ibid.

' 'ibid., 19.

19

In the summers of 1949 and 1950, Alder participated in the Tanglewood Music

Festival. He studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky and composition with Aaron

Copland. Adler claimed that Copland "was the greatest teacher and had the greatest

influence on me."'^ Adler also stated that Copland helped him get out of the heavy

1 7

influence of Hindemith. Adler has high regards for Copland. I leamed more from Copland in those two summers than from other teachers with whom l spent more time. Copland had a marvelous way of putting his finger on just what the problem was in every passage. If I can teach a little bit like that, I feel I would be a success as a teacher. Copland was a great teacher and a beautiful person.

Careers

After graduating from Harvard in 1950, Adler joined the US Army and was sent

to Germany. He organized the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and conducted more

than 75 concerts in Germany and Austria. The Department of Psychological Warfare of

the United States recognized that these concerts were effective in developing cultural

relationships among the United States, Germany, and Austria. Adler was awarded the

Army Medal of Honor for his musical services. He was subsequently selected to conduci

concerts and operas and to lecture extensively throughout Europe and the United States.

In 1953, Adler took a position as the Music Director at Tempie Emanu-El in

Dallas, Texas. He remained in this position until 1966. From 1954 to 1958 he worked as

" Hill, 6.

"ibid., 10.

'^ Lucas, 19.

20

the music director of the Dallas Lyric Theater. In 1957, he was hired as professor of

composition at North Texas State University. He remained there until 1966. In 1966,

Adler became professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music and was named

chairman of the Composition Department in 1974. In 1984, he was made a Mentor of the

University of Rochester. In 1994, Adler retired from the Eastman School of Music and

became Professor Emeritus there. Since then he has taught at Ithaca College, the

University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green State University, the University of Missouri

(Kansas City), and the University of Utah. He has been a guest composer, clinician, and

conductor at over 300 universities and colleges worldwide. Adler has also taught at

major music festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Brevard, and Bowdoin, as well as

others in Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Korea, Poland, Spain, and South America. He

is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School of Music in New York City.'^

Honors, Commissions, and Others

Adler has received numerous commissions and prestigious awards and honors

including grants from the Rockefeller (1965) and Ford (1966-71) foundations, a

Koussevitzky Foundation commission (1983), the 1983 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award

for his book, The Study of Orchestration, a Guggenheim Fellowship (1984-5), the MTNA

Award for Composer of the Year (1988-1989), the designated Phi Beta Kappa Scholar

Award (1988-1989), the Eastman School's Eisenhard Award for Distinguished Teaching

" Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc., Composers Bureau: Samuel Adler, December 2002, (20 February 2002).

21

(1989), an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1990),

the Charies Ives Award, the Lillian Fairchild Award, the Composer of the Year Award by

the American Guild of Organists (1991), a Special Citation by the American Foundation

of Music Clubs (2001), a number of teaching awards, and several honorary doctorates (a

Doctor of Music degree from Southem Methodist University, a Doctor of Fine Arts

degree from Wake Foresi University, a Doctor of Music degree from St. Mary's College,

fridiana, and a Doctor of Music degree from Saint Louis Conservatory).^"

Adler has also been honored intemationally. During his second trip to Chile, in

1993, he was elected to the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts "for his outstanding

contibution to the world of music as a composer."^' In 1999, he was elected to the

Akademie der Kuenste in Germany for distinguished service to music.^^

Many orchestras, chamber ensembles, colleges, music schools, magazines, and

other organizations, including intemational groups, have commissioned Adler to

compose works for them. Some recent commissions include: the New York Chamber

Symphony Orchestra {Show an Affirming Flame for Orchestra), the American String

Quartet {Piano Quintet, 2000),^" the Beaufort Ensemble {Scherzo Schmerzo, 2000),^^ the

^"Ibid.

'^ Ibid.

^^Ibid.

^^ This work was commissioned by the New York Chamber Symphony Orchestra in memory of the victims of the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was premiered by the New York Chamber Symphony and conducted by Gerard Schwarz at the Alice Tully Hall of New York City on November 3, 2001.

22

Dallas Symphony Orchestra {Lux Perpetua for Organ and Orchestra, 1998),^ ^ the

Friends of Today's Music for the Music Teachers Association of Califomia {Concerto

No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, 1997),^ ^ and the keyboard magazine Clavier {The Sense

of Touch, 1981).^^

In addition to composing, Adler has conducted many major symphony orchestras

in numerous concerts in the United States and other countries. In 1970, he conducted the

Vierma Symphony Orchestra in a recording for the Decca Recording Company, with

Eugene List as the soloist. They performed a work by Louis Moreau Gottschalk that was

orchesfrated and arranged by Adler. In 1972, Adler conducted the Berlin Symphony with

List as the soloist on a performance for Tumabout Records. They performed the

Gottschalk work and Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue.

Composer and Educator

Adler is a prolific composer, teacher, lecturer, and conductor. His catalog

contains 400 published works in ali media: 5 operas, 6 symphonies, 8 concerti, 8 string

quartets, 4 oratorios, and numerous other musical compositions such as orchesfral music,

^* It was written for the American String Quartet and was premiered at the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2002.

^' It was commissioned by the Beaufort Ensemble and was premiered in Berlin, Germany in August of 2001.

*^ This work was commissioned and first performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with Wayne Poster as the organist and Andrew Litton as the conductor on February 12, 1999.

" This second piano concerto was commissioned by Friends of Today's Music for the Music Teachers Association of Califomia for their lOOth anniversary in 1997.

*^ The Sense of Touch was commissioned by Clavier in 1981.

23

chamber music, vocal music, and piano music. The publishers of his compositions

include: Theodore Presser Company, Oxford University Press, G. Schirmer, Cari

Fischer, E.C. Schirmer, Peters Edition, Ludwig Music, Southem Music Publishers, and

Transcontinental Music Publishers. These works have been performed in the United

States and abroad. Adler's music has been recorded on Albany, CRI, Crystal, Gasparo,

RCA, and Vanguard.

Adler is not only a great composer, but he also takes educating future musicians

as his mission. He has published three books and numerous articles in major joumals,

magazines, and reference books, both in this country and abroad.^^ Although Adler has

a busy schedule, he remains active in teaching and composing. To him, teaching

enhances his creative life. "Teaching isn't draining; it tums me on. It doesn't inhibit

creativity; it inspires me."

Teaching Philosophy

Because Adler takes educating future musicians seriously, he has high standards

for college music education. He feels that universities play a significant role in preparing

future composers and musicians. He makes an analogy comparing the universities of

today with the churches and the aristocracy of the past. Adler believes that "the

university is the 'officiai guardian' of the composer, as the church and the aristocracy

^' Adler's three books: Choral Conducting, Sight-Singing, and The Study of Orchestration.

^ Hill, 8-9.

24

were in previous ages."^' Since universities and colleges are important places for training

the future music teachers, future composers, and professional musicians, Adler has

concems about the current college music curricula. He comments that too many music

schools in the United States have curricula in the first two years which "are often like

kindergarten rather than college courses."^^

Adler emphasizes that universities should raise the requirements of music theory

and music history for ali music students to provide better preparation for music

professionals. He thinks that to achieve this goal, the entrance requirements should also

be raised. Adler points out that the basic facts~for example, biographies and outputs of

composers, and facts about the timesshould be leamed by college music students

themselves, not taught by professors in classes. He also thinks that every new music

student should have acquired a basic knowledge of harmony (at least through the

dominant seventh chord and inversions), a certain level of proficiency in keyboard

harmony, and sight-singing skills when they start the program.^^ Before this goal can be

reached, Adler thinks that the early education of future musicians in the basics of music

theory and history should be in greater deplb.^ "*

'^ Lucas, 28.

^^ Samuel Adler, "Problems of Teaching Composition in Our Colleges Today," American Music Teacher 13:2 (1963), 19.

" Ibid.

^'Ibid.

25

Adler also argues that most current music curricula are irrelevant to the needs of

students. He suggests that a more creative and student-oriented approach to education

which allows more participation in analysis, performance, evaluating, and teaching

should replace the more common "spoon-feeding" type of education.^^ Adler beHeves

that students in composition should be competent in the techniques of the past before they

decide whether or not to use them. "Students should leam that ali forms of music must

be considered valid until [students] are able to reject them by knowledgeable

consideration rather than because of an abysmal ignorance of the 'main stream' of

music."^^ Adler suggests that composition students should prepare themselves by

establishing a foundation in the classics, by being open-minded to new repertoire

appearing in recent decades, and by having a well-rounded knowledge of traditional

harmonies and melodie skills.

Adler has considered the advancement of contemporary music seriously. He

especially puts emphasis on the pedagogical level. For example, Adler's solo piano

collections Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touch aim to expose ".. .the ear as well as

the fingers of the student to the demands of the present and the immediate past." Each

of these pieces ".. .utilizes a technique of composition which has become common

" Samuel Adler, "The CMP Institutes and Curriculum Changes," Music Educators Journal 55 (September 1968): 36-84.

*^ Adler, "Problems of Teaching Compositions," 19.

"Ibid.

'* Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.

26

practice in the last half-century."'''' One other aim of these Adler's pieces is "...to widen

musical acquaintance and to stimulate the wish to consider more deeply a style, a

notational system, or a musical philosophy."''" Adler also has been active in exposing

more people to contemporary music by participating in workshops and projects and by

writing and pubHshing articles and books. He enjoys spending time teaching, lecturing,

and conducting his music in order to introduce new music to different audiences.

Philosophy of Music

Although there is a variety of styles in Adler's compositions, his main goal is not

to emphasize compositional technique. Communication is the primary intent of Adler's

music. "If I am successful at ali in my music, I would like it to be a sucessfiil

fransmission of feelings from me to a performer to an audience."'" Adler argues that the

aesthetic value and the communicative quality of music should be the main focus. "It is

the convincing quality of the music resulting from any technique that validates the use

thereof. Too much emphasis is placed upon the technical aspect of contemporary music

and not enough on its communicative and aesthetic impact."" To Adler, the musical

content and the aesthetic value are more important than the other aspects of music. Even

39 Ibid.

^''Ibid.

"' James McCray, "An Interview with Samuel Adler," ChoralJournal 18, no. 9 (1978): 16.

"^ Charles B. Fowler, "American Composer Sketches: Samuel Adler," Music Educators Journal 53 (March 1967): 41.

27

for a performer, the technical aspect of a composition should be secondary to the

importance of the musical enjoyment of the work. Adler suggests that "technical

considerations should always be secondary to the musical content and the joy these

exercises are designed to give to performer and listener."''^

Conclusion

This chapter provides us with information on Adler's background, philosophies,

and pedagogical ideas. His early education in music and the musical experiences of his

youth laid a solid foundation for Adler's musical development. His parents and teachers

also had a great impact on Adler's musical life. Adler's musical experiences reveal that

early and Constant exposure to music was of paramount importance in his musical

development. HopefuUy this information will help us to understand Adler's Gradus and

The Sense of Touch and will awaken in us a curiosity about the complex and diverse

music of our time.

"^ Samuel Adler, Gradus I, Preface.

28

CHAPTER ni

COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES

Certainly not ali the myriad styles and systems can be included and in order to keep the music reasonably uniform, many inherent complexities have been simplified. But it is my hope that the awakened student and teacher, having begun bere, will continue to explore the complex and diverse music which has been created in our century. S. A. '

Adler is a prolific composer. He uses a wide variety of compositional techniques

and modifies them according to his personal style and taste. "To heck with certain

techniques, I used them all."'^ Adler considers compositional techniques as a way to

achieve a specific goal. That is, "techniques should be used to express the emotional and

personal...too much is made out of techniqueit's just a tool. Let's hsten to the music;

let's bear it right from your own conviction."^ In his Gradus and The Sense of Touch,

Adler incorporates his own style with different contemporary compositional techniques.

The sixty-eight pieces of the Gradus and The Sense of Touch represent most of

the contemporary compositional techniques that emerged during the first three quarters of

the twentieth century. Not only are these works useful as an introduction to

contemporary music, but they also summarize Adler's eclectic compositional style.

Adler's melodies may be lyrical, angular and disjunct, or static. The texture of his pieces

may be homophonic or contrapuntai or may contain passages that shift rapidly between

' Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.

^ Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis. University of Cincinnati, 1999), 2.

^Ibid.

29

open and closed voicing. His harmonic language is diverse: modal, pentatonic,

pandiatonic, whole tone, and octatonic. He also uses twelve-tone technique. Overall,

there is a tendency toward deviation from functional harmony and toward less restriction

in dissonance. Aleatorie techniques are also found in his works. Motorie rhythm and

rhythmic vitahty are cmcial in Adler's compositions. Adler's eclectic approach to

composition makes variety an inherent feature of his style. This eclecticism makes Adler

an ideal composer for a contemporary pedagogical survey.

The categories examined in this chapter are largely based on the discussions

featured in Stefan Kostka's Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music and

Ellen Thompson's Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music. The

discussion concenfrates on the foUowing categories: melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm,

form, texture, new notational procedures, and new timbres. The contemporary

compositional techniques highlighted in each category include: aleatorie procedures,

bitonality, canon, changing meters, irregular rhythm, mirror writing, modes,

octatonicism, pandiatonicism, parallelism, clusters, twelve-tone techniques, expanded

notational systems, and the use of innovative piano sonorities. A discussion of ali the

details and devices in contemporary music is beyond the scope of this study. The

following discussion will therefore focus on some of the major characteristics exhibited

in contemporary music that are illustrated in Adler's piano pieces. The appendices

' Stefan Kostka, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989).

' Ellen R. Thompson, Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA: KjosWest, 1976).

30

provide a more detailed discussion on compositional techniques used in each of the sixty-

eight pieces.

Melody

Although contemporary composers make use of new approaches in composing

melodies, as well as in other categories, many of these occur within the context of

traditional practices. Nevertheless, contemporary melodies exemplify themselves by

their characteristic sounds and distinguish themselves from their predecessors.

In general, melodie organization in contemporary music does not seem as

apparent at the surface level as that of previous eras. The qualities of predictability,

symmefry, and regularity are also found to a lesser degree than in conventional

melodies. In addition, the rhythmic stracture of many contemporary melodies departs

distinctively from that of the earlier periods. Unconventional rhythm and more rhythmic

variety commonly occur in many twentieth-century melodies. Other features of

contemporary melodies include more expression marks, more chromaticism, and fewer

harmonic implications than traditional melodies.

In contrast to classic-romantic melodies, the style of contemporary melodies is not

vocal in character. They can encompass a wider range, contain more leaps, and possess

more angular or disjunct contours. Limited range melodies are also commonly found.

Ellen Thompson describes the pitch characteristics of contemporary melody as including

'' Kostka, 78-

31

".. .extended range, limited range (tuming around within a very small compass of notes),

exploitation of extremely high and low registers, angular and disjointed lines caused by

numerous wide and dissonant leaps (sevenths, ninths, tritones), and successive skips in

the same direction often outlining non-tertial chords (consecutive leaps of fourths and

fifths)."^

Nevertheless, some contemporary composers recali the "simplicity and gently

undulating" qualities of medieval plainchants, reproducing these traits in plainsong-like

melodies. In addition, contemporary melodies sometimes use scales or systems which

are outside the major-minor system such as modal scales, pentatonic scales, whole-tone

scales, octatonic scales, chromatic scales, and twelve-tone rows.

Extended Range

The range of contemporary melodies may encompass two or more octaves and

extend from the bass clef to the treble clef. For example, in No. 3 of Gradus II, the

melody rises from the bass clef to the treble to cover a range of more than three octaves.

In No. 11 of the same volume, the melody almost extends to a three-octave range. Also,

in No. 6 of The Sense of Touch, the arpeggiated melody covers a range of more than two

octaves.

' Thompson, 43.

* Ibid., 42.

32

Limited Range

Most of the pieces of Gradus I use a five-finger or shifting five-finger position.

The melodie activity in each band is limited in most cases to a fifth. In No. 10, twelve

chromatic notes are introduced within a span of a seventh with both hands in the treble

clef.

Extreme and Full Registers of the Keyboard

Although No. 1 of The Sense of Touch makes use of only one pitch class, C, the

two hands shift among the low, middle, and high registers of the keyboard. The last

piece in Gradus I, No. 20, applies shifting-five-finger positions in different registers of

the keyboard. In No. 8B of Gradus II, the notes are distributed ali over the keyboard.

The two hands sometimes go in the same direction to the same register; at other times,

they move in contrary motion to reach the extremes of the keyboard. In No. 11 of

Gradus III, there are measures in which the two hands reach the extremes of the keyboard

and are six octaves apart.

Angular and Disjointed Lines In No. 11 of Gradus II, the right band begins with an angular and disjointed

melody including intervals of a titone, minor second, and augmented fifth. fri No. 8 of

Gradus III, while the left-hand ostinato contains a skip of tritone, the right-hand melody

includes a downward minor seventh.

33

Successive Skips

In conventional melodie writing, skips are often preceded by stepwise motion and

a change of direction usually foUows a large skip. In contemporary melodies, however,

successive skips are common. For example, in No. 6 of Gradus III, notes move in

consecutive fifths in the same direction to suggest quintal chords. The first piece of The

Sense of Touch is derived from the pitch class C. Wide skips of two octaves and even

four octaves (in m. 17) altemate between hands.

Modal Scales

Several pieces in Gradus I use church modes. No. 4 (mm. 5-8) and No. 14 in

Gradus / employ the Phrygian mode;^ No. 4 (mm. 1-4 and mm. 9-12) features the

AeoUan mode. The Locrian mode is introduced in No. 7. The second piece of Gradus II

infroduces four church modes: the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Aeohan.

Pentatonic Scale

No. 10 of Gradus I uses the AeoUan mode on D and pentatonic scale on C-sharp

simultaneously. The first four measures speli out the first five notes of the C-sharp

pentatonic scale in the left band. In No. 20 of Gradus III, mm. 6-12, the left-hand line

emphasizes the E-flat minor pentatonic scale.

' E-Phrygian and F-Phrygian, respectively.

34

Whole-Tone Scale

In Gradus I, No. 3 is based on a whole-tone scale on D. The dissonant major

ninths throughout the piece and the abmpt ending, with the final note on the eighth-note

F-sharp, reveal the twentieth-century flavor of this piece.

Octatonic Scale

No. 8 of Gradus III is based on the octatonic collection C#-Eb(D#)-E-F#-G-A-

Bb-C that is used in the ostinato pattems, the melodie line, and the coda. The collection

shifts in m. 14 to a new ostinato based on D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B-C. In No. 20 of Gradus

III, mm. 1-5 of the A section contain a left-hand octatonic collection E-F-G-G#-A#-B-

C#-D against a five-note ostinato figure.

Twelve-Tone and Serial Writing

Adler demonstrates how the twelve-tone serial technique can be used to create

different styles in Nos. 8-11 of Gradus II, and Nos. 16-17 of Gradus IH. The twelve-tone

row is used melodically and harmonically in No. 16 of Gradus III. The other twelve-tone

pieces range in style from jagged and pointillistic to contrapuntai, dissonant, or

consonant.

Harmony

From the seventeenth century to the decline of the tonai system in the late

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the system of triadic major-minor tonality had

35

been the primary organizing force in Westem music, hi the early tonai era, the primary

triads of the tonic, subdominant, and dominant were emphasized in the harmonic and

melodie aspects, and the secondary triads were favored for color and variety. Chromatic

chords functioned primarily as decoration and embellishment.'" During the nineteenth

century, chromatic harmony became increasingly significant, leading to a predominance

of nondiatonic tones over diatonic tones. The common use of ali twelve tones of the

chromatic scale disguised the diatonic foundation of the music and made tonality more

and more ambiguous to Hsteners."

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, composers expanded the use

of tertian sonorities to an even greater extent. Chords with ninths, elevenths, and

thirteenths became popular and were even constmcted on scale degrees other than the

dominant. Instead of providing any harmonic function, the primary function of these

chords was to provide color. Composers in this period showed a declining interest in

fraditional tonai harmony. "Evaded cadences and irregular resolution of dissonant chords

produced long, unbroken passages which meandered from key to key or dissolved ali

sense of key. Functional harmony gave way to non-functional, where harmonic color and

emotive whim govemed the choice of chords."'^ Ellen Thompson describes the changes

occurring in the harmonic language of this period by noting that "successions of

Thompson, 79.

" Koskta, 1-15.

"Ibid., 194.

36

unrelated chords, parallelism, consonant use of previously considered dissonances, and

chords with both major and minor thirds became normative."'^

In the twentieth century, composers are free to determine their own mles and they

share no common harmonic language. Traditional procedures or practices such as

principles of voice-leading and harmonic progression are stili available, but some

important conventions of tonai harmony have become options rather than mles.

Consequently, ali kinds of parallel motion and the free treatment of dissonance (without

resolution) are acceptable. On the other band, while much contemporary music is

basically tertian, non-tertian stmctures such as chords built from seconds, fourths, fifths,

and combinations of different intervals are also used. At the same time, stacked-third

chords beyond the seventh, chords with added notes (usually seconds or sixths, less

commonly fourths), and chords with split chord members (commonly split thirds but also

including split roots, fifths, and sevenths) provide new tertian sonorities.''' In addition,

harmonic procedures such as polychords/bichords and serial chords also emerge in

contemporary music.'^

According to Kostka, contemporary composers show less interest in the vertical

dimension in music. Although traditional harmonic progression continues to exist in

some contemporary music such as different kinds of popular music and a small

'^ Thompson, 80.

'"Kostka, 47-115.

'^ Thompson, 79-96.

37

percentage of "classical" music, ".. .a good deal of twentieth-century music is not

harmonic in conception."'^ While composers have become more interested in linear

counterpoint, the simultaneous sounding of chords seems to be a result of the "relatively

uncontroUed relationships between independent lines."''

Tertian Chords

Adler often uses traditional major and minor triads, but they are not organized in

standard harmonic progressions. No. 9 of Gra

the traditional harmonic sense. Instead, many of them are selected purely for their

coloristic effects.

Non-Tertian Chords

In No. 16 of Gradus I, combinations of major and minor seconds are used to form

clusters. No. 8 of The Sense of Touch features tone clusters altemating between hands

and hands together. Also, the clusters are used as accompaniment against a melody that

altemates between the hands. Clusters are also used in No. 3 and No. 6 of Gradus II and

No. 4 of Gradus III. The arpeggios of No. 6 of Gradus III suggest quintal chords.

The tone row of No. 17 in Gradus III also outlines a quintal sonority (A-E-B) at

the beginning of its order. In No. 5 of The Sense of Touch, the opening and the ending

contain quintal sonorities made of augmented as well as perfect fifths. In mm. 16-17, two

layers of quintal chords are presented in the two hands.

Melodie Doubling/Parallelism

The ancient practice of melodie doubling in fourths or fifths can be traced back to

tenth-century organum. Beginning in the sixteenth century, however, it became a

violaton of contrapuntai convention to use parallel movement in fifths and octaves.

According to Kostka, parallel fifths and octaves, more than any other consonant intervals,

have an implication of a breakdown of counterpoint and provide relatively independent

39

musical lines.'^ This is one reason why the use of these parallel intervals was avoided.

In addition, parallel fourths were regarded as inherently unstable intervals which required

resolution to thirds. Contemporary composers often ignore such mles, freely using

parallel melodie doubling in seconds, fifths, and octaves in their compositions.^'^

In No. 5 of Gradus I, Adler uses parallel movement entirely in fourths and fifths.

The pitches are derived from two five-note scales: C major in the right band and F

(featuring B-natural and B-flat) in the left band. Similar procedures are found in Gradus

IL In No. 3, mm. 16-19, the right-hand pattern is in parallel fourths and No. 7 features

parallelism in sevenths and fifths. No. 5 is a free canon featuring parallel motion in fifths

in the middle section.

Polychords

Polychords are formed when two or more chords are combined, but spatially

separated, into a more complex sonority. According to Kostka, to perceive such a

sonority, ".. .the individuai sonorities that make up the polychord must be separated by

some means such as register or timbre."^' It is possible that more than one harmonic

analysis can be applied to a sonority, particulariy with mixed-interval chords. Different

arrangements of the same chord notes can resemble different chords-secundal, tertian, or

" Kostka, 90.

^"Thompson, 92.

'^ Kostka, 68.

40

quartal. In most cases, the best analytical approach can be achieved by paying dose

attention to the context and the voicing of the music.'^ ^

In No. 6 of The Sense of Touch, polychords are featured in the middle section. In

Gradus I, No. 15, the two hands feature sustained tones successively outlining two

different chords from two different keys sounding simultaneously.^^ Polychordal texture

appears also in No. 13 of Gradus III. This elude explores sound color by featuring

parallel first-inversion triads from different keys sounding simultaneously.

Serial Chords

Ellen Thompson defines serial chords as chords ".. .derived from the sectioning of

a twelve-tone row into various size groups of tones."^'' Besides the prime row, other

permutations of the row such as the inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion may

be sectioned for building chords. In No. 16 of Gradus III, examples of serial chords are

foimd.

Neotonalitv and Atonahty

Regarding tonality, Kostka claims that "serious" Westem music mostly has been

either neotonal or atonai after the first decades of the twentieth cenhary." fristead of

^^ Ibid., 70.

^^ Adler, Notes.

^"Thompson, 100.

^^ Kostka, 115.

41

employing the dominant-seventh-tonic progression, neotonal music establishes tonality

through devices such as pedal point and ostinato, accent (metric, agogic, or dynamic),

and formai placement. Polytonality, atonality, and pandiatonicism are also important

developments in twentieth-century harmonic praetice.^^

Neotonalitv

Kostka categorizes neotonality into two types: tertian neo-tonality and non-tertian

neotonality. While tertian neotonality primarily uses tertian chords, nontertian

neotonality often avoids the use of them, except maybe during cadences. A combination

of these two types is also possible.'^'

Tertian Neotonality. In No. 9 of Gradus I, the right-hand outlines the C-major

triad. In the last two measures, the left-hand F to G to the unison C suggests IV-V-I

cadence, clearly establishing C as the tonai center.

In No. 19 of Gradus III, the right band line contains parallel successions of root-

position major and minor triads. In the middle section, the left band ostinato establishes

E as the tonai center while the right band continues with parallel major and minor triads.

Nontertian Neotonalitv. Pedal point is a more common twentieth-century

technique used to establisb a tonai center. In No. 1 of Gradus I, although there is no

conventional harmonic progression to establisb C as the tonai center, the pedal tone and

^^ Ibid., 108-115.

"ibid., 109-110.

42

the formai placement of C (C appears as the beginning and ending note of the melody)

clearly identify it as the tonic. No. 7 of the same book features a tonic pedal on the notes

B and F-sharp as well as dominant pedal on the notes F-sharp and C-sharp. hi No. 1 of

Gradus II, the two-note pedal point~the octave C contracting to a single note G~

establishes C as the tonai center. Also, the octave C-to-G pedal point emphasizes the

dominant and tonic degrees of C major.

Polytonality

Kostka defines polytonality as ".. .the simultaneous use of two or more aurally

distinguishable tonai centers...." When only two tonai centers occur, bitonality is the

generally accepted term used. In No. 10 of Gradus I, Adler combines two

"incompatible" scales together. While the right band uses the D-Aeolian scale, the left

band uses the C-sharp pentatonic scale. In No. 12 of the same book, the C-major right

band line is set in parallel motion against the A-flat-minor left-hand line. No. 1 of

Gradus III also uses bi-tonality. The opening ten measures feature a G-sharp minor

right-hand melody against a G pedal point. In No. 19 of the same book, the A section

contains a pentatonic scale in the left band against broken-chord parallel major triads in

different keys in the right band.

*^ Ibid., 110.

^' Adler, Notes.

43

Pandiatonicism

The term pandiatonicism^'^ refers to a musical style in the eariy twentieth century

that originated as a reaction against chromaticism. hi this style, the tones of a particular

diatonic scale are used. However, traditional harmonic progressions and dissonance

treatments are avoided. It is generally neotonal and may be tertian or nontertian.^' In

No. 2 of Gradus I, notes from the C-major scale are used in a mirror format. The

reiteration of C, the application of the full C-major scale (though divided between the two

hands), and formai placement establisb C as the tonai center.

Gradus II, No. 4 represents a pandiatonic piece. As Adler explains in the notes,

"It is quite diatonic even though most of the chromatic notes are utilized. Notice that it

does not establisb a traditional 'key' but polarizes toward a note which we cali the 'tonai

center.'" The nght band brings in the opening theme on the note A which serves as the

dominant to the tonic D. The left band imitates the theme for a measure down a fifth and

ends on the dominant of D-flat. Then it continues with the tonic D-flat in the next phrase.

The last four measures feature A as the tonic final. While the left band includes a long

pedal tone on A, the right band also settles on A. The last six measures demonstrate well

the pandiatonic style.

^^ Nicolas Slonimsky used this term in his book Music Since 1900 (New York: Norton, 1937; 6* ed., New York: Scribner, 2001).

^'Kostka, 114.

^^ Samuel Alder, Gradus II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Notes.

44

No. 2 of The Sense of Touch is a neotonal piece that applies pandiatonic

technique. The two contrapuntai lines use the notes from the G major scale. Each phrase

emphasizes the subdominant C, the dominant D, and/or the tonic G at the beginning,

within the piece, and at the ending. Nevertheless, they do not follow the mles of

fraditional harmonic progression and dissonance treatment. The last four measures

reiterate the dominant D and the tonic G. The ending concludes with a second inversion

G-major-seventh chord.

Atonality

Although the term "atonality" has been controversial, it commonly refers to the

avoidance of a tonai center. There are two types of atonai music: non-serial

atonality/free atonality and serial atonality. Deliberate avoidance of tonality is the vital

characteristic of non-serial tonai music. It stays away from using the melodie and

harmonic pattems that are applied in the establishment of tonality in tonai music. In

addition, use of ali notes of the chromatic scale, unresolved dissonances, a predominance

of mixed-interval chords, ambiguous organization, and ambiguous metric organization

are some of the other characteristics found in non-serial atonai music.

Serial atonality confrasts with the non-serial in the area of pitch organization.

Amold Schoenberg developed twelve-tone serial technique in the 1920s. While the

classical serialism of Schoenberg is based upon a tone row of twelve notes, some

"Kostka, 183-205.

45

composers use varying numbers of tones. Samuel Adler introduces Schoenberg's

classical twelve-tone system in his Gradus pieces and he explains the system as follows:

Basically it was an attempi to bring order into non-tonal music. Twelve-tone music is a system of composition in which the twelve chiomatic tones are considered equally important and are related one to another rather than to any one centrai note. Serial technique is the organization or serialization of the twelve chromatic notes (or more recently, any number of notes) in a specific order (row) and working with them in such an ordered fashion.''''

There are four basic forms of a serial tone row. The prime row is the originai order of

notes while the inversion is the mirror permutation of the prime row. The retrograde

represents the reverse order of the prime row and the retrograde inversion reverses the

order of the inversion. The tone row ".. .can be used starting on any one of the twelve

chromatic notes and in these four permutations of the row. No note may be repeated until

ali the other notes bave been used."^^ Composers including Schoenberg and Adler have

freely used octave transpositions and immediate repeats of the same note or a series of

notes as many times as desired.^^ While most serial works use tone rows of twelve pitch

classes, compositions with tone rows other than twelve also occur. In addition, besides

the strici application of the twelve-tone mles, rotation of sets or parts of the set and

reordering of rows are other options that have been explored in serial compositions.

'" Adler, Gradus II, Notes.

^'Ibid.

^Mbid.

" Kostka, 286-290.

46

According to Kostka, serialism as a movement declined in the 1960s. Composers

became more interested in other elements and techniques such as timbre and texture,

improvisation, minimalism, and even tonality. Although some composers stili use serial

techniques, non-serial atonality/free atonahty is more commonly used. Nevertheless,

after its dechne as a compositional technique, serialism significantly influenced later

styles.^^

Non-Serial Atonality/Free Atonality. In No. 5 of Gradus III, the consecutive

thirds use ali twelve tones but in a non-serial way. There is no tonai center suggested but

a famihar C-major sonority ends the piece. Iti No. 11 of the same book is another

example of non-serial atonai technique. It features many chromatic notes and no tonai

center is established. In the same book, although No. 15 employs inner and outer pedal

tones, no tonai center is suggested.

In No. 8 of The Sense of Touch, the first five measures present an aggregate.

While the different clusters altemating between the hands in the first measure contain

eleven pitch classes, the missing B-flat is introduced in m. 5 and completes the aggregate.

The last three measures reiterate the F-sharp-seventh chords in the left band against the

five-note clusters in the right band.

Serial Atonality. Both Gradus II and Gradus LLL contain pieces that exhibit

twelve-tone writing technique. In Nos. 8-11 of Gradus II, the prime row consists of: F-

D-Ab-Eb-A-F#-Bb-B-E-C#-G-C. No. 8 provides the twelve-tone matrix. In No. 8a, the

*^ Ibid., 289-290.

47

prime row and 112 are used as the melodie notes in a jagged and pointillistic style. No.

8b also features the pointillistic style, where notes from PI and RIIO skip ali over the

keyboard. ft is important particulariy in the pointillistic style to observe rests and

articulations in order to highlight the random character of the piece.

In No. 9, the various permutations of the tone row supply pitch material for the

melody and accompaniment texture. The first six notes of R7 form a repetitious pedal

accompaniment in the opening measures. No. 10 is an example of how serial technique

lends itself well to disjunct melody. No. 11 uses the different permutations in a

confrapuntal style. Some parts of the melody occupy a range of almost three octaves.

In Gradus III, No. 16 uses a row with many chromatic half steps: A-Bb-B-F#-E-

D#-C-Ab-G-D-C#-E. The tone row is used vertically and horizontally. No. 17ofthe

same book is built on a tone row that sounds more consonant than the one in No. 16. The

tone row (A-E-B-Ab-C-Eb-G-F#-F-D-Bb-C#) contains a quintal sonority within its

opening three notes. The row also outlines the A-flat-major triad and the B-flat-major

triad. Arpeggiated pattems and notes altemating between hands are the major pattems

featured.

Rhythm

Relatively speaking, the surface rhythm in most tonai pieces is easier to

understand and more straightforward than that of many contemporary compositions.

Kostka claims that the focus of many contemporary compositions ".. .is on rhythm at

48

least as much as on pitch, and the surface rhythms are frequently varied and complex." ^^

Although syncopation, cross-rhythms, hemiola, and occasionally irregular meters are

found in Westem music before the twentieth century, these rhythmic practices along with

other devices such as changing meters and shifted accents are further developed in

contemporary music, contributing to a higher degree of rhythmic complexity.

On the other band, some contemporary composers show interest in ancient

rhythmic practices and write music that seems to lack a perceivable metric organization.

Kostka uses the term "ametric" to describe this style.'"^ He explains that music notated

without a time signature is not necessarily ametric. On the contrary, some music written

with a time signature may sound ametric to the listeners because of its improvisatory and

free style.'*'

One of the main difficulties of rhythmic analysis is the necessity to distinguish

between the written rhythm and the perceived rhythm. At the same time, it is particularly

common in contemporary music to find that heard rhythm contradicts with written

rhythm. This kind of contradiction results from listeners' perceptions.''^ Kostka explains

that "the listener perceives the beat type (simple or compound) by listening to the way the

beat divides (into twos or threes); the meter type is conveyed by the characteristic pattem

of accents. These accents can be of any type, but dynamic and agogic accents are most

' ' ibid., 120.

""Ibid., 130.

"ibid, 130-131.

"^ Ibid., 122-123.

49

commonly used to express the meter. "''^ Nevertheless, composers may write music so

that it is hard to perceive the notated beat type or meter type or both. In order to get a

better understanding of contemporary rhythm or rhythm in general, Kostka suggests

considering the perceived rhythm as the tme rhythm.''''

Motorie rhythm and rhythmic vitality play an important role in Adler's

compositions. Adler admits that he loves the "pul of the line."^^ The following

discussion focuses on some of the techniques of contemporary rhythm demonstrated in

Adler's pieces. The specific techniques include syncopation, changing meters, non-

fraditional time signature/asymmetrical meter, polyrhythm/cross rhythm, polymeter,

ametric rhythm, and ostinato and pedal point.

Syncopation

Syncopation is defined as ".. .when a rhythmic event such as an accent occurs at

an unexpected moment or when a rhythmic event fails to occur when expected." In

most cases, rests and tied-notes contribute to the syncopated rhythm. In No. 1 of Gradus

II, after the two-note pedal tone firmly establishes a 4 meter in the left band, syncopation

is introduced in m. 8. Instead of a strong first beat, the composer inserts a quarter-note

rest. Similar syncopated effects occur because of the tied-notes on the first beat of the

"'ibid., 121.

*' Ibid., 122-123.

"^ Hill, 16.

'^ Kostka, 122.

50

next two measures. In addition, the fortissimo in m. 8 shifts the regular metric accent to

the normally weaker second beat. In the first measure of No. 10 of Gradus II, the eighth-

note rest leads to a syncopated accent on the second half of the third beat. A similar

situation occurs on the second beat of m. 10. In No. 16 of Gradus III, rests, tied-notes,

and dynamic markings create a syncopated effect throughout. In No. 1 of The Sense of

Touch, the many eighth-note rests increase the rhythmic complexity in this single-pitch-

class piece.

Changing Meter

Changing meter is a technique used very frequently in Westem contemporary

music. Composers provide rhythmic variety and

Documents

PEDAGOGICAL WORKS POR PIANO BY SAMUEL ADLER