The
understanding of a first-movement cadenza of a Mozart piano concerto is very
important when one wants to compose an original one, for not doing so
results in composing a cadenza that would be either way out of the
composing style for his period, or way out of the typical structure of a
Mozart-based piano concerto cadenza.
Generally, a cadenza means any
imporivisatory or free passage
(usually played ad libitum, which is Latin for “at
pleasure,” con-
taining such
virtuosic devices such as rapid scales, runs, arpeggios, trills, turns and
other ornamentation, and quick changes in registers, tempos, and
harmonies, with or without an organ point (such as the dominant).
Some people interpret the word “cadenza”
in different ways.
Quantz said that it
was “extempore embellishment created, according to the fancy and
pleasure of the performer, by a concertante part at a close of a piece on
the piece on the pentultimate note of the bass.1 On the other hand,
Rosenblum said that “the term can refer to any fermata [or,
“paused”, or “held”] embellishment, [but sometimes, it can refer] to brief,
nonthematic ornamental passages intended as
transitions of a
work as ‘lead-ins’.”2
Moreover, the cadenza
comes from the Italian name for “cadence”; when this term pertains to the first-movement piano concerto, it
refers to the section starting on the tonic 6-4 (or I6-4) chord in the
orchestra’s tutti, on a fermata, just before the piano has a solo, improvisatory
passage (which has a “cadencial” dominant-seventh-to-tonic sequence at the end,
then the orchestra comes in immediately afterwards on the tonic.)
Kraus gives a rather
good synopsis of a typica cadenza from a Mozart piano concerto in the first movement:
Although there is
no absolutely identical form traceable,
it is safe to say
that cadenzas of first movements show a
pattern of ABA or
ABC, preceded by either an introdcution
or a short, virtuoso
lead-in. This is followed by a brief
retrospection on
themes previously heard, played either by
orchestra or the solo
piano…or not yet introduced at all.3
Moreover, Badura-Skoda,
howevere, gives a clearer explanation of
the first movement piano concerto cadenza. He says that it would
have three main sections:4
First
part:”…with one of the themes [retrospected] or with
virtuoso passage
work…”5
Second
part:”…a sequential development of some important theme
or motive to the
concerto movement… [which is followed by]
a number of runs,
arpeggios, etc….”6
Third part:
“…the closing section [which usually ends] on a
trill.”7
Why do some composers
of the past and the present compose cadenzas for the first movements of Mozart’s piano concertos? One main
reason, according to Badura-Skoda, is that some of Mozart’s “original cadenzas did
not survive, such as the two in minor keys and the great concertos K. 482 and
503…”8
For
example, it was Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) who composed the cadenzas for the first and third movements of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto in D Minor.
Since as Kraus said
the “Mozart cadenzas [allow] the performer actually to improvise…”9, how should a composer write his own
first-movement cadenza for a Mozart piano concerto (whether or not it would sound
“Mozartean”)?
If a composer wants to
do a “Mozart-style” piano concerto cadenza, one should understand the musical structure of Mozart’s composition
by looking into scores of the Mozart’s composition by looking into scores
of the Mozart piano concertos which contain the cadenzas. Once the composer
chooses the selected Mozart piano concerto (first-movement) cadenza that one
likes to write from, he should then study the musical aspects from that
cadenza that
he wishes to do in that concerto. Although originality is very
important in writing such cadenzas, it is advisable to keep these things
intact:
1. The range of the
Mozart is from an F1 to F6.
2. According to
Badura-Skoda, a first-movement cadenza, “with less
spiritual depth
[demands a fast tempo, preferably Allego] if they are to make the
maximum effect.”10
3. Avoid using glissando
marks, false octaves, chordal intervals in one hand over an octave
(except in broken passages such as arpeggios),bichords, polytonal
chord clusters, and the “orchestra playing style” common in such
composers of later periods as Liszt, Alkan, and Rachmaninov.
4. Avoid parallel 7ths,
9ths, 11ths and 13th chords (this is common in Impressionistic music
of such composers as Debussy and Ravel, and in jazz and popular music).
Exception—the parallel diminished 7th chords may be used, especially in
modulatory passages in a cadenza.
5. Definitely avoid the
20th century musical techniques common from many composers (such as
Ligeti, Boulez, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Berg), for it can utterly mar
the meaning of Mozart’s musical style in a cadenza.
6. Use 7ths, 9ths, 11ths,
and 13ths only in dominant or in dominant
sevenths (in most
cases), and make those intervals go down a step (for example, a 9th
degree of a scale would resolve to the 8th, an 11th
degree would resolve to the 8th,
a 11th degree would resolve to the 10th, etc.),
especially in
resolving V or V7 chords to the tonic (I or i) or a mediant (III or
iii).
7. Some suggested
harmonic techniques:
a. the circle of
fifths (including dominant-seventh sequences)
b. transition from a
major key to a minor key
c. iib – I6 – V – I
4
d. I6 - I6 – I6
- V -I
3 4
e. I6 – V4 – I6
3 2
3
f. I – V6 – I
5
g. I6 – vii07 (or vice
versa)
4
h. IV – V4 – I6
2 3
i. V6 – IV6 – III6 –
ii6 – I6 (and vice versa)
j. IV6 – I6- IV – I6
(and vice versa)
3 4
3
k. I – V7 – i (This is
an example of a secondary dominant)
-------
vi
This does not cover
everything, but can give a good start for the composer.
8. Most importantly, it is important that first-movement cadenza
end a “cadential trill’ that
is, a dominant-seventh chord leading to the tonic.11
9. Finally, one should study as much as possible the performance
practice of Mozart’s piano music in
order to get an understanding of how to execute his piano concerto cadenzas
(not just how to compose it). There are some examples of this:
a. “Contemporary
evidence and present-day experience have shown that it is preferable to be
frugal rather than overgenerous with pedaling. Successful pedaling
[tends] to be terse”,12
says Rosenblum.
b. Kraus says that
unfortunately, the post-Mozart pianos, such as those of today (such as the
Steinway or the Baldwin pianos) could not make the real Mozart sound.
Perhaps, on the
present pianos, the soft pedal could be used to try to
imitate the “tone” of the Mozart pianos; touch should also be adjusted(like making each forte seem a little less obvious to
execute this.13.
c. Badura-Skoda says that generally, “Mozart’s trills must
usually be played with great
sparkle and rapidly as possible…
[they] should be played as clearly
and evenly as possible.
Speed must on no account mean a loss of precision.”14
He also
says that “Mozart was very exact about tempo markings.”15
and
“articulation marks often hint at the appropriate
tempo.”16
10. Add Mozart-style ornamentation, such as:
--unprepared and
prepared trills
--the “Pralltriller”
(or half-shake)
--other types of
classical ornamentation, such as appoggiaturas
and turns
If one wants to
compose a first-movement piano concerto cadenza that is out of the traditional Mozart compositional aspects, it is
possible, as long as it is harmonically and musically relevant (or close to it) to
Mozart’s style, and follows the pattern of the Mozart’s first-movement
piano concerto already mentioned before. Some composers, as well as pianists,
deviate from the Mozart’s compositional rules, by:
--bigger ranges
--bigger lengths
--crossovers
--larger textures
--more chromaticism
--more use of octaves
In conclusion, the
would-be composer of a first-movement cadenza from any Mozart piano cocnerto should be not only well-rounded in his
study of Mozart’s compositional style, but also sufficient gifted to use
his compositional style, but also sufficiently gifted to use his
compositional skills and creativity to the fullest extent possible. No music listener
would appreciate another composer’s version of a Mozart first-movement
piano concerto
cadenza if it doesn’t make any musical sense.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES
1. Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda. Interpreting Mozart on the Keyboard. trans. Leo Black. New York:
St. Martin’s Press, 1962: 216.
2. Johann Joachim Quantz, Versuch
einer Anweisung die Flöte tranversiere zu spielen (Berlin 1752), cha. 15,
par. 1.
3. Lily Kraus, ed. The
Complete Original Cadenzas For His Solo Piano Concertos. Melville: Belwin
Mills Co., 1972, p. v
4. Sandra P. Rosenblum. Performance
Practice in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications.
Bloomington: 2 University Press, 1988; p. 28.
5. Badura 216.
6. Badura 216.
7. Badura 216.
8. Badura 215.
9. Kraus V.
10.Badura 33.
11.Badura 6.
12.Rosenblum 112.
13.Kraus V.
14.Badura 121.
15.Badura 36.
16.Badura 33.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Badura-Skoda. Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda. Interpreting Mozart on the Keyboard. trans. Leo Black. New York:
St. Martin’s Press, 1962: 216.
2. Kraus,Lily, ed. The
Complete Original Cadenzas For His Solo Piano Concertos. Melville: Belwin
Mills Co., 1972, p. v
3. Quantz, Johann Joachim. Versuch
einer Anweisung die Flöte tranversiere zu spielen (Berlin 1752), cha. 15,
par. 1.
4. Rosenblum, Sandra P. Performance
Practice in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications.
Bloomington: 2 University Press, 1988; p. 28.
