As I approach the opening tableau of Tchaikovsky’s memorable “Morning Prayer,” (Op. 39), I draw on the vocal model to shape the very top soprano line that’s embedded in a Russian church choir setting. But sculpting the melody is not achieved by intuition alone. It requires an understanding of how rhythmic “color,” and harmonic flow create a synthesis of ingredients.
In this pursuit, I hearken back to my years at the Oberlin Conservatory where my classmates and I romped around a mid-size room, barefoot, listening to our guru, Inda Howland allude to the “inner speed motion” of notes that decades later I would translate into a consciousness of “spacing” and “delayed entry.” To this end, in the very first measure of “Morning Prayer,” two soulful B’s usher in the phrase. The first, a quarter note, springs into the second, a dotted/quarter of identical pitch, but not entered with the same “speed.” I illustrate a “delayed entry,” into the dotted/quarter B, that has its analog in how I would draw a violin bow on the string. (I can control the entry of each bow stroke and accelerate or slow up the motion with my arm) This transfer from the string universe is a direct result of my violin study, that by association, leads back to the human voice and feeds into phrasing at the piano.
As pianists, we have the challenge of rising above our distance from the strings–even as we lack an ability to bow, pluck (as a harp or guitar), or “feel” direct contact with the strings and soundboard. Yet we have a singular opportunity to activate energies, ebbing from our flowing arms, supple wrists, as we “breathe” into our phrases with a consciousness of creating “illusions” through a variety of approaches.
The “delayed entry” into a key, already discussed, is one device. Still another is listening attentively to the “decay” of a note in order to sift it into the next, plying a crescendo or “swell” with increments of leveraged “arm weight.” Often, the intensification of a phrase is governed by a harmonic event—a modulation, or secondary dominant, that pulls a phrase to a pitch climax with a harmonic underpinning. As attentive listeners, we respond to these pitch shifts bundled in harmony—feeling the pathos of an ascent to a Secondary Dominant (F# Major chord) in “Morning Prayer,” measure 12. The cresting chord begs for a slight “pushed in” delivery with a hairbreadth of “delay.” In this endeavor, the vocal dimension and harmonic ingredients are wedded together when sculpting this phrase. Similarly, in the very opening, (measure 2), there’s a “leaning” on Treble C, because its underpinning is the Sub-Dominant C Chord that naturally resolves down to the Tonic G chord. (This subtle nuance allows the melody to “breathe,” or transmit a passing “sigh.”)
In my tutorial, I expand upon this process of melodic sculpting, harmonic discovery, and interactive energy transfers that unfold on a multi-dimensional level. Weight transfer variance through voice parceling and combining lines by permuting them, all contribute to a mix of early learning that progresses by steps to full musical development of a composition.
Related:
https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/eurhythmics-a-whole-body-listening-experience-video/
from Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)
https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2021/01/31/tchaikovskys-morning-prayer-a-fusion-of-vocal-model-ingredients-rhythmic-color-and-harmonic-movement/
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