Page 389 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 389
escape from catalonia: the composing experience of roberto gerhard
earlier music, namely sardana tunes and rhythms, and at the end, a Span-
ish dance.”23 It is interesting to note that in this period from about 1940 to
1948, when Gerhard was consciously aiming at a Spanish piece, he was also
constantly influenced by his leaning toward newer music, especially that
by Schoenberg. On the other hand when he was writing in the style of the
more modern music, he frequently refers back to his Catalan roots, with
folk-songs or reminiscences of Spanish style, something that was also the
case with his very last works.
By the year 1949, Gerhard may have felt able to achieve a synthesis of
these techniques by using a strikingly modern style that incorporated all
that he wanted from Schoenberg’s teaching without losing sight of the mu-
sic of his native land. After spending ten years in England, this was proba-
bly the moment at which Gerhard began to apply the lessons he had learned
over the previous decade concerning his modest attempts at using his own
derivative of Schoenberg’s twelve-note technique. The turning point is the
Capriccio for solo flute of 1949. Despite the fact that it is a relatively small-
scale work, it would appear to have great significance in Gerhard’s out-
put. The twelve-note row is divided into two interconnected hexachordal
sub-rows, the second of which is a transposed retrograde inversion of the
first. This set a precedent for Gerhard with its interconnectedness between
the two hexachords. As a monophonic piece, Capriccio gave the composer
the opportunity to work solely on the melodic aspects of twelve-note tech-
nique: numerous melodic shapes that are found all through Gerhard’s mu-
sic appear in different parts of the work. For example, the opening of the
Vivace section24 is closely related to a subsidiary theme of the first move-
ment of the First Symphony. Following that work, the String Quartet No.1
of 1950–55 25 displays the composer’s vibrant variety of rhythms and uses
in its first movement “Gerhard’s idiosyncratic, permutational twelve-note
technique, with hexachordal areas functioning in the manner of tonal re-
gions in a conventional sonata movement.”26 This, of course, has some con-
nections with the seven-note rows that he used in the Wind Quintet of 1928.
The Three Impromptus of 1950, also serial, present a blend of Spanish-de-
rived rhythms and twelve-note technique which integrates melodic and
23 Homs, op.cit, 43–44
24 See the published score: Roberto Gerhard, Capriccio (London: Mills Music, 1964), 2.
25 Of three earlier works, the first two are lost and the third was only rediscovered after
the composer’s death (see above, note 8).
26 Julian White, in notes to the recording on MSVCD 92032 (Preston, UK: Metier,
1999).
387
earlier music, namely sardana tunes and rhythms, and at the end, a Span-
ish dance.”23 It is interesting to note that in this period from about 1940 to
1948, when Gerhard was consciously aiming at a Spanish piece, he was also
constantly influenced by his leaning toward newer music, especially that
by Schoenberg. On the other hand when he was writing in the style of the
more modern music, he frequently refers back to his Catalan roots, with
folk-songs or reminiscences of Spanish style, something that was also the
case with his very last works.
By the year 1949, Gerhard may have felt able to achieve a synthesis of
these techniques by using a strikingly modern style that incorporated all
that he wanted from Schoenberg’s teaching without losing sight of the mu-
sic of his native land. After spending ten years in England, this was proba-
bly the moment at which Gerhard began to apply the lessons he had learned
over the previous decade concerning his modest attempts at using his own
derivative of Schoenberg’s twelve-note technique. The turning point is the
Capriccio for solo flute of 1949. Despite the fact that it is a relatively small-
scale work, it would appear to have great significance in Gerhard’s out-
put. The twelve-note row is divided into two interconnected hexachordal
sub-rows, the second of which is a transposed retrograde inversion of the
first. This set a precedent for Gerhard with its interconnectedness between
the two hexachords. As a monophonic piece, Capriccio gave the composer
the opportunity to work solely on the melodic aspects of twelve-note tech-
nique: numerous melodic shapes that are found all through Gerhard’s mu-
sic appear in different parts of the work. For example, the opening of the
Vivace section24 is closely related to a subsidiary theme of the first move-
ment of the First Symphony. Following that work, the String Quartet No.1
of 1950–55 25 displays the composer’s vibrant variety of rhythms and uses
in its first movement “Gerhard’s idiosyncratic, permutational twelve-note
technique, with hexachordal areas functioning in the manner of tonal re-
gions in a conventional sonata movement.”26 This, of course, has some con-
nections with the seven-note rows that he used in the Wind Quintet of 1928.
The Three Impromptus of 1950, also serial, present a blend of Spanish-de-
rived rhythms and twelve-note technique which integrates melodic and
23 Homs, op.cit, 43–44
24 See the published score: Roberto Gerhard, Capriccio (London: Mills Music, 1964), 2.
25 Of three earlier works, the first two are lost and the third was only rediscovered after
the composer’s death (see above, note 8).
26 Julian White, in notes to the recording on MSVCD 92032 (Preston, UK: Metier,
1999).
387
