1975 Solo Cello (Sacher) Flashcards
Name 6 works from the Sacher commission.
- Witold Lutosławski: Sacher Variation for solo cello (1975)
- Alberto Ginastera: Puneña No.2 for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976)
- Hans Werner Henze: Capriccio per Paul Sacher for solo cello (1976/1981)
- Benjamin Britten: Tema “Sacher” for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976)
- Luciano Berio: Les Mots sont allés for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, ca.1978)
- Henri Dutilleux: Trois Strophes sur le Nom de SACHER for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976–82)
Who was Sacher?
Paul Sacher
- A Swiss conductor, patron and impresario.
- Immensely wealthy, he commissioned works from many well-known composers, including Stravinsky, Bartók, Martinů, Honegger, Hindemith, Henze, Richard Strauss, Carter, and Lutosławski.
- The Paul Sacher Stiftung (Foundation) houses one of the world’s most important musical-manuscript collections. Sacher bought most of these manuscripts himself, and they include complete collections by several important twentieth-century composers (including Lutosławski, Ligeti and Boulez).
What was the Sacher commission?
- For Sacher’s seventieth birthday Rostropovich had the idea of commissioning 12 leading composers, all of whom were connected to Sacher, to compose a set of theme and variations for solo ‘cello based on a cryptogram of the name Sacher. This produced a six note motif of E flat (es in German, from S), A, C, B (H is b natural in German), E, and D (re in Italian)
- The original plan was for Benjamin Britten to compose the theme and for each composer to submit one variation. However, all of the composers involved seem to have been so inspired by the commission that all of them produced works that are more substantial than a simple variation. Some of the pieces are cast in one movement, but many of the pieces are multi movement, such as Alberto Ginastera’s PUNEÑA NO. 2 and Henri Dutilleux’s TROIS STROPHES SUR LE NOM DE SACHER. Pierre Boulez broke the bounds of the commission even more by composing his MESSAGESQUISSE for ‘cello solo and six ‘cellos accompaniment. The overall result of this is that instead of a theme and variations that would have been little more than a musical novelty, we have a set of works that constitute a summary of writing for the ‘cello at the end of the twentieth century, as well as demonstrating many of the compositional trends of our times.
Piece: Sacher commission, Lutosławski.
Witold Lutosławski: Sacher Variation for solo cello (1975)
- Isn’t written in a strict twelve tone style but the six chromatic tones not included in the Sacher motif (F, G flat, G natural, A flat, B flat and D flat) are used as the basis of contrasting material.
- Lutoslawski’s SACHER VARIATION works through a juxtaposition of the Sacher motif and material drawn from the other six notes. The piece is constructed with the two different types of material interrupting each other, the Sacher motif always resuming from where it left off before the previous interruption. Throughout the course of the work entries on the Sacher motif become longer and more insistent, until this motif pushes the other material aside. The piece finishes with two statements of the Sacher motif, one linear as a melody and the other as two chords with the character of a deceptive cadence. Throughout the piece the sharp differentiation in the characters of the two groups of material, as well as the use of quarter tones in the material not derived from the Sacher motif, helps to show the listener the contrasting nature of the material.
Piece: Sacher commission, Ginastera.
Alberto Ginastera: Puneña No.2 for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976)
- Isn’t written in a strict twelve tone style but the six chromatic tones not included in the Sacher motif (F, G flat, G natural, A flat, B flat and D flat) are used as the basis of contrasting material.
- Ginastera’s work takes the Sacher motif as a starting point, but is based on purely South American influences. This piece can almost be seen as program music, so detailed is the description given by Ginastera in his preface to the score.
- Ginastera’s PUNEÑA NO.2 also uses the six tones that are not part of the Sacher motif as a contrasting subject group, but here the similarity to the Lutoslawski ends. PUNEÑA NO.2 is inspired by the puna, a region of the Andes. Ginastera writes, “The Kecuan word “Puna” refers to the highlands or a plateau of 4,000 metres in the Andes. It also means bare and arid ground as well as the feeling of anguish one can have at high altitudes.” The hexachord formed from notes that are not part of the Sacher motif appears only in the first movement of PUNEÑA NO.2, entitled HARAWI, as a contrasting thematic group and here forms a theme that Ginastera calls a “Metamorphosis of a pre-Columbian theme of the Cuzco.” This material is then treated in alteration with material derived from the Sacher motif. The second movement, WAYNO KARNAVALITO (carnival dance), is based only on the Sacher motif used freely with other material.
Piece: Sacher commission, Henze.
Hans Werner Henze: Capriccio per Paul Sacher for solo cello (1976/1981)
- Henze’s CAPRICCIO features a free use of the Sacher motif and the composer gives pictorial ideas as to the interpretation of the piece.
- Hans Werner Henze’s CAPRICCIO is the one piece which, in its final version, seems to fit in the least with the rest of the set. The present version, which Henze calls a “concert version,” was prepared in 1981 at the instigation of Heinrich Schiff. The original version ran to only a page and what is left of this after the revision now forms the centre of the composition. This is prefaced by a fast, angry section that Henze describes as “a violent speech . . . all jumbled up, shaken about in kaleidoscopic fashion.” Both the section that corresponds to the original CAPRICCIO and the preceding section are based on the Sacher motif, but the two outer sections which frame it are not. These are likened to a serenade by Henze in his preface to the score, with the form of the whole corresponding to a French overture, and are linked thematically.
- Henze writes that “the listener might here recall the ancient (French) overture with its slow introduction and fast middle section . . . and even the calm opening appears again at the end, as if to serve as a reminiscence of the old form.” This form, along with the descriptive ideas for the piece quoted earlier, make the revised version of CAPRICCIO the least connected piece to the set in terms of paying homage to Paul Sacher.
Piece: Sacher commission, Britten.
Benjamin Britten: Tema “Sacher” for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976)
- The shortest work in the set is Benjamin Britten’s TEMA “SACHER”, at little over a minute long. It is also unique in the set in that it is the only piece to use the Sacher motif in a tonal context, C minor in this case. This is done by presenting the first four notes of the motif as part of double or triple stopped chords. These chords, and the treatment of the Sacher motif, establish the key of C minor for the listener. The extreme brevity of the piece can perhaps be explained with two reasons. First, at its time of composition Britten was already extremely ill. TEMA SACHER was to be one of his last completed works. The second reason concerns the nature of Rostropovich’s original idea. As has already been mentioned the plan was for Britten to compose a theme with every other composer submitting a variation. Nevertheless, TEMA SACHER is a complete musical composition in its own right, despite its length.
- Britten achieves this by creating two contrasting types of material from the Sacher motif; one (the first four notes) predominately chordal, sustained and strident in character, the other (the last two notes) is made up of repeated quintuplets and is primarily monophonic and quiet. TEMA SACHER is extremely simple in its construction, presenting the chord version of the first four notes of the Sacher motif three times, at different registers and intensities, interspersed with two uses of the quintuplet material. What makes it a successful piece is Britten’s masterly use of register, rhythm and harmonic rhythm to bring the piece towards its conclusion.
Piece: Sacher commission, Berio.
Luciano Berio: Les Mots sont allés for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, ca.1978)
- While not entirely based on material from the Sacher motif, Luciano Berio’s LES MOTS SONT ALLÉS . . . (“RECITATIVO” POUR CELLO SEUL) is similar to Holliger’s CHACONNE through its use of ornamentation to embellish the Sacher motif. The title of this piece means “words have gone,” and also reflects Berio’s fascination with words in many of his works. This is further emphasised with the directions to the performer of parlando and “intimate, as if speaking.” These indications also help give the piece an undefined and mysterious character, making this piece the most ambiguous in the set. Following four complete statements of the Sacher motif, the motif becomes fragmented and hidden in between other notes. Tension and direction are created towards the centre of the piece by the use of faster rhythms and repeated notes. It is also significant that unembellished repetitions of the Sacher motif also occur here. This outburst dies down and the original character is resumed, finishing on repeated chords of A and E flat. These notes form the interval of an augmented fourth, the most unstable and unresolved interval in tonal music, as well as being the first two notes of the Sacher motif.
Piece: Sacher commission, Dutilleux.
Henri Dutilleux: Trois Strophes sur le Nom de SACHER for solo cello (for Paul Sacher, 1976–82)
- The only piece in this set to make use of a scordatura, a deliberate mis-tuning of strings, is Henri Dutilleux’s TROIS STROPHES SUR LE NOM DE SACHER. In this piece the ‘cello’s G string is tuned down a half step to F sharp, and the C string is tuned down a whole step to B flat. The effect of this is to give Dutilleux two open strings which are not part of the Sacher motif. These are perhaps used most effectively in the first strophe where the de-tuned strings are used to accompany renditions of the Sacher motif on the upper strings. Material not from the Sacher motif is used, but the majority of the material in the TROIS STROPHES SUR LE NOM DE SACHER is derived from the Sacher motif. Dutilleux also includes a brief reference to Sacher’s commissioning of important works by including a brief quote from the close of the first movement of Bartok’s MUSIC FOR STRINGS, PERCUSSION, AND CELESTE. This occurs towards the end of the first strophe.
What are some aspects of the Sacher commission that are notable from the perspective of a cellist?
- Many performers are dissuaded from playing twentieth century music because of the difficulties involved, and the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER are no exception. All of the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER are difficult pieces, demanding a high degree of both musical and technical accomplishment from the performer. Along with this, many of them demand extended techniques in pursuit of particular types of sounds. These techniques include harmonics, pizzicato, use of a fingerschlag (finger blow) in the left hand, quarter tones, and the bowing techniques of col legno and ponticello. Some of the compositional techniques in the pieces also demand special consideration by the performer if they are to be fully realised. These include aleatoric procedures, use of indeterminate pitch and other notational devices, many of which are peculiar to a particular piece.
- The use of techniques such as harmonics and pizzicato are not new in ‘cello playing and string playing in general, but their uses in the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER are new. Pizzicato techniques are extended by the use of Bartok pizzicatos (where the string is allowed to slap against the fingerboard), three or four part chords and glissandi of plucked notes. Again, it is how these techniques are used in these pieces that create difficulties for the performer. The bowing techniques of ponticello (playing very close to the bridge to produce a glassy sound) and col legno (playing with the wood of the bow) are also extended by the number of times that they are used within a composition and by the speed with which the performer has to switch between traditional playing and these techniques. The use of a fingerschlag in the left hand to produce a percussive effect is also not a new technique. ‘Cellists often use this to help set the strings in vibration in traditional playing, but its use within a composition to create an effect in its own right, while not unheard of, is unusual. Finally, quarter tones create technical problems for the performer for a number of reasons. Performers are trained from the earliest age to recognise whole steps and half steps, so that the very sound of a quarter tone is alien and difficult to hear. It is also very awkward to physically play quarter tones as the gaps between the notes become that much smaller. None of these techniques were invented by the composers of the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER but their particular uses in this group of pieces create problems for the performer. Since the uses of these devices are often peculiar to a particular piece, many hours of practice are needed to learn the production of these effects, time which many ‘cellists are unwilling to give.
- Many of the scores of the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER include an exploratory section for the interpretation of symbols used, much in the way that a map uses a key. These include, among others, symbols for quarter tones and symbols for indeterminate sounds. These symbols also create problems for the performer. Before the piece involved can be fully realised the performer must give due consideration to the interpretation of these special symbols. The fact that the eye is not used to seeing these symbols also complicates the learning of these pieces, again adding to the relative neglect of many of these works.
Describe the different uses of Paul Sacher’s name in the pieces of the Sacher commission.
- In the initial commission for the 12 HOMMAGES À PAUL SACHER Rostropovich suggested that each of the composers use the motif derived from Paul Sacher’s name. This produced a six note motif of E flat (es in German, from S), A, C, B (H is b natural in German), E, and D (re in Italian).
- This motif has a strangely complete and satisfying quality provided by the implied resolution of the augmented fourth on the final note of the sequence (D natural), as well as the falling step-wise motion of the last four notes.
- The Sacher motif also has the feature of being a hexachord, presenting half of a possible twelve tone row, and this led to the treatment and development of the motive in many of the same ways that a twelve tone row is treated, namely transposition, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion.
- Another way that the material of this motif is developed is by using the interval structure of the motif.
- Despite the fact that the Sacher motif seems to lend itself to a twelve tone treatment, only two of the pieces in the set even approach a serial style. These works are Witold Lutoslawski’s SACHER VARIATION and Alberto Ginastera’s PUNEÑA NO.2.
