Joan TowerStyle and Performance Considerations in Three Works Involving Flute by

Joan Tower: Snow Dreams, Valentine Trills, and A Little Gift.

Dr. Tammy Evans Yonce tammy.yonce@sdstate.edu

41st Annual National Flute Association ConventionSunday, August 11, 2013

New Orleans, LA

Joan Tower

• Who is Joan Tower?

Joan Tower

• Contemporary American composer • Born 1938• Considerable body of works, Grammy award

winner, many commissions• Influenced by music of Bolivia and Peru.

Early Style

• Began as a serial composer– This was taught in academia and “everyone was

doing it.” – She felt insecure as a composer. – Accidentally became a composer. Originally was a

pianist. – First experiment with composition as an

undergrad. Later – MM/DMA at Columbia.

Specific Use of Serialism

• “Precompositional maps.” • She created these to help her make musical

decisions. • Included pitches and sometimes other

elements of the work.• She could then spend more time thinking

about other elements of the work.

Stylistic Changes

• 1975• As she developed her skills and became less

insecure, she moved away from serialism. • New style – “organic.” – “Less dissonant, more colorful, slightly

impressionistic. Strong directional motion and balancing of gestures” – Nancy Bonds

Transitional Work

• 1975 – Breakfast Rhythms I and II• Movement I – serial• Movement II – (some time later) – “organic”

Mature Style

• Independent style. Difficult to label.• Gives us the sense that it is building in

intensity, static, or receding in intensity.• She also uses certain gestures or

compositional practices consistently, which give insight into her style as well as affect the intensity.

Snow Dreams (1983)

• Flute and guitar• 9 minutes• “There are many different images of snow, its

forms and movements: light snow flakes, pockets of swirls of snow, rounded drifts, long white plains of blankets of snow, light and heavy snowfalls, etc. Many of these images can be found in the piece, if in fact, they need to be found at all. The listener will determine that choice.” – Joan Tower

Issues

• 1 – Articulation of form based on patterns of musical contrast

• 2 – Development of a “fate” motive reminiscent of Beethoven

• 3 – Patterns of density change

Density

• “Density may be seen as the quantitative aspect of texture – the number of concurrent events (the thickness of the fabric) as well as the degree of “compression” of events within a given intervallic space.” - Wallace Berry, Structural Functions in Music

Valentine Trills (1996)

• Solo flute• Very short – 1.5 minutes.

Program Notes

• Written for Carol Wincenc, who says:

“Valentine Trills is one of the most effective solo pieces I play. Audiences are awed by the continuous trilling, turning, spinning, and seemingly breathless quality in the piece – all which builds to a thrilling climax. Keep the pace “on the edge” right up to the last few trilling statements. The articulation needs to be brilliantly clear, and all the dynamic changes exaggerated from the surging fff to the hushed ppp at the end.”

Issues

• 1 – The use of trills to shape form• 2 – Motivic development• 3 – Density changes

Trills

• Used to emphasize pitches, produce momentum, sustain pitches, add color.

• It is significant when NO trill is used.

Motivic Development

• In this work, the triplet is used as a referential rhythm.

• We can see it used and then manipulated throughout the work.

Density

• A couple of perspectives: – # of notes within a given space: relatively dense.

Density increases in the middle of the work, creating an arch form.

– # of concurrent events changes at the end – two different voices! Polyphonic style.

– This prepares a high-energy conclusion.

A Little Gift (2008)

• Flute and clarinet• 2.5 minutes • Free, creative response to “My Funny

Valentine”

Issues

• 1 – Patterns of change in textural density.• 2 – Large-scale sectional contrast in note

durations.• 3 – Metric change

Density

• Increased levels of textural diversity seek release in simplicity.

• Beginning and end are similar. Middle is more diverse and complex.

Note Lengths

• This aspect creates intensity and form.• Slow-moving notes at the beginning and end. • Faster-moving notes in the middle. • This creates an arch form.

Metrical Change

• Very fast metric rhythm.• Meter shifts occur consistently throughout the

work, and the rate of change increases as the piece intensifies.

• Result – pattern of strong and weak beats is constantly in flux.

Conclusions

• Joan Tower has produced a significant body of work that deserves more attention than it receives.

• Certain elements can be traced throughout multiple works, showing a mature, independent style.

• Music builds intensity, is static, or recedes in intensity.

Conclusions, 2.

• Recognizing stylistic elements helps us, as performers, give more informed, convincing performances.