SCHUBERT FANTASY FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO – PART ONE

Violinist Alena Baeva stresses the importance of slow and attentive practice when embarking on the opening sections of this monumental work, in the first of a two-part article

MASTERCLASS

From Franz Schubert Duos for Piano and Violin Urtext edition with marked and unmarked string parts. Ed. Ernst Herttrich Pf fingering Hans-Martin Theopold Vn bowing and fingering Max Rostal Order no. HN 287 · ISMN 979-0-2018-02879. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, München © 1976/2004

This piece marks a distinct milestone in the life of any violinist. I remember being struck by it when I was still a student, with Boris Brovtsyn playing. I felt like I was being taken on a journey. This work is unique through its shape and the form of how it’s composed. It comprises different musical souls that beautifully and carefully unfold and develop, as if someone is reminiscing or telling their life story. You feel completely changed after listening to this piece.

Creating a dream-like sound world

The beginning is one of the most magical moments in music. The special feature of the way it starts is the piano part, which begins with very soft tremolo. It reminds me of morning fog, which disappears before your eyes as the sun rises. Through this, the piano creates a dream-like sound world; a short, four-bar invitation for the ethereal violin entry. I touch the string very softly but I make sure that the sound is present, like a ray of light. The way it develops is very beautiful; it’s as if time doesn’t exist.

There is a fragile balance between the continuous tremolo of the piano, which develops harmonically, and the violin part within it. It gives a feeling of anticipation, as if something immense is about to happen. It’s a challenge to create this sense of direction because there are no dynamics apart from pianissimo at bar 5 and a hairpin in bars 7 to 8. Ideally it should be free-flowing, like a river that gets wider and wider, or someone’s stream of consciousness as they think out loud. This is the embodiment of a fantasy. For a soft and muted colour I start the first C on the D string.

Bow control poses one of the biggest challenges at the beginning. You almost have to pretend you have an endless bow as you need to make sure you can’t hear any bow changes in this other-worldly beginning. The mood also comes together with vibrato; there is no right or wrong way. Some people vibrate from the beginning of the note and others will develop the vibrato gradually, or you can go towards the middle of the note in the way that a singer’s voice can develop through a long note. There are different options so you can exercise some freedom here, but make sure it serves a purpose and that it’s not automatic. There must always be intention behind the notes.

THE SOLOIST

JEAN-BAPTISTE MILLOT

NAME ALENA BAEVA

NATIONALITY LUXEMBOURGISH

STUDIED WITH OLGA DANILOVA, EDUARD GRACH, SHLOMO MINTZ

RECORDS FOR ALPHA CLASSICS

‘You almost have to pretend you have an endless bow in this other-worldly beginning’

Alena Baeva performs works by Schubert, Stravinsky, Schumann and Messiaen with pianist Vadym Kholodenko on their album Fantasy, out now on Alpha Classics

From bar 33 there is a little cadenza for the violin, which feels like a big question mark in E major – the dominant to the upcoming A minor. It should be completely free. However, it’s quite demanding for intonation as it’s not the most pleasant key for the violin and it’s very pianistically written! This can be an indicator of nerves during performance and I often don’t get it perfect myself, so please don’t be discouraged!

A dynamic conversation between violin and piano

In the next section marked Allegretto there is a dialogue between violin and piano. The theme is played first by the violin, then the piano picks it up in bar 63, which sparks a canon.

The beginning, marked piano, should not be too soft because later in bars 53 and 73 you get two pianissimos and it can be difficult to make the distinction in dynamic. We don’t get our first true forte until bar 83 and then it goes straight back to piano, but this is a different character from the beginning of the Allegretto. It’s important therefore to use articulation to highlight these differences. The use of varied articulation is a powerful tool to help you shape the notes the way you want.

Schubert’s accents should be regarded as rhetorical emphasis, as opposed to a more ‘vertical’ articulation. Notes can be highlighted with accents in different ways, with the length of the note or timing of the release. It’s closely connected to historically informed performance, where the dominant holds more tension than the resolution of the tonic. There are so many accents written in this section, so we need to make sure they don’t sound too literal. Make sure to be very aware of what the pianist is doing with their phrasing in bar 45 when they have the melody, as you need to support dynamically.

In bars 53 and 54 I like to play the first note longer than the second before the semiquaver (s) passages. I aim not to play this metronomically, but instead with intuition and trust in my pianist. The semiquavers should sound precipitando, like they’re falling. It’s rewarding to explore what kind of rubato you can do with your pianist – don’t be afraid to try new things in your practice. Some of Schubert’s pieces are so long and repetitive, but he is able to create a unique feeling of adjusted time, where you can feel freedom within the bar-lines.

A strategy to practise string-crossings

Find a position in your right elbow that requires minimal distance to move between the lower and higher strings. You won’t have time to move too much, so find the perfect spot to allow you to move effectively and musically without being too active.

One of the most challenging bars for me is bar 123. It’s not written idiomatically for the violin – in the second beat of semiquavers you have the 5th played by the first finger in a rather awkward part of the violin! To practise this, it helps to put down all three fingers in the formation of the chord. Practise the chords split into double-stops comprising two notes each. I practise very slowly by playing the first two notes staccato with a very distinct gap between the two notes. Cross the string in the silence between them. This helps enormously with articulation and teaching your right hand where to play. Repeating this will give you clarity as the hand will remember what to do. With the second two semiquaver notes, play with exaggerated martelé, again with a gap between the notes. Use the gap to cross the string and prepare your next finger, then play again. This strategy was life-saving for me and helped me in so many difficult places. You are teaching your hands to prepare, rather than scramble at the last minute. You’ll be able to play the music in basically any tempo after practising slowly in this way.

An eternal E major passage

Going onwards from bar 131, again, the character suggests that the music is preparing for something bigger. We are stuck in the dominant tension of E major for a very long time until bar 182 – it’s like we’re constantly trying to open a door. In the chromatic passage from 137, I make sure to play close to the string – not too bouncy or jumpy, but still with some air in the sound. Around bar 173 onwards, I love how there are so many ways to give and respond to your pianist. This is a place where you can be very playful and lively, and the diminuendo from bar 177 towards the key change can sound incredibly dramatic.

Challenging double-stopped octaves

Playing octaves in C sharp minor is uncomfortable, especially in second or fourth position. Remember to practise slowly and have a strong harmonic sense of where the octaves should be, pitch-wise. Sharps should not be too high, which is often the case with violinists. Have a strong harmonic picture of the chord with the piano – even when you’re practising alone, you need to imagine the sound of the piano and the key very strongly. It will help you play more in tune.

When there is a shift over the bar-line, I practise by approaching these octaves in different ways, for example with a slow glissando. Imagine moving along a train track to get to your station – you need to map the journey to teach your left hand the distance of the shift, and to help your ears work out what pitch to aim for.

Like the string-crossings earlier, I also like to practise them staccato with a stop after the first note, and then shift between the notes. This helps develop the tactile sensation for the intervals. You need to trust yourself in this process. In doing so we are creating our fingerboard ‘map’. When practising difficult shifts, it’s about listening to yourself, giving yourself feedback and learning from that information for your next attempt.

INTERVIEW BY DAVINA SHUM