Paper #1

Tin Vi La 1
MUS 703F

Alexander Tcherepnins Expressions, op. 81

Composers in the past were often limited to their local places or cities of countries on the

same continent. This isolation somehow had helped them to be original as Haydn once said, I

was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to

become original. At the turn of the nineteenth century into twentieth century, many composers

were benefited from the development of better transportation that allowed them more traveling.

They were able to experience different styles and different countries music. These experiences

can greatly influence their music, but also can take away the originality of their own styles;

therefore, twentieth century composers had to skillfully combine new ideas with that of their

own in order to be unique. Alexander Tcherepnin is one of those successful composers. In this

paper, I will discuss Tcherepnins life, his compositional techniques, and four movements of his

piano work Expressions, op. 81.

Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was born on January 21st, 1899 in Saint Petersburg,

Russia and died on September 29th, 1977 in Paris. Tcherepnin came from a musical family and

was surrounded with music from an early age. His father Nikolai Tcherepnin was a well-known

composer, conductor and pianist who studied under Rimsky-Korsakov; while his mother was a

member of the Benois family, a respected family of artists, musicians, and architects in Russia

who were descendants of the French confectioner Louis Jules Benois. As a boy, Tcherepnin

showed great talent in piano and composition. At Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Tcherepnin

studied with pianist Leocadia Kashperova, a student of Anton Rubinstein, and composition with

Nikolay Sokolov, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov.

At the break out of 1917 Russian revolution, the Tcherepnins decided to move to Tbilisi

the capital of Georgia. During his time in Tbilisi, Tcherepnin was studying at the countrys
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conservatory and performing as pianist and conductor; he also wrote music for the Karmeny

Theater.1 After Georgia was sovietized in 1921, unsatisfied with the new political system, the

Tcherepnins left for Paris.

In Paris, Alexander Tcherepnin continued his studies at the Paris conservatory. His piano

teacher at the Paris conservatory was Isidor Philipp who was head of the piano department; his

composition teacher was Paul Vidal who was also the mentor of the famous pedagogue Nadia

Boulanger. In Paris, Tcherepnin established himself as an international composer and pianist

whose works for piano were published under the help of his piano teacher Isidor Philipp.

Tcherepnin also paid many visits to the United States from 1926. Between 1934 and 1937,

Tcherepnin visited the Far East countries China and Japan for extended periods. These visits to

China and Japan played an important part in his compositional techniques because he was

influenced by these countries folk elements especially the use of pentatonic scales in his music

(evident in Japanese Suite for Orchestra, from the ballet La femme et son ombre and cycle of 7

Chinese folk song for bass or soprano and piano). Tcherepnin also helped to promote the

classical music education and the development of classical music in these countries. It was

during his time in China that he met pianist Lee Hsien Ming who he got married to later.

In 1950, Alexander Tcherepnin moved to the United States and settled in Chicago where

he taught composition at DePaul University. Among his students were these major composers:

Phillip Ramey, Robert Muczynski, and John Downey. In 1964, Tcherepnin moved to New York

and frequently traveled to Europe for engagements.

Alexander Tcherepnin is a prolific composer who wrote for orchestra, band, ensembles,

vocal, and solo instrument. His composition output is comprised of 108 opuses not including the

1
Ludmila korabelnikova, Alexander Tcherepnin: The Saga of a Russian Emigre Composer, trans. Anne Winestein
(Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008), 16-40.
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work without opus number in all important genres such as opera, symphony, film music, and

musical theatre. Piano works account for a big part of his total output ranging from small

character pieces (the famous Bagatelles, op. 5) to major sonatas (Sonata no.1, op. 22 and Sonata

no. 2, op. 94).

Alexander Tcherepnins music can be categorized as tonal to the degree that one can

sense there is a tone center, although there were moments that a tonal center can hardly be found

in his music, but never to the degree of serialism or twelve-tone technique. He wrote an essay on

his own compositional technique titled Basic Elements of my Musical Language which gives

better understanding and appreciation to his music. As for the purpose of this paper, I will only

discuss three selected elements from Tcherepnins techniques: Nine-step scale, interpoint, and

the concept of hard and soft intervals.2

In Tcherepnins nine-step scale, the arrangement of tone (1) and semitone (1/2) is as

follow: , 1, , , 1, , , 1, or semitone, tone, semitone, semitone, tone, semitone, semitone,

tone, semitone. This nine-step scale is very similar to Oliver Messiaens third of mode of limited

transpositions which begins on tone instead of semitone3. With that order of interval,

Tcherepnins nine-step scale based on C would have the following pitches: C, Db, Eb, E, F, G,

Ab, A, B, and C. According to Tcherepnin, there are four fundamental nine-step scales which

begin on 4 pitches C, G, D, and A (the distance between each pitch is a perfect 5th). Figure 1

provides the four fundamental nine-step scales with their members notated on the staff. It should

be noticed that these four fundamental scales contain all the 12 pitches.

2
Korabelnikova, Alexander Tcherepnin, 191-209.
3
Oliver Messiaen, the Technique of my musical language, trans. John Satterfield (Irvine: American Reprint Service,
1987), 60.
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Figure 1- Four fundamental nine-step scales

The next concept in Tcherepnins music is interpoint. In her book Alexander Tcherepnin:

The Saga of a Russian migr Composer, Korabelnikova explained the concept of interpoint,

Tcherepnin names his polyphonic technique sometimes interpoint, sometimes intrapoint,

undoubtedly proceeding mainly from phonetic opposition to the concept of counterpoint. The

musical essence here is the idea of the note between notes.4 There are four types of interpoint:

vertical interpoint, horizontal interpoint, metrical interpoint, and any combination of the above.5

Figure 2 is an example of vertical interpoint taken from the third movement off Tcherepnins

Symphony no.1. In this example, the notes from the trumpet line fill in the rest of the horns line.

4
Korabelnikova, Alexander Tcherepnin, 192.
5
Ibid., 199-200.
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Figure 2- vertical interpoint

Figure 3 is an example an example of horizontal interpoint taken from the first movement

of Symphony no.1. This example comes with an explanation from the composer himself, the

accented string rhythms coincide with the strong beats of the measure. Woodwinds establish

their rhythm on the second 8th-note (horizontal displacement by the value of 1/8). Horns start on

the third 8th-note (horizontal displacement by the value of 1/4).6

Figure 3- Horizontal interpoint

The third type of interpoint is metrical in which the rhythmic structures representing two

different time signatures are superimposed on each other. Figure 4 taken from the tenth

movement of Expressions, op. 81 gives an example of metrical interpoint (2/4 on top of 5/8).

Figure 4- Metrical interpoint

The final type of interpoint is merely a combination of any above type. Figure 5 gives an

example of both vertical and metrical interpoint; the example is from Tcherepnins Showcase, op.

75.
6
Korabelnikova, Alexander Tcherepnin, 199.
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Figure 5- Combination of vertical and metrical interpoint

The last concept on Tcherepnins compositional techniques is hard and soft intervals. The

name might give confusion; however, hard intervals are merely dissonant intervals which include

major and minor sevenths and seconds, also perfect and augmented fourths and perfect and

diminished fifths, and soft intervals are consonant intervals which include major and minor thirds

and sixths. From these hard and soft intervals come hard and soft harmonies.

As stated in the introduction of this paper, I will discuss four of the ten movements from

Tcherepnins Expressions, op. 81. This piano work is a collection of ten short character pieces

with descriptive title at the end of each one. This end-title feature resembles the Debussys

twenty four Preludes. The first and last movements are named Entrance and Exit which

suggest the idea of a journey into an unknown land where many scenes are notated on staff paper;

they are the Hour of Death, Caprice, Silly Story of the White Oxen, Thief in the Night,

At the Fair, Barkarole, Blind Mans Buff, and at Dawn. Before Tcherepnin, another

Russian composer, Mussorgsky, also wrote a similar collection on the paintings of his friend

Hartmann, the famous Pictures at an Exhibition. Whether there is a connection between the two

is a great topic to invest on. Tcherepnin considered this work his new musical language (that)

synthesized all the technical devices of the pastand became combined with new research in

form. Expressions, op.81 was a response of the composer to the American publisher when

asked to provide some pieces in the style of his early Bagatelles, op.5. The performance time of
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this collection is around fifteen minutes with difficulty level ranging from late intermediate to

advance. Below is a table of the performance time of each piece and its technical characteristics.

Name Technical characteristics Performance time

Entrance Allegro, mostly two parts, with 53 seconds

melody and accompaniment

The Hour of Death Lento, melody with chordal 3 minutes

accompaniment

Caprice Andantino, melody with 1 minute 5 second

accompaniment, with some big

chords, several key changes

Silly Story of the White Oxen Allegretto, two parts, some hand 57 seconds

crossing

Thief in the Night Presto, virtuosic, challenge in 46 seconds

phrasing with different groupings

between hands

At the Fair Animato, unconventional meter, 1 minute 15 seconds

vast range of dynamics

Barkarole Lento, voicing issue, lyrical 3 minute

playing

Blind Mans Buff Allegretto, triple against eighth 52 seconds

note

At Dawn Andante, lots of accidentals, no 1 minute and 44 seconds

patterns, no meter, challenging

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rhythms

Exit Allegro commodo, mixture of 1 minute

unconventional meters, different

phrase grouping between hands

The first movement Entrance starts off the collection with energy and excitement. The

opening of doubling perfect fifth catches the attention of audience right away. The effect

achieved by the open sound of perfect fifth creates anticipation from the audience of what is

coming next. The two eighth-notes and triplet sixteenth-notes gesture intensify the drive of

energy of this movement (figure 6).

Figure 6- The opening of Entrance

The staccato eighth notes imitating the steps entering this unknown land of music created

by Tcherepnin along with couple sixteenth notes in the inner voice and the accents on offbeat

create the overall excitement of this opening movement (figure 7).

Figure 7- The eighth notes imitating the steps

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Also in this movement, Tcherepnin uses metrical interpoint by superimposing 7/8 meter

on top of 2/4 meter (figure 8).

Figure 8- Metrical interpoint

The ending of this movement delivers a surprise to its audience by using contrast

dynamics from a sudden forte to piano, and a final forte with accent and sforzando (figure 9).

Figure 9- The last four measures of contrast dynamics

The second movement the Hour of Death is one of the three movements in this

collection that do not have a key signature. The harmonies used in the introduction suggests the

key of C harmonic minor (Ab or G#, and B natural); however, the arrival of the phrase is a D

minor chord (figure 10).

Figure 10- Harmonies in the introduction

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The theme (figure 11) comes in after the chordal introduction is based on the the

Hirajoshi scale (pentatonic scale) of the Japanese folk music which can be found in the famous

Sakura melody. The construction of the Hirajoshi scale is as follow: 1, , 2, or tone, semitone,

two tones, and a semitone. A D hirajoshi scale will have D, E, F, A, and Bb; these pitches are

exactly those of the theme in this movement. The only difference is that Tcherepnin is using the

4th mode of the D Hirajoshi scale; therefore, the tone center will be A.

Figure 11- Theme in the 4th mode of the D Hirajoshi scale

One coincidence here, probably a calculation by Tcherepnin, is that the D Hirajoshi scale

is a part of the nine-step scale that starts from A (one of the four fundamental mentioned earlier).

This nine-step scale in A becomes the basic material of this movement both melodically and

harmonically. Tcherepnin skillfully combines the Japanese folk element with his own musical

language to create haunting and mystic atmosphere. Not only the sound aspect of the piece

generates the haunted feeling, so does the timing aspect of it. The syncopated chordal

accompaniment between themes intensifies the pieces atmosphere (figure 12).

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Figure 12- Syncopated chordal accompaniment

This second movement ends with two effective gestures: the B natural pedal tone on the

right hand as if fear of death leaves hanging without resolution while the left hand playing the

staccato C minor chord as if the clock is counting down the moment till death comes (figure 13).

Figure 13- Two gestures end the second movement

The third movement Caprice is no less interesting than the previous two movements.

The term Caprice has several meanings. First, Caprice can be a lively piece of music that is

short and free in form; second, Caprice can be painting or work of art representing a fantasy or

a mixture of real and imaginary features; lastly, the term Caprice can also mean a sudden

change in mood or behavior. The reason I investigate on the meaning of Caprice is that it

makes less sense to me if out of the ten descriptive titles for ten movements; there is this third

movement whose title is actually a music genre. Therefore, I lean toward the meaning of

Caprice as a painting or a sudden change in mood or behavior. To match this character of the
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movement, Tcherepnin uses two techniques: tonality and rhythm. The movement starts out in C

major and modulate to E major, G major, F# major, Ab major, Db major, D major before

returning to C major. All modulations are abrupt. As for rhythm aspect, this movement uses

hemiola (figure 14), metrical (figure 15), and vertical interpoint (figure 16).

Figure 14- Hemiola, shift between duple and triple meter

Figure 15- Metrical interpoint

Figure 16- Vertical interpoint

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The ninth movement is another movement without key signature or meter. This

movement is based on what Tcherepnin calls the folklore of birdcalls. He said, The folklore

of bird calls, of insectsthe sounds of nature, the rhythm of the spoken wordalways had

fascination for me.7 Birdcalls remind one of Oliver Messiaen who published a collection of

these in the early 1950s while the first evidence of birdcalls in Tcherepnin was in 1924 (Sonata

for cello and piano op. 29).8 This movement does not follow any melodic or harmonic pattern;

the whole movement features the calling of birds sometimes one, sometimes a few, sometimes

gentle, sometimes angular. Tcherepnins use of birdcalls in this movement cannot be more

appropriate; the calling of birds signifies the beginning of the day.

A brief study of Alexander Tcherepnins life, compositional techniques, and his piano

works proves that he is an influential and unique figure of the twentieth century composers. The

four movements in his Expressions, op. 81 are full of ideas and imaginations. It is a pity that his

works have not been played that often; it is also this papers purpose to help discover the hidden

gems in the works of this twentieth century master.

7
Korabelnikova, 207.
8
Ibid.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arias, Enrique Alberto. Alexander Tcherepnin: a Bio-Bibliography. New York: Greenwood

Press, 1989.

Korabelnikova, Ludmila. Alexander Tcherepnin: The Saga of a Russian Emigre Composer.

Trans. Anne Winestein. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008.

Messiaen, Oliver. The Technique of my Musical Language. Trans. John Satterfield. Irvine:
American Reprint Service, 1987.

The Tcherepnin Society. Accessed February 24th, 2016. http://www.tcherepnin.com/