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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2014
Solo Violin Miniatures in the 21st Century:

Analysis of Commissioned Works from the
Violin Futura Project
Piotr Szewczyk
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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
SOLO VIOLIN MINIATURES IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
ANALYSIS OF COMMISSIONED WORKS FROM THE
VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT
By
PIOTR SZEWCZYK
A Treatise submitted to the

College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Music
Degree Awarded:
Fall Semester, 2014
Piotr Szewczyk defended this treatise on October 21, 2014.
The members of the supervisory committee were:
Corinne Stillwell
Professor Directing Treatise
Clifton Callender
University Representative
Benjamin Sung
Committee Member
Gregory Sauer
Committee Member
The Graduate School has verified and approved the above:named committee members, and
certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements.
ii
I would like to dedicate this treatise to all of the composers from the Violin Futura Project who
wrote these fascinating pieces for me and gave me the privilege of premiering them.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Professor Corinne Stillwell for her guidance with this treatise, for
her insightful comments in helping me prepare for my Carnegie Hall recital where many of the
pieces were performed, and for her inspiring teaching and mentoring during my doctoral studies
at Florida State University.
I would like to thank all of the composers who wrote those pieces for me, for their
comments and guidance in interpreting them, and for their continuing encouragement and
support of this project.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii

List of Musical Examples .............................................................................................................. ix
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ xiii
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1
1. THE VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT IN THE 21ST CENTURY CONTEXT ..........................3
1.1 Musical Genesis of the Violin Futura Project ................................................................3
1.2 Stylistic Diversity in the 21st Century: The Era of Post:isms ........................................4
1.3 Fragmentation of Trends within Western Music ...........................................................7
1.4 Socio:Cultural Environment in the 21st Century ...........................................................7
1.5 Changing Backgrounds of Composers Writing Music for Violin .................................8
1.6 Dangers of Unplayability: Result of Compositional Over:Intellectualization ..............9
1.7 The Middle Ground: Balance between Intellectual Concept and Playability ..............11
1.8 Composers in the Violin Futura Project.......................................................................12
1.9 Future Plans for the Violin Futura Project ...................................................................14
2. INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYTICAL APPROACHES ............................................17
3. ARCHETYPAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................................19
4. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AMONG PIECES IN THE SAME ARCHETYPES ..........24
4.1 Moto Perpetuo .............................................................................................................24
4.2 Dance Forms ................................................................................................................33
4.3 Text and Poetry ............................................................................................................37
4.4 Religion ........................................................................................................................38
4.5 Theatricality .................................................................................................................39
4.6 Crossover with Popular Music .....................................................................................43
4.7 Variation Form and/or Quotation.................................................................................44
4.8 Programmatic:only Music ...........................................................................................47
4.9 Generic Forms ..............................................................................................................48
4.10 Absolute Music ............................................................................................................49
4.11 Nationalism ..................................................................................................................49
4.12 Humor ..........................................................................................................................50
4.13 Summary of Archetypal Analysis ................................................................................51
5. ANALYSIS OF THE APPROACHES TO HARMONIC LANGUAGE .............................53
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5.1 Expression of Harmony on the Violin .........................................................................53
5.2 Linear Intervallic Patterns in Mono: and Polyphonic Textures ...................................54
5.3 Arpeggiated Triads.......................................................................................................56
5.4 Multi:layered Polyphonic Textures .............................................................................57
5.5 Vertical Approaches: Double:, Triple:, and Quadruple:stops .....................................58
5.6 Jazz and Pop Harmony in Crossover Pieces ................................................................60
5.7 Use of Various Modes and Exotic Scales ....................................................................63
5.8 Summary of the Approaches to Harmonic Language ..................................................64
6. ANALYSIS OF EXTENDED NOTATION/TECHNIQUES ...............................................67
6.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................67
6.2 Microtonality................................................................................................................68
6.3 Temporal Flexibility ....................................................................................................69
6.4 Indeterminate Pitches ...................................................................................................70
6.5 Scratch Tones ...............................................................................................................71
6.6 Natural and Artificial Harmonics.................................................................................72
6.7 Scordatura....................................................................................................................74
6.8 Percussive and Theatrical Effects ................................................................................74
6.9 Extended Use of Pizzicato ...........................................................................................79
6.10 Hybridization of Gestures ............................................................................................80
7. PERFORMANCE AND PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS ........................................................81
7.1 The Process of Learning ..............................................................................................81
7.2 Each Piece: A World of Its Own..................................................................................83
7.3 Theatrical Performance Challenges in Eggert’s Idyl ...................................................83
7.4 Aspects of Sequencing the Performance Order ...........................................................85
7.5 Developing a Mindset for New Music .........................................................................86
7.6 Exposure to Various Styles as Preparation for Interpretation ......................................90
7.7 List of Observations and Suggestions for Students and Pedagogues ..........................92
8. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................96
APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................99
A. WEBSITE LINKS TO COMPOSERS FROM THE VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT ...........99
B. SELECTED SOLO VIOLIN WORKS FROM THE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST
CENTURIES……………………………………………………………………………………100
vi
C. BOOKS ON EXTENDED VIOLIN TECHNIQUE AND NOTATION ............................103
D. SELECTED RESOURCES FOR DISCOVERING AND COMMISSIONING NEW
MUSIC………………………………………………………………………………………….104
E. PERMISSIONS ...................................................................................................................106
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................111
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................116
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1 Complete List of Pieces from the Violin Futura Project 2006 : 2010……………...…16
Table 3.1 Pieces Categorized into Twelve Archetypes with Relations to Significant Pieces from
the Past…………………………………………………………………………………………...20
viii
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example 4.1 Opening three lines from Kellogg’s Sizzle ...............................................................25

Example 4.2 Measures 1:17 from Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella .............................................26
Example 4.3 Measures 113 from Schoenberg’s Swoosh ...............................................................26
Example 4.4 Underlying hyper:rhythmic structure of the opening of Schoenberg’s Swoosh .......27
Example 4.5 Measures 99:104 from Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella .........................................28
Example 4.6 Measures 1:12 of Mellits’ Żubrówka .......................................................................28
Example 4.7 Underlying hyper:rhythmic structure of the opening of Mellits’ Żubrówka ............29
Example 4.8 Opening rhythmic motive of Dillon’s Mister Blister ...............................................29
Example 4.9 Measures 1:7 from Grey’s Left for the Dogs ............................................................30
Example 4.10 Opening two lines from Harrington’s Puce ............................................................30
Example 4.11 Measures 1:11 from Juusela’s Red Bull #3 ............................................................31
Example 4.12 Opening three lines of Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo ........................................................32
Example 4.13 Opening line of Callender’s gegenschein ...............................................................32
Example 4.14 Measures 69:79 from Callender’s gegenschein ......................................................33
Example 4.15 Annotated opening section of Sherr’s Midnight Dance ..........................................35
Example 4.16 Underlying metric design in Sherr’s Midnight Dance ............................................35
Example 4.17 Annotated metric/rhythmic pattern in Sherr’s Midnight Dance .............................36
Example 4.18 Opening two lines from Bates’ Blue Berceuse .......................................................37
Example 4.19 Opening line from Eggert’s Idyl .............................................................................38
Example 4.20 Measures 58:65 from Becastro’s Buyer’s Remorse................................................40
Example 4.21 Extremes of expression in Capp’s Scatterbrain .....................................................41
Example 4.22 Ending from Capp’s Scatterbrain ...........................................................................42
Example 4.23 Measures 16:31 from Coons’ Coming Undone ......................................................42
Example 4.24 Measures 29:36 of Morozumi’s Real Phone Key ...................................................43
Example 4.25 Measures 50:70 from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove..........................................44
Example 4.26 Annotated Theme and Variation III from Smart’s Benediction .............................46
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Example 4.27 Annotated opening from Einbond’s Fish Gotta Swim............................................47
Example 4.28 Measures 6:8 from Kennedy’s fp (For Piotr).........................................................48
Example 5.1 Annotated opening two lines from Schoenberg’s Swoosh .......................................55
Example 5.2 Annotated measure 9 from Schimmel’s Whiffet .......................................................55
Example 5.3 Annotated arpeggiated tertial chords from Smart’s Benediction ..............................56
Example 5.4 Annotated common note chordal pivoting in Kellogg’s Sizzle ................................57
Example 5.5 Three:layered polyphonic texture in Sorkin’s Toward the Other Shore ..................58
Example 5.6 Annotated opening two lines from Williamson’s Homecoming...............................58
Example 5.7 Chordal opening in Cooman’s The Doors in the Sky ...............................................59
Example 5.8 Measures 10:13 from Cooman’s The Doors in the Sky ............................................60
Example 5.9 Opening of Pew’s En Comunión ..............................................................................60
Example 5.10 Annotated measures 9:20 from Morozumi’s Real Phone Key ...............................61
Example 5.11 Riffs in Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove built on A:Mixolydian mode .................61
Example 5.12 Annotated measures 112:133 from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove ....................62
Example 5.13 Linear modal inflections in Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove .................................62
Example 5.14 Annotated opening line from He’s Yang4Ge Dance ...............................................63
Example 5.15 Annotated measures 13:17 from He’s Yang4Ge Dance .........................................63
Example 5.16 Annotated measures 1:27 from Mellits’ Żubrówka ...............................................64
Example 5.17 Measures 28:37 from Oliver’s Tossing and Turning .............................................65
Example 6.1 Quarter:tone double:stops in Coons’ Coming Undone ............................................68
Example 6.2 Quarter:tone tremolos in Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo ......................................................69
Example 6.3 Quarter: and ¾ :tones in Castillo’s Cirque...............................................................69
Example 6.4 Aleatoric opening in Wickman’s Respite: A detour for solo violin..........................70
Example 6.5 Indeterminate pitches in Juusela’s Red Bull #3 ........................................................70
Example 6.6 Indeterminate pitch sequence in Castillo’s Cirque ...................................................71
Example 6.7 Indeterminate aleatoric spiccato in Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella ......................71
Example 6.8 Scratch tones in Castillo’s Cirque ............................................................................72
x
Example 6.9 Opening of Callender’s gegenschein ........................................................................73
Example 6.10 Measures 32:36 in Callender’s gegenschein ..........................................................73
Example 6.11 Harmonics in Kennedy’s fp (For Piotr) .................................................................74
Example 6.12 Scordatura notes marked with square note:heads in Eggert’s Idyl .........................74
Example 6.13 Sequence of theatrical effects in Eggert’s Idyl .......................................................75
Example 6.14 Stomping and screaming in Eggert’s Idyl ...............................................................75
Example 6.15 Aleatoric section with instruction for reading newspaper in Eggert’s Idyl ............76
Example 6.16 Climactic theatrical section in Eggert’s Idyl ...........................................................76
Example 6.17 Whistling combined with harmonics in Eggert’s Idyl ............................................77
Example 6.18 Melodic whistling combined with pizzicato ostinato in Eggert’s Idyl ...................77
Example 6.19 Opening line from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove...............................................78
Example 6.20 Percussive effects in Castillo’s Cirque ...................................................................78
Example 6.21 Last page of Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo ........................................................................79
Example 7.1 Near:complete interpretative control in Capp’s Scatterbrain ..................................83
Example 7.2 Measures 1:8 from Schimmel’s Whiffet ...................................................................88
Example 7.3 Opening lines from Castillo’s Cirque .......................................................................88
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Digital animations by Cira Crowell, Piotr Szewczyk – violin……………………….13

Figure 7.1 Piotr Szewczyk performing Eggert’s Idyl at Carnegie Hall………………………….84
xii
ABSTRACT
The Violin Futura Project is a set of recitals featuring 34 commissioned solo violin
miniatures written for and performed by Piotr Szewczyk. It showcases the multitude of divergent
styles and compositional approaches present on the musical scene at the beginning of the 21st
Century. Three levels of analysis are performed in this treatise: archetypal, harmonic, and
extended notation/techniques. The archetypal analysis shows the connections to the past as seen
in these modern pieces, and puts them in a socio:cultural and musical context. Analysis of
harmonic language and extended techniques showcases the divergent approaches and
pedagogical challenges. The chapter on pedagogy talks about the various approaches to learning
and interpreting these and other contemporary pieces. The conclusion draws larger connections
and gives advice to violinists and pedagogues about ways to incorporate contemporary music
into pedagogical and performance settings, how to find and connect with composers, and how to
develop specific skills needed for the interpretation and performance of contemporary music.
xiii
INTRODUCTION
Emerging from a vast, four:hundred year history, solo violin music at the beginning of
the 21st Century encompasses a diversity of styles and approaches never before seen in the
history of music. Built upon a history of repertoire that developed the technical and expressive
possibilities of the violin : from J. S. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas to the 20th Century
experimental Freeman Etudes of John Cage : composers in the 21st Century are faced with new
compositional challenges and stylistic approaches: finding their own unique voices in an era of
cultural pluralism and exhausted avant:garde clichés.
There is practically nothing shocking or avant:garde to be accomplished with the violin

itself, as those approaches were already explored to its limits in the 20th Century (i.e. John
Cage’s nearly:unplayable Freeman Etudes, smashing and destroying the violin in Maxwell:
Davies’ Eight Songs of a Mad King, polishing the violin with a cloth on stage in George Brecht’s
Solo for Violin). Instead, 21st Century composers are writing solo violin music that is engaging
and deeply personal by rediscovering lyricism, creating unique expressive hybrid gestures (by
combining multiple techniques and elements of extended techniques), personalizing harmonic
languages, using structural narratives and finding musical uses of extended techniques. In
addition, despite the already explored possibilities of extended techniques, composers are still
able to be extremely innovative and expand or create new techniques not used before.
Living composers’ stylistically divergent voices are a result of having studied and
internalized the previous eras' ":isms," and living in the times where instant connectivity and
globalization are driving cultural forces. To create a personal form of expression from all the
styles available, composers creatively select aspects of different styles to make their own. They
apply various already:developed techniques for their own personal musical purposes, not for the
exploration of the technique itself. The analyses of the pieces in this treatise will give a
perspective on how they fit into the current trends in contemporary music while having a
relationship and connection to the forms, ideas and approaches from the past.
The purpose of this treatise is to provide an overview of the variety of styles present at
the beginning of the 21st Century by focusing on the solo violin works in the Violin Futura
Project. I started developing the Project in 2006 to create a series of solo violin recitals with
1
contemporary pieces that follow three stipulations: short, exciting and innovative. I
commissioned fifteen composers in the first edition of the project as an experiment to see what
kinds of pieces would be written. As soon as I started receiving the pieces, I knew that this would
be a significant project, capturing a unique snapshot of the times and the composers’ creativity.
All the pieces were written within a few years, yet they express a wide variety of approaches and
styles. The composers of these works have very different backgrounds and experiences, from
graduate students to seasoned professional composers with international careers. I decided to
continue growing the project and currently, it features 34 pieces and is continually expanding.
The pedagogy of contemporary music is notoriously challenging both for professors and
students since contemporary music still occupies a very small part of professional music training,
with the exception of people who decide to become specialists. With its divergent styles and
technical challenges, contemporary music needs special approaches from many angles. I will
explore those pedagogical aspects in detail, using examples from the commissioned pieces and
other sources. The Violin Futura Project lends itself perfectly to the exploration of the
pedagogical aspects of contemporary music, since the pieces can be used as modern caprices and
etudes in a variety of styles.
The purpose of this treatise is to provide an overview of the variety of styles represented
in the works of the Violin Futura Project, and to explain various approaches to interpreting and
performing this music. Putting the music into a socio:cultural and musical context will illuminate
the vast compositional resources that are available for violinists considering commissioning new
pieces themselves.
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CHAPTER ONE
THE VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT IN THE 21ST CENTURY CONTEXT
1.1 Musical Genesis of the Violin Futura Project
The purpose of the Violin Futura Project is to sample the creative environment of our
times by showcasing the wide variety of styles present in the 21st Century, and to create a body
of new solo violin repertoire. The project is an embodiment of the entrepreneurial approach of
21st Century musicians – it was a joint effort among all of the composers and myself to create
this unique project and to present it to varied audiences. For the most up:to:date information
about the composers, their pieces, links to their websites, audio and video samples from my
performances, and a complete performance history, and upcoming events, please visit
www.ViolinFutura.com.
I started this project by first contacting composers I knew personally. I explained the idea
of wanting to commission short, exciting and innovative solo violin miniatures and invited them
to join the project. After the first successful group of pieces and first set of performances, I
decided to expand the project by creating a call:for:scores from more composers. The project is
ongoing and I plan to continue it into the future by performing these works and commissioning
new ones. This massive outburst of creativity from all of the participating composers allows us to
see the artistic potential in the 21st Century composition scene and it will hopefully inspire other
violinists to consider commissioning pieces for themselves as well.
The form of these pieces, for practical and cultural reasons, was limited to miniatures:
short two to five minute long character pieces. Practically, this choice was out of respect for
composers knowing how busy they are and how many complex projects they are juggling. I
knew they were more likely to find time and energy in their busy schedules to write short solo
pieces than much longer ones.
The cultural reasons behind this idea were threefold. First, the miniature reflects our bite:
sized, fast:paced, constantly changing modern world. A miniature, akin in length to a culturally
ubiquitous “song”, is a practical way of expressing musical ideas concisely. Second, the idea of a
miniature gives the composer a condensed stylistic and artistic “business card” he or she can
3
present to the performer and the world. By asking composers to write miniatures, I wanted the
audience members to experience their styles in a concise form and entice them to explore each
composer’s works beyond these short pieces they just heard. The third reason, and possibly the
most influential for the long term, was to entice young performers to discover contemporary solo
violin repertoire with short pieces that would not be overwhelming to them but instead would
spark a genuine interest and curiosity. These short pieces can also be used as immensely
effective pedagogical tools for teachers to introduce the concepts, styles and challenges of new
music in a concise and digestible form. Students can learn these short pieces before approaching
larger, technically overwhelming contemporary pieces.
The only stipulation I gave the composers was to write pieces that are “short, exciting and
innovative” and let them interpret what that meant to them. The short description did not impose
an expectation for the pieces to be fast or gimmicky. To the contrary, I wanted to see what this
creative impetus would evoke in a group of widely different composers. The result was a set of
pieces with a broad stylistic spectrum – from fast, virtuosic tour4de4force works to intensely
personal, introspective, slow pieces and avant:garde miniatures.
1.2 Stylistic Diversity in the 21st Century: The Era of Post.isms
The stylistic diversity present in the works of the Violin Futura Project reflects the
changing musical and cultural aesthetic in the 21st Century. It is due to the emergence of
concurrent styles and multiculturalism as a result of instant connectivity and globalization which
started in the 20th Century:
Improved communications and travel also fostered a global market for the arts. Many
forms of entertainment reached audiences all over the world … Music from around the
world became increasingly accessible through recordings, the Internet, and live
performances. The diversity of the world’s music brought a growing awareness in Europe
and the Americas that each musician’s work is but one strand in a global tapestry.1
This stylistic diversity crosses all previous boundaries between popular and art music and
directly affects composers and their choices within the surrounding cultural milieu in which
artists are working. “In the multidimensional world of music since the 1970s, most people cross
musical boundaries every day… Musicians live in the same fluid environment, and their work
1
J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music (New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, 2014), 960.
4
reflects it … Crossing and blending traditions became commonplace.”2 The lines between
classical and pop music are also blurring, Alex Ross writes about this phenomenon in The Rest is
Noise:
At the beginning of the twenty:first century, the impulse to pit classical music against
pop culture no longer makes intellectual or emotional sense. Young composers have
grown up with pop music ringing in their ears, and they make use of it or ignore it as the
occasion demands. They are seeking the middle ground between the life of the mind and
the noise of the street. Likewise, some of the liveliest reactions to twentieth:century and
contemporary classical music have come from the pop arena, roughly defined.3
Violinist Irvine Arditti, a leading expert in contemporary violin music, describes the challenging
landscape of new music: “Over the past three or four decades, since my first experiences with
new music, many composers have developed their own personal languages, making the role of
the performer much more challenging. There are no longer clearly defined schools of
composition that composers neatly slot into.”4
Stylistically, the early 21st Century is an era of “post:isms”, a description for our
frustration with labeling the variety of undefinable, quickly morphing styles and approaches.
American composer John Adams says that “we’re in a kind of post:style era. Composers my age
and younger, we are not writing in one, highly defined, overreaching expression …”5 This
describes a sort of post:apocalyptic world where all “:isms” have fought their battles and lost.
The authors of A History of Western Music argue that “the profusion of individual idioms in the
twentieth century had, as a corollary, the breakdown of any common musical language.”6 This
compositional milieu at the beginning of the 21st Century explains the diversity of pieces and
styles present in the Violin Futura Project. It also explains the mindsets of the composers writing
those pieces.
Joseph Auner, in Music in the Twentieth and Twenty4First Centuries, posits that “the
emerging generation of composers and performers has much less invested in the old battles,
2
Burkholder, A History of Western Music, 960:961.
3
Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (New York: Picador, 2007), 589:590.
4
Irvine Arditti and Robert H.P. Platz, The Techniques of Violin Playing (Kassel: Baerenreiter, 2013), 10.
5
Joseph Auner, Music in the Twentieth and Twenty4First Centuries (New York: W. W. Norton and Company,
2013), 300.
6
Burkholder, A History of Western Music, 984.
5
historical narratives, and anxieties than their elders do.”7 Composers are becoming artistic
omnivores fueled by exposure to world cultures, history and interaction with other artists, either
in person or through the instantly connected on:line world. The emerging socio:cultural context
in the 21st Century is profoundly different than any other era in the past.
The beginning of the twenty:first century found the Western musical tradition at a crucial
moment. For one thing, along with wider and more rapid communication throughout the
world there came a certain broadening of culture. One manifestation of this is the
permeation of Western composers’ works by philosophies and musical material drawn
from other cultures. Western music has, at the same time, been spread throughout the
world, and its influence can be heard in some other indigenous repertoires. Whether the
West will maintain indefinitely the sort of cultural coherence that is sustained up to the
end of the twentieth century cannot be entirely clear.8
The most recent, all:encompassing term that already seems like an impotent and evasive
way of describing a flood of contrasting new trends is postmodernism which, in great
simplification, is applied essentially to the inability of the term modernism to show a sustainable
forward direction. Douglass Seaton, in Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition,
explains that “the failure of modernism to generate either any convincing particular direction of
development or any new foundation for culture made for a view of the present more as a
diversity of options than as a moment in a historical trajectory.”9 Postmodernism described the
attitudes of composers “who tended to keep all musical languages at an ironic distance.”10
A central aspect of postmodernism is a turning away from the belief, crucial to modernist
thought, that history progresses irreversibly in one direction. In music, this idea means
abandoning the notion that musical idioms develop continuously, as if according to a plan
or some inner necessity. To the postmodernist, history gives the artist more freedom than
that; the styles of all epochs and cultures are equally available as a musical material, to be
employed as the composer sees fit.11
But in the end, “identified as a sort of negative – a rejection of and a counterpart to modernism –
postmodernism remains essentially undefined.”12 In addition, “even basic distinctions between
7
Auner, Music in the Twentieth and Twenty4First Centuries, 300.
8
Douglass Seaton, Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010),
453.
9
Ibid., 441.
10
11
12
Seaton, Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition, 442.
6
what is and is not music are no longer easily maintained, and lines between different types of
music have often faded to the point of invisibility.”13
In retrospect, the ideology of “:isms” in the 20th Century in general was that of exclusion
and dogmatic adherence to limiting rules. For example, the “:isms” of integral serialism and
minimalism were at opposite extremes of the defined limitations rather than openness for new
possibilities and inclusivity. Composers in the 21st Century seem to operate in the exact opposite
mindset – that of inclusion and pluralism, as they “feel at home in more than one milieu.”14
1.3 Fragmentation of Trends within Western Music
The perspective gets even more complex when we take into account the fragmentation of
trends and sub:trends within the very narrow spectrum of Western music itself. “Even in the case
of works that combine techniques of different schools, such fusions merely create more
substyles; it seems impossible to find a basis for identifying stylistic or aesthetic conventions that
would justify viewing the Western music or musical thought of this period as in some sense
unified.” 15 This fragmentation is a form of cultural pluralism that permeates all areas of social
and cultural life. “The extreme pluralism of current music seems to suggest that the present
period actually does not have a musical culture of its own at all … Instead, we have a whole
range of subcultures that interact and influence one another in various ways, yet remain
autonomous enough to permit independent development.”16 What it leads to is that “we may
well be at the beginning of an enduring “posthistorical” period during which different and often
changing styles and esthetics will coexist simultaneously.”17 Those comments, in retrospect, can
explain the variety of compositional approaches present in the Violin Futura Project.
1.4 Socio.cultural Environment in the 21st Century
The striking thing about the collection of the pieces in the Violin Futura Project is the
socio:cultural, not just musical, environment from which these works emerge. They transpire
from a world that is vastly different, faster changing and more socially and culturally connected
13
Robert P. Morgan, Twentieth4Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America (New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 484.
14
15
Ibid., 454.
16
Morgan, Twentieth4Century Music, 484.
17
Ibid.
7
than any era that came before it. While this can also be said about every consecutive historical
era getting more complex, one aspect that is shaping this environment in a completely new way
is that of instant connectivity. In the beginning of the 21st Century, “among the greatest and most
significant changes were new communications technologies that are now so much a fabric of
everyday life around the world that it is hard to remember how new they are.”18 The instant
global connectivity by internet and access to virtually unlimited sources of inspiration is
something that has profound implications on music and the choices that composers make.
The music in the Violin Futura Project emerges from that instantly connected world. This
project has become an entrepreneurial social experiment in connecting a wide variety of
composers. Through the internet, connections were made with composers from disparate
backgrounds, styles and locations from Germany, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Canada and
numerous cities in the United States. What makes this project an embodiment of the socio:
cultural milieu is the way it was developed using the new tools of the 21st Century. The
discovery and recruitment of composers, exchange of ideas, reception of scores by email (PDFs
and Finale files), and sharing recordings (MP3s) and videos (MPEG files and YouTube) were
done exclusively through the internet without any physical contact with composers or the printed
music. This project showcases both the musical diversity of the 21st Century and new ways of
collaborating with composers to share music.
1.5 Changing Backgrounds of Composers Writing Music for Violin
Another contributing aspect in understanding these solo violin works is the experience
and background of the composers. Facets that influence the way 21st Century composers write
for solo violin include the degree of their experiences with the instrument as players, experiences
with writing for the instrument in different genres, or writing for the instrument for the very first
time. We have to also consider how the backgrounds of composers have changed through
history. The very obvious observation, simply from reading composers’ biographies, is that most
living composers in the 21st Century are not violinists, something that used to be common in
previous eras where all composers were performers and vice versa (and often played multiple
18
8
instruments). As composers and performers started specializing in the 20th Century,
compositional styles started diverging as well.
For example, in the romantic era large amount of solo violin music was written by
virtuoso violinists for themselves to show off their skills and develop new techniques (Kreutzer,
Rode, de Bériot, Viotti, Paganini, Wieniawski, Lipinski, Ernst). Besides the stylistic confines of
that era, the repertoire written by violinists generally had a very narrow scope of compositional
approach, although it is very idiomatic. It is common for these works to suffer from diminished
compositional complexity and depth of intellectual concept, since the main goal was to deliver
blazing virtuosic showmanship. For example, Paganini’s 24 Caprices “show a decided talent for
composition” but his “later works allow his zest for showmanship to outweigh his musical
purpose.”19
It is also interesting to notice that the audience’s desire for such feats changes with the
times and the same music is perceived differently in later eras. “Today Paganini’s
compositions… arouse amusement rather than awe from modern audiences. Not because the
technical feats have been surpassed by later violinist:composers, but possibly because the ability
to accomplish these tricks is more widespread, and audiences look for more than technical glitter
in their music.”20 As the roles of composers and performers have diverged and the tradition of
violinist:composers atrophied in the 20th Century, a new extreme compositional approach has
emerged: over:intellectualization, which alienated the performer from the composer and the
audience.
1.6 Dangers of Unplayability: Result of Compositional Over.Intellectualization
In contrast to the vapid idiomatic virtuosity of romantic violinist:composers, over:

intellectualization was explored by composers who rarely or never held a violin in their hands,
much less performed it in public. During that time in the 20th Century, non:violinist composers
were inventing sophisticated compositional concepts that led to pieces that are very difficult to
perform. In addition, these works challenge audiences to comprehend the complex underlying
structure.
19
Sheila M. Nelson, The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques (New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
2003), 144.
20
Ibid.
9
What is over:intellectualized can be a great philosophical debate, but for the purposes of
this treatise, I define it as a piece of music in which the technical challenges may obstruct the
performer’s delivery of the piece and audience’s comprehension. One of the most extreme
examples of such an approach is seen in John Cage’s Freeman Etudes, recorded by only two
violinists in the world so far (Irvine Arditti and Marco Fusi) since their publication in years 1980
and 1990. That in itself is an implied judgment of the countless violinists who have preferred to
spend their time with other repertoire. James Prichett, a John Cage scholar and author of the liner
notes for Irvine Arditti’s recording says: “John Cage’s Freeman Etudes for violin are extremely
difficult pieces of music – one might go so far as to declare them ‘impossible’. … If one were to
turn to the score for help in understanding these pieces (which can be as challenging for the
audience as for the performer), it would be of little use…”21
Speaking from experience, showing the Cage scores to accomplished violinists who are
not familiar with those pieces usually evokes gasps of incomprehension rather than fascination or
the desire to decipher them. We may also embark on a philosophical debate about validating the
existence of such music. Justifying over:intellectualization by means of trying to push the
techniques to their extremes is one such usable approach. Works like these show where the
technical limits are, or rather, what lies beyond them. In this particular case, Cage was grappling
with a philosophical concept he wanted to express through these works: “One way to view the
Freeman Etudes, then, is as a celebration of the ability to do hard work. Cage saw this as having
implications not just for musicians, but for society as a whole.”22
It seems that pieces like these are inevitable and may never go away entirely, as some
composers will continue to experiment in new ways. It is ironic and quite telling that such
extreme pieces are almost never performed by the composers themselves and are practically
never composed by violinist:composers. This over:intellectualization exemplifies one extreme
on the spectrum of compositional approaches to writing solo violin music: an axis spanning from
shallow, technically idiomatic virtuosity to avant:garde near:unplayability.
A completely different avant:garde approach to solo violin music also warrants our brief
attention – the conceptual art of mid:20th Century Fluxus movement. “According to George
21
James Prichett, CD liner notes, Arditti: Cage Freeman Etudes, Mode Records.
22
Ibid.
10
Maciunas, the chief protagonist…, Fluxus events ‘strive for the monostructural and nontheatrical
qualities of the simple natural event, a game or a gag.”23 The composers of Fluxus broke all
assumptions of what music, a piece or performance can be, turning them into “events”. For
example, in the conceptual piece Solo for Violin by George Brecht, “a performer comes onto the
stage, dressed for the occasion, holding his instrument, and proceeds…to polish the
instrument.”24
1.7 The Middle Ground: Balance between Intellectual Concept and Playability
There are, of course, numerous masterpieces in between those two extremes of

approaches. For example, there are violinist/composers such as Eugène Ysaÿe or Grażyna
Bacewicz writing highly intellectual but playable solo violin music, but also non:
violinist/composers like Béla Bartók, Sergei Prokofiev, Alfred Schnittke or, recently, Esa:Pekka
Salonen (with his work Lachen Verlernt) who achieve similar results without the benefit of a
virtuoso performer’s experience. There are, as well, countless other 20th Century solo violin
pieces, such as the challenging, but ultimately playable Sequenza VIII by Luciano Berio, as well
as numerous other pieces of varied artistic caliber (see Appendix B on page 100 for selected list
of pieces from the 20th and early 21st Centuries which can serve as a starting point to exploring
this seldom performed repertoire). Many of these works feature new techniques and approaches
to violin writing from which composers have learned and adapted for their own use.
In general, it seems that, by the 21st Century, the extremes of compositional approaches
have somewhat relaxed into the middle ground: the balance of intellectual concept supported by
playability. Most solo violin music is now written by non:violinist composers, but with the
sensibility of a violinist in mind. Many non:violinist composers frequently collaborate with
violinists for whom they are writing to check if the techniques work and are idiomatic. These
composers seem to avoid writing belligerent, unplayable music, expecting the violinist to
somehow deal with it. They tend to be open to suggestions from the performer to improve their
pieces from a technical point of view. In some other interesting cases, certain composers who are
no longer performing but were at one time accomplished violinists, such as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
23
Michael Nyman, Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.), 77.
24
Ibid.
11
or Krzysztof Penderecki, carry their intimate knowledge of violin performance aspects into their
compositional endeavors.
1.8 Composers in the Violin Futura Project
In the Violin Futura Project, all of the composers strike an elegant balance between those
extremes of contrasting forces – composing pieces that are idiomatic while having depth of
concept and intellectual meaning on many levels. None of the 34 composers in the Project,
except for Jian:Jun He and myself, are violinists. Yet this is in no way a hindrance to them; if
anything, it may be a creative benefit on some level. It is apparent to me that these composers are
writing “music” as opposed to “violin pieces.” It sounds deceptively obvious but the difference is
stark and profound. They have adapted their original creative ideas to the instrument but were
not enslaved to the instrument’s limitations or predictable idiomatic clichés. They are guided by
their imaginations and not by the ingrained fingering patterns and gestures that are imbued in
violinists’ brains through years of practice. For the composers who are violinists or string players
(Kari Henrik Juusela is a cellist, John Oliver is a guitarist and Richard Belcastro is a sitarist), I
believe that we have collectively managed to avoid the pitfalls and were able to use our expertise
to make the pieces idiomatic while remaining intellectually creative.
The first observation I had about these pieces as I received them was how creative and
descriptive the titles are. These composers are working from clear programmatic images that
they translate into music. All of the pieces (with the exception of three) vividly express
something tangible – a feeling, idea, attitude, etc. The necessity to describe and label oneself
effectively is reflective of our saturated 21st Century culture where we need to “brand” ourselves
in a short “elevator speech” to summarize who we are. The violin pieces in the Violin Futura
Project do that surprisingly well by representing the composers’ style and sensibilities in a
miniature form pieces. It is also fascinating to discover similarities in the other music by these
composers. The unique signature of each composer is engraved deeply into each of these short
solo violin works.
Another unique aspect of this collection of pieces is the wide range of ages among the
composers. The years of birth span 49 years, from 1934 to 1983, which means that those
composers experienced widely differing influences. At the same time, they are coming together
12
in this one project, writing pieces within a 5:year period in history. From listening to these
works, we cannot tell the ages of the composers behind them. None of the works displays any
hints of any age:related ailments such as inexperience or routine leading to staleness of ideas.
The composers simply wrote the best pieces they could, and creativity, vitality and originality
emanates from each of them.
This Project also opened new possibilities of collaboration between music and visual arts,
something that is a major cultural trend in the 21st Century. At the suggestion of composer John
Kennedy, the Violin Futura Project was expanded with interactive visual artwork by Cira
Crowell (Figure 1.1. Photo credit: Cira Crowell, www.CiraCrowell.com). For each piece,
Crowell created original digital black:and:white animations to be projected onto a screen. Each
animation was intended to match the character of each piece and was synchronized with the
timing of the performance. This interesting extension of the project showcased the contemporary
crosspollination of music and visual arts and new possibilities of expression.
Figure 1.1 Digital animations by Cira Crowell, Piotr Szewczyk . violin
13
1.9 Future Plans for the Violin Futura Project
One of the most daunting and common challenges for living composers is to secure
performances of their pieces after the world premieres. The pervading condition of “premier:
itis”, the excitement of premiering a piece and then abandoning it, affects both performers and
presenters. Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja quips about this phenomenon: “It’s so hard to
persuade promoters to take a programme with new pieces. They just want a premiere for the
prestige. I think there should be a society for promoting second and third performances.”25
From the inception of the Violin Futura Project, I wanted to change that situation by
performing the pieces multiples times. The Violin Futura Project is an active, constantly
evolving project. I plan to continue performing the current set of pieces, use them for
pedagogical purposes, and develop the project for many years to come by commissioning more
composers. Commissioning new pieces does not have to distract me from giving more
performances of the music already written for me. I find the aspect of performing pieces multiple
times quite fascinating and revealing on many levels. My understanding of them grows and I see
more depth in them all the time.
My goal for these pieces I commissioned is for them to eventually enter the new standard
repertoire of the 21st Century and I will do what I can to make that happen because I feel
extremely passionate about it. New music needs people who will fervently promote it. In fact, it
is not just about promotion; it is about communicating something genuinely fresh and
meaningful to the audiences. During my 22 performances of the Project so far, I have noticed the
awe of discovery in many people’s eyes. After the concerts they have told me how fascinating
those pieces were and how they never heard anything like that before. This has convinced me to
take on the mission to share this music with as many people as possible. I would like to
demonstrate that there are different musical and emotional experiences waiting for them beyond
the old familiar repertoire.
I have had the privilege of performing the Violin Futura Project for varied audiences
(from high school students to festival audiences) and was lucky to have had very open:minded
25
Ivan Hewett, “Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Wild child of classical violin,” Telegraph, August 14, 2014.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/11032745/Patricia:Kopatchinskaja:Wild:child:of:classical:
violin.html (Accessed Oct 2, 2014).
14
and creative presenters, many of them composers themselves. One of the possible dangers of
projects like this is to relegate it to the new music festival circuit, where by default the audience
could not be more different than at a regular classical concert. One of the main goals of this
project is to break down those barriers between different types of audiences – from regular
concert:goers to new music aficionados. I have done that before and it worked. The highest
reward for me is to see the excitement, surprise, and curiosity sparkling in the eyes of audience
members when coming to tell me they want to hear this music again and ask about who the
composers are. In addition, this Project may inspire a new generation of young violinists to see
new creative and expressive possibilities in violin music.
By performing works from the Violin Futura Project, I am also encouraging audiences to
discover more music of the composers. Usually I perform approximately 16 pieces in one recital.
This gives a surprisingly easy and convenient opportunity for the audience members to become
familiar with a large number of living composers and to sample their styles. My hope is that they
will then go home and research those composers and discover more of their music.
15
Table 1.1 Complete List of Pieces from the Violin Futura Project 2006.2010
18. Kari Henrik Juusela – Red Bull #3

1. Jason Bahr – Ephemeral Rhapsody
(2009)
(2009)
19. Daniel Kellogg – Sizzle (2007)
2. Mason Bates – Blue Berceuse (2007)
20. John Kennedy – fp (For Piotr) (2007)
3. Richard Belcastro – Buyer’s Remorse
21. Marc Mellits – Żubrówka (2006)
(2009)
22. Lan.Chee Lam – Memories (2009)
4. Clifton Callender – gegenschein
23. Hiro Morozumi – Real Phone Key
(2009)
(2007)
5. Tyler Capp – Scatterbrain (2009)
24. John Oliver – Tossing and Turning
6. Patrick Castillo – Cirque (2006)
(2009)
7. Carson P. Cooman – The Doors in the
25. Douglas Pew – En Comunión (2009)
Sky (2007)
26. Carl Schimmel – Whiffet (2009)
8. Lisa Coons – Coming Undone (2009)
27. Adam Schoenberg – Swoosh (2009)
9. Matthew Davidson – Menuet pour le
28. Laurence Sherr – Midnight Dance
violon solo (2009)
(2009)
10. Lawrence Dillon – Mister Blister
29. Gary Smart – Benediction (2009)
(2006)
30. Suzanne Sorkin – Toward the Other
11. Moritz Eggert – Idylle (Idyl) (2006)
Shore (2009)
12. Aaron Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim
31. Jorge Sosa – Moto Perpetuo (2009)
(2006)
32. Piotr Szewczyk – First Coast Groove
13. Mark Grey – Left for the Dogs (2007)
(2008)
14. Jeffrey Harrington – Puce (2006)
33. Ethan Wickman – Respite: A detour
15. Ng Wah Hei – Caprice (2009)
for solo violin (2007)
16. Sydney Hodkinson – Rush:
34. Nathan Williamson – Homecoming
a Tarantella (2008)
(2006)
17. Jian.Jun He – Yang4Ge Dance (2010)
16
CHAPTER TWO
INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALTICAL APPROACHES
Using a large number of pieces for analysis provides an opportunity to view them from
multiple angles and through different lenses. The most interesting aspect of analysis in the Violin
Futura Project is to explore the variety of pieces written around the same time in history for the
same commissioning project. This very unique situation puts the whole analysis in a new
context: the multi:layered analyses on different scales will illuminate the intricate connections
the music has to the past, present, each other, and our modern culture.
Many questions emerge: what to focus on? How to structure the analysis? What aspects
to analyze? Analyze pieces in groups or separately? What purpose will the analysis serve? Are
there any unifying aspects among the pieces that can be approached as a meta:analysis? While
analyzing a single piece, the focus may be solely on the minute details such as form, harmonic
language and motivic process which are limited to material within that piece or to the style it
represents. In the case of analysis of multiple pieces by different composers, it became
imperative to approach it from multiple angles and scales: from micro to macro.
The question that needs the most attention is how this single commissioning project can
generate such a vast variety of styles and approaches? Beyond the explanation that the
composers are living in a time of cultural pluralism, the answer began to emerge during my
analysis when archetypes from the past started becoming apparent from the pieces in the Project.
During analysis, the pieces naturally began to fall into categories of archetypes that have
historical origins. It seems that the composers used these forms as archetypal scaffoldings on
which they built their own original, contemporary ideas.
A fascinating aspect of the compositional process is that these composers were writing at
approximately the same time. Yet they were not aware what the other composers were writing so
they were not directly influenced. The choices they made illuminate a cultural backbone that is
shared among them and that links them to forms and inspirations from the past. Another angle of
archetypal analysis is to see how the forms from the past are reinterpreted in the present. The
meaning of those old archetypes is different in many ways in our modern world than it was in
17
previous eras. At the same time, they do share a common thread with the past, while carrying a
new contemporary meaning.
Beyond the archetypal analysis, the variety of pieces in this Project allows us to employ
different kinds of analyses that focus on aspects of harmonic language, extended techniques and
performance/pedagogical aspects. While an analysis of unrelated solo violin pieces from
different time periods yields its own merits, this particular Project gives us a glimpse of the
current potential of living composers and how they approached the exact same set of
commissioning parameters. A formal analysis of these works, typically used in large works, is
purposefully omitted here due to the pieces’ short lengths. These works are, in general, either
through:composed or use simple ABA:style forms.
To summarize, in my approach I propose four distinct layers of analysis that will help to
draw conclusions, make connections, and illuminate the value of the Project while providing
specific details about the compositional techniques used:
Meta:analysis of the set of pieces by diving them into distinct archetypal categories
Comparative:analysis among pieces within the same archetypal category
Analysis of the approaches to harmonic language
Analysis of the extended notation/techniques
Analysis of the performance and pedagogical aspects
18
CHAPTER THREE
ARCHETYPAL ANALYSIS
The amount and variety of music in the Violin Futura Project naturally invokes a need for
categorizing the pieces into various groups. The categorization into archetypes is a natural
outcome of noticing similarities between the pieces and finding common threads in their sources
of inspiration. The use of archetypes from the past is a prominent feature of contemporary music:
The unprecedented array of music that now colors our experience has made the
contemporary musician acutely conscious of the musical past. … The past is now with us
as never before, and the availability of such a breadth of historical repertory has
fundamentally affected the way we perceive the past, the way we think about musical
tradition, and consequently the way we view the music of our own day.26
It is interesting to observe that the archetypes that composers used are either overtly
intentional (i.e. using the archetype’s name in the title) or more indirect, via style and the
inspiration behind it. This kind of meta:analysis cannot be completely objective as we tend to
rely on our own subjective observations, and many pieces can fit into more than one category.
However, after looking at the set, there is a gravitation of the pieces towards certain archetypes
that help us understand the intention behind them and their connection to the past. The list of
twelve archetypes observed during the analysis of the 34 pieces from the Violin Futura Project is
as follows: Moto Perpetuo, Dance Forms, Text and Poetry, Religion, Theatricality, Crossover
with Popular Music, Variation Form and/or Quotations, Programmatic:only music, Generic
Forms from the Past, Absolute Music, Nationalism, Humor.
26
Morgan, Twentieth4Century Music, 487.
19
Table 3.1 Pieces Categorized into Twelve Archetypes with Relations to Significant Pieces
from the Past
ARCHETYPE PIECES FROM THE VIOLIN EXAMPLES OF

FUTURA PROJECT FITTING THE STANDARD VIOLIN
CORRESPONDING ARCHETYPE REPERTOIRE USING THE
(*asterisk indicates pieces that overlap SAME ARCHETYPE
with other archetypes)
1. Moto Perpetuo Callender – gegenschein J.S Bach – Presto from

Dillon – Mister Blister Sonata in G minor
Grey – Left for the Dogs Barber – Violin
Harrington – Puce Concerto 3rd movement
Hodkinson – Rush: Paganini – Caprice
a Tarantella* No.5
Juusela – Red Bull #3 Paganini – Moto
Kellogg – Sizzle Perpetuo, Op.1
Mellits – Żubrówka * Ravel – Sonata, 3rd
Schoenberg – Swoosh movement:
Sosa – Moto Perpetuo* Perpetuum Mobile
2. Dance Forms Bates – Blue Berceuse* J.S. Bach – Partitas

Davidson – Menuet pour le violon Brahms – Hungarian
solo* Dances
He – Yang4Ge Dance* Saint:Saens – Etude in
Hodkinson – Rush: the form of a Waltz
a Tarantella* Sarasate – Zapateado
Sherr – Midnight Dance* Wieniawski –
Polonaise, Obertas,
Kujawiak, Scherzo
Tarantelle
3. Text and Cooman – The Doors in the Sky Maxwell:Davies –

Poetry Eggert – Idyl* Eight Songs of a Mad
Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim* King
Smart – Benediction* Vaughan:Williams –
The Lark Ascending
Paganini – Nel cor piu
non mi sento
Sarasate – Carmen
Fantasy
20
Table 3.1 – continued

4. Religion Pew – En Comunión J.S. Bach (most music)

Berg – Violin Concerto
5. Theatricality Belcastro – Buyer’s Remorse Berio – Sequenza VIII

Capp – Scatterbrain Maxwell:Davies –
Coons – Coming Undone Eight Songs of a Mad
Eggert – Idyl* King
6. Crossover with Morozumi – Real Phone Key Bazzini –

Popular Music Szewczyk – First Coast Groove Le ronde des lutins
Bolcom –
Graceful Ghost
Kreisler – Liebeslied
Ravel – Sonata, 2nd
movement: Blues
7. Variation Form Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim* Bach – Chaconne

and/or Smart – Benediction* Biber – Passacaglia
Quotations Ernst – The Last Rose
of Summer
Paganini –
Caprice No. 24
Wieniawski –
Variations on an
Original Theme
Ysaye – Sonata No. 2
“Obsession”
21

8. Programmatic. Castillo – Cirque Vivaldi – Four Seasons

only music Kennedy – fp (For Piotr) Beethoven – “Spring”
(this group of pieces Lam – Memories Sonata
does not use any other
archetypes beyond Oliver – Tossing and Turning
programmatic) Schimmel – Whiffet
Sorkin – Toward the Other Shore
Wickman – Respite:
A detour for solo violin
Williamson – Homecoming
9. Generic Forms Bahr – Ephemeral Rhapsody Etudes and Caprices by

from the Past Bates – Blue Berceuse* Paganini, Wieniawski,
Davidson – Menuet pour le violon Rode, Kreutzer, Viotti,
solo* de Bériot
Hodkinson – Rush: J.S. Bach – Sonatas and
a Tarantella* Partitas
Hei – Caprice* Telemann – Fantasias
Sosa – Moto Perpetuo* Any sonatas or concerti
10. Absolute Hei – Caprice* Bartok – Solo Sonata

Music Sosa – Moto Perpetuo* Prokofiev –
Davidson – Menuet pour le violon Sonata in D
solo* Ernst –
Polyphonic Etudes
Reger – Four Sonatas
22

11. Nationalism He – Yang4Ge Dance* Bacewicz – Polish

Mellits – Żubrówka * Caprice
Sherr – Midnight Dance* Bartok –
Violin Concerto No.2
Szymanowski –
Violin Concerto No.2
12. Humor Eggert – Idyl* Bazzini – Le ronde des

lutins
Maxwell:Davies –
Eight Songs of a Mad
King
23
CHAPTER FOUR
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AMONG PIECES IN THE SAME ARCHETYPES
4.1 Moto Perpetuo

Kellogg – Sizzle
Hodkinson – Rush: a Tarantella (overlaps with the Dance Forms archetype)
Schoenberg – Swoosh
Mellits – Żubrówka (overlaps with the Nationalism archetype)
Dillon – Mister Blister
Grey – Left for the Dogs
Harrington – Puce
Juusela – Red Bull #3
Sosa – Moto Perpetuo (overlaps with the Generic Forms and Absolute Music archetypes)
Callender – gegenschein
Moto Perpetuo, defined as “a composition in which rhythmic motion, often in single

note:value at rapid tempo, is continuous from beginning to end,”27 is a widely used archetype for
fast instrumental pieces or movements of pieces. The archetype has been used extensively in
etudes, caprices, movements of concerti, etc. It is a very effective vehicle for delivering
relentless virtuosity. It is particularly useful for shorter forms due to practical reasons: the
performer’s and audience’s fatigue and the diminishing effect when the piece goes on for too
long.
The perception of the moto perpetuo archetype in our modern world may have a
culturally different meaning than in the past. In the past, moto perpetuo was a way of displaying
a dazzling virtuosity within the context of a slowly unfolding world, but in our times it also bears
an innate reflection of our fast:paced culture and city life. The energy of a moto perpetuo may
evoke images of modern hustle and bustle and may indicate why so many composers are
gravitating towards this archetype in their own ways. It also may reflect the habitual sensory
overstimulation of our amygdalae.
In the Violin Futura Project, there are ten clear examples of the moto perpetuo archetype.
A few of the pieces have short contrasting sections in the middle but return to the opening idea.
27
Don Michael Randel, The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Cambridge: The Belknap Press
of Harvard University Press, 1999), 508.
24
One interesting outlier is Moto Perpetuo by Jorge Sosa which reinterprets the archetype in a new,
unique way by using aleatoric temporal flexibility (by obfuscating the underlying constant
motion with variations in speed). All of the pieces bear clever programmatically descriptive titles
(except for Sosa’s use of the archetype as the title).
We can now analyze the similarities and differences in how these composers used the moto
perpetuo archetype. First, let us compare the opening lines of three pieces that show similar
approaches – those by Daniel Kellogg (Example 4.1), Sydney Hodkinson (Example 4.2) and
Adam Schoenberg (Example 4.3).
All three composers use triplet:motion beats to start the moto perpetuo propulsion.
Kellogg and Hodkinson introduce the momentum in spurts by truncating the motivic elements
and interspersing them with longer notes in between. Hodkinson, who subtitles the piece a
Tarantella, uses the fast dance style in 6/8 meter as the mode of thrust (with varying meters later
in the piece). By the end of second lines of all three pieces, the momentum is constant and
relentless.
Example 4.1 Opening three lines from Kellogg’s Sizzle
25
Example 4.2 Measures 1.17 from Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella
Example 4.3 Measures 1.13 from Schoenberg’s Swoosh
26
Schoenberg starts the momentum immediately but by varying the groupings within a
constant meter, he creates larger underlying hyper:beats (Example 4.4) that have, the same
effect as revving up the momentum in the openings of Hodkinson’s and Kellogg’s works. When
reducing the surface activity to the underlying hyper:beats, we can see the hidden effect created
by the slurring patterns.
Example 4.4 Underlying hyper.rhythmic structure of the opening of Schoenberg’s Swoosh
Schoenberg later breaks the triplet feel with other subdivisions and moves to quadruplets
in 4/4 meter before the coda. Hodkinson also varies the triple feel in a hyper:rhythmical sense by
expanding the meters from 6/8 to 9/8 to 12/8 later in the piece, and by suggesting bigger
underlying hyper:gestures. Also, surprisingly, for one measure in the piece (m.96), he uses 7/8
meter to get a temporary duple feel which, in the recap, comes back (m.126) as an 8/8 measure
(3+3+2). Kellogg’s Sizzle is written entirely without any bar lines from beginning to end, while
other pieces in the group are written with exact meters within bar lines. Hodkinson uses accents
and dynamic markings to achieve rhythmic complexity within a constantly moving texture. At
first, he places accents on strong beats, but as the piece develops, he starts placing accents on off:
beats, after rests and at other unpredictable places to create rhythmic variety. Hodkinson also
strategically uses rests on some beats to break the stream of continuous notes while changing
meters and accenting notes before rests, creating a hemiola effect (Example 4.5).
27
Example 4.5 Measures 99.104 from Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella
Hodkinson’s dynamic range spans from ppp to ff with frequent dramatic contrasts, crescendos
and diminuendos, making the texture ebb and flow within the moto perpetuo momentum.
Next, we can compare works that interpret the moto perpetuo archetype in different ways.
Marc Mellits, in Żubrówka, creates hyper:beats by using straight eighth:notes and frequent meter
changes in addition to the relentlessly propulsive surface material (Example 4.6 and 4.7).
Mellits’ piece is the only one in the group that uses the same note values from the beginning to
the end. He achieves rhythmic complexity with meter changes and a variety of note grouping.
Mellits’ piece has a strong post:minimalist flavor in line with most of his other compositional
output to date. While Hodkinson breaks the triple feel by using uneven meters and introducing
duplets, Mellits uses the same technique in exactly the opposite way. He breaks the relentless
duple pulse by adding triple feel in uneven meters (mm. 56:67) by using 7/8 and 5/8 in some
instances, creating shorter, truncated hyper:beats.
Example 4.6 Measures 1.12 of Mellits’ Żubrówka
28
Example 4.7 Underlying hyper.rhythmic structure of the opening of Mellits’ Żubrówka
In Mister Blister, Lawrence Dillon approaches the moto perpetuo archetype in yet
another way. The entire piece uses a relentless motive in 7/8 meter (Example 4.8) that is slightly
varied until the surprising middle section with slow note values within the same fast tempo. In
the middle section, the meter changes to 4/4 before the recapitulation of the opening theme.
Example 4.8 Opening rhythmic motive of Dillon’s Mister Blister
A fourth approach to the moto perpetuo archetype can be seen in Left for the Dogs by
Mark Grey. To create the moto perpetuo propulsivity, Grey uses the overwhelming intensity of
trills and constant tremolo overlaid on frequently dissonant double:stopped motives (Example
4.9). “A carefully articulated tremolo can be perceived either as a timbral or a rhythmic event.”28
28
Patricia Strange and Allen Strange, The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques (Berkley:
University of California Press, 2001), 29.
29
Here, Grey combines both effects into one by enhancing the biting dotted rhythms with the flurry
of tremolo.
Example 4.9 Measures 1.7 from Grey’s Left for the Dogs
A similar approach to Grey’s use of harmonic tension can be seen in Jeffrey Harrington’s
Puce. He focuses on the constant use of minor and major seconds in the motivic structure to
create the momentum, both rhythmically and harmonically (Example 4.10).
Example 4.10 Opening two lines from Harrington’s Puce
The grinding intervals reflect the programmatic aspect of the piece – depiction of an annoying
flea. He later expands the intervallic range to octaves and larger intervals, and infuses the texture
30
with frequent rests in the middle section, as if creating hiccups in the rhythmically saturated
tapestry.
Kari Henrik Juusela, in his work Red Bull #3, combines elements of various styles in his
piece. The opening has a driving, aggressive character derived from popular rock music with
frequent slides and harsh sounds (markings: caffeine driven – relentless and slightly manic, a
little bit rough un poco sul pont, in Example 4.11). In the contrasting middle section, called a
“Slow Loping Cowboy Blues,” he emphasizes the slides in a more exaggerated, extended way.
He also uses avant:garde elements such as atonal sonorities in combination with the driving
rhythm.
Example 4.11 Measures 1.11 from Juusela’s Red Bull #3
The most unusual approach to using moto perpetuo can be seen in Jorge Sosa’s work,
entitled Moto Perpetuo. He approaches the constant motion as if through a hall of mirrors,
bending the perception of time and flexing the oscillating notes like light bending through the
curvy reflections (Example 4.12). We can see the persistent underlying motion, but it is distorted
through permeating temporal flexibility indicated by feathered beam notation, tremolos and trills.
31
Example 4.12 Opening three lines of Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo
Clifton Callender’s approach to moto perpetuo is exemplified in his work gegenschein by
constantly moving texture of shimmering harmonics (Example 4.13), later interspersed with real
notes.
Example 4.13 Opening line of Callender’s gegenschein
Similar to Sosa’s approach, Callender uses temporal flexibility superimposed over a rigid moto
perpetuo texture to create tempo variations (indicated in the score by arrows and accel. and rit.
markings.) In the climactic middle section (Example 4.14), he moves away from harmonics to
real notes with occasional double:, triple: and quadruple:stops and pushes temporal flexibility to
its limits. Tempo changes are happening more frequently, within single bars, and they
32
accumulate in a dramatic accelerando in measure 73. This measure is then repeated seven times
while speeding up, and ending in presto possibile in measure 74. Next, the truncated texture
suddenly expands into a massive ritardando (mm. 77:78) culminating in the thickening of the
texture through quadruple:stops and an extreme f possibile dynamic marking. It is interesting to
observe that this powerful push and pull is superimposed over the rigid, unchanging eighth:note
moto perpetuo pulse underlying the whole passage.
Example 4.14 Measures 69.79 from Callender’s gegenschein
4.2 Dance Forms
He – Yan$ Ge Dance (overlaps with the Nationalism archetype)

Sherr – Midnight Dance (overlaps with the Nationalism archetype)
Davidson – Menuet pour le violon solo (overlaps with the Generic Forms and Absolute
Music archetypes)
Bates – Blue Berceuse
Hodkinson – Rush: a Tarantella (overlaps with the Moto Perpetuo archetype)
The use of dance forms in violin music dates at least as far back as J.S. Bach in his
Partitas featuring various dance movements. Stylized dances were also extensively used in
various nationalistic movements to draw from the country’s folk heritage. Composers such as
Brahms, Dvořák and Bartók used stylized dances extensively in their music.
33
The meaning of each dance form is also significantly different in our contemporary
culture than in past eras. Interestingly, the dance archetypes in this Project look back at older
forms and pair them with modern musical language, rather than tackling any contemporary dance
forms. In this collection there are four contrasting treatments of dance form archetypes, with
differing influences and handling of rhythmic content.
The main focus of any dance form is rhythm, usually confined into repeating patterns. In
this group of pieces we can see different approaches to the treatment and development of rhythm.
Using dance forms to draw connections with one’s national heritage can be seen in Jian:Jun He’s
Yang4Ge Dance, a stylized Chinese dance. It juxtaposes various meter changes, from 3/4, 2/4 to
5/8 and 3/8, as uneven interruptions to the flowing even:metered sections. The core four:bar
theme reappears throughout the piece in various forms, shortened or interrupted by uneven:
metered bars.
Laurence Sherr’s Midnight Dance has an intricate rhythmic tapestry comprised of

constant shifts in meters and pulses. The longest time that any meter stays the same is eight
measures at the end in 2/8 meter (mm. 163:168); otherwise, meters change every few bars, and
in the Tempo II section, they change every single bar until the recapitulation of Tempo I (m. 89).
The surface complexity hides cleverly designed patterns and symmetries on multiple levels. The
surface grouping pattern 2+3 in 5/8 meter is always consistent, and each large section A and B is
8 measures long (Example 4.15).
Repeated A’B’ sections use exactly the same rhythmic pattern but change pitches. If we
look at the reduction of meter changes underlying this pattern, we will notice a clear symmetry in
the metric design. Groups of 3 measures in a row in 5/8 meter are interrupted by single bars of
varying meters, always longer than 5/8 (i.e. 6/8, 9/8, 8/8). The only rhythmic difference between
patterns A and B is one eighth:note – the last measure of each pattern differs between the 9/8 in
section A and the 8/8 in section B. If we zoom out even further, the larger repeating hyper:
structure emerges: AB:A’B’ (where A’B’ marks only changing pitches, not rhythm). To
summarize, we can see this design unfold as follows on multiple levels, from micro to macro
(Example 4.16): 2+3 surface groupings symmetrical cells: 3:measure + 1:measure + 3:
measure 8:measure sections A and B large, symmetrical two:prong AB:AB backbone.
This kind of multi:layered consistency of metric design underlies the whole piece.
34
Example 4.15 Annotated opening section of Sherr’s Midnight Dance
Example 4.16 Underlying metric design in Sherr’s Midnight Dance
35
In the second section of the piece, Tempo II, the rhythmic/metric pattern gets shorter (4
bars of alternating meters) and is continuously repeated (Example 4.17), using different pitch
material, until the end of the section. In the Tempo II section, Sherr creatively uses bariolage
which “is defined as a passage that idiomatically exploits the individual timbre of the various
strings. In this bowing style, no two consecutive notes of a passage are played on the same
string.”29 Sherr notates the alternating string patterns by splitting the melodic line with stem
directions. By using bariolage, Sherr visually suggests interpretative choices for note groupings
within those meters. There is some interpretative freedom about the string choices, but the
notation very clearly demarcates the intent of timbre alternations between strings.
Example 4.17 Annotated metric/rhythmic pattern in Sherr’s Midnight Dance
Matthew Davidson’s approach to the danceable Minuet archetype in his work Minuet
pour le violon solo is similar in the way that it throws off the rhythmic expectations by
alternating meters. The piece begins in the expected 3/4 meter, but is frequently interrupted by
5/4 and compound meters of 1/8+3/4, 2/4, 7/4 and 4/4+1/8. It gives the comical feel of someone
struggling to keep with the beat, stumbling, but eventually heroically returning to 3/4.
Blue Berceuse by Mason Bates can be considered a dance form because its main focus is
the typical swaying 6/8 pulse and the historical character of a lullaby. While the lullaby is not a
dance itself, it takes from dance the steady, continuous and pulsing rhythmic motion that is the
mark of a dance. The whole piece elaborates on, and transforms, a one:beat opening hairpin
motive. All of the swaying activity is confined to shades of a piano dynamic, in line with the
quiet character of a berceuse (Example 4.18).
29
Strange, The Contemporary Violin, 32.
36
Example 4.18 Opening two lines from Bates’ Blue Berceuse
4.3 Text and Poetry

Cooman – The Doors in the Sky
Eggert – Idyl (overlaps with the Theatricality and Humor archetypes)
Smart – Benediction (overlaps with Variation Form and/or Quotation archetypes)
Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim (overlaps with the Variation Form and/or Quotation
archetypes)
In this group of pieces, text and poetry influences the music in very different ways. The
archetype of text influence is used both in traditional ways (Cooman), indirect ways bridging
part and present (Smart, Einbond) and contemporary ways (Eggert). Carson Cooman’s piece
takes its inspiration directly from a short poem by Elizabeth Kirschner that gives the piece its
title, The Doors in the Sky. Eggert uses text in both fixed and aleatoric ways in Idyl. The piece is
a musical and theatrical reaction to a short tabloid article read by the performer (to be found
before performance and must be different each time) and begins with a fixed phrase announced
by performer “I got up this morning and heard the news” (Example 4.19). Eggert explains the
story behind the piece:
In Idyl the plot is as follows: the violinist, who lives in his own world of pure and
sublime sound as many musicians do, reacts to a piece of daily news that he finds
extremely annoying (easy to find in these times). The piece builds up this aggression
potential which is resolved purely musically, with the means of augmentation and
37
exaggeration. In the end the violinist wins, but it might be that he just has retreated into
his ivory tower of beauty and sound.30
Example 4.19 Opening line from Eggert’s Idyl

Gary Smart and Aaron Einbond use text indirectly by quoting melodies from the past as
the thematic bases for their pieces. The archetype of text use is expressed here in bridging the
past and present by using an older musical quotation within a contemporary set of variations. The
text is never mentioned directly, but because the melody was written for a particular text, there is
an indirect influence of the old text on the contemporary music. Also, Smart marks explicitly in
the score “Singing expressively” to mimic the actual human voice as closely as possible.
4.4 Religion
Pew – En Comunión
A potent form of inspiration for many composers throughout the ages is religious
influence. Here it is represented by Douglas Pew’s En Comunión, where the composer musically
depicts his faith and communion with a deity. The archetype is a very effective tool in 21st
Century music: “Evocations of spirituality can give listeners an immediate connection to new
music, continuing music’s long association with religion and the transcendent.”31
The archetype is expressed here by the incorporation of consonance and extended

tonality, an introspective plaintive mood in the opening section and an ecstatic, tumultuous
middle section symbolizing a religious/metaphysical experience. The piece is structured around
30
E:mail message from Eggert
31
38
this climactic middle section which then resolves into a quiet, repeating meditation reminiscent
of a chant or whispered prayer. A very interesting detail – beginning the piece with a long rest
with fermata – relates to the Religion archetype: it signifies a moment of quiet contemplation
before beginning the music.
4.5 Theatricality
Eggert – Idyl (overlaps with the Text and Poetry and Humor archetypes)
Belcastro – Buyer’s Remorse
Capp – Scatterbrain
Coons – Coming Undone
The archetype of converging music and theatricality can be viewed from two
perspectives: first as an impassioned virtuosic performance, and second, in using sounds and
effects outside of the standard way of playing. The theatrical aspect of performance in purely
instrumental music can be traced back to the show:stopping performances of Paganini and Liszt,
who created the myth of the romantic virtuoso with fervent interpretations of their music and
exaggerated physical gestures. The theatrical aspect of using extended techniques emerged in the
20th Century in such virtuosic pieces as Berio’s Sequenza VIII or Cage’s Freeman Etudes.
In the Violin Futura Project, there are four works that display aspects of theatricality,
both virtuosically and with extended techniques. Moritz Eggert’s work Idyl uses extra:musical
elements combined with extensive use of theatrical body language. Eggert augments the
performance aspect of Idyl through numerous theatrical elements such as stomping, screaming,
piercing the bow through a newspaper article, talking, reading, flailing the bow in the air, and
whistling. The theatrical elements are seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the piece and
enhance the delivery of the musical ideas.
Theatricality in Richard Belcastro’s Buyer’s Remorse is imbued in the programmatic

concept of the piece which is expressed by exaggerated musical gestures but without any
extended techniques. Buyer’s Remorse explores the feeling one may experience after acquiring a
product that failed to meet our expectations while trying to justify the purchase. Belcastro shapes
the narration of the work by alternating joy and remorse sequences. Sections progressively get
more intense toward the end, giving way to the ultimate, most extreme remorse. He is very
explicit in the score about the intensity of each wave of remorse and joy, and structures the
39
alternating sections accordingly by expanding the dynamics, expressive ranges, rhythmic
complexity, etc.
The piece demands an exaggerated, passionately theatrical commitment to the extreme
alternating moods of elation and remorse. The work very vivid programmatic descriptions of
tempo/character markings. It is extremely specific about the minute details and shades of
emotional states to be expressed, such as “playful & excited”, “anxious”, “refined & joyful”,
“regretful”, “nervously excited”, “with erratic elation”, “angry”. Belcastro meticulously marks
almost every note with very specific articulations, dynamics and expressions that align with the
programmatic intensity of each section
(Example 4.20).
Example 4.20 Measures 58.65 from Belcastro’s Buyer’s Remorse
Performance theatricality in Tyler Capp’s Scatterbrain is approached in a similar way,

and emanates from rapidly shifting contrasts of extreme characters, dynamics, articulations and
tempo. Example 4.21 shows the extremes of expression, from sfffz to pppp, over five lines of the
score. While it can be argued that most virtuosic pieces require performance theatricality, the
level of extremes present in this piece requires extra steps of performance intensity (i.e.
exaggerated expressive body language). Capp uses vividly emotional language in his tempo and
character descriptions, such as “violent”, “fierce with warmth”, “with sudden warmth”,
“explode”, “hesitant”, “savage”, “ferocious, determined”.
The climactic ending of Scatterbrain (Example 4.22), requires performance theatricality
to be pushed to the absolute extreme, for maximum musical effect. In this section, the buildup of
40
tension is created by accelerando, accents, widely:spaced, fast:running double:stops and
extreme dynamics. In order for this passage to be effective, the performer must sustain and push
the intensity almost to the breaking point.
Lisa Coons’ work, Coming Undone, requires performance theatricality similar to
Belcastro’s and Capp’s. The programmatic title sets the stage for dramatic contrasts of characters
and requires a theatrical approach to interpretation. Coons works with sudden, extreme contrasts
at the opposite ends of dynamic spectrum. In Example 4.23, we can see the extremes of fff and
ppp changing every two notes leading to the “violent” marking in the measure 25. Theatrical
exaggeration of those sudden contrasts is required to make the performance convincing and
dramatic.
Example 4.21 Extremes of expression in Capp’s Scatterbrain
41
Example 4.22 Ending from Capp’s Scatterbrain
Example 4.23 Measures 16.31 from Coons’ Coming Undone
42
4.6 Crossover with Popular Music
Szewczyk – First Coast Groove

Morozumi – Real Phone Key
Crossover is an all:encompassing term originating in the 20th Century. It describes a trend

of infusing classical music with variety of popular styles or vice versa. Especially in times when
the popular and classical paths have been diverging farther from each other, the crossover
archetype is more strongly present. Due to the cross:pollination of styles, the lines are getting
blurred further in the 21st Century with the emergence of more styles of music incorporating
elements of various traditions. The line between art and pop is blurring even beyond the
Crossover label.
In his piece Real Phone Key (a phonetic word play on Real Funky), Hiro Morozumi fuses
jazz and funk elements and effectively adapts them for solo violin. By use of double: and triple:
stops, he implies harmonic progressions that usually would be performed by the piano and bass
in a band. He uses many slides, tremolos, bends, glissandos and other effects to create the
authentic feel of a jazz improvisation, although the piece is fully notated. Morozumi is very
careful with distinguishing different types of slides and glissandos for the classical performer
who may have not played jazz before (Example 4.24).
Example 4.24 Measures 29.36 of Morozumi’s Real Phone Key
“In blues, jazz, and rock it is necessary to make a distinction between a slide and a glissando. A
slide is a small swoop into or away from a note, usually less than a half step.”32 He also verbally
indicates the desired bend effects for clarity. He uses the jazz font in the Finale notation software
32
43
program so his score visually resembles a traditional, hand:written jazz chart. In addition, he
uses pops:style shorthand of using repeats with a coda (as opposed to writing out the piece
linearly).
In my work, First Coast Groove, I create a crossover piece by combining elements of

percussive grooves, funk riffs, pop and modal:jazz harmony (Example 4.25, more examples in
Harmony and Extended techniques sections). I also apply pops:style repeats by marking 2:bar
patterns instead of writing them out each time.
Example 4.25 Measures 50.70 from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove
4.7 Variation Form and/or Quotation
Smart – Benediction (overlaps with the Text and Poetry archetype)

Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim (overlaps with the Text and Poetry archetype)
The variation archetype is ingrained in violinists’ minds with Paganini’s Caprice No.24
where a simple theme is transformed in stylistically diverse variations. The variation form and/or
quotation archetype has been used in all eras of music on two most basic and different levels.
First, the theme for a set of variations was the composer’s original, or second, the theme was
borrowed from another composer.
This archetype can be used in a contemporary setting to draw a powerful connection to
the past. In both pieces in this category, composers chose older themes as the basis for their 21st
44
Century compositions, using modern language and variation techniques. This bridging of the past
and present in the variation archetype is a never:expiring creative possibility for composers.
In this category, there are two pieces which use the variation form in opposite ways. Gary
Smart processes the borrowed theme (a quotation of “Part in Peace” from “The Southern
Harmony” hymnal from 1835) through a set of four stylistically divergent, separate and self:
contained variations. Aaron Einbond also uses a quotation ("Can't help Lovin' 'Dat Man" by
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) but keeps repeating the theme while developing it
continuously by means of counterpoint, harmony and texture.
In Smart’s work, each variation treats the subject in a very contrasting way and explores
the wide expressive range of the violin. The theme is obscured behind complex surface materials.
The thematic developments span the entire range of the violin using multiple techniques,
frequent leaps and arpeggiated gestures, and double: and triple:stops. In the third variation, he
uses the most varied techniques, from pizzicato and Bartók pizzicato to tremolo and quadruple:
stops. We can observe how the theme reappears in mutated forms throughout Variation III as
compared to the main theme (Example 4.26).
Einbond approaches the variation process differently by repeating and keeping the theme
unchanged. The variation process happens on a textural level and pitch transposition level. With
each short variation, Einbond augments the single melody with double:stops to full chords
(Example 4.27), and with dramatic quadruple:stops in the middle section before returning to a
simpler, double:stopped texture at the end.
45
Example 4.26 Annotated Theme and Variation III from Smart’s Benediction
46
Example 4.27 Annotated opening from Einbond’s Fish Gotta Swim.
4.8 Programmatic.only Music
Kennedy – fp (For Piotr)

Wickman – Respite: A detour for solo violin
Sorkin – Toward the Other Shore
Castillo – Cirque
Schimmel – Whiffet
Lam – Memories
Oliver – Tossing and Turning
Williamson – Homecoming
47
In contrast to Absolute music, Programmatic music refers to a vast repertoire that aims to
depict something literally or suggestively. The programmatic archetype is present in all eras of
music and is frequently used by composers. Interestingly here, all but three of the pieces in the
Violin Futura Project qualify as programmatic because of their highly imaginative and
descriptive titles, and how they are reflected in music. All of the pieces suggest, from the start,
an image, emotional state, attitude, reaction, thing, idea, etc. We are conditioned to expect
certain dramatic narratives from them. We can see the intricacies and depth of programmatic
meaning by reading though composers’ notes about each piece. Some composers did not provide
program notes, leaving us just with the programmatic title, but some provided explanations of
varying lengths about the meanings in their pieces. For example, John Kennedy, in his work fp
(For Piotr), explores the idea of sudden dynamic contrasts as a programmatic depiction of the
dedication (For Piotr) (Example 4.28).
Example 4.28 Measures 6.8 from Kennedy’s fp (For Piotr)
4.9 Generic Forms
Hei – Caprice (overlaps with Absolute Music archetype)

Bahr – Ephemeral Rhapsody
Sosa – Moto Perpetuo (overlaps with Moto Perpetuo and Absolute Music archetypes)
Davidson – Menuet pour le violon solo (overlaps with Dance Forms archetype)
Hodkinson – Rush: a Tarantella (overlaps with Dance Forms and Moto Perpetuo
archetypes)
The archetype of generic forms is an archetype that binds different historical eras under
the same names of musical forms. For example, we see the use of Sonata form as early as the
baroque period (Sonata da chiesa), through all eras until contemporary music (even though the
form itself was evolving). While the form and meaning may have changed somewhat, there is
enough commonality under those terms to create a stylistic or formal expectation of what is to
come.
48
Composers in this group use generic forms from the past, such as caprice, rhapsody,
moto perpetuo, menuet and tarantella, although for Hodkinson it comes after the main title as a
stylistic elaboration. As we have seen from the moto perpetuo archetype, pieces without an
explicit archetype in the title can still exhibit. In such cases, composers use a generic form title as
a hint of the form and intention of the piece, and as a connection to forms from the past.
4.10 Absolute Music
Hei – Caprice (overlaps with the Generic Forms archetype)

Sosa – Moto Perpetuo (overlaps with the Moto Perpetuo and Generic Forms archetypes)
Davidson – Menuet pour le violon solo (overlaps with the Dance Forms and Generic
Forms archetypes)
The archetype of absolute music is the most common and in a sense, the default
archetype of music through the ages: music for music’s sake. The only three pieces that can be
classified in this Project as absolute music are those with titles that do not convey a
programmatic meaning (even when using a name from Generic Forms that suggest a certain
character, like Moto Perpetuo, they do not express any programmatic image). In the most
extreme example of absolute music, Hei, in his Caprice, avoids the use of descriptive words
entirely in the score. For example, the tempo marking is expressed only as a note value and a
number, and any further tempo transitions are marked with neutral words, such as “slower”,
“accel.”, “rubato” and a tempo. Expressive fluctuations are indicated only with precise dynamic
markings, articulations and tempo transitions.
4.11 Nationalism
He – Yang$Ge Dance (overlaps with the Dance Forms archetype)

Sherr – Midnight Dance (overlaps with the Dance Forms archetype)
Mellits – Żubrówka (overlaps with the Moto Perpetuo archetype)
The use of nationalism in music reflected the need of composers to connect with their
cultural heritage. This trend has been observed in all ages across cultures up to the present day.
Currently due to our instantly connected modern world, some barriers are vanishing and cultures
are becoming more homogenized, resulting in a decreased use of nationalism. There are,
however, contrasting trends in culture showing that, precisely because of globalization, the
nationalistic archetype is seeing a revival as a way of protecting heritage from cultural dilution.
49
“Despite legitimate concerns about the homogenizing force of global media and
communications, there is clear evidence of the resilience of local traditions, alongside the
emergence of hybrid cross:cultural forms of music making.”33 In this set of pieces we have three
examples representing the nationalist archetype.
Jian:Jun He, a Chinese:born composer and violinist who is now living and teaching in the
United States, uses the archetype of the Chinese Yang4Ge Dance, twisted with modernist musical
language. He, like many other Asian:born composers who immigrated to the United States, has a
distinct advantage and the knowledge to create pieces that use Asian influences in genuine and
sophisticated ways, and to fuse them successfully with western musical languages. He is an
example of East Asian composers who “have integrated traditional and Western music through
quotation, allusion, and the combination of Western and Asian instruments and musical
systems.”34
Laurence Sherr also pays musical homage to his heritage in Midnight Dance by using
elements of traditional Polish folk dance styles within a modern soundscape. Marc Mellits also
reflects his Polish heritage by using the name of traditional Polish vodka as the inspiration and
the title of his piece Żubrówka.
4.12 Humor
Eggert – Idyl (overlaps with the Theatricality archetype)
The use of humor, parody, and jokes in music has a long history. However, what is
perceived as humorous also changes with the times and within cultures. The ideas are expressed
differently in various eras and what was once humorous may not connect with an audience in a
different era. In the Violin Futura Project, there are many pieces that have humorous, light:
hearted titles, but the only piece that intends a purposefully comical outcome, while remaining
stern and serious, is Eggert’s Idyl.
Idyl is a theatrical reaction to an excerpt of ridiculous pop:culture news that the performer
reads aloud during the performance. Eggert weaves humor into the piece on many levels while
33
34
Ibid., 275.
50
retaining a serious, avant:garde surface. The idea of reading a pop:culture news story sets up the
audience for wild expectations. The theatrical effects – surprising twists and turns in the piece
and the audacious climactic section in the middle with screaming, piercing the paper, and
stomping – always evoke spontaneous laughter from the audience. The comical effect Eggert
induces is infectious and sincere; the humor comes from the theatrical eruption of frustration to
the silly news. Building upon a shared experience of tabloid nonsense, it is a cathartic moment
for the audience as well, an uninhibited and honest release of frustration.
4.13 Summary of Archetypal Analysis
The archetypal analysis of the pieces in the Violin Futura Project reveals a surprising
abundance of connections with music of the past. Another important finding of this analysis is
the lack of certain archetypes in this collection of works. Most notably, none of the pieces is
inspired by any visual art, painting or sculpture. Another archetype lacking representation here is
that of a political statement. An obvious reason why politically:inspired archetypes in music are
not frequently used in general, is because of the possible backlash by groups of people who may
be offended by them.
What is fascinating about such a wide representation of archetypes in this collection is

that the composers had complete stylistic freedom. It is interesting to note that they gravitated to
some clear archetypes that have been in the cultural consciousness for centuries. They creatively
used (consciously or not) the archetypes from the past as the scaffolding for their own unique
ideas and approaches to create original, inventive pieces. The archetypal analysis helps us to
navigate through the large collection of works and to see the connections between them and
history. What is revealed is the pluralism of approaches in the 21st Century and the lack of fear of
the past which permeated much of 20th Century musical history.
This research also poses an open question: Are the archetypes fixed and limited to the
ones developed in the past, or can new archetypes emerge as the culture is changing? Surely new
archetypes will emerge and may inspire composers in the future because the current archetypes
did not suddenly emerge in the past at the same time, but accumulated gradually through history.
We can speculate about the new archetypes, but there is one in particular that is gaining
momentum: the environmental message. It is an archetype that is developing, due to our current
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scientific understanding of the environment and the desire to conserve and protect it. An example
of a piece using this new archetype is the 2014 Pulitzer:Prize winning work, Become Ocean, of
Alaska:based composer John Luther Adams. Through his music, Adams brings awareness to the
dangers of rising sea levels as a result of global climate change and melting glaciers. Many
composers are flocking to this new archetype as a universal platform to start serious
conversations.
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CHAPTER FIVE
ANALYSIS OF THE APPROACHES TO HARMONIC LANGUAGE
5.1 Expression of Harmony on the Violin
The reasons for exploring different treatments of harmonic language in the pieces in the
Violin Futura Project are twofold. First, it will showcase a variety of compositional approaches,
and second, it will elucidate the challenges that performers and pedagogues may encounter when
learning and teaching such pieces. For violinists, the most challenging aspect of new music in
general is the departure from reliance on triadic sonorities which are idiomatic on the violin and
are the basis of the majority of the standard repertoire. They are intuitive to tune and find correct
intonation within a tonal framework but when the framework is removed, several challenges
occur: hearing, anticipating and finding the non:triadic intervals; passages; motives; and double:,
triple: and quadruple:stops.
Harmonic language has always been a major differentiating aspect among composers
throughout history. Even when sharing a common practice of any era (tonality, chromaticism,
serialism, etc.), composers always strived to find their unique voices within those systems. By
treating the same raw materials of available harmonic techniques in their own personalized ways,
they were able to create a recognizable signature for themselves. This aspect gets augmented
even further in the 21st Century, where so many different approaches have already been explored
in previous eras. Composers are finding their own voices through this maze of various systems of
organizing pitch.
In addition, a profound aspect affecting the expression of harmonic language is the choice
of the instrument. Writing for any solo instrument puts limitations on what a composer can
express harmonically. The very obvious example is that of a solo instrument in comparison to an
ensemble or piano; expression of harmonic language is limited by a monophonic voice on a
single instrument and virtually unlimited on the piano or in an ensemble. The restrictive factors
of writing for solo instruments make creative composers approach harmony in ways that are
idiomatic for that particular instrument: for example, using intervallic motivic cells and various
scales and modes on monophonic instruments in comparison to chordal sonorities on the piano or
in an ensemble setting.
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In that regard, a solo violin fits in the middle between strictly monophonic instruments,
unable to play more than one sound at a time, and highly polyphonic instruments such as guitars
or keyboard instruments. At the same time “the violin is an instrument upon which a skilled
musician can intricately interweave several independent lines. Double:stops and chords often
provide the framework for polyphonic writing, as evidenced by Bach’s unaccompanied sonatas
and partitas.”35 One obvious technical limitation of the violin is that, generally, only two notes
can be continuously sustained. Any triple: or quadruple:stops are usually broken (with the
exception of fast, repeated chords where three strings can be re:attacked in such quick succession
as to create an illusion of sustained triple stops). The limited range of the violin allows only for
close harmonic voicing without the possibility of widely:spaced sonorities with bass notes, for
example (except in cases where melody in high register is supported by open:string drone on
adjacent string). Despite these seeming restrictions, composers throughout the ages have
expressed complex, intricate harmonic progressions very successfully and creatively on the
violin.
In some cases, composers have used extreme forms of scordatura on multiple strings to
extend the range of the violin and/or create sonorities not possible to achieve with standard
tuning. In addition, using specialty strings, such as on the baritone violin which sounds an octave
lower, have been used to extend the range of the violin while retaining its agility and timbre. In a
more recent development, the use of sub:harmonics, by careful and selective use of overpressure,
can be used to create a whole new set of pitches beyond the range of the violin (popularized by
violinist:composer Mari Kimura).
5.2 Linear Intervallic Patterns in Mono. and Polyphonic Textures
In the Violin Futura Project, composers approach aspects of harmony from various
angles, moving from strictly monophonic to polyphonic counterpoint and rich, chordal textures.
In the monophonic, linear pieces, composers use various repeating intervallic patterns and cells
to create sonoric cohesion and pitch relations without directly implying traditional chords or
progressions. For example, in Adam Schoenberg’s work Swoosh, he employs intervallic patterns
of a half:step followed by a major or minor third (some are enharmonically spelled in the score
35
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as diminished fourths) in the opening motive, which is then transposed down a whole step four
times. The resulting two:bar pattern is outlined by the four top notes which create a descending
whole tone scale (Example 5.1). In this highly chromatic, non:tonal section, seeing the pattern of
anchoring top notes moving down by whole:steps would help the violinist with securing the
intonation and finding recurring points of reference in those patterns.
Example 5.1 Annotated opening two lines from Schoenberg’s Swoosh
An example of the intricate contrapuntal interplay of voices without tonal framework or

triadic basis can be seen in Carl Schimmel’s work Whiffet. In measure 9, he embeds a motivic
fragment in a series of quick chromatically:inflected notes, and then juxtaposes an augmentation
of that fragment in the top line (Example 5.2). For the performer, to notice this relation of
reusing intervallic content from the bottom voice to the top voice, can help with hearing the
chromatic intervals and with intonation.
Example 5.2 Annotated measure 9 from Schimmel’s Whiffet
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In pieces that are clearly and thoroughly atonal like Patrick Castillo’s Cirque and Ng
Wah Hei’s Caprice, the harmonic language (or in this case of atonality, the pitch organization) is
based on intervallic gestures, not chords, or is simply freely atonal without specific organizing
principles. It is frequently more about the textural, tessiturial or even linear contour contrast
those gestures serve rather than creating a particular harmonic cohesion. In these cases the
performer must focus on careful execution of intervals without perceiving them as leading tones
and such because there is no tonal center behind it.
5.3 Arpeggiated Triads
The use of arpeggiated chords permeates many pieces in the Project and is very idiomatic
for the violin. For example, Gary Smart, in Variation 1 of his piece Benediction, uses a chain of
arpeggiated major chords in first and second inversions. Such instances of arpeggiated tonal
chords should pose no problems for the performer. In those sections, the performer can activate
learned responses and techniques honed on triadic:based tonal music and apply the same
techniques to Benediction.
Smart also incorporates jazz influences in Variation 4 where he arpeggiates extended

tertial harmonies (Example 5.3). This subtle, purposeful ambiguity of overlapping chords
changing their functional meaning, creates a cascade of extended tertial chords. It would be
helpful for the performer to analyze the chords to understand their extended harmonic meaning
in the jazz genre. For example, this understanding may be helpful with creating phrasing choices
by emphasizing the roots of those chords on certain beats (in addition to the emphasis already
marked by Smart in the passage).
Example 5.3 Annotated arpeggiated tertial chords from Smart’s Benediction
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Daniel Kellogg, in his work Sizzle, twists and bends closely related triads in a chain of
gestures by frequently keeping one or more common notes and pivoting the changing chord
around them. This pivoting reveals quick changes in the quality of triads: B:minor second
inversion, B:Major second inversion, B:minor second inversion, B:diminished second inversion,
Db:Major second inversion, B:min second inversion (Example 5.4).
Example 5.4 Annotated common note chordal pivoting in Kellogg’s Sizzle

When the performer can see those clever underlying intervallic and harmonic patterns, it
will become easier to tune those notes and to hear the progressions when using the static notes as
anchors. Also, from an interpretative point of view, understanding those connections will enable
the performer to make subtle phrasing nuances, such as emphasizing notes that change and
keeping unchanging notes in the background. This pivoting technique is used frequently by
Kellogg throughout his piece; it can also be seen in other works by other composers in this
group, such as Ethan Wickman’s Respite: A detour for solo violin. A performer’s interpretative
approach should be adjusted accordingly to how this technique is used in the context of the
piece.
5.4 Multi.layered Polyphonic Textures
A high level of polyphonic saturation can be observed in Suzanne Sorkin’s work Toward
the Other Shore. She creates a complex, three:layered texture with left:hand pizzicatos in the
bottom voice, sustained pedal notes within double:stops in the middle voice and a changing
melodic line in the top voice (Example 5.5). An additional element that embellishes this texture
is the use of grace notes, from single through quintuple groupings. When the performer perceives
the texture in 3 layers, then navigating and balancing it becomes easier. For example, it is similar
in approach to the separate voices in Bach’s fugues. The interpretative challenge in Sorkin’s
work comes from balancing the lines in a way that the changing melodic notes are always
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audible, while the middle drone:voice plays a supporting role and the left hand pizzicatos cut
through the texture and are clearly perceptible.
Example 5.5 Three.layered polyphonic texture in Sorkin’s Toward the Other Shore
5.5 Vertical Approaches: Double., Triple. and Quadruple.stops
A texture predominantly using two voices can imply a clear harmonic progression when
used within a traditional tonal environment. In his work Homecoming, Nathan Williamson
weaves a rich tonal texture from an interaction of two voices, frequent usage of non:harmonic
tones, and smooth transitions between tonal chords. In some instances, for tonal emphasis,
Williamson uses triple:stops to highlight a resulting sudden harmonic change (Measure 6 of
Example 5.6).
Example 5.6 Annotated opening two lines from Williamson’s Homecoming

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A more purely chordal approach to harmony can be seen in the works of Carson Cooman and
Douglas Pew. Chordal texture does not automatically mean tonal and triadic. While some
traditional triads are found, many times those sonorities are not part of a traditional tonal:
functional context. Cooman starts The Doors in the Sky with broken and sustained chords,
notating them with either grace notes or full triple:stops (Example 5.7). Grace notes can sound
similar to broken chords and the audible difference is usually the speed. This is a significant
distinction, in that it suggests the speed that the chords should be broken and it also leaves
interpretational flexibility with the timing of the grace notes.
While only a few of these chords are traditional triads, they inflect a sound world of
extended tonality/consonance even though they are working within non:functional harmony. He
alternates the spacing of double:stops from close (half:steps) to medium (fifths and sixths) and
large (sevenths, tenths), covering a wide spectral palette. Cooman later expresses harmony
differently, with arpeggiated A:Major chord over a large tessitura of more than 2:octaves. Later
on, in the fast middle section, Cooman uses unambiguous tonality, D:Major, by employing
triple:stops and arpeggiated chords (Example 5.8).
Example 5.7 Chordal opening in Cooman’s The Doors in the Sky
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Example 5.8 Measures 10.13 from Cooman’s The Doors in the Sky
Like Cooman’s opening, Douglas Pew, in his work En Comunión combines broken and
sustained chords (Example 5.9). Even though many of the intervals are major and minor
sevenths, interspersing them between other intervals and connecting them melodically creates a
sense of a smooth consonant harmonic environment. If we look carefully at the exact pitch
content of this passage, and then reduce it to pitch:classes, we will notice that it uses all of the
notes from the D:Major scale (fitting the key signature), and no additional notes or non:harmonic
tones. At the same time, due to the clever voicings and intervallic choices, it does not sound like
a clear and simple D:Major. Pew extensively uses open strings as the basis for extended chords
spanning two or more octaves. From a performance point of view, it is important to take into
account the resonance of the open string and balance the chords accordingly to avoid
overwhelming the top notes. Although written as chords, the bottom note values are eighth:notes,
implying a grace:note function without the need to sustain the bass notes.
Example 5.9 Opening of Pew’s En Comunión
5.6 Jazz and Pop Harmony in Crossover Pieces
In the two crossover pieces in the Project, both Hiro Morozumi and I combine harmonic
and rhythmic gestures to create riffs and hooks, two staples of non:classical popular music. Both
pieces are based on popular music tonality, inflected with the harmonic colors of modal jazz.
Morozumi, in the opening of his work Real Phone Key, establishes a groove of open fifths
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interrupted by one:bar melodic riffs based on the blues scale (Example 5.10). The opening riffs
are subsequently transposed to create the I:IV:I:V:IV variant of the 12:bar blues progression. He
also uses the key signature of G:Major in which the harmonic progressions are rooted.
Example 5.10 Annotated measures 9.20 from Morozumi’s Real Phone Key
In my own piece, First Coast Groove, I use a similar approach in the opening section by creating
riffs on an A:Mixolydian mode. (Example 5.11).
Example 5.11 Riffs in Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove built on A.Mixolydian mode
In later sections, I use a pop:harmony progression C:Major D:Major A:Major as a

harmonic ostinato building up to a climax. The changing voicing of this progression create a
buildup that uses the power:chord effect (triad with omitted 3rd). In Example 5.12, we see how
the ostinato, when adding subsequent notes, changes, and gradually reveals its harmonic
structure while retaining the parallel fifth motion of power chords (a frequent feature of pop
harmony contrary to the traditional classical voice leading rules of the common:practice era.)
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Example 5.12 Measures 112.133 from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove
In the slow contrasting section, I create harmonic progressions by melodically spreading the
chords into double:stops. The resulting melodic lines fill in the harmonies and also tinge the
chords with modal flavors (Example 5.13).
Example 5.13 Linear modal inflections in Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove
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5.7 Use of Various Modes and Exotic Scales
Jian:Jun He, in his work Yang4Ge Dance, uses various combinations of different modes
and scales to create harmonic colors throughout the piece. In the very opening bar he uses all
open strings in 5ths to establish an exotic, non:functional quintal harmony. The first half of the
four:bar motive starting in measure 3 is based on the pentatonic scale CDEGA (Example 5.14).
Measures 14:15 and measures 16:17 are based on transposed sequences of two different whole:
tone scales (Example 5.15).
Example 5.14 Annotated opening line from He’s Yang$Ge Dance
Example 5.15 Annotated measures 13.17 from He’s Yang$Ge Dance
The use of modes can also be observed in Marc Mellits’ work Żubrówka, where his use
of extended tonalities in his harmonic language is representative of a post:minimalist aesthetic.
Żubrówka has a very distinct, extended tertial content that can be considered from the linear and
vertical perspectives of extended modal jazz harmony (Example 5.16). It is important to note
that the same harmonic language of modal jazz is used here in a completely different aesthetic
context (as opposed to modal:jazz harmonies used in crossover pieces in the Project).
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Example 5.16 Measures 1.27 from Mellits’ Żubrówka
5.8 Summary of the Approaches to Harmonic Language
The variety of approaches to harmonic language in the Violin Futura Project showcases
the composers’ creativity in using the full potential of the violin, from linear melodic to
contrapuntal to chordal. Drawing upon various traditions, the composers create expressive
harmonic palettes from which to craft their unique pieces. They use elements of tonality,
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atonality, modality, consonance, dissonance and jazz and pop harmonic languages to create their
own sound worlds.
Another aspect of harmonic language that needs practical attention is how the composers
are approaching key signatures and the use of accidentals. Several pieces have traditional key
signatures, even though they may not have a traditional functional harmonic structure behind
them. It appears that in some cases composers are using key signatures to indicate a general
pitch:center area, rather than an actual key with its underlying functional hierarchy.
John Oliver, in his work Tossing and Turning, frequently changes key signatures, even
for as few as two measures, and in addition, frequently re:spells certain notes enharmonically
within passages (Example 5.17). It is an example of using key signatures in an indirect way,
since the actual tonal/functional analysis of these passages would be futile. It is interesting to
consider the rapid key signature changes as part of the programmatic meaning of Tossing and
Turning. The program note explains that “the form of the piece is like a fitful sleep.”
Example 5.17 Measures 28.37 from John Oliver’s Tossing and Turning
In other non:tonal pieces without key signatures, accidentals are retained in the same
octave for the duration of the bar. In pieces without bar lines, the accidentals only apply to the
following note. It is important for performers to become comfortable with the varying rules for
accidentals, which can be different from their use in tonality:based standard repertoire.
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From a pedagogical perspective, it is important to expose students to various methods of
organizing pitch beyond traditional functional tonality. Recognizing intervallic patterns and the
usage of various scales and modes will help students comfortably navigate the harmonic
intricacies of modern music. The practical effect of this training will result in greater dexterity in
finding complex intervals and chordal sonorities.
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CHAPTER SIX
ANALYSIS OF EXTENDED NOTATION/TECHNIQUES
6.1 Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to examine some of the most original, creative and
complex extended techniques used in the Violin Futura Project and to put them in
performance/pedagogical context. A complete overview of all extended techniques used in this
collection of pieces is offered, and examples will highlight specific cases that deserve the most
attention. This chapter will showcase the creativity of the composers and prepare students and
pedagogues to approach these unique techniques. For an in:depth analysis of all possible
extended techniques, books as Patricia and Alan Strange’s The Contemporary Violin and Irvine
Arditti’s Techniques of Violin Playing are recommended.
All of the pieces in this Project are written using standard notation, but many of them
incorporate elements of extended techniques and unique notations that deserve further
inspection. Some pieces include techniques and approaches not seen before, and others combine
different extended techniques into new compound gestures. Combining multiple layers of
techniques to create these hybrid gestures is one of the defining aspects of 21st Century
composers. They personalize techniques for their own expressive purposes rather than relying on
clichés used many times before. One of the continuous challenges of extended notation is the
lack of consistent standardization of symbols. Irvine Arditti, a leading expert on contemporary
violin music, describes the challenge:
It would also be useful to standartise playing symbols for extended techniques so that
young performers and young composers both begin (and continue) to speak the same
language. Too often young composers devise new symbols for sounds that have been
already allocated satisfactory notation symbols by more established composers. The
performer is thus asked to learn a new language for each composer, or even for each
piece he plays: this unnecessarily complicates the score, and actually serves only to deny
the performer easy access to the work.36
Luckily, none of these possible problems are present in the Violin Futura Project. If
anything, these works are examples of the composers’ thoughtfulness and experience that make
36
Arditti, The Techniques of Violin Playing, 9.
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all of the markings easy to decipher. What is most striking about the use of extended techniques
is how they serve the musical and programmatic purpose of the piece, not as a value in itself. The
extended techniques present in this set of pieces include various combinations of:
Microtonality
Aleatorism
Indeterminate pitches
Temporal flexibility (complementing aspects of aleatorism)
Scratch tones
Extended use of natural and artificial harmonics
Scordatura
Extended use of left hand pizzicato and other pizzicato uses
Theatrical and percussive effects: whistling, stomping, screaming,
reading, bow whipping, piercing music, bow flailing, fingerboard
slapping, col legno, fingers tapping the strings and body of the
instrument
6.2 Microtonality
Microtonality, a prominent aspect of avant:garde technique, is used only in three of the
34 pieces in the Violin Futura Project. These composers use microtonality strictly for an
occasional coloristic purpose rather than the foundation of a harmonic language. For example, in
Coming Undone, Lisa Coons uses quarter:tone bends as part of an expressive
glissando/crescendo gesture starting and ending with normal pitch notes (Example 6.1).
Example 6.1 Quarter.tone double.stops in Coons’ Coming Undone
Jorge Sosa uses microtonality in his work Moto Perpetuo as part of a compound gesture: tremolo
with bariolage and sul ponticello (Example 6.2).
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Example 6.2 Quarter.tone tremolos in Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo
In his piece Cirque, Patrick Castillo uses multiple quarter:tone and ¾:tone trills, combined with
glissandos (Example 6.3).
Example 6.3 Quarter. and ¾ .tones in Castillo’s Cirque
An indirect effect of microtonality can also be seen in Sydney Hodkinson’s work Rush: a
Tarantella as part of his aleatoric spiccato4glissando gesture which will be discussed later in the
indeterminate pitch category.
6.3 Temporal Flexibility
Temporal flexibility, the obfuscation of a steady rhythmic pulse, is exhibited in several

pieces by using feathered:beam notation. The most extensive example can be seen in Ethan
Wickman’s work Respite: A detour for solo violin which uses aleatoric temporal flexibility by
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using boxed patterns to be repeated freely by the performer within the beats marked by passing
seconds, not a conventional time signature (Example 6.4).
Example 6.4 Aleatoric opening in Wickman’s Respite: A detour for solo violin
6.4 Indeterminate Pitches
Indeterminate pitches can be seen in Kari Henrik Juusela’s Red Bull #3 where a
trill/glissando reaches an indeterminate note and falls back an indeterminate interval
(Example 6.5).
Example 6.5 Indeterminate pitches in Juusela’s Red Bull #3
Patrick Castillo uses indeterminate pitches as part of a 16th:note gesture that is repeated during a
glissando, generating indeterminate and microtonal pitches (Example 6.6).
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Example 6.6 Indeterminate pitch sequence in Castillo’s Cirque
An aleatoric and indeterminate approach to pitch can also be seen in the combined effect
of aleatoric spiccato4glissandos used by Sydney Hodkinson in Rush: a Tarantella (Example
6.7). They create a seamless sound that may vary from one performance to another by changing
the speed but not the amplitude of the glissando. The aleatoric aspect happens in between the
specified starting and ending notes. Hodkinson uses this gesture in varying lengths in six
instances. The glissandos vary from 1 to 4 beats in length. If we compare the beginning and
ending notes of the aleatoric passage and count the number of half:steps in between, we notice
that a sequential half:step motion will result in too many chromatic notes, indicating more
spiccato notes than there are half:steps between starting and ending pitches. Hodkinson cleverly
creates a microtonal passage within an indeterminate setting.
Example 6.7 Indeterminate aleatoric spiccato in Hodkinson’s Rush: a Tarantella
6.5 Scratch Tones
The use of scratch tones, over:pressing on the string, is used by Patrick Castillo in his
work Cirque in two instances. He asks for exact pitches to be over:pressed by using double:,
triple: and quadruple:stops with filled triangles (Example 6.8).
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Example 6.8 Scratch tones in Castillo’s Cirque
6.6 Natural and Artificial Harmonics
The use of natural and artificial harmonics is present in most pieces in this Project as they
are a very effective tool for changing the sound color and extending the range of the instrument.
In general, however, “the execution of harmonics has presented the most confusion for both
composers and performers … The notation of harmonics is such a can of worms that it is often
avoided in basic orchestration classes.”37 The complex challenges of harmonics are handled with
aplomb by the composers in this Project, where the notation is clear and precise, and the notes
are playable.
Most of the pieces in this group use harmonics for coloristic purposes with the exception
of Clifton Callender’s gegenschein, which uses them extensively as a main idea of the piece
(Example 6.9). Callender creates a shimmering texture in his programmatic piece which depicts
an afterglow of a star. He uses harmonics in three distinct ways in addition to other uses: first : a
shimmering surface of constant harmonics, second – a textural background from which real notes
(non:harmonics) emerge, and third – a hybridized transitional gesture between harmonics and
real notes. The opening of gegeschein shows the use of shimmering surface harmonics (mm.1:8)
and the textural background from which the pings of real notes emerge (mm.9:20). A hybridized
transitional gesture between harmonics and real notes can be observed in mm. 32:35 (Example
6.10). This technique requires great sensitivity of the performer in transitioning from pressed
notes to harmonics, as the distance is very small.
37
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Example 6.9 Opening of Callender’s gegenschein
Example 6.10 Measures 32.36 in Callender’s gegenschein

In his work fp (For Piotr), John Kennedy explores all of the intervallic possibilities of
artificial harmonics (Example 6.11). He extensively notates the actual sounding notes for the
performer to have a helpful reference. This is an example of an extremely clear, fool:proof way
of notating harmonics for the performer – indicating both how to execute them and where they
sound.
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Example 6.11 Harmonics in Kennedy’s fp (For Piotr)
6.7 Scordatura
Scordatura, the retuning of a string to a non:standard pitch, is used only by Moritz Eggert
in Idyl, and is utilized for the entire piece. The G string is tuned up to G# and the scordatura
effect is prominently portrayed by using the G# as solo notes in pizzicato, as part of chords and
melodic writing throughout the piece (Example 6.12). The notes are written where they are to be
played, not where they sound. Eggert marks the scordatura pitches with square note:heads for
clarity throughout the piece.
Example 6.12 Scordatura notes marked with square note.heads in Eggert’s Idyl
6.8 Percussive and Theatrical Effects
The largest collection of extended techniques in a single piece in this Project is used by
Moritz Eggert in his work Idyl. He uses variety of theatrical and percussive effects and combines
different extended techniques. The piece includes whistling in several sections (both solo and
while playing). In mm. 37:39, where he asks the performer to “use bow like a whip, swooshing
noise,” the bow has to be moved swiftly through the air and the air resistance flowing through
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the tightened hair creates the noise. In addition, he also uses slapping the fingerboard with the
palm of the hand in same passage.
In Example 6.13, whistling is marked with diamond:shaped harmonics, whip noises with
slash notation, and slapping the fingerboard with Xs for noteheads. Notice the unusual marking
“autistic” in measure 31. It may be interpreted as a character description of this purposefully
disjointed section. It implies here a sequence of jagged sound events that need to be executed
mechanically without trying to apply any phrasing or direction to the gestures.
Example 6.13 Sequence of theatrical effects in Eggert’s Idyl

In the next section of the piece, Eggert uses stomping and screaming along with playing
an ostinato pattern. The music is notated on two separate lines with the screaming and stomping
aligned rhythmically with the ostinato (Example 6.14).
Example 6.14 Stomping and screaming in Eggert’s Idyl
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Eggert’s piece also employs two aleatoric sections – one starting in m. 94 where, while reading
the newspaper, the performer is plucking the raised G string while reading the article (Example
6.15).
Example 6.15 Aleatoric section with instructions for reading the newspaper in Eggert’s Idyl
A climactic moment in the piece comes in mm. 114:121 where the stomping and
screaming intensifies along with accelerating dramatic chords which lead to flailing the bow in
the air and piercing the newspaper on the music stand (Example 6.16). In other instance, in m.
130, the performer is asked to gradually turn away from the public while repeating an ostinato
pizzicato pattern.
Example 6.16 Climactic theatrical section in Eggert’s Idyl
Eggert also asks the violinist to whistle exact pitches while playing other notes. In Example
6.17, a tremolo over natural harmonics (with scordatura on the G string) is mixed with
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punctuated short whistles. Whistling is marked on a separate staff with diamond:shaped note:
heads.
Example 6.17 Whistling combined with harmonics in Eggert’s Idyl
At the end of the piece, Eggert creates another texture involving whistling. A repeating pizzicato
ostinato is an accompaniment to a whistled melody (Example 6.18).
Example 6.18 Melodic whistling combined with pizzicato ostinato in Eggert’s Idyl
Elements of percussive sound effects are displayed in my own piece, First Coast Groove,
in the opening rhythmic section, where tapping on the body of the violin alternates with col
legno strokes and hard hits on the strings with the left:hand fingers (Example 6.19). My piece,
taking influence from popular music, taps into the use of extended techniques adapted from those
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crossover influences, not from the avant:garde. To be as clear as possible to the performer, I give
written descriptions of each percussive technique in the opening and carefully mark each note
with specific effects. I also use slashed note:heads to distinguish the percussive tapping effect
from regular notes. The sounds I am emulating resemble the percussive sounds of guitar players
or a drum set. These techniques are contextualized within a different aesthetic framework
compared with similar percussive techniques used in other pieces like Eggert’s. In the crossover
piece Real Phone Key, Morozumi uses a percussive effect of tapping the foot on every beat
throughout the piece (marked only at the beginning of the score).
Example 6.19 Opening line from Szewczyk’s First Coast Groove
Patrick Castillo, in his work Cirque, uses the percussive effect of hammering the fingerboard
with the left hand fingers (without using the bow to create the sound) and a repeated col legno
effect (Example 6.20).
Example 6.20 Percussive effects in Castillo’s Cirque
78
6.9 Extended Use of Pizzicato
In the Violin Futura pieces, many composers use various pizzicato techniques (left and
right hand) in standard ways. The most extensive use of left:hand pizzicato in combination with
other techniques can be seen in Jorge Sosa’s work, Moto Perpetuo. A stream of left:hand
pizzicatos is supported by an arco pedal G, and then the bow moves to an aleatoric arco ostinato
behind the bridge while a melody is plucked in the left hand. In addition, some pizzicato notes
are marked with trills and others have indications to slide to an indeterminate pitch without re:
attacking the note (Example 6.21).
Example 6.21 Last page of Sosa’s Moto Perpetuo
79
6.10 Hybridization of Gestures
The use of extreme techniques was in vogue in the middle to late 20th Century, but has
dwindled in the early years of the 21st Century. Not all of the possible extended techniques are
used in the pieces in this Violin Futura collection, and there seems to be a more restrained
approach to using them. The extended techniques seen in these pieces are used as coloristic
effects within a generally traditional manner of string writing. The extended techniques are used
in “musical” ways as opposed to “experimental” or “exploratory.” Composers are choosing
techniques that suit their expressive and musical means, not to shock the audience or break new
ground. This is yet another testament to the notion that the era of ”:isms” has passed.
It is also striking how composers are creatively combining multiple techniques into
hybridized, morphing gestures. During the 20th Century era of experimentation, composers often
pushed the extended techniques in a crude, vulgar way to achieve the most shocking effect or to
create a new vocabulary of techniques. Composers in this Project are very sensitive and attentive
to the sonic palette. The effects they are using show their deep understanding of the timbral
possibilities on many levels, such as various bow techniques and left:hand techniques as seen in
previous examples. This approach creates a high aural plasticity and a variety of sound textures
that work in a musically aesthetic way. It is also notable to observe the trend of making clear,
precise verbal markings in English to describe the particular effects that the composers desire.
This verbalization of techniques always clarifies the intent of the composer and gives the
performer a complete set of instructions.
One of the main apprehensions many violinists have about performing new music is the
fear of physical abuse to their instrument or bow from the aggressive extended techniques that
may be requested by the composer. There are some techniques used in this Project that may
prompt performers to use a backup bow, but in general, they are safe and not in any way
damaging to the instrument. In the case of Eggert’s Idyl, the challenge comes from becoming
comfortable with safely executing the extreme theatrical gestures. This can be practiced in slow
motion, experimenting with the spatial aspects to find an optimal setup.
80
CHAPTER SEVEN
PERFORMANCE AND PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS
7.1 The Process of Learning
I performed various combinations of the repertoire from the Violin Futura Project during
22 recitals over the 8 years since the Project’s inception. Playing these pieces multiple times for
very different audiences (from college students to older festival audiences) gives a practical
insight into the challenges and possible approaches to technical and interpretative aspects. I have
been fortunate to be able to perform many of the pieces with their composers in attendance. The
largest group of composers gathered for my Carnegie Hall performance in May 2013. The idea
of performing in front of the composers can be both exhilarating and terrifying. Many classical
musicians rarely get a chance to experience that, since standard programming tends to be
traditional where the composers have passed away decades or centuries ago. Having the
composers in the audience and bringing them on stage after performance is a profound and
important experience, not just for the performer but for the audience as well. The circle of
composer:performer:audience is closed and the event can take on a different, more complete
meaning.
The process of learning the repertoire from the Violin Futura Project involved a close
collaboration with the composers via email, sharing both written ideas and audio samples. Many
composers welcomed my feedback and we discussed various aspects. Some composers made
suggestions about how they wanted certain passages to sound, and they adjusted tempi,
articulations, dynamics and various other elements. As a violinist, I also advised the composers
how to best execute certain techniques. From these conversations, I gained a deep understanding
of the meaning of these works, which enabled me to translate that during performance. These
exchanges were one of the most fascinating aspects of working with the composers directly.
Beyond these collaborations, lessons with Florida State University Professor Corinne
Stillwell illuminated new interpretive and performance challenges. As a performer who is
immersed in deciphering the complex notation, I learned that the presentation and delivery of
these works has to be significantly exaggerated in order for the music to be appreciated by the
audience. Unlike standard repertoire where the fundamental pillars of music (melody, harmony,
81
rhythm) are very clear, these pieces demand that the performer have the ability to convince an
audience to suspend their expectations and enter the composer’s world.
As an experienced, highly accomplished performer and teacher who had never heard
these works before, Ms. Stillwell’s feedback was imperative for me to see new approaches to the
pieces I have been performing. For example, she indicated that the rhythmic complexity of new
music, while obvious to the performer, often gets lost to the listener who is used to aurally
quantizing rhythmic experiences to a predictable pulsing grid. In this and other examples, her
insights into the pieces and her perceptions of my interpretations were very instrumental in my
approach to finding more effective ways of communicating composers’ ideas to the public.
This collection of pieces covers a large spectrum of approaches to interpretative freedom.

There are works with very few markings, intentionally leaving a great amount of interpretative
freedom to the performer. At the other end of the spectrum, there are pieces with extremely
precise markings on each note, essentially an exact, written:out interpretation by the composer,
leaving very few variables with which the performer can experiment with. This comparison is
absolutely not a judgment on which way is better, because both approaches work in different
ways and for different purposes in those particular pieces. It is just an observation on yet another
interesting variable in contemporary styles of composition.
In Example 7.1, we can see near:complete interpretative control written into one of the
pieces, Scatterbrain by Tyler Capp. The only interpretative variable left un:prescribed is the
rubato markings. We may also notice how meticulously sensitive the composer is to the nuances
and elasticity of the desired sound and dynamics. Over the course of those six measures, the
entire range of piano dynamics are explored and juxtaposed with the extremes of ff, such as sffz
with accents and verbal markings such as “ferocious.” From a pedagogical point of view, such
extreme precision can be overwhelming to a student, asking him or her to noticeably differentiate
between pppp, ppp and pp over three measures. It takes extra training and effort to achieve these
detailed effects.
82
Example 7.1 Near.complete interpretative control in Capp’s Scatterbrain
7.2 Each Piece: A World of Its Own
Each of the pieces in the Violin Futura Project creates a sound world of its own that
needs to be clear in its presentation to the listeners. The performer has to understand the
vocabulary, grammar and meaning of the piece in order to translate it effectively to the audience.
“Not only are the sounds new and the methods of production often unorthodox – for many
performers, the aesthetic context can be totally foreign.”38 The aesthetic context, especially for
the extended techniques, is something that the performer must understand and master in order to
make the performance convincing and convey the meaning of the piece.
The paradigm shift of expanding the sound vocabulary of the violin took place in the
th
mid:20 Century, but its remnants are still alive today and require constant reexamination:
Prior to the mid:1950s, most composers, performers, and estheticians were still guided by
nineteenth:century sonic model. Before a particular sound could even begin to be dealt
with as a compositional resource it had to have been accepted as aesthetically valid apart
from any compositional context. In response to the standard aesthetic question, “When
does an acoustical event become a musical event?” an answer must be guided by the
context in which the event is found.39
Finding this context is the primary focus of interpretation that may include sound worlds and
extended techniques that, on their own, may not carry an emotional or musical significance, but
which acquire that significance within the artistic concept of the piece.
7.3 Theatrical Performance Challenges in Eggert’s Idyl
One piece in particular from the Violin Futura Project, Moritz Eggert’s Idyl, is an
example of putting the extended techniques in context and requiring yet another level of
38
Strange, The Contemporary Violin, xi.
39
Ibid.
83
performance preparation and approach. It calls for an uninhibited and un:self:conscious
immersion in all of the theatrical gestures to make the artistic statement of the piece. That idea
may be one of the hardest obstacles for classically:trained violinists, who tend to focus on
immaculate perfection at the expense of improvisation and physical theatricality.
Above anything, the piece requires a complete, audacious loss of self:consciousness in

the performer to effectively convey its unique, extreme performance. It requires such
theatricality and exaggerated acting that even a hint of shyness will diminish the artistic effect of
the piece. The timing of the gestures and transitions requires a lot of non:musical planning and
practicing to achieve the desired effect. The gestures such as stabbing the newspaper article with
the bow, flailing the bow in the air in anger, screaming and stomping must be performed with
unabashed confidence, overemphasis and dedication to be effective (Figure 7.1, photo credit:
Harry Hellas, www.HellasArts.com). When the piece is performed without any doubt or self:
consciousness, it works powerfully for the audience.
Figure 7.1 Piotr Szewczyk performing Eggert’s Idyl at Carnegie Hall
84
Another important aspect of performing this piece is the adjustment of pacing in response
to the audience’s reaction. It is crucial to be aware of, and to respond in real time, how the
audience is reacting to the flow of the piece. A formidable spot is after the dramatic stabbing of
the music when the audience is usually laughing; it is important for the performer to stay
composed until the reaction subsides, then add extra time before proceeding to the coda. A
seemingly obvious but often overlooked aspect of delivering pieces such as this one is
controlling one’s own reactions to the effects and the audience’s reaction. It is imperative for the
performer to remain poker:faced during the piece for the most dramatic effect. These
theatrical/acting aspects pose new challenges for performers who are trained as virtuoso classical
violinists, but may lack the confidence and acting skills required to be effective in this kind of
theatrical work.
7.4 Aspects of Sequencing the Performance Order
One of the not:so:obvious challenges of the Project is to program the sequence of the
pieces in a way that creates a larger structural narrative for each concert. Over the course of
many performances, I experimented with different arrangements of the pieces and the continuity
of the program. I tried two main version of the performance – one with and one without applause
between the pieces. Each of the versions had its inherent benefits and disadvantages. In the
version with applause, each composer who was present at the concert could immediately be
acknowledged from the stage and there would be enough time to reset between the pieces in a
more relaxed manner. The connection between the pieces was loosened and each piece stood
more on its own. In the version where I requested no applause between the pieces, I would
perform up to 16 pieces in a row, changing very quickly between pieces and frequently not even
lowering the violin to turn pages. It gave the recital a relentless intensity and a powerful
conclusion. In this scenario, a phenomenon emerged that I carefully planned: the single pieces by
different composers became movements in a large, continuous meta:piece, a sort of communal
experience to which all composers contributed a part and it became a new whole.
When planning the recital without applause, I experimented with structuring the dramatic
narrative on a larger scale. A typical slow:fast:slow:fast narrative worked for shorter recitals, but
for longer concerts, I also built in mid:performance climaxes by staggering several fast pieces
after each other to be followed by several meditative, freer works that gave respite from the
85
virtuosic intensity. Towards the end, I rebuilt the structural climax with more virtuosic pieces. I
always ended the program with Eggert’s Idyl followed by my own First Coast Groove. Eggert’s
piece, while intensely creative and avant:garde, also includes numerous humorous elements and
theatricality that usually evoke spontaneous giggles of surprise from the audience. The piece
ends very softly, suggesting the need for a light encore piece to wrap up the program. My
crossover piece, First Coast Groove, was always an effective and virtuosic ending.
The art of sequencing a large number of disparate short pieces into a coherent, structured
narrative puts the performer into the interesting new role of a meta:composer. The
responsibilities involved in sequencing a large number of works are challenging, compared to
traditional concert programming, but structuring a 16:piece recital poses creative opportunities
for the performer. In future performances I plan to incorporate new ways of sequencing the order
of pieces by using chance methods and involving the audience. The shuffle effect could be
accomplished by drawing numbers associated with specific pieces from a box, polling the
audience before the concert to select an order by text messages or social media, etc.
7.5 Developing a Mindset for New Music
From an aesthetic approach, one of the most challenging aspects of interpreting new
music is to be able to temporarily abandon the ingrained, learned values of traditional classical
music. Classical violin training heavily emphasizes qualities of sound production that were
appreciated in the classical and romantic eras. “Performance technique was characterized as left:
hand flexibility and right:hand lyricism. Whether one was performing a nineteenth:century
virtuosic concerto or a lyric sonata, the quality of sound was defined by terms such as rich,
warm, lyrical, and so on.”40 That traditional approach can be a hindrance to interpreting a
contemporary sound world that is contrary to those values. In addition “the meaning of words
has changed and the contemporary musician’s definition of warm or lyrical is somewhat
different from the models accepted by nineteenth:century thought.”41 The sound vocabulary of
contemporary composers has expanded into new directions of expressive potential where
“qualities best described as ‘rough,’ ‘clangorous,’ ‘silky’ and ‘transparent’ have been added to
40
41
Ibid.
86
the composer’s arsenal of sonic adjectives.”42 With this compositional change of aesthetics, the
“production of a ‘big, beautiful sound’ with the bow is no longer the only preferred mode of
expression.”43
Another aspect of contemporary music that poses problems for the traditionally:trained
musician’s mind is that of indeterminate pitches. With the challenges of learning perfect
intonation, violinists fear playing a note out of tune. Asking them to play indeterminate notes
goes completely against their training. “The problem of coaxing a non:determinant pitch out of a
traditionally trained player can be frustrating. The player often becomes so concerned with
thinking about or not thinking about what to play that the gesture of the moment is lost.”44
These differences bring us to a paradigm shift that must be understood by performers

attempting to interpret new music. They must abandon classical/romantic ways of thinking about
phrasing, structure, and style, and accept a new way of thinking, where, for example, the
building blocks of a piece are not an 8:measure tonal phrase but aggressive, triplet harmonics
gestures followed by glissandos and double:stops (Example 7.3).
This gesture, coming from Carl Schimmel’s work Whiffet, fits into a different
architectural logic than phrases, periods and cadences; and imposing romantic expectations on a
foreign contemporary construct will lead a performer to frustration. As we examine the opening
of Whiffet more, we see structural aspects that operate within a significantly different aesthetic
environment than works from the traditional repertoire. There is a chain of short, aggressive,
jagged gestures, with extremely sudden dynamic contrasts, set within a very rhythmic tapestry.
That serrated tapestry is frequently interrupted by sudden fermatas (either on rests or notes).
A similar approach to gestural structuring can be seen in Patrick Castillo’s Cirque

(Example 7.4). In the opening two lines of the piece, a stream of contrasting gestures, events,
and sound effects make the opening statement. Notice that Castillo’s gestural approach differs
from Schimmel’s, in that there are no time signatures or measures. Castillo uses double bar lines
to indicate the conclusion of a sequence of events that is not confined by meter, although moving
42
43
Ibid.
44
Ibid., 9.
87
sequentially in a steady tempo. This notation strategy is another example of an aesthetic
difference that violinists raised on traditional repertoire will encounter in contemporary music.
Example 7.2 Measures 1.8 from Schimmel’s Whiffet
Example 7.3 Opening lines from Castillo’s Cirque
88
Rhythmic complexity is one of the most daunting and intimidating factors of
contemporary music for young performers:
I think it is true to say that in general, in the first part of the 20th Century there were no
great rhythmic challenges for the violinists or string players … We have to jump well
into the second part of the 20th Century to be presented with scores that make string
players reach for their calculators and knowledge of arithmetic.45
Avoiding rhythmically complex scores makes it harder for students to feel comfortable
approaching them in the future. They should be used frequently to familiarize the student with
complex tuplets, metric modulations and such, which will increase familiarity and allow the
student to focus on other aspects of piece.
Another important aspect to be considered is the use of vibrato which, in romantic violin
training, is essentially a default method of expression. The constant use of vibrato is so ingrained
in violinists’ minds that many do not realize that “when vibrato was first introduced in
Renaissance music, it was used only as a manner of cadential ornamentation”46 and later on, “as
violin literature developed, vibrato became a more common sound and took its place as an
element of the characteristic sound produced by the instrument.”47 With that culturally ingrained
mindset of constant vibrato, it is difficult for performers to adjust to the notion that in
contemporary music, “the use of vibrato should not be assumed, and the composer should take
care to indicate when it is to be used.”48 It may also be a foreign idea to students that “many
contemporary composers prefer their music to be performed with little or no vibrato.”49 This
natural apprehension for playing non:vibrato also stems from the fear of playing out of tune.
With no vibrato, purity of intonation is much more audible, and this makes the
performer’s task much harder. To tune chords with no vibrato is like putting pitch under
the microscope. Every slight intonation mistake is magnified. Vibrato acts as a healing
lotion for bad intonation, because the slight finger oscillation gives less room to
understand if the note or chord is really in tune or not.50
The natural desire for that “healing lotion” in the performance of contemporary music
comes from a surprisingly banal source. Because of the non:tonal intervallic complexity, the
45
46
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid.
49
50
Ibid., 36.
89
performer may not be comfortable with the intervals and therefore masks the uncertainty with
vibrato. That problem can be remedied by frequent exposure to music with complex intervallic
patterns within a non:tonal, non:tertial harmonic context to assure confident shifting.
7.6 Exposure to Various Styles as Preparation for Interpretation
A crucial pedagogical aspect of introducing contemporary music to young performers is

to expose them to variety of styles and playing techniques. That includes the complex avant:
garde masterpieces of the 20th Century as well as crossover and popular styles of music.
Experience with jazz, folk, bluegrass, pop, Americana and fiddling will enhance student’s
understanding of the stylistic versatility of the violin. An often overlooked area of string training
is that of improvisation. It is a vital feature of most popular styles but is virtually non:existent in
the traditional classical training. Improvisation has many benefits from a pedagogical point to
view. It allows the player to have more kinetic flexibility and less fear of playing wrong notes,
and it also expands the player’s musical vocabulary and understanding of the instrument.
Violinists/composers/educators such as Julie Lyonn Lieberman, Jeremy Cohen, Christian

Howes and Mark O’Connor incorporate improvisation into their teaching and workshops on
alternative performance styles. For example, O’Connor’s String Method allows one tune to be
used at multiple developmental levels to gain proficiency in improvisation. “The method will
also demonstrate that there’s more than one way to play a piece, offering students different
options within a single tune, and gradually making them comfortable with the idea of
improvisation.”51 Incorporating various forms of improvisation infuses creativity into the string
curriculum that will benefit students in contemporary music as well giving them more
confidence. O’Connor strives with his method to “create 21st:century modern string players, who
are ready for all sorts of performing opportunities and can succeed as professional musicians or
as teachers ….”52
Another violinist, Pekka Kuusisto, “would like to see more conservatoire violinists
explore the possibilities of improvisation”:
51
James Reel, “The American Experience,” Strings, September 2009, 48.
52
Ibid.
90
‘Every time I see a young player who plays very well but seems to be staring at their left
hand, making sure everything goes exactly where it should, I never feel much of an
emotional message coming through. I always wish that they would start playing
something that no one has written, that only they can play.’ Improvisation, he argues, can
teach a violinist ways of handling their instrument that quickly become part of their
individual playing language.”53
Kuusisto expresses frustration with traditional conservatory training by saying that “it often feels
like the whole point of education is to be able to sound like someone else, as if copying
something is the highest form of learning.54
Why even advocate for improvisation when there are no pieces in the Violin Futura
Project that require it? Because in order to effectively interpret crossover pieces like Morozumi’s
Real Phone Key and my First Coast Groove, one must have some experience with improvisation
to make them sound authentic. Improvisation should become a regular part of string education
curriculum. Jazz violinist and educator Christian Howes says:
Until now, teachers have skated without having to learn to improvise, arrange, create
loops, structure group improvisation, and the like. Now, they must be willing to engage
with this new curriculum. Until teachers get over their own fears and limitations, they
will struggle to set an example for students and successfully pass down information.55
Also, experience with improvisation helps navigate aleatoric passages as it frees the player from
the obsession to play every note exactly as written on the page. Finally, improvisation is not a
substitute for traditional training. It should be built upon the strong foundation of rigorous
training. Only then will improvisation show its artistic and creative benefits.
To summarize, students should become comfortable and proficient with various extended
techniques and ways of playing that are not represented in the standard repertoire. Studying the
techniques first in isolation and then applying them in various pieces is most effective. When
students have equal experience with extended techniques as they have with the demands of the
standard repertoire, their efficiency and comfort level with interpreting and performing new
music will significantly improve. One final and essential aspect of approaching new music is
pointed out by violinist Yumi Hwang:Williams:
53
James Reel, “The American Experience,” Strings, September 2009, 48.
54
Ibid.
55
Christian Howes, “Keep Teens Engaged with Relevant Musical Skills,” Strings, October 2013, 62.
91
First and foremost, you have to have a lot of patience. It takes a while for this music to
sink in, and you don’t feel like you’re making quick progress. The scary part about new
music is it doesn’t ‘stick’ right away, and you can lose heart. You need more patience
than you would for the masters because you don’t know this music as well.56
7.7 List of Observations and Suggestions for Students and Pedagogues
From a pedagogical perspective, the challenges of performing and interpreting

contemporary violin music described so far can be summarized into the following observations.
This advice is not intended as a substitution for a rigorous classical training which gives
violinists a necessary base on which to build. It is an elaboration on that traditional training to
help the student become more adept and well:rounded in a variety of styles, which will
especially benefits their work with contemporary music.
I. The current reality of contemporary music
A. Contemporary repertoire has little or no history of interpretation due to the small

number of performances, lack of (multiple) recordings and short history of the
works.
B. Changing compositional fads make certain styles and pieces obsolete and
unfashionable.
II. Breaking the habits of classical training
A. Success with new music is heavily dependent on the student’s familiarity and
comfort level with understanding the composer’s style and executing the extended
techniques.
B. Becoming comfortable with non:traditional ways of playing (non:vibrato, scratch

sounds, mictrotonality, etc.) Students must immerse themselves in the
56
James Reel, “Modern Prometheus,” Strings, January 2008, 46.
92
contemporary composer’s own sound world rather than apply pre:learned
interpretative approaches.
C. The best source of advice about interpreting the piece is the living composer him:
or herself. Students should be encouraged to make contact with composers.
D. Technical challenges can be varied and enormous within the same piece.
E. Students need to be taught to be flexible and versed in multiple styles including

improvisation, and to be able to switch quickly from one to another.
III. Strategies for students:
A. Making extended techniques comfortable.
1. Becoming comfortable with microtonality, indefinite pitches,

aleatorism, harmonic languages (for example, dissociation of
accidentals from their tonal role as leading tones).
2. Tuning complex chordal sonorities and becoming familiarized

with non:idiomatic hand positions and extensions. Intervallic
and motivic complexity poses intonation and dexterity
challenges in passages that lie outside the standard tonal/tertial
string training.
3. Isolating various techniques first, the same way students learn

traditional aspects of technique. Finding excerpts of extended
techniques from various pieces to focus on that single
technique.
93
4. Developing and sustaining curiosity and patience with
overcoming technical challenges in new music.
B. Studying extended technique books (see Appendix C).
C. Engaging with new music

1. Steady exposure to new repertoire and techniques
2. Students should be encouraged to work with composers in

partnership, helping them write effectively for the violin, trying
their new techniques and learning what they want to express. It
also prevents a mutual animosity that can arise from
misunderstandings.
IV. Connecting
A. Teaching open:mindedness and attitude of curiosity toward new music by

encouraging creativity, inquisitiveness and learning about composers and new
trends.
B. Encouraging students to compose in order to facilitate an understanding about

how composers’ minds work and learning respect for composers’ hard work.
When a student violinist has a chance to experience the arduous process of
composing a work, they will develop more patience and humility towards
composers and difficult pieces they may encounter for performance. (The same
idea applies to composers who should experience learning and performing a
piece).
94
C. Showing students ways of finding contemporary pieces and bridging the gap
between performers and composers.
D. Encouraging students to become advocates for new music and seeing the
possibilities of success for all involved. Encouraging students to commission
pieces from fellow student composers, organize performances of new music,
perform in new music festivals etc.
95
CHAPTER EIGHT
CONCLUSION
From the sonatas and partitas of J. S. Bach, through the Capriccios of Paganini and
Etuden of Ernst, to the fugues of Reger and the solo sonatas of Ysaÿe, Hindemith and
Bartók, composers of genius have demonstrated that the violin, unaccompanied, is
capable of carrying the full burden of an expressive and many:layered musical design.
That tradition continues today in a musical climate devoid of generally agreed standards
…57
I am confident in saying that the composers in the Violin Futura Project are brilliantly
continuing this long, distinguished tradition in our stylistically diverse environment. In my
original research, I documented a fascinating aspect of early 21st Century music that is evident in
my commissioning project: the plethora of stylistic approaches that are supported by a respect for
history and that draw inspiration from the past to create new, original works. The Violin Futura
Project is a reflection of 21st Century music where “there is no longer one mainstream, one taste
for music, but many streams and tastes.”58
The Violin Futura Project has generated a collection of stylistically divergent pieces
written within 5 years, by a group of composers with different backgrounds and interests. It has
tapped into the creative potential of the 21st Century, influenced by the instant connectivity that
affects our knowledge, awareness and cultural choices we make. At the same time, this
collection of pieces represents only a small slice of the potential of living composers. The Project
is ongoing and I am planning to develop it for years to come by continuing to commission new
works. Any other violinist creating a similar project would encounter a different cross:section of
the creativity of composers from around the world.
At the same time, the resulting stylistic and inspirational similarities showed in my
analysis indicate deep cultural and archetypal connections that are shared among composers of
all ages and backgrounds. It is likely that different archetypal inspirations would be found in
other sets of pieces commissioned at the same time from a different group of composers. Some
may overlap as well. Even though composers seem to gravitate towards forms and archetypes
from the past, they are being creative and original. There are, and will be, pieces that do not fit
57
Malcom MacDonald, CD liner notes, Written in Sand, Simax Classics.
58
96
into any categories or combine elements in such ways that make them completely new. In most
cases, though, we can see an inspiration behind the pieces that is rooted in the wider history of
music. One striking observation about the whole set of pieces in the Violin Futura Project is that
they all are, with the exception of only three, deeply programmatic pieces. This profusion of
programmatic music over pure absolute music in the Project reflects the new aesthetics of our
times. Mark Evan Bonds writes in Absolute Music: The History of an Idea:
The prestige of absolute music began to decline around 1970 with the turn toward
postmodernism. In this more recent era of eclecticism, the rhetoric of purity has taken a
back seat to the rhetoric of diversity … Composers, performers, and critics are today far
more open to the potential advantages of hybridity.59
The variety of techniques that the composers are using in this set of pieces reflects deep
musical meaning, not dry “exploration.” It seems as if composers have studied and internalized
the technical achievements of various “:isms” from the past but are using them in their own
unique and personal ways. The extended techniques are used as a very musical, personal means
of expression, not for shock value or technique for its own sake. The pieces are accessible and
exciting, a feature that many avant:garde 20th Century pieces lack.
Composers are comfortable with tonality, atonality, modality, jazz and pop influences,
and use these styles without any pressure to conform to trends that may be in vogue at the time.
They come from an era of the liberation of approaches, where past, present and future meld
together and overlap in intriguing ways. The humble violin, a three:hundred:year old wooden
instrument, is being reimagined in an age of terabytes, big data, wi:fi and social media. It is only
a testament to the unlimited creative resources that 21st Century composers can offer to
performers.
Based on this set of pieces, we can speculate that the solo violin repertoire in the 21st
Century and beyond has room to evolve and remain fresh and creative. In addition, the
development of new violin techniques is not finished. We need to “regard the further
development of the violin not as something given, but as something in transit for everyone
involved (composers as well as interpreters) to work on. It would be a great mistake to regard
59
Mark Evan Bonds, Absolute Music: The History of an Idea (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), Loc 8994,
Kindle E:Book.
97
violin technique as a closed case, for every time a new composition is written we are back in
flux, looking for new solutions….”60
We also cannot predict what the future will bring. “The developing heterogeneity of
music could now seem the symptom of an impending cultural swerve on the scale of the
Renaissance, so many arrows pointing towards so many potential futures.”61 Finding committed
audiences for new music seems the biggest challenge. “Trends change too quickly to give a
balanced or complete overview of recent music. But it seems clear that there is a continuing
tension in all forms of music between finding a niche of committed listeners whose support will
endure and finding a wide audience.”62
This, in essence, is my goal for the Violin Futura Project. To make a lasting impact and
start an evolving, sustainable movement of encouraging composers to reimagine the solo violin
for this and future eras, and to develop an audience for it. Violinist Vadim Gluzman says that
“playing modern music is our way to ensure the longevity of the art … One never knows what’ll
survive, but if you don’t give composers a chance to find new ideas and language, there’s no
chance.”63
With this Project, I want to create opportunities for new generations of living composers
because “there is no need to focus our interest on a few great composers when there is so much
variety to enjoy.”64 Let us encourage a new generation of brilliant, creative composers who may
surprise and enchant us in ways we have never expected. “The choices we have for music to
listen to or perform have become almost limitless. So too are the possibilities for new music.”65
“The best one can hope is that the future of our musical tradition will be as lively, diverse, and
challenging as the past.”66 We can be sure that music may turn in new directions in the future,
and it looks as if the solo violin is in the good hands of brave, creative and brilliant composers
who will express something meaningful and unique through this versatile instrument.
60
61
Paul Griffiths, Modern Music and After (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 408.
62
63
Louise Lee, “Modern Classicist,” Strings, October 2009, 57.
64
65
Ibid.
66
Seaton, Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition, 454.
98
APPENDIX A
WEBSITE LINKS TO COMPOSERS FROM THE VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT
Jason Bahr: www.JasonBahr.com Kari Henrik Juusela:

www.berklee.edu/people/kari:juusela
Mason Bates: www.MasonBates.com
Daniel Kellogg: www.DanielKellogg.com
Richard Belcastro: www.RBelcastro.com
John Kennedy:
Clifton Callender: www.JohnKennedyMusic.com
www.CliftonCallender.com
Marc Mellits: www.MarcMellits.com
Tyler Capp: www.SoundCloud.com/Tyler:
Capp Lan.Chee Lam:
www.hkcg.org/en/Composer/196
Patrick Castillo: www.PatrickCastillo.com
Hiro Morozumi: www.HiroMorozumi.com
Carson Cooman: www.CarsonCooman.com
John Oliver: earsay.com/JohnOliverMusic
Lisa R. Coons: www.LisaRCoons.com
Douglas Pew: www.DouglasPew.com
Matthew Davidson:
www.composers.com/matthew:davidson Carl Schimmel: www.CarlSchimmel.com
Lawrence Dillon: www.LawrenceDillon.com Adam Schoenberg:

www.AdamSchoenberg.com
Moritz Eggert: www.MoritzEggert.de
Laurence Sherr:
Aaron Einbond: ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~lsherr/
www.AaronEinbond.wordpress.com
Gary Smart: www.GarySmart.net
Mark Grey: www.MarkGreyMusic.com
Suzanne Sorkin: www.sju.edu/about:
Jeffrey Harrington: sju/faculty:staff/suzanne:sorkin:phd
www.parnasse.com/jh/blog
Jorge Sosa: www.JorgeSosa.com
Ng Wah Hei:
www.hkcg.org/en/Composer/563 Piotr Szewczyk: www.VeryNewMusic.com
Sydney Hodkinson: www.SydHodkinson.com Ethan Wickman: www.EthanWickman.com
Jian.Jun He: www.ju.edu/cfa/Pages/Jianjun: Nathan Williamson:

He.aspx www.NathanWilliamson.co.uk
99
APPENDIX B
SELECTED SOLO VIOLIN WORKS FROM THE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES
Reger: Four Sonatas, Op.42 (1904), Stravinsky: Elegy (1944)

Seven Sonatas, Op.91 (1905), Eight Rodrigo: Capriccio (1944)
Preludes and Fugues, Op.117 (1909:12) Hovhaness: Chahagir (1944)
Kreisler: Recitativo and Scherzo (1911) Prokofiev: Sonata (1947)
Reger: Six Preludes and Fugues, Krenek: Sonata No.2, Op.115 (1948)
Op.131a (1914) Klebe: Sonate Nr. 1, Op. 8 (1950)
Raasted: 3 Sonatas, Op.18 (1918) Zimmermann: Sonata (1951)
Szekely: Sonata (1920) Flury: 10 Capricen (1950:52)
Raasted: 2 Sonatas, Op.30 (1921) Cage: 59 ½ (1953)
Haba: Suite (1922) Sessions: Sonata (1953)
Nielsen: Praeludium og Tema med Schnittke: Fuga (1953)
Variationer, Op. 48 (1923) Klebe: Sonate Nr. 2, Op. 20 (1955)
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas (1924) Martinon: Sonatina No.6 (1958)
Hindemith: 2 Sonatas, Op.31 (1924) Bacewicz: Sonata No.2 (1958)
Leifs: Studies, Op. 3 (1924) Bloch: 2 Suites (1958)
Krenek: Sonata No.1, Op.33 (1925) Jóhannsson: Dimension (1961)
Hindemith: Ubungen (1926) Martino: Fantasy4Variations (1962)
Hartman: 2 Sonatas, 2 Suites (1927) Tubin: Solo Sonata (1962)
Nielsen: Preludio e Presto, Op.52 Weinberg: Sonata No. 1, Op.82 (1964)
(1927:28) Ben.Heim: Sonata in G (1964)
Ysaÿe: Ten Preludes (1928) Lees: Invenzione (1965)
Veress: Sonata (1935) Barakauskas: Partita, Op.12 (1967)
Honegger: Sonata (1940) Weinberg: Sonata No. 2, Op.95 (1967)
Persichetti: Sonata, Op.10 (1940) Bacewicz: 4 Capricci (1968)
Bacewicz: Sonata No.1 (1941) Wuorinen: The Long and the Short (1969)
Pergament: Chaconne (1941) Wernick: Cadenzas and Variations II (1970)
Martinon: Sonatina No.5, Op.32 (1942) Rochberg: Caprice Variations (1970)
Bartok: Sonata (1944) Maderna: Pièce pour Ivry (1971)
100
Helgason: Sonata (1971) Lachenmann: Toccatina (1986)
Suderburg: Solo Music I (1971) Ferneyhough: Intermedio alla ciaccona
Xenakis: Mikka (1972) (1986)
Perkinson: Blue/s Forms (1972) Yun: Kontraste (1987)
Wuorinen: Violin Variations (1972) Müllenbach: Art Gallery (1987)
Khachaturian: Sonata Monologue (1975) Penderecki: Cadenza (1987)
Yun: Koengliches Thema (1976) Ruders: Variations (1989)
Berio: Sequenza VIII (1976) Scodanibbio: My New Address (1989)
Sciarrino: Sei Capricci (1976) Kurtag: Signs, Games and Messages
Prévost: Improvisation (1976) (1989:2004)
Glass: Violin Solo Music from Hoffman: Partenze (1990)
“Einstein on the Beach” (1976) Sheng: The Stream Flows (1990)
Henze: Sonata (1977) Sommerfeldt: Sonata Saxifraga, Op.69A
Cage: Cheap Imitation (1977), Chorals (1978) (1990)
Paredes: Permutaciones (1978) Cage: Freeman Etudes, Book 3 and 4
Denisov: Sonata (1978) (1990), One6 (1990)
Ptaszyṅska: Recitativo, Arioso e Toccata (1979) Ran: Inscriptions (1991)
Weinberg: Sonata No. 3, Op.126 (1979) Cage: One10 (1992)
Mumford: Linear Cycles VII (1979, rev. 1993) Adolphe: Soliloquy (1992)
Cage: Freeman Etudes, Book 1 and 2 (1980) Karchin: Ricercare (1992)
Hartke: Caoine (1980) Roumain: Filter (1992)
Schnittke: “A Paganini” (1982) Müllenbach: Partita I (1992)
Durand: Roman (1982) Kimura: ALT (1992)
Brody: Voices (1983) Boulez: Anthemes (1992)
Yun: Li4Na im Garten (1984:85) Sveinsson: Melody and Doubles with
Carter: Four Lauds (1984, 1999, 2000) Epilogue (1991)
Shchedrin: Echo Sonata (1984) Anderson: Casting Ecstatic (1994)
Kirchner: For Violin Solo (1985) Müllenbach: Capriccio per Niccolò
Harbison: Four Songs of Solitude (1985) Paganini (1994)
Loevendie: Dance (1986) Saariaho: Nocturne (1994)
101
Lesage: Iveresses, Songes, Sourdes Nuits Salonen: Lachen Verlernt (2002)
(1994) Moe: Ciaccona (2002)
McDonald: Sonata, Op. 219 (1994) Matthews: Fifteen Fugues, Op. 88 (2002)
Kimura: Gemini (1995) Müllenbach: Aimez4vous…Brahms? (2002)
Hodkinson: Branches (1995), Martino: Sonata (2002), Romanza (2003)
Thread (1996) Read Thomas: Pulsar (2003)
Baldvinsson: Adagio (1996) Vali: Calligraphy No. 5 (2003)
Moe: 3 Persephone Perceptions (1996) Ott: Double Aria (2003)
Auerbach: T’filah (Prayer) (1996) Froom: Sonata (2003)
Goritz: Silhouettes (5 pieces) (1996) Brotons: Et in Terra Pax, Op.97 (2004)
Szewczyk: Cadenza I (1997) Grey: San Andreas Suite (2004)
Shchedrin: Balalaika (1997) Szewczyk: All4Wheel Drive (2004),
Maw: Sonata (1997) Lament for the Tsunami Victims (2005)
Kimura: Six Caprices for Subharmonics Kimura: Subharmonic Partita (2005)
(1997:98) Read Thomas: Rush (2005)
Shchedrin: Variations and Theme (1998) Woolf: No Axe to Grind (2005)
Boykan: Sonata (1998) Watkins: Partita (2006)
Kreiger: Keeping Company (1998) Hyla: Passeggiata (2007)
Klebe: Capriccio “Von dem Gewitter” Hoffman: Square One (2007)
Op. 128 (1999) Penderecki: Capriccio (2008)
Corigliano: Red Violin Caprices (1999) Farr: Wakatipu (2009)
Ferneyhough: Unsichtbare Farben (1999) Murphy: One for Solitude (2010)
O'Connor: Caprices Nos. 146 (1999) Tower: String Force (2010)
Szewczyk: Cadenza II (1999) Corigliano: Stomp (2010)
Coates: Sonata (2000) Stahmer: Gerettete Blätter (2011)
Shchedrin: Duo (2000) Oesterle: Stand Still (2011)
Puts: Arches (2000) Fairouz: Native Informant (2011)
Kurtag: Hipartita (2000:04) Daugherty: Viva (2012)
Benjamin: Three Miniatures (2001) Penderecki: La Follia (2013)
102
APPENDIX C
BOOKS ON EXTENDED VIOLIN TECHNIQUE AND NOTATION
Arditti, Irvine and Robert HP Platz. The Techniques of Violin Playing. Kassel: Baerenreiter,
2013.
Gould, Elaine. Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation. Alfred Music, 2011.
Sauer, Theresa. Notations 21. New York: Mark Batty Publisher, 2009.
Strange, Patricia and Allen Strange. The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance
Techniques. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Read, Gardner. Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice. New York: Taplinger Publishing
Company, 1979.
Stone, Kurt. Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook. W.W. Norton &
Company, 1980.
103
APPENDIX D
SELECTED RESOURCES FOR DISCOVERING AND COMMISSIONING NEW

MUSIC
1. The official Violin Futura Project website featuring the latest information, audio and
video samples, downloadable press kit, concert schedule, pictures and links to the
composers’ websites www.ViolinFutura.com and my own personal website is
www.VeryNewMusic.com.
2. Composer organizations featuring profiles of living composers with audio and score
samples of their work, and various grant opportunities and calls for scores to connect
performers with composers:
www.American:Music.org www.iscm.org
www.Composers.com www.ijournalcc.com
www.Composition.org www.LeagueOfComposers.org
www.ComposersForum.org www.NyComposersCircle.org
www.ComposersSite.com www.PerspectivesOfNewMusic.org
www.NewMusicBox.org www.Sequenza21.com
www.NewMusicUSA.org www.SocietyOfComposers.org
3. Recording labels specializing in and/or prominently featuring contemporary music both

in CD and various downloadable and streaming formats:
www.AlbanyRecords.com www.Naxos.com
www.CedilleRecords.org www.NewAmRecords.com
www.innova.mu www.Nonesuch.com
www.NavonaRecords.com www.ParmaRecordings.com
4. Websites featuring live and on:demand recorded concerts and searchable databases
helping find particular pieces and composers:
www.Medici.tv www.YouTube.com
104
www.DigitalConcertHall.com www.Vimeo.com
www.PerformanceToday.org
5. Streaming music services that feature contemporary music:

www.CouterstreamRadio.net www.Spolify.com
www.Pandora.com www.SoundCloud.com
6. Social media and websites with discussion boards are extremely useful for connecting
with experienced musicians who can share their personal insights, observations and
recommendations. There are numerous new groups on www.Facebook.com and websites
like www.Violinist.com can be useful for finding new music.
Please note that the nature of online resources is always changing and evolving and links and
organizations listed here may become defunct or morph into new ones. Use internet search
engines such as www.Google.com or www.Bing.com or any new search technologies that may
emerge in the future for the latest up:to:date information.
105
APPENDIX E
PERMISSIONS
106
107
108
109
110
REFERENCES
Books
Auner, Joseph. Music in the Twentieth and Twenty4First Centuries. New York: W. W. Norton
and Company, 2013.
Arditti, Irvine and Robert H.P. Platz. The Techniques of Violin Playing. Kassel: Baerenreiter,
2013.
Bachmann, Alberto. An Encyclopedia of the Violin. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2008.
Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. New
York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Bonds, Mark Evan. Absolute Music: The History on an Idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2014.
Borstlap, John. The Classical Revolution: Thoughts on New Music in the 21st Century. Lanham:
The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2013.
Brubaker, Bruce, Pascal Decroupet, Mark Delaere, Justin London and Ian Pace. Unfolding Time:
Studies in Temporality in Twentieth Century Music. Ghent: Leuven University Press, 2009.
Campbell, Margaret. The Great Violinists. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1981.
Cope, David. New Directions in Music. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 2001.
Ewen, David. The World of Twentieth4Century Music. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice:Hall, Inc.,
1968.
Gloag, Kenneth. Postmodernism in Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Gould, Elaine. Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation. Alfred Music, 2011.
Griffiths, Paul. A Concise History of Western Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2006.
Katz, Mark. The Violin: A Research and Information Guide. New York: Routledge Music
Bibliographies, 2006.
Kolneder, Walter. Reinhard G. Pauly, trans. ed. The Amadeus Book of the Violin: Construction,
History and Music. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1998.
Kostka, Stefan. Material and Techniques of Post4Tonal Music. Boston: Pearson, 2012.
Kusiak, Jerzy. Skrzypce od A do Z [Violin from A to Z]. Kraków: Polskie Wydawnictwo
Muzyczne S.A., 1999.
___________ Przewodnik po Muzyce Skrzypcowej [Violin Music Guidebook]. Krakow: Polskie
Wydawnictwo Muzyczne S.A., 2003.
111
Lester, Joel. Analytic Approaches to the Twentieth4Century Music. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 1989.
Lester, Joel. Bach’s Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, Performance. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999.
Lucier, Alvin. Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music. Middletown: Wesleyan University
Press, 2012.
Machlis, Joseph. Introduction to Contemporary Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
1979.
Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth4Century Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.
Nelson, Sheila M. The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques. Mineola: Dover
Publications, Inc. 2003.
Nyman, Michael. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999.
Paddison, Max and Irene Deliege. Ed. Contemporary Music: Theoretical and Philosophical
Perspectives. Burlington: Ashgate, 2010.
Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Cambridge:
The Belknap Press and Harvard University Press, 1999.
Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: The Belknap Press and
Harvard University Press, 2003.
Read, Gardner. Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice. New York: Taplinger Publishing
Company, 1979.
Ross, Alex. The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. New York: Picador, 2008.
Roth, Henry. Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21st Century. Los Angeles: California
Classics Books, 1997.
Sauer, Theresa. Notations 21. New York: Mark Batty Publisher, 2009.
Seaton, Douglass. Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010.
Schoenbaum, David. The Violin: A Social History of the World’s Most Versatile Instrument.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2013.
Schwartz, Elliott, Barney Childs and Jim Fox. Ed. Contemporary Composers on Contemporary
Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998.
Stowell, Robin. Ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Violin. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992.
112
Strange, Patricia and Allen Strange. The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance
Techniques. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Stone, Kurt. Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook. W.W. Norton &
Company, 1980.
Taruskin, Richard. Music in the Late Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
_______________ Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2010.
Vinton, John. Ed. Dictionary of Contemporary Music. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.,
1974.
West Marvin, Elizabeth and Richard Hermann. Ed. Concert Music, Rock, and Jazz Since 1945.
Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1995.
Whittall, Arnold. Exploring Twentieth4Century Music: Tradition and Innovation. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Magazines
Broughton, Simon. “Fresh Thinking: Félix Lajkó.” Strad, January, 2013.
Cahill, Greg. “Building the Better 21st:Century Program.” Strings, September, 2014.
Kliphuis, Tim. “Improve with Improv.” Strad, January, 2011.
Reel, James. “The American Experience.” Strings, September, 2009.
Somerford. Peter. “Pekka Kuusisto.” Strad, July, 2012.
Templeton, David. “The Future is Wide Open: Jeremy Kittel, 21st:century violinist & violist a
jack of all trades” Strings, March, 2012.
Lee, Louise. “Modern Classicist: Violinist Vadim Gluzman blends a love of modern music with
a healthy respect for the classics.” Strings, October, 2009.
Tolling, Mads. “No Fear! Learn Jazz Violin in 3 Easy Steps.” Strings, October, 2013.
Templeton, David. “Rob Moose: from classical to chamber, jazz, art:rock to hip:hop : a stylistic
powerhouse.” Strings, March, 2011.
Reel, James. “Modern Prometheus: Yumi Hwang:Williams has emerged as a fiery champion of
contemporary classical music.” Strings, January, 2008.
Hodges, Bruce. “Leila Josefowich: The Queen of Contemporary Repertoire.” Strad, October
2012.
Williams, Rory. “Burning Brightly: Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld’s new solo album takes
a trip through minimalism, mysticism, and . . . heroism.” Strings, November, 2013.
113
Ramey, Corinne. “The King of Concerti! Ittai Shapira has premiered 19 violin concertos.”
Strings, October, 2013.
Howes, Christian “Keep Teens Engaged with Relevant Musical Skills.” Strings, October, 2013.
Ramey, Corinne. “David Garrett: More than a Pretty Face.” Strings, February, 2013.
Ramey, Corinne. “Flights of Fantasy: YouTube sensation Lindsey Stirling steps out on tour to
promote her hit debut album.” Strings, April, 2013.
Olwell, Greg. “Making Computers More Interactive for 21st Century String Players: Violinist
Mari Kimura augments her string music with a digital partner.” Strings, October, 2011.
Williams, Rory. “String Teachers Gather for ‘Revolutionary’ Workshop: Mark O’Connor’s
American violin method is changing the face of string pedagogy.” Strings, September 2011.
Hewett, Ivan. “Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Wild child of classical violin,” Telegraph, August 14,
2014. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/11032745/Patricia:
Kopatchinskaja:Wild:child:of:classical:violin.html (Accessed Oct 2, 2014).
Recordings
“20:Century Masterworks for Solo Violin.” Daniel Stepner – violin, CENTAUR,
www.CentaurRecords.com.
“A Different World.” Diana Galvydyte – violin, Champs Hill Records
“Arches. Then to Now: Music for Violin Alone.” Tim Fain – violin, Image Recordings,
www.ImageRecordings.com.
“Caoine: Biber/Hartke/Rochberg/Bach.” Michelle Makarski – violin, ECM.
“Capricho Latino.” Rachel Barton Pine – violin, Cedille Records, www.CedilleRecords.org.
“David Matthews: Music for Solo Violin.” Peter Sheppard Skaeved – violin, Toccata Classics,
www.ToccataClassics.com.
“Flying Solo.” Augustin Hadelich – violin, AVIE, www.AvieRecords.com.
“Going Solo: Unaccompanied Works for Violin & Viola.” Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio –
violin/viola, MSR Classics, www.msrcd.com.
“Icelandic Music for Solo Violin.” Rut Ingólfsdóttir – violin, Icelandic Music Information
Centre, www.mic.is.
“John Cage: Freeman Etudes.” Irvine Arditti – violin, Mode, www.ModeRecords.com.
“John Cage: Freeman Etudes.” Marco Fusi – violin, Stradivarius, www.stradivarius.it.
“Klebe: Music for Violin.” Eckhard Fischer – violin, MARCO POLO, www.Naxos.com.
114
“Made in Germany: Works for Solo Violin.” Herwig Zack – violin, AVIE,
www.AvieRecords.com.
“Munch Suite: 15 Solo Pieces to 15 Paintings by Edvard Munch.” Henning Kraggerud – violin,
Simax Classics, www.simax.no.
“Music by Donald Martino.” Miranda Cuckson – violin, CENTAUR.
“Niels Otto Raasted: Solo Violin Sonatas”. Johannes Søe Hansen – violin, DACAPO,
www.dacapo:records.dk
“Ole:Henrik Moe: Ciacciona, 3 Persephone Perceptions.” Kari Ronnekleiv – violin, RCD,
www.RuneGrammofon.com.
“Rhapsodic Musings: 21st Century Works for Solo Violin.” Jennifer Koh – violin, Cedille
Records, www.CedilleRecords.org.
“Soliloquy.” Curtis Macomber – violin, Koch International Classics.
“SOLO.” Ning Feng – violin, Channel Classics, www.ChannelClassics.com.
“SOLO: Boulez/Stravinsky/Berio/Goritz/Lesage.” Julie:Anne Derome – violin, ATMA.
“Solo Contemporary Violin.” Roberto Alonso Trillo – violin, OUVIRMOS,
www.ouvirmos.com.
“Solo Violin Sonatas.” Kolja Lessig – violin, Capriccio.
“The World Below G and Beyond.” Mari Kimura – violin/composer, Mutablemusic,
www.MutableMusic.com.
“Virtuoso Violin Works from the Twentieth Century.” Emil Dekov – violin, BIS.
“Written in Sand.” Solve Sigerland – violin, Simax Classics, www.simax.no.
115
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Piotr Szewczyk (pronounced: pyo4ter chef4chick) Polish:born violinist and composer,

became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in 2014, and has been a member of the Jacksonville
Symphony Orchestra since 2007. Before joining the JSO, Mr. Szewczyk completed a three:year
fellowship at the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas where he served as a
rotating concertmaster. He holds the degrees of B.M. and double M.M. in violin and composition
from the University of Cincinnati College:Conservatory of Music. Mr. Szewczyk is the creator
and performer of the Violin Futura Project, a series of recitals of 34 commissioned solo violin
pieces written and dedicated to him by renowned composers from around the word. Mr.
Szewczyk was the winner of the 2013 Florida State University Carnegie Hall proposal with this
project and he has performed it over 20 times since its inception.
As a violinist, Mr. Szewczyk has won the Florida State University Doctoral Concerto
Competition, the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, CCM Chamber Music
Competition, the Young Artist String Competition in Lima, Ohio and the Interlochen Concerto
Competition, among others. He has performed in the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Aspen
Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, New World Symphony Chamber Music Series, Santa Fe
New Music, Colorado Music Festival, St. Augustine Music Festival and many others.
As a composer, Mr. Szewczyk has received numerous awards, including those from The
American Prize, American Modern Ensemble, Rapido! Composition Contest, Third Millennium
Ensemble, American Composers Forum, Society of Composers, Jacksonville Symphony Fresh
Ink, ACCENT Competition at Music X Festival, and others. Mr. Szewczyk is the winner of the
Theme Song Contest for NPR station WJCT and his composition begins and ends each First
Coast Connect show with Melissa Ross. Mr. Szewczyk’s music was featured on NPR’s Performance
Today and the CBS Early Show, and was performed by numerous ensembles including the Alias
Ensemble, Dover Quartet, Carpe Diem String Quartet, Sybarite 5, Juventas Ensemble, Atlanta Chamber
Players, New Music Raleigh and others. His piece Apparitions was released on Navona records
NOVA CD and was called “magical” in a review by Gramophone Magazine. His orchestral
piece First Coast Fanfare was performed by Florida State University Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Dr. Alexander Jimenez for the opening concert of their 2012:13 season.
More information is available at www.VeryNewMusic.com.
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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

Solo Violin Miniatures in the 21st Century:

SOLO VIOLIN MINIATURES IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

ANALYSIS OF COMMISSIONED WORKS FROM THE

VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT

A Treatise submitted to the

The members of the supervisory committee were:

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii

Example 4.1 Opening three lines from Kellogg’s Sizzle ...............................................................25

Figure 1.1 Digital animations by Cira Crowell, Piotr Szewczyk – violin……………………….13

There is practically nothing shocking or avant:garde to be accomplished with the violin

THE VIOLIN FUTURA PROJECT IN THE 21ST CENTURY CONTEXT

1.1 Musical Genesis of the Violin Futura Project

1.2 Stylistic Diversity in the 21st Century: The Era of Post.isms

1.3 Fragmentation of Trends within Western Music

1.4 Socio.cultural Environment in the 21st Century

1.5 Changing Backgrounds of Composers Writing Music for Violin

1.6 Dangers of Unplayability: Result of Compositional Over.Intellectualization

In contrast to the vapid idiomatic virtuosity of romantic violinist:composers, over:

There are, of course, numerous masterpieces in between those two extremes of

1.8 Composers in the Violin Futura Project

Figure 1.1 Digital animations by Cira Crowell, Piotr Szewczyk . violin

18. Kari Henrik Juusela – Red Bull #3

INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALTICAL APPROACHES

ARCHETYPE PIECES FROM THE VIOLIN EXAMPLES OF

1. Moto Perpetuo Callender – gegenschein J.S Bach – Presto from

2. Dance Forms Bates – Blue Berceuse* J.S. Bach – Partitas

3. Text and Cooman – The Doors in the Sky Maxwell:Davies –

ARCHETYPE PIECES FROM THE VIOLIN EXAMPLES OF

4. Religion Pew – En Comunión J.S. Bach (most music)

5. Theatricality Belcastro – Buyer’s Remorse Berio – Sequenza VIII

6. Crossover with Morozumi – Real Phone Key Bazzini –

7. Variation Form Einbond – Fish Gotta Swim* Bach – Chaconne

ARCHETYPE PIECES FROM THE VIOLIN EXAMPLES OF

8. Programmatic. Castillo – Cirque Vivaldi – Four Seasons

9. Generic Forms Bahr – Ephemeral Rhapsody Etudes and Caprices by

10. Absolute Hei – Caprice* Bartok – Solo Sonata

ARCHETYPE PIECES FROM THE VIOLIN EXAMPLES OF

11. Nationalism He – Yang4Ge Dance* Bacewicz – Polish

12. Humor Eggert – Idyl* Bazzini – Le ronde des

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AMONG PIECES IN THE SAME ARCHETYPES

4.1 Moto Perpetuo

Moto Perpetuo, defined as “a composition in which rhythmic motion, often in single

Example 4.1 Opening three lines from Kellogg’s Sizzle

Example 4.3 Measures 1.13 from Schoenberg’s Swoosh

Example 4.4 Underlying hyper.rhythmic structure of the opening of Schoenberg’s Swoosh

Example 4.6 Measures 1.12 of Mellits’ Żubrówka

Example 4.8 Opening rhythmic motive of Dillon’s Mister Blister

Example 4.10 Opening two lines from Harrington’s Puce

Example 4.11 Measures 1.11 from Juusela’s Red Bull #3

Example 4.13 Opening line of Callender’s gegenschein

Example 4.14 Measures 69.79 from Callender’s gegenschein

4.2 Dance Forms

He – Yan$ Ge Dance (overlaps with the Nationalism archetype)

Laurence Sherr’s Midnight Dance has an intricate rhythmic tapestry comprised of

Example 4.16 Underlying metric design in Sherr’s Midnight Dance

Example 4.17 Annotated metric/rhythmic pattern in Sherr’s Midnight Dance

4.3 Text and Poetry