A Guide to Practicing David Popper’S ‘Hohe Schule’ Etudes

By Benjamin Whitcomb

There are few works in the cello repertoire as significant as the etudes by David Popper. They are practiced, studied, and learned by cellists all over the world as a sort of rite of passage to the advanced cello techniques. This has been the case since their publication, and there is no sign that this is going to change in the foreseeable future. Auditions for such things as youth orchestras, festivals, competitions, or university admissions frequently require the performance of one or more Popper etudes.

Learning these etudes is a wonderful way to prepare yourself for the advanced cello repertoire. However, tackling them on your own can be a daunting task. Several authors have published their ideas and suggestions for practicing these etudes whether as articles, books, or videos. What makes this guide different is that it shows you step-by-step exactly how you can effectively practice all the difficult spots in each etude such that you will surely learn and master each one at a faster rate than you would without these suggestions and exercises.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546251019

Benjamin Whitcomb

Benjamin Whitcomb, cellist Benjamin Whitcomb is a Professor of Cello and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, where he has received awards for his teaching, research, and service. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he performs more than thirty concerts a year around the country and overseas. He is a member of the Ancora String Quartet and the UW-Whitewater Piano Trio. Dr. Whitcomb is a frequent guest clinician and performer at universities and conferences throughout the country and abroad. His books, The Advancing Cellists Handbook series, Cello Fingerings, and Bass Fingerings, have received rave reviews from Strings magazine plus the journals of ASTA and AUSTA. He is a contributing author to Strings magazine, Sharpen Your String Technique and Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra. He has published numerous articles on cello and on music theory, and has presented many papers at national and international conferences as well. He is also a reviewer for the American String Teacher journal, and has served as Secretary of ASTA. At UW-Whitewater, Whitcomb initiated and continues to coordinate the Theory/History Colloquium speaker series, the Musical Mosaics Faculty Concert Series, the Chancellors Quartet program, and the Summer String Camp. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University, and he has studied with Phyllis Young, George Neikrug, and Evan Tonsing.

Book preview

A GUIDE TO PRACTICING

DAVID POPPER’S

HOHE SCHULE ETUDES

BENJAMIN WHITCOMB

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© 2017 Benjamin Whitcomb. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/30/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-5102-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-5101-9 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Credit for the Cover Photo to Brian Lewis Photography.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many people who helped me write this book, whether they realize it or not. First of all, I would never have been able to have written a book such as this without my primary cello teachers, Monty Lawson, Evan Tonsing, George Neikrug, and Phyllis Young.

I am extremely grateful for the useful suggestions and advice from the people who helped review this work, including Tess Remy-Schumacher, Linda Jennings, Douglas Moore, Miranda Wilson, Meredith Blecha, Ruth Boden, Elizabeth Morrow, David Caplan, and Richard Petarius. I would also like to thank my parents, Carl and LaJean Whitcomb, my sons, Spencer and Preston, and my wife Pamela, for everything.

CONTENTS

Introduction

About the Etudes

The Ordering of the Etudes

Nicknames

Editorial Method

General and preparatory exercises

The Hoch Schule etudes, Op. 73

1.     Etude No 3: Chromatic study in Bb minor

2.     Etude No 11: À la bassoon

3.     Etude No 36: The Train

4.     Etude No 1: Little Lohengrin

5.     Etude No 25: Study at the tip

6.     Etude No 5: Sicilienne

7.     Etude No 2: G Major prelude

8.     Etude No 40: Study in harmonics

9.     Etude No 6: Papillon

10.   Etude No 34: Lullaby duet

11.   Etude No 16: C Major capriccio

12.   Etude No 10: Appassionato in C minor

13.   Etude No 17: Death and the Maiden

14.   Etude No 19: Lohengrin study

15.   Etude No 27: Study in spiccato

16.   Etude No 15: Scherzando arpeggios

17.   Etude No 7: Cascades

18.   Etude No 28: Organ prelude

19.   Etude No 22: Improvisation in G Major

20.   Etude No 30: Scherzo in Gb Major

21.   Etude No 32: Study in staccato in C minor

22.   Etude No 8: C Major prelude

23.   Etude No 35: Incomplete neighbor tones

24.   Etude No 14: Study in Staccato in D Major

25.   Etude No 20: Appassionato in G minor

26.   Etude No 38: Study in broken octaves

27.   Etude No 23: Chromatic study in B minor

28.   Etude No 21: Descending trichords

29.   Etude No 4: Study in F# major

30.   Etude No 26: Study in 18/16

31.   Etude No 33: Inverted arpeggios

32.   Etude No 39: Morning song

33.   Etude No 31: Atonal study

34.   Etude No 9: Anapest double stops

35.   Etude No 18: Study in broken thirds

36.   Etude No 13: Double-stop fantasia

37.   Etude No 12: Common-tone diminished sevenths

38.   Etude No 29: Cypress

39.   Etude No 24: Pentatonic study

40.   Etude No 37: Study in mordents

Bibliography

Biography

INTRODUCTION

There are few works in the cello repertoire as significant as the etudes by David Popper. They are practiced, studied, and learned by cellists all over the world, as a sort of rite of passage to advanced cello technique. This has been the case since their publication, and there is no sign that this is going to change in the foreseeable future. Auditions for such things as youth orchestras, festivals, competitions, or university admission frequently require the performance of one or more Popper etude.

Learning these etudes is a wonderful way to prepare yourself for the advanced cello repertoire. However, tackling them on your own can be a daunting task. Several authors have published their ideas and suggestions for practicing these etudes, whether as articles, books, or videos. What makes this guide different is that it shows you, step-by-step, exactly how you can effectively practice all of the difficult spots in each etude, such that you will surely learn and master each one at a faster rate than you would without these suggestions and exercises.

About the Etudes

Popper published 40 etudes in four sets of 10 between 1901 and 1905. The sets were dedicated, respectively, to Alwin Schroeder, Bernhard Schmidt, Edouard Jacobs, and Edmund Mihalovich. They were later compiled into one volume entitled Hohe Schule fur Violoncelle, Op. 73. Popper had begun writing the etudes in 1895 for his students, in response to the demands of modern ocrehstral, chamber, and solo repertoire for the cello. The most distinctive contributions of these etudes (as compared to those of earlier composers) were the increased chromaticism and the greater demands on the left hand thumb.

The Ordering of the Etudes

One of the most problematical aspects of the 40 Hohe Schule etudes is that they are in no particular order: they are not organized by difficulty, subject matter, key, tempo, or any other discernible attribute. As such, many cellists start with etude number one and proceed towards number 40, or they might skip around as their fancy suits them. However, practicing the etudes in a more deliberate and systematic order, such as by difficulty or subject matter, provides distinct benefits. For example, if you practice them in order of difficulty, you will be less likely to tackle something that is beyond your current means, which can lead to such things as frustration, extra tension, or perhaps even pain.

Like several cellists before me, I have evaluated all 40 etudes according to their level of difficulty, and that is the order in which they are presented within this book. For the sake of clarity, I have retained the original numbering for each etude.

I do not expect any other cellists to agree with all of my rankings, and indeed I think the likelihood of any two cellists ranking all 40 of the etudes in the same order is extremely small. However, I am confident that everyone would agree that my ranking, or indeed any of the other published lists by difficulty, more closely approximates the actual order of difficulty than the way that Popper has them arranged. To make my point, consider how much easier etude number 5 is than number 4. Similarly, consider these additional pairs:

• No. 9 vs. no. 10

• No. 12 vs. no. 16

• No. 24 vs. no 25

• No. 33 vs. no. 34

Many other such examples exist.

If you are inspired to devise your own ranking according to difficulty, by all means do so. Such an endeavor is a useful mental exercise, as it will force you to think in detail about each etude and about the nature of cello technique. Furthermore, it will surely reveal something about your own technical strengths and weaknesses.

Nicknames

Popper provided nicknames for some of the etudes (i.e., Lohengrin, mordents, Study in harmonics, etc.), and I decided to provide all of the other etudes with nicknames as well. Having a nickname instead of just a number helps us to keep the many etudes separate in our minds. There is a usefulness in keeping all 40 etudes distinct in one’s thoughts, especially for those who plan on memorizing them or using them as teaching tools. You will surely find some of my nicknames more useful and apt than others, and of course you are welcome to come up with nicknames of your own if you wish.

Editorial Method

Wherever feasible, I have replaced the written-out repeats in the original with repeat signs. The main benefit of this approach is not so much that it takes up less space, but that each etude then seems less daunting to learn.

I have almost entirely retained Popper’s original fingerings because I believe they constitute one of the components of what Popper is trying to teach us through these etudes. I have added some additional the fingerings as necessary, for the sake of clarity. For example, I often specify where a shift or an extension is required, and I often specify the string on which a given note is to be played.

The system that I used for marking fingerings is the one outlined in my book on fingerings (Cello Fingerings: Improve Your Left-Hand Game), the most essential aspects of which are summarized below:

• Fingerings are listed when they indicate a change in position.

• When a fingering that does not involve the shift is included (i.e., as a reminder), it is placed in parentheses.

• Roman numerals are included to indicate which string to play on.

• Additional symbols have been included to help convey spacing information. For example:

o x means extension

o xx means double extension

o Symbols such as H and L are provided at times to clarify whether a particular fingering is to be placed in a higher or lower location within the position. For example, L2 means place second finger a whole step away from third finger, etc.

There are also some notes in the original edition that I believe are incorrect—usually involving a missing accidental. I have corrected these, and they are listed as emendations at the beginning of the discussion of the particular etude.

Types of Practice

The suggested exercises throughout this book include many examples of all seven of the types of practice that I identify and describe in my book, The Advancing Cellist’s Handbook. For your convenience, they are briefly explained below:

Simplification involves leaving out one or more technical aspects of a passage in order to concentrate on solving one problem at a time. Some examples include air bowing, pizzicatoing an arco passage, playing a passage with all slurs or all separate bows instead of a given bowing pattern, playing the fingering of a passage but without the shifts or without the string crossings, etc.

In order to apply the technique of standard comparison, take a passage and play it in an easier or more favorable way to make it sound better, and then replay the passage as written. Examples include vibratoing a note with a stronger finger, playing a passage with an easier fingering, in a lower position, with greater use of open strings, or with a simpler bowing, playing a high passage an octave lower, etc. The idea is that our ear will now have a higher standard to which it can compare the original passage, which will allow your ear to guide you to make the necessary changes to imitate this higher standard.

Transposition technique is a form of standard comparison and, to a degree, conceptual/theoretical practice. Take a passage and play it in many different keys, perhaps as many as all twelve! Using this technique clarifies the intervals in the passage, improves your intonation, and solidifies the passage in your ear.

Exercise creation: This refers to the crucial skill of making short exercises out of technical problem spots in order to solve them. These exercises should usually consist of about three to six notes. Once you have decided on the notes of your exercise, play it over and over as an ostinato figure. This way, you can make changes as you play and observe their effects. Once the problem is solved as an exercise, the problem spot should immediately be tried in context.

Slow practice is very important for all types of music. Young cellists usually do not do this slowly enough. It is through slow practice that you will find many more mistakes in your playing than you otherwise would have. This technique is also useful for improving tone and musical expression. Good slow practice 1) entails exaggerated rhythm, 2) requires that you pay attention to your motions, your use of muscles, and your level of tension, and 3) allows the ear to be picky, which is precisely why many musicians tend to avoid this type of practice!

For add-a-note technique, practice a difficult passage by starting with a note and adding one note at a time. This should be done at tempo. This procedure identifies precisely the two notes between which the difficulty exists (which can then be addressed and solved separately using other tools). This method can also be applied backwards, by starting with the last note of the passage and working forward, or with small groups of notes (i.e., add-a-group).

Conceptual/theoretical practice involves improving your knowledge. Sometimes one’s difficulty with a passage is due to a lack of understanding of the pitches or intervals involved. This problem is usually solved by identifying aloud (over and over, progressively faster) the theory information that is causing the problem. In the case of shifts, since the shifted interval is often different from the sounded interval, it is useful to identify both.

GENERAL AND PREPARATORY EXERCISES

Before you start working on any of these etudes, or any piece of repertoire for that matter, it can be quite useful to work on some preliminary skills related to the types of techniques found in the pieces you intend to learn. In fact, this is one of the benefits to practicing scales and arpeggios, since they are found in virtually every piece in the repertoire.

One of the benefits of this approach is that it warms up and prepares your hands for the sorts of activities you will soon be encountering in the piece. Another benefit is that it allows you to solve some of the technical issues in the abstract—in other words in a more universal manner that would apply more nearly to any passage involving the particular technique. This, in turn, can help you feel like a virtuoso when you encounter the specific technical passages found in the piece, and it can also help to decrease the likelihood that you get burnt out on practicing the piece.

Although the entire set of cello techniques found in all 40 etudes is an extensive list, there are a small number of techniques that Popper clearly favors and focuses on much more than others, and these are the techniques that we will concentrate on here.

Try working on each of the types of exercises found below for an appreciable amount of time before learning your first Popper etude (or before returning to them, if you learned some before acquiring this book). Then, return periodically to the exercises that are most germane to the etude that you are learning at any given time.

Slow bow exercises

When you hear the term slow bow in discussions of cello technique, it generally does not refer to a somewhat slower-than usual bow speed, but rather a categorically different speed, which often means as slow as you can possibly move the bow. Slow bow is a technique that you have to use quite frequently in the 40 etudes. As with so many other skills, it is something that must be practiced in order to do it well consistently.

Some of the main ingredients of slow bow are as follows:

• draw the bow close to the bridge

• ensure that the bow is parallel to the bridge

• experiment with different weight-to-speed ratios in order to discover the physical boundaries for good tone production

• ensure that the right hand is flexible, supple, and comfortable enough to make the instantaneous and infinitesimal adjustments necessary to maintain good control over the tone

Note that the best time to establish a good slow-bow stroke is right at the moment that the bow is changing directions.

Practice using slow bow on a regular basis as part of your routine when you are working on scales. Set the metronome at a round number like 80 or 100, and try playing each note of the scale with 8, 12, and then 16 clicks. Ensure not only that the tone is good and consistent throughout the bow, but that your comfort level remains high as well. In addition, try this exercise at different dynamic levels (p, mp, mf, f) and at changing dynamic levels (i.e., during crescendos and diminuendos).

After you have achieved a certain level of skill using slow bows on one note at a time, next try using a slow bow while the left hand is active, because it takes extra coordination to move one hand slowly when another hand is moving quickly. An active left hand can mean that