Performing the 'Group of the Six'

Federico Forla

Name: Federico Forla Main Subject: Oboe Research supervisor: Wouter Verschuren Title of Research: Performing the 'Group of the Six' Research Question: Which are the common aesthetic aspects found in the Group of the Six? How can one exemplify it in the performance? Summary of Results: A new French style starts to develop at the beginning of twentieth-century. This style will flourish and develop trough all the century. We can find in the 'Group of the Six' a first controversial example of this new aesthetic. In my research I used historical sources, writings of the composers and writers of the time, together with detailed analysis of representative compositions. Merging all this information, I was able to create a clearer picture of the new French aesthetic of the 'Group of the Six'. Performance practice is a central aspect: specific examples of the aesthetic's reflection in the scores are intended as a suggestion for the execution. A case-study at the end of the research shows a practical example of how the collected information can be used and related within a specific piece. Biography: Since the beginning of my musical studies I got really interested in chamber music. It was for me the most direct, simple and democratic way to make music together. In the following years this interest persisted, giving me the urge to explore and experiment new repertoire. My initial period at the Royal Conservatoire was characterized by my first serious approach to French chamber music of twentieth-century. My research was inspired by the issues, doubts and reflections of that period.

Introduction

For a musician, the inspiration behind in depth research should come from performance issues and thus inform and refine the practice itself. In my continuing evolution as a musician, I look forward learning more about the intricacies of new material and compositions with the aim of presenting my findings to the audience through the performance.

With different ensembles, I started exploring the chamber music composition of 20^th century. In particular, my interest in pieces from French composers, such as Milhaud and Auric, grew. Performing this specific repertoire, I came across several issues that in a way astonished me: grotesque and extravagant popular melodies appear in the score without losing all their crude accent and character; influences from an array of outside musical genres (blues, jazz, ragtime, South American music) shape the melody and the rhythm; unclear interpretation of confounding, rich tapestries of sound. For this reason I have decided to delve into this foreign world and immerse myself in it so as to achieve a greater musical intelligence. Studying the background, influences and styles of these composers I was able to form an overview of the genre which bolstered my performance practice ideals.

All these questions and problematic went condensed in my Research Question:

“Which are the common aspects found in the Group of the Six? How can one exemplify it in a performance?”

In order to understand how to perform the music of The Group of the Six it was of paramount importance to study their common aesthetic. I collected information about their relation with past musical ideas, the influences presented by various musics of the time (jazz, blues, popular music, etc.), and newly created composition techniques and experimentation. The information gathered gave me new tools to better understand the score, compositional style, instrumentation, etc. used by the composer and allowed me to manifest a more conscious interpretation of the pieces.

I gathered all this information both from original sources, analytic books about this subject, and even historical recordings from the time, which were a wealth of information that was not or could not be covered in written material. Many of the French sources I used still don't have an English translation. For that reason the quote that I use in my research are translate by myself, unless if differently specified.

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