Arne Nordheim: Flashing (1985-86)
In 1974, Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim (1931-2010) wrote his accordion concerto "Spur", dedicated to Mogens Ellegaard. The material of the cadenza was later taken to create Flashing, a virtuosic solo piece that explores the many possibilities of the accordion. As an ambassador of electronic and electro-acoustic music in Norway, he relates his interest in the accordion to his work in that field. Following its sonic nature, Flashing has the sound idiom of electronic avant-garde music. Moreover, one could see "Flashing" as a musical imitation of the polar lights.
Flashing begins with a ‘tone glissando’ out of nothing. A tone glissando can be performed on the accordion by pressing the button halfway and increasing pressure on the bellows. In the specific case of my instrument, this technique has been proven very difficult to perform, because of the stability of reeds in my accordion. In order to achieve this effect, I have had to push very hard (in most cases it goes easier with the bellows inwards). Thus, I was wondering if 3D bellows could facilitate this particular technique.
Shown in video 1, the ‘straight bellows’ or fan shape bellows around the left leg felt uncomfortable because I had to stretch my left arm very far to reach the manual. In the recording the waves created by the tone glissando were quite clear – an observation I didn’t expect. The music feels more introvert and subtle. I notice the sound gets quite thin when I force the bellows upwards – I'm looking for a more round sound.
With moving the bellows forward, as portrayed in video 2, I feel a more organic crescendo that eventually invites the tone in the right hand. The connection between left and right manual is clearer, they take over the energy from each other. The tone glissando technique doesn’t really seem to benefit from moving the bellows upward in this recording. I would argue that on the contrary, it needs a certain stability for the bellows pressure to be sustained. Nevertheless, in the second video I, in the role of the audience, feel more approached and carried away by the music.
A few weeks later, I was questioning what the effect would be of 3D bellows in a dialogical passage between right and left hand further in the piece. When applying a straight, linear bellows concept (see video 3) with the suggested registers, the left hand sounds softer and less present than the right hand. In video 4 I moved the bellows according to the division of the melody between left and right hand. I wanted to make an interweaving melody by projecting each time the voice at hand. However, I experienced too much movement which interrupts the musical line. Watching the video, I even felt distracted by my movements, it stood in the way of the music. As a kind of compromise (see video 5), I tried bringing the left hand forward constantly, which gave the melody a better dynamical balance, I found that now right and left hand had a similar impact on the listener.
Experimenting with 3D bellows
Prerequisites
Looking at the results of the pedagogic survey and from personal teaching experience, we could determine a few prerequisites for applying the 3D bellows technique. First of all, there should be a continuous air supply in the bellows, comparable to the mechanism of an organ. However, an accordionist needs to maintain this airstream manually. Changing bellows (in/out) should ensure the continuation of musical energy. Therefore, it is important to think about when to change and how to change bellows, eventually anticipating changes by shifting the body weight to the respective side. All of this is supported by having a good and active posture.
Methodology and set-up of the experiments
How do three-dimensional movements of the bellows influence accordion music interpretations? What are benefits of the 3D bellows' use? How intensely can this technique be applied? To answer these research questions, I set up an experiment with video recordings. I played the selected passages in different ways concerning the bellows movement during the same practice session and made sure other interpretational parameters rested more or less unchanged. Using a journal, I evaluated the different options for each of the passages.
At the beginning of my experimentation process, I used a professional audio recording device, paired with my phone for video. However, due to the difficulty of synchronising audio and video, I later decided to continue with my phone for both audio and video, which worked out very well. The recordings were made at different times in different study rooms of the Royal Conservatoire, whose acoustics were all quite dry.
Case studies
I chose to document 4 case studies in which a particular question concerning 3D bellows is asked. However, trying out possibilities with 3D bellows has been part of my general practice routine and therefore, I applied the technique in a lot more pieces than documented here. The 4 pieces have been programmed in either my first or second Master's recital. Because of my profiling as a broadly orientated musician, and in particular an accordion performer with an interest in multiple music genres, I wanted a variety of pieces in different styles, approaches and characters. Yet, it was especially interesting for me to see how 3D bellows could impact transcriptions. In the translation of organ or keyboard compositions - instruments that deal less with physical motion and spatiality (the accordion is constantly changing its form in space, whereas the organ and the harpsichord are more static) - it is key to remain style conscious or 'idiom conscious'.
First of all, the left hand should be brought into the foreground – sent to the audience – by actively listening to the bass line and giving it the most importance. The tuning and harmony of the chords in the left hand can be adjusted by the pressure applied to the buttons so that a more resonant fundament arises. Finger articulation in the right hand should be deepened and the posture of the right hand should be stabilised to gain a deeper, more telling and touching musical interpretation. Ornamentations in the melody can be much more organic.
After I worked on that, I went back to the practice room for another comparison between 2D and 3D bellows. With the focus on the left hand, a better intonation of the chord progression and a calmer right hand, subtle 3D bellows can be permitted. They create a very important direction in the music, which makes the music more captivating. In that regard, 3D bellows could help my interpretation of the Goldberg Variations to grab the attention of the audience.
|
Composer & title |
Description |
Date of the experiment |
|
Scandinavian avant-garde, virtuosic original accordion composition |
24-03-2022 14-05-2022 |
|
|
Soviet late-romantic organ transcription |
24-03-2022 16-11-2022 |
|
|
Scandinavian humoristic circus-like piece |
12-05-2022 |
|
|
Johann Sebastian Bach: Aria from the Goldberg Variations (ca. 1741) |
German late baroque sarabande for keyboard |
28-09-2022 18-11-2022 |
Ole Schmidt: Escape of the Meatball over the Fence (1967)
"Escape of the Meatball over the Fence" is a short, cheeky, circus-like piece by Danish composer, jazz pianist and conductor Ole Schmidt (1928-2010).
At first, I was looking for a major programmatic idea for the piece and I wanted to see how 3D bellows could interact with that. As a reference, I recorded myself using linear bellows (video 10). Reflecting on it, there lies a certain modesty in it. I change bellows between question and answer, but my hand continues the direction of the meatball.
In video 11, I move the bellows forward during the musical ‘question’. It is very much directed to the audience. However, my body is going backwards quickly. Because of that, question and answer might be in disbalance here, there could be a perceived hesitation in the music. Or can it be seen as more teasing for the audience? Consequently, I tried to avoid a backward motion in video 12. That comes across as more stable and consequent, but technically it is much more difficult to control the ending of the D note. As a fourth possibility, I explored upward bellows motion (see video 13). To achieve this, I started from a quite low position. I think it is partly about the visual effect, but I like this possibility in the interpretation of an escaping meatball (cf. the title of the piece).
In the end, I realised going so much in-depth with 3D bellows shouldn’t have been the first step in practising this piece. The composition itself shouldn’t be taken so seriously - it could in fact be seen as a joke, furthermore the performer usually eats a meatball at the end of the piece. Therefore, my serious conceptualisation of the piece did not fit. It is written many years ago during a time the accordion as an instrument was in full development. Nowadays with new instruments, it might require enrichening the music with doubling notes, playing in unison in the left and right hand, sustaining the bass note or making another division between the right and left hand. Only then, it seems useful to think about the bellows’ motion. The last step would always be finding a nice registration - it is recommended to first make sure there is enough air supply while playing on singular stop registers, before applying richer registers (with multiple register stops in use). Nevertheless, experimenting in this piece with an upward bellows motion, opened interesting perspectives.
Georgi Mushel: Aria & Toccata from Uzbekistan Suite (ca. 1966)
Born in Moscow but later moved to Tashkent, Georgi Mushel (1909-1989) is considered a pioneer of classical music in Uzbekistan. Besides being a composer, he made paintings, inspired by Uzbek nature, architecture and folklore. The Uzbekistan Suite is originally written for organ and arranged for accordion by Viacheslav Semionov. It is a colourful and picturesque composition in late-romantic style. The Aria is more contemplative, while the Toccata is exceptionally virtuosic and vivid (full of Soviet optimism).
When playing organ transcriptions, I want to approximate the verticality and grandness of an organ. The airstream should be continuous. Therefore, I am curious how 3D bellows impact that - if not negate the grandeur. First, I selected the middle part of the Aria to experiment with, because it sounds most ‘organ-like’ with low pedal notes.
While playing, I felt comfortable with the straight bellows motion (video 6). I had the impression I created a more organ-like interpretation, as described above. However, the basses sound a bit nasal.
Applying 3D bellows quite extremely, I hear a much more interesting, vivid performance full of colours (video 7). The basses have more of a roundness and core. These basses support the voices above much more and create, in my opinion, more the verticality I am seeking for. Visually, the music is more poignant by using 3D bellows. An interesting question is how much of the effect is due to visual perception or in actual sound - as a reference, audio files of video 6 and 7 are attached. While listening to these, I could also simply hear the difference, but the effect on me was less strong. 3D bellows play with the proximity of music and seeing these movements enforces the impression of being close-by or further away.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations (ca. 1741)
Many accordion players have interpreted and recorded this famous composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, which is considered his most serious and ambitious work for the keyboard. As a listener of many of these recordings, I personally noticed my attention fading away quite quickly throughout the variations. Could 3D bellows help maintain the long line? And if so, how much of the swellings produced by 3D bellows could be perceived as style conscious?
First of all, I was looking for a ‘cantabile’ and heart-whole Aria, in which the accordion could be shown as the breathing instrument it truly is. In video 14, using 2D bellows, I find my interpretation quite boring.
As perceived in video 15, applying 3D bellows to this extent felt ‘too much’; an interpretation like this could be considered too romantic, too much ‘Sturm und Drang’, not style-conscious. With these movements, the music comes across as restless. The attention of the audience goes rather to the movements than to the music. Besides, the right hand is still too present in comparison with the bass, the fundament throughout the whole variation cycle. The polyphony is out of balance.
In the Toccata, the organ grandeur is even more prominent. Due to its faster tempo, major 3D bellows movements are not appropriate. However, I found that moving the bellows forward and then backwards (circular move), could give more direction on a micro-scale, which makes the total fragment again more interesting and more gripping to an audience (video 9). The functional-tonal resolution of the A flat to the G in the bass is a perfect spot for this (see figure 3).
Video 12. Ole Schmidt: Escape of the Meatball over the Fence, bar 1-2
3D bellows without going backwards