Music Trade Review

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NOVEMBER 29, 1919
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Fundamental Principles Involved
in the Composing and Arranging of
Music for the Player-Piano
BY DR. EDWARD SCHAAF
(Editor's Note. Doctor Schaaf is a musician who has given
much attention to the problem of arranging music for the
player-piano in such a way as to bring out the instrument's
true voice and real musical value. As he says, "there is only
one way to unlock the magic of the player-piano keyboard
and that is to treat the instrument as a new voice in music."
Doctor Schaaf has self-sacrificingly devoted much of his time,
without thought of material reward, to the rewriting of music
for, the special purpose of making it truly suitable for the
player-piano and has achieved some astounding results. He
has also composed a number of special pieces for the player-
piano only, conceived in the most modern style of what he calls
"plastic music"; and altogether wonderful. Doctor Schaaf
has already published in The Music Trade Review the results
of. some earlier researches into this subject, and the_ present
series of extremely interesting and fascinating articles, of
which this is the seventh, represents the latest fruit of his
studies )
ORNAMENTATION
Ever since the art of music began to assume
definite form, composers have been developing
what may be termed the practice of "musical
ornamentation." By the term "musical ornamen-
tation," we refer specifically to the employment
of special forms, groups or shapes of musical I
sounds, expressed in notes, the object of which j
is to embroider, as it were, the otherwise bare
structure of melody or accompaniment in such
a way as to enrich the whole effect without sac-
rificing clarity of outline.
In the days of the harpsichord and contem-
porary instruments, the musician was unable to
produce dynamic contrast through his touch.
Whether one struck the key of the harpsichord
gently or forcibly, the little quill plucked the
string just the same; and gave just the same
power and quality of tone. In consequence, the
composer was obliged to invent and apply a va-
riety of ornamental passages, which were worked
into the melodies for the purpose of obtaining a
simulation of sustained tone as well as something
in the nature of dynamic contrast.
With the invention of the piano, composers
began to put into practice a new method of orna-
mentation, which oftentimes had the merit of
growing out of the melodic scheme itself, and
which rarely degenerated into a mere external
addition or embroidery.
Without ornamentation the musical structure,
even though it rests on a foundation that is se-
cure and complete in its architectural propor-
tions, may seem empty and bare. While this is
of course true of the pianoforte, it is more
especially so of the music for the player-piano, the
latter being essentially a polyphonic instrument.
Ornamentation is a potent means of enriching
and beautifying the musical framework. The
melody, around which the ornamentation is usu-
ally woven, contains the large and comprehensive
musical idea in more or less confined phrases, and
the ornamentation spreads its smaller and dain-
tier ideas upon these melodic lines without over-
loading them on the one hand or underestimating
them on the other. However pleasing and bril-
liant in itself ornamentation may be, it is mere
padding if it is not evolved by some theme in
the framework of the composition and must there-
fore be in keeping with the style of the composi-
tion and must be sufficiently varied to give due
contrast without disturbing the general musical
design. It must be at once homogeneous to it-
self and to the structure from which it springs.
That ornamentation of player-piano selections
must be characteristic goes without saying. The
arranger will fail who does not grasp the ground-
work of the player-piano style of composition.
The new instrument is capable of florid ornamen-
tation, dynamic rhythm, accent and phrasing
which the pianoforte or organ can only hint at.
In the case of the player-piano, the whole prac-
tice of ornamentation takes on entirely new and
fascinating shapes. In the following paragraphs
are set forth the results of my various studies
on the subject in connection with the player-
piano.
Arpeggios, trills, tremolos, grace notes, spe-
cial figures, obbligato passages, etc., are some of
tTie musical devices which must be considered in
connection with the application of ornamentation
to music composed for the player-piano.
In connection with all these matters there
are two final points to be observed. The first is
that it is always advisable to overlap the first
few tones of an ascending or descending arpeg-
THE ARPEGGIO
The arpeggio, or broken chord, is the most
important single device which can be used in
player-piano ornamentation. No ornamental de-
vice suits the character of the player-piano more
intimately than judiciously devised arpeggiated
chords. In Fig. 40 I show a succession of such
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Fig. 43
gio on the player roll. Such an arrangement
appears somewhat like Fig. 44 in perforations.
Secondly, as Fig. 45 shows, the arranger need
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regarding pos-
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sibly difficult
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passages, f o r
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even the most
Fig. 45
elaborate criss-
cross effects are quite simple for the player-
piano.
TREMOLO
Fig. 40
chords beneath iterated harmonies. The effect
is quite harp-like, and in this respect is thorough-
ly well suited to the peculiarities of the player-
piano.
It is, of course, desirable that the employ-
ment of arpeggios should be made just as effec-
tive as possible. They must therefore be con-
ceived on a plan of broad sweep; that is to say,
they must always begin well down on the key-
board. Close observation of the work of skilled
harpists, whose instrument of course is the arpeg-
giateur par excellence, reveals the fact that when
they are executing arpeggios they always, and
quite unconsciously, take the lowest group of
tones at faster speed. At the same time, they
curtail slightly the length of the higher groups,
so that although there is a variation within the
sweep, the aggregate of time consumed in the
playing remains in regular relation to the other
parts of the music. When skilfully effected this
produces a most voluptuous effect; and one which
should certainly be made possible by judicious
arrangement for the player-piano. Fig. 41 shows
what I mean.
Like the arpeggio,* the tremolo, or rapid repe-
tition of a group figure, is very important to the
art of player-piano composition. In order, how-
ever, that it may be introduced properly and
effectively into a player-piano arrangement, the
musician must have a very sure knowledge of
his harmonic structure. He must be able truly
to discriminate between those harmonies which
ought to be endowed with sustained effect and
such as are to avoid any such effect. Likewise,
he must be able to discriminate not only in kind
but in degree. In a crude and unskillful manner,
both arpeggio and tremolo are very much used
and very much overworked, so much so in fact
as to have acquired quite a bad name among
those who are really concerned for the style
and musical respectability of the player-piano.
The function of the tremolo is double,—first,
to sustain harmonic intervals, and secondly, to
give an agitated effect in a passage which needs
it. Tremolos cannot contribute, be it remembered,
to the rhythmic interest of a passage.
The player-piano's tremolo is more powerful
than any single tone sustained on this instru-
Again, an arpeggiated chord, especially if it ment with the damper pedal or otherwise. This
includes four different harmonic intervals, can be is exactly the opposite of the condition which
exists in the orchestra, for here a tremolo of
violins or wood wind instruments is always much
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weaker than the sustained tone of the same in-
struments. On the player-piano, when it is de-
sirable to sustain a tone for any of the purposes
mentioned above, and this cannot be done satis-
Fig. 41
Fig. 42
factorily with the assistance of the damper pedal
made more luscious if a gap is left in its middle or other device, the tremolo is one of the de-
third, as illustrated in Fig. 42.
vices that enable one to surmount the difficulty.
Of course, the musician will at once realize In order to sustain and retain the desired effect
that it is more usual to write arpeggios in what
of long holding-
might be called equal fractional parts, or else
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c h o r d s , some
in such a way as to increase the speed in an
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scheme must al-
ascending sweep of the scale. Although this prac-
Fig. 46
ways be thought
tice is more common, it is much less interest- out, and the transcriber's ingenuity may here be
ing.
taxed to the utmost. The example shown in Fig.
Still another point to be notPd regarding arpeg- 46 illustrates a broken tremolo which is extremely
giated figures is that they are especially effective effective when more than two tones enter into it.
in the middle register of the player-piano, more
By marking this passage to be played, first
effective in fact on this instrument than on almost crescendo and then diminuendo, so as to produce
any other in this register.
the effect of a swell—•=^ZZZ.
i very
When arpeggios are employed for the purpose fine result is obtained.
of realizing sustained effect in the tonal atmos-
It should not be forgotten that it is more
phere they are usually scored in the lower regis- difficult to obtain rapid changes of pressure upon
ter. Fig. 43, however, plainly shows that a mel- the player-piano than through the pianist's fingers
ody lying in the bass may be just as artistically on the keyboard, and the mere repetition of a
sustained by an arpeggiated figure lying in the tone is therefore sometimes disappointing on the
treble.
player-piano.
(To be continued)
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