James Friskin
and Irwin Freundlich describe Fine’s Suite in
E-flat Major: “Warm, lyric Prelude; stately
Sarabande with florid melody; dainty Gavotte; quiet Air;
short, crisp Gigue to close.” Composed during
Fine’s second period (1937-44), and paralleling the
wane of the American experimental movement and the rise
of neoclassicism, the Suite reflects Fine’s
dramatic shift in tonality from her earlier atonal
composition. It is modeled on a traditional baroque
keyboard suite and is composed of five dance movements: a
majestic Prelude; a stately Sarabande with ornamented
melody; a charming Gavotte; a serene Air; and an animated
Gigue to conclude. The Suite, premiered in 1946 by Vivian
Fine, incorporated Fine’s individualized harmonic
language while underscoring her affinity for counterpoint
and love of lyric melodies. It is only one of many jewels
that may be discovered within Fine’s varied and
challenging solo piano repertoire.
–Leslie Jones, Ph.D., program notes
for a performance
Fine’s
selection of the suite as a vehicle for her solo piano
writing in this period reflects Roger Session’s
influence and that of the neoclassical movement. Though
modeled on the traditional Baroque keyboard suite, it
incorporates Fine’s individual harmonic language,
melodic experimentation, and intervallic preferences.
Though Fine
retains many characteristics of the traditional Baroque
suite, one immediately notices the absence of two
standard movements, the allemande and courante. Instead,
Fine includes such optional movements as the prelude,
gavotte, and air. She clearly establishes the key of
E-flat major at the outset, and operates within an E-flat
framework throughout, using dissonance for color and
expressive purposes. The melodic style of this work
reflects Sessions’ contributions to Fine’s
development, as her melodic lines become longer and more
lyric. Rhythm plays a subservient role to the more
important harmonic and melodic elements; thus the complex
rhythmic structures and irregular meter of her earlier
period are missing. The Suite seems much more homophonic
than her previous solo piano works (except Music for
Study), yet we will discover that the music’s
dissonant component results from Fine’s continued
linear approach to composition.
The melodic
elements of this prelude are more crucial to its
construction than in Fine’s previous solo piano
works. Sessions influenced her greatly in this respect,
as we see longer, more lyric, and more clearly delineated
melodic lines. The opening theme exhibits this new
melodic treatment with its conjunct melodic movement.
Fine continues to approach composition in a linear
manner, and her melodies, despite the underlying
dissonances in the vertical structures, retain their
conjunct movement or use intervals that have chordal
implications.
Sarabande, the
second movement of Fine’s Suite, embraces the
standard characteristics of Baroque sarabande: triple
meter, slowly stately character, emphasis placed on the
second beat of a measure, and cadences on weak beats. The
lento tempo indication and expression marking, espressivo
e legato, represents the dignified and elegant nature of
Fine’s sarabande.
The gavotte,
the longest movement (46 mm.) of the Suite, emulates the
Baroque model with its light, humorous character and
distinctive rhythmic features. The piece, in simple duple
meter, begins with two quarter-note upbeats and contains
short phrases. Rhythmically, there is nothing unusual
about this gavotte, but Fine uses this traditional
rhythmic scheme to create a charming yet harmonically
adventurous movement. 888 This seemingly innocent,
beautiful air is a highly complex study and demonstrates
how Fine draws upon elements from the other Suite
movements to shape a new mode of expression; melody with
simple accompaniment. From the gavotte, Fine learns how
to coordinate a homophonic texture and counterpoint. From
the sarabande, she extracts the warm, lyric melodic line.
From the prelude, she experiments with recurrent thematic
sections. The common thread to the entire Suite, though,
continues to be the relationship of E-flat and
D-flat.
Although the
air incorporates many of the elements used in the
Suite’s movements, Fine’s gigue engenders a
more satisfying conclusion and resolution to the complete
work with its bright, quick tempo and clear sense of
tonality.
The Suite
exemplifies Fine’s changing compositional style,
resulting from her study with Roger Sessions and from the
shifting musical climate. From Sessions she learned a
more refined craftsmanship, exhibited in longer, lyric
melodies, a tonal fabric integrated with nonharmonic
tones, and a formal and melodic sense of symmetry.
Although Fine experiments with homophonic textures
throughout the Suite, a linear approach continues to
dominate her writing style (as was also the case with
Sessions). Her reference to “harmonies falling
where they fall” reiterates this linear
compositional approach, and often tonal or harmonic
ambiguity results.
In each of the
Suite’s movements one sees important structural,
harmonic, and melodic points delineated by means of this
relationship. In addition to the harmonic characteristics
described above, Fine features short, simple rhythmic
motives, varying articulations, two or three-layer
textures, and traditional formal schemes (such as ABA) in
the Suite. She fully exploits the various Baroque suite
characteristics, yet with a compositional language that
is distinctly Vivian Fine.
–Leslie Jones, “The Solo Piano Music of
Vivian Fine,” Doctor of musical arts thesis,
University of Cincinnati, 1994