Six Studies in English Folk-Song

Ralph Vaughan Williams/arr. Paul Droste

Publisher: Galaxy Music

Selling Agent: ECS Publishing

Range: Bb2-Bb4 or Bb1-C5 (optional 8va/b sections)

Program Notes

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was one of the most prolific composers of English folk music; the Six Studies in English Folk Song is at the forefront of understanding this style of music.  These six pieces were written for cellist May Mukle in 1926.  Vaughan Williams states that these studies are to be “treated with love,” and so they are; each song is tastefully and skillfully matted and framed to reveal the beauty of the folk song.  The real challenge of these works is bringing the euphonium and piano together to form one cohesive sound so that you hear the beautiful folk song, and not simply a soloist with accompaniment.  While virtually every instrument has performed these pieces, Paul Droste did this arrangement.  The parts have optional 8va sections that were taken by the performer, but are not necessary for performance.

From Pat Stuckemeyer

One of the most difficult things to do on a brass instrument is a controlled legato.  Six Studies in English Folk Song is a great example of teaching this controlled legato, and for a younger player this should be a sufficient piece for this learned concept.  When preparing this piece with your students, make sure that they know the history of the piece.  As their instructor it is in your best interest to familiarize yourself with another recording of this piece, since it was not originally written for the euphonium or tuba.

HEADLINES FOR THE TEACHER

When I prepare this work with a student I often have them play long passages without the horn, and simply blow the phrase using only air.  This will help to smooth out the “bumps” in the sound, and possibly help them with their legato passages.  Controlled legato passages can usually be helped along by simply getting the student to put a little more air into the instrument.  With a student I will often reference a cello recording, or even possibly a cello edition of the piece to help with interpretation.  I use the concept of an up-bow and down-bow to see where the weight of the line needs to be.  Imagining bringing the bow across the strings helps me visualize where I need to “take” the phrase.  Interpreting this concept is essential to knowing not only where the musical line is going, but also where it came from.

The biggest consideration for most teachers is range.  Whether or not the student can play this piece based on its range is a viable concern.  With this piece, there is a little bit of help for you.  Included are many optional 8va or 8vb sections, which are to be taken at the discretion of the performer (or teacher).  If the performer is not going to take these optional sections, then the range would be Bb-2 to Bb-4.  If the optional sections are taken, then the range is increased to Bb-1 to C-5, which makes over three octaves that are needed for performance.

For most students who will be performing this piece for use at a state festival or contest, you would not be required to perform the entire piece.  Taking the OMEA (Ohio) state contest listing as an example, movements 1, 2 & 6 are required.  Check with your state to see if there are any restrictions to the performance of the piece.

The Six Studies in English Folk Song is a great piece for studying legato phrasing, and also as a vehicle for the student to start making music that is not on the page.  The hardest part about this piece is that so much of what you do is not “on the page”, this is a great opportunity for the student to get to bring his or her ideas to the table in performance.

After studying this piece your student should have a stronger grasp on elongated musical phrases and also lighter-touch legato, which can be a big problem for most formative students.  Since most of these movements are softer in dynamic, controlled playing will also be addressed and should progress through continued study.

GUIDED PRACTICE

CLICK on musical examples to ENLARGE them.

Mvt. I - Lovely on the Water (The Springtime of the Year)

Though this movement is marked adagio, it is much better to think of it in terms of a song, or a ballad.  Legato is the headline for practice on this movement.  The opening two bars can be treated much like a cadenza with some nice added rubato until the piano picks up the tempo in m. 2.  As with most of these movements, the soloist and accompanist should find themselves in a conversational-style of playing much like a duet instead of one playing the role of a soloist and one playing the role of accompanist.  The arranger has the opening marked like this:

When performing this opening section, it is important to make as much music right from the onset of the phrase, so I teach this section to be played as such:

The various phrases in this movement will give a younger student some difficulty especially with the ornamentation and executing this without sounding forced.  Have them practice these sections without the ornamentation before adding it in.  The last two lines of this movement are without accompaniment and can often come off as under-prepared simply because the soloist isn’t shaping the line like they could.  Take careful consideration to these last ten measures, and allow the lines to lead you musically.

Mvt. II - Spurn Point

This movement begins with a piano statement until the soloist enters in the third bar.  I find that this first note should be held slightly longer to stabilize both performers into one cohesive unit.  Much like the first movement, legato is once again a headline for practice and it should be a little easier to execute with this movement.  Tempo is marked by andante sostenuto, but again I like to give it a clearer marker.  I delineated this movement as an Irish Tune.  Giving the student a marker such as this will help them cultivate their own style and possibly make it easier for them to pull a little more “music” out of the page.

The first phrase needs to be executed with care, and a little push and pull from the soloist is expected.  Here is how the arranger has the part notated:

When I perform this phrase, I feel the line as a series of up and down bowing marks to use as a reference point for the phrase.  The line should slow slightly throughout with each long note getting progressively longer, and in preparation for the piano feature in m. 12, the soloist should pick the tempo back up slightly.  I also rephrase to make more music shape and account for the musical line during performance.  This is demonstrated here:

Although the soloist is still holding through the moving piano part, take care not to simply hold a stagnant note – use this a great opportunity to make music on a long note.  The optional 8va section at the end is wonderful, but only if the performer can execute a high-Bb that does not sound strained because the last note should fade away to nothing.

Mvt. III - Van Dieman's Land

I believe that this movement is both the most challenging and most rewarding for the performer.  The opening three bars should be free and at the performer’s discretion.  The pick-up into m. 4 should be in tempo, and once again legato should be the focus in this piece.  The marking is larghetto for this movement, but as with the others I like to refer to this as a ballad.  If you consider each phrase a sentence of a song, then simply put the sentences together for the entire piece.  While the majority of this movement is slurred, put extra emphasis on the notes that are marked with a legato tongue.  The arranger has chosen to phrase m. 22 and m. 23 as such:

It seems to me that the ascending pattern in ms. 23 should lead into the next bar, and have a slight taper to the first note before the crescendo as viewed here:

The slight taper and hairpin dynamics add so much musically.  Teaching this concept can be quite difficult, so have the student practice this on a long note so that they can build confidence and control before putting this into practice.

Mvt. IV - She Borrowed Some of Her Mother's Gold

Like the previous three movements, the fourth installment brings more lyrical playing to the forefront.  While this movement is marked lento, I continue on with a different name and aptly named this a carol.  When recording this movement, I found that the lyrical simplicity was perhaps the hardest part of the piece.  Knowledge of the piano score is also extremely important in this movement, as is evident in the next example.  While the solo part remains quite calm and lyrical, much care has to be taken into consideration when simply sitting on these various long notes.  Take for example ms. 13.  Here is what is written in the solo part:

A nice calm Eb, but unknown to the soloist here is what’s happening in the piano score during this phrase:

With the piano part moving from Ab-major to C-minor in ms. 14, the performer will have to alter the pitch of the long note halfway through like this:

The last five measures of this movement are perhaps the most difficult to get to sound musical, or unstrained.  Begin to slow at m. 21, and instead of getting softer in m. 23, use the natural crescendo to sail up to the high Bb.  Once you arrive on that note, let it settle and then slowly back away the volume.

Mvt. V - The Lady and the Dragon

The fifth movement can easily be played too slow, or too fast.  While it is marked andante tranquilo, I like to think of it as a love song.  While still maintaining correct rhythm and time, you might want to think of this movement in a “slow one.”  This will help the overall weight of the strong beat, and keep the tempo up.  Be careful to not rush, but maintain the feeling in one, with a slight lilt. 

The most difficult part about this movement would be in the second half of it when the line begins to go into running eighth notes.  This example lacks measure numbers because this concept can be applied to the entirety of the second half of the piece.  The arranger writes the following:

While the arranger is giving the performer the necessary breaks needed for breathing, quite often the musical line sounds choppy and not lyrical when exactly the opposite is notated in the score.  I find it helpful to think of this section as the following, using the same emphasis on a down-bow note as before:

To me, thinking of a weighted down-bow in various places will allow the musical phrase to have life and buoyancy resulting in a smoother transition between breaths.  Take care not to have a noisy breath when the arranger has given them to you, and be certain to always taper into the breaths as indicated.

Mvt. VI - As I Walked Over London Bridge

The final movement can sound a bit obtuse if you allow it to.  The first five movement of this piece offer extreme lyricism, so while this movement is lively and separated the movement still needs to have a lyrical quality to it.

Performance problems arise in this movement from the beginning.  When practicing this movement make sure that rhythm is your headline, and keep true to it.  Careful dissection of the piano score will help the performer during the triplet section, because the writing underneath them is still the duple melody.  The performer has the option to play a pedal-Bb at the end, but only do so if you can attain this with a light attack, since the arranger has marked it ppp.