Award Date
5-1-2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
Department
Music
First Committee Member
Andrew Smith
Second Committee Member
Jonathan Lee
Third Committee Member
Richard Miller
Fourth Committee Member
Jennifer Bellor
Fifth Committee Member
Beth Mehocic
Number of Pages
166
Abstract
Despite the large quantity of music produced by the outstanding cellists of past eras, the range of repertoire regularly used in teaching advanced cellists in the US is fairly limited. In particular, though the virtuosic compositions of Karl Davydov (1838–1889) are common fare in Russia and Eastern Europe, cellists in the US perform them only rarely. Davydov rose to the highest echelon of performers in his generation. Today, scholars widely credit him with founding the Russian school of cello playing. Members of Davydov’s pedagogical lineage achieved prominence as artists and teachers, and his compositions are proven instructional pieces. In this document, I argue for the restoration of Davydov’s four Cello Concertos, opp. 5, 14, 18, and 31, to our repertoire as concert and—especially—as pedagogical works. Support for the wider study of these concertos comes not only from the music itself but also from the apprehension of its historical status.
The English literature on historical cellists and cello pedagogy contains a relative scarcity of material on Davydov; the Russian literature on Davydov is poorly accessible in the West due to a want of published translations. I survey both corpuses to demonstrate the influence of Davydov and his ideas in his time and beyond, showing that his concertos achieved the position of fundamental material in one of the world’s major cello schools and were known to cellists who collaborated with composers of standard repertoire works. This historical reception should embolden us to examine the merits of Davydov’s music, which I demonstrate in the pedagogical sphere through an investigation of his use of cello technique. The concertos contain interesting and challenging writing that I analyze in detail. I am thus able to provide an overview of the main difficulties present, offer suggestions for their mastery, and discuss their applications in other works. Through this exploration, I hope to illuminate these works as valuable additions to our programs and studio libraries.
Keywords
Cello; Concerto; Davidoff; Davidov; Davydov; Music
Disciplines
Music
File Format
File Size
26.6 MB
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Stiber, Adam Matthew, "The Cello Concertos of Karl Davydov (1838–1889): Historical Context and Pedagogical Rol" (2020). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 3963.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/19412181
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/