Noelle Rader and Dr. Claudine Bigelow
I received my ORCA grant to transpose and transcribe for viola the out-of-print violin method book Technique is Memory, written by the famous violist William Primrose. BYU is home to the largest viola music archive in the world, the William Primrose International Viola Archive (PIVA). William Primrose was the first modern viola virtuoso. We only have a few sources that reveal the great mind of this distinguished artist and teacher. Technique is Memory, one of these sources, unfortunately, has been out of print for 50 years. Regrettably, when Primrose wrote Technique is Memory he believed it only needed to be printed for violin. Thus my mentor and I decided to transcribe the book for his native instrument, the viola, and we actively sought to get it republished.
I consulted and worked closely with faculty mentor, Dr. Claudine Bigelow, in transposing and transcribing Technique is Memory for viola. Using computer music software, specifically the program Finale, required more than simply knowing how to punch in the notes into a computer and having it do the work for me. I played what Primrose himself had written down ensuring that the result was what he intended in his original work. I also worked through Technique is Memory myself in my viola studies. This was a great experience for me, helping me improve as a violist, as this individual study was an integral part of the editing experience. Technique is Memory was originally written for violin and marketed to violinists. At the present time, however, neither violinists nor violists are benefited because of the book being out of print. Most violists are not aware of this resource for their instrument. No one else has transcribed the work, making this a one-of-a-kind project. As the viola is very different from the violin, some things that work for the violin, such as fingerings and technical aspects, do not always work on the viola. A violist with “fresh eyes” was needed to make sure the transcription was done to the best advantage for the viola. That is why this project was so important.
As I worked on the book after I received the grant, it was apparent that the timeline I had outlined in my proposal was not realistic. After finishing one major key, I realized transposing the book was more time intensive than I had originally thought. I had outlined finishing the project in only a few months, but I now knew that was not going to be possible. I worked very hard and put in many hours into transposing, but the time it took to complete individual parts of the book was under-planned. In addition to this, there were several aspects of the computer program that required that I research and ask faculty for help. At the beginning I often had to redo work as I discovered more effective ways of notating parts of the book on the computer. I was able to complete all of the positions for all of the major scales within the time guidelines for the ORCA grant. I used the money from the grant to invest in buying the music software Finale for my own computer. This greatly helped in my work on the book because I was able to work on it independently instead of at the Advanced Lab for Musical Applications (ALMA) lab (contains computers with music notation programs) within the BYU School of Music.
As I mentioned earlier, part of the editing process was the playing through of the exercises in the book by my mentor, Dr. Bigelow and myself. But we also decided early on in the project to give out copies to the rest of the viola studio for editing purposes. This turned out to be essential to the success of the project. As other students worked on the copies we handed out, their skills improved just as Primrose promised in the introduction to Technique is Memory. Some of them told me, “I love your scale book!” I would then have to remind them that it was not my book but that I was glad they were learning from it. The other students were also great editors as they found the little mistakes that had slipped through the initial editing process after transposition.
This past summer, the grant enabled me to travel to present my research and findings to the professional viola community at the International Viola Congress in Cincinnati, Ohio. These Congresses have been hosted all over the world in places like Montreal, Iceland, and Germany, and have been in the United States places like Arizona, Washington, and Minnesota. For a week, the viola community comes together to celebrate the viola with concerts and research presentations. Many of the other presenters in Cincinnati this summer were professionals, and the opportunity to present at the Congress is unheard of for an undergraduate student. The turn out for my lecture was larger than anticipated and completely filled the room. Held in a classroom on the University of Cincinnati campus, so many people came that there as standing room only. I had spent many hours perfecting my presentation, both what I said and the PowerPoint presentation I had prepared. The purpose of my presentation was to raise awareness that this book was being transposed and to show how to use it for one’s personal study or in a studio setting. The response was completely positive and overwhelming to me. After the presentation, many asked about publication and were excited and wanted to help it get published faster. Many were also fascinated to find out how much research goes on at BYU through PIVA. Participants were pleasantly surprised that BYU would help me, and others, in our research endeavors through such programs as the ORCA grant that I received. Throughout the rest of the Congress, many people came up to me wanting to further discuss the uses of Technique is Memory and how excited they were for the book to finally be in print again.
I truly feel that the project has had both successes and failures. Getting Technique is Memory republished is still a work in progress. Finding whom to contract with the original publisher of the book, Oxford University Press, took quite sometime. Dr. Bigelow submitted a proposal to the publisher, but we are still waiting to hear back if they are interested in the project. Because of this, we decided to postpone completing the entirety of the book. The disappointments regarding the time it has taken to get as far as we have and the lack of any news of publication are great. But the success of other parts of the project, including the presentation in Cincinnati and success of the book within the BYU studio, far outweigh these. Transposing Technique is Memory has and will continue to be a worthwhile project. As my mentor, Dr. Bigelow, and I continue our efforts on this project, the ORCA grant I received will be valued and cited as the beginning of our success.
Sources
- Dalton, David. Playing the Viola: Conversations with William Primrose. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Menuhin, Yehudi, and William Primrose. Violin and Viola. New York: Schirmer Books, 1976.
- Primrose, William. Technique is Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1960.
- Primrose, William. Walk on the North Side. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1978.
- Riley, Maurice W. The History of the Viola: Volume I and II. Ann Arbor: Braun-Brumfield, 1993.
- Tertis, Lionel. My Viola and I. London: Kahn & Averill, 1974.