Seth Castleton and Professor Julie Bevan, Cello Professor-School of Music

The violoncello emerged as a vehicle of virtuosity starting in the latter half of the 17th Century and continued to gain prestige as a capable solo instrument throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Modern cellists are aware of the plethora of excellent romantic and modern/post-modern solo cello compositions, and the relative dearth of excellent classical repertoire composed for the same instrument. Apart from Haydn’s two concertos, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and five sonatas, and to a lesser degree, the works of the cellist/composer Luigi Boccherini, it is hard to find classical cello compositions being performed today.

It has been my privilege to work with Professor Julie Bevan in a project involving the works of two obscure Bohemian brother cellists: Jan and Bernard Stiastny. By what little information we can gather, it is clear that the Stiastny brothers were influential in the development of the violoncello during the classical period. Bernard Stiastny (b.1760 or 1770) was the first professor of violoncello at the Prague Conservatory upon its founding in 1811. Not only did he teach the famous cellist, Joseph Dont, but he also was his brother Jan Stiastny’s first cello teacher. Perhaps the greatest indicator of Jan Stiastny’s (b.1774) importance appears in a statement by W. H. Husk, calling Jan Stiastny, “the Beethoven of the violoncello”; Husk also quoted the great cellist Robert Lindley, who declared Stiastny’s Op. 7 Concertino for violoncello to be “the finest piece ever written for the instrument.” Yet surprisingly, Jan Stiastny’s works have been largely neglected; only one complete opus, out of thirteen, exists in a modern performance edition.

One of the main objectives of this project is to obtain editions of all of Jan Stiastny’s compositions. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has the world’s largest depository of cello music, and many were acquired from Greensboro. All but three of the thirteen have now been gathered; two still need to be acquired from the British Library, and one from the Eastman School of Music Library. We have also been gathering any reference to the Stiastny’s lives and works. Searching databases like EBSCO, WorldCat, RILM, BYU Library’s own catalog and even Google, have revealed the scarcity of information to be found concerning these important cellists. The majority of these references came from ten scholarly sources, four of which are cited below. Our attempt to contact the head of the Prague Conservatory Library was unsuccessful. No doubt there are European sources that cannot be found in online, or library databases, but would require a trip to cities like Prague, London, Frankfort, Mainz, Nuremberg, and Mannheim, where the Stiastnys lived and worked. In addition to creating a bibliography of works in which the Stiastnys are discussed, and forming a summation of the import of these findings, the bulk of my effort and time has been in preparing a performance edition of one of Jan Stiastny’s works.

I chose to work on Duo No. 1 of six in Jan Stiastny’s Opus No. 1 (his first published work). Jan dedicated the set of six duos to his elder brother. According to Van Der Straeten, he intended Bernard to play the first cello part, and himself the second. In Van Der Straeten’s words…“they form one of the finest monuments of violoncello literature. They contain effects which must have been an absolute revelation in their time.” Margaret Campbell stated that Jan Stiastny’s…“six duos for two violoncellos, in two series (published by Schott), show ingenuity and imagination, and even today deserve a place in the violoncello literature.” These statements are so striking in that today, these works are NOT in the cello literature, and therefore are not being heard. Hofmeister has listed these duos being published in 1867 by André Offenbach, but both the Schott and Offenbach versions were published before the turn of the century, and therefore contain archaic clefs and notation that make them prohibitive to teach and perform. By their nature as duets, they are excellent for pedagogical purposes and will benefit BYU’s own cello class under the direction of Professor Julie Bevan.

I used the program Finale 2009 to accomplish the task of translating the Offenbach edition into a modern edition. The principal issue pertains to the old treble clef. In the Offenbach, the old treble clef places the notes one octave higher than today’s standard treble clef. In order to eliminate this problem, I first entered the thousands of notes of Stiastny’s first duo into Finale. Articulations, slurs, dynamic markings, trills, fingering suggestions, expressive markings, and thumb position indicators all needed to be placed on every note and in each measure. I determined where the best place in a rising passage of many notes would be optimal for a clef change to make sense, and there inserted the modern clef. Upon finishing the rough draft, Professor Julie Bevan and I played through the variations, and made note of additional editing needed.

The most exciting element in this project is the live performance of Jan Stiastny’s Duo No.1, Op.1, Andante con variazioni, which consists of a theme and ten variations. On June 14th, 2010, I will perform this work with Professor Julie Bevan for a live audience as part of my senior recital. Program notes, as well as a spoken introduction will be given to audience members before the performance, to apprise them of the significance of the project, and the unique opportunity they will have to hear this work performed. This will likely be the first live performance of this work in this century. I am excited for this unique opportunity to perform this work with my professor, Julie Bevan.

There have been many benefits from working under the mentorship of Professor Julie Bevan on this important project. I have become more familiar with the databases already mentioned, and refined my research skills. Moreover I have felt the thrill that comes from studying the books and documents regarding these influential figures. Learning how to use Finale 2009 on a whole new level to create a performance edition will surely have residual benefit as I continue to use those skills in my education and future career. There are five more duos to be edited in similar manner before the entire opus can be submitted for publication, and I look forward to helping in any way I can to further the project.

References

• Libraries use: Jan and Bernard St’astný or Stastný; Jan also appears in the literature and published works as: Jean, John, Johann, and Joseph; Bernard is often: Bernhard, but can also be found under his native name: Václav.
• Lev Ginsburg, History of the Violoncello, edited by Herbert R. Axelrod, translated from Russian into English by Tanya Tchistyakova, (Paganiniana Publications, Inc., 1983), 90.
• Valerie Walden, One Hundred Years of Violoncello. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 47-48.
• Performance Edition: Op.3, Divertimento, cello solo, viola, and bass; edited by Hans-Ruprecht Bitterhof, 2002.
• Edmund S. J. Van Der Straeten, History of the Violoncello, the Viol da Gamba, their Precursors and Collateral Instruments, (London: William Reeves, Reprint: 1971), 346-47.
• Margaret Campbell, The Great Cellists, (London: Victor Gollancz, 1988), 99-100.