Onur Özmen’s Op. 41 Violin–Piano Sonatina and Its Level
Sonat CoşkunerTeaching the technical behaviors in violin education is delivered through various exercises, etudes and works. Throughout the history of the violin, composers, such as P. Billot and R. Kreutzer, J.P., and performers, such as Rode, H. and Sitt, A. Seybold wrote various etudes to improve techniques in playing the violin. Later, famous pedagogues I. Galamian, C. Flesch, and L. Auer worked on advanced techniques. Violin works supported by all these technical studies, have been written and classified in a systematic manner from the earliest to the most difficult works in Western music literature. Examining the violin literature in Turkey, the study finds that violin works are written only for those at the intermediate and advanced levels and works written for beginners are scarce. If the notion that education written in the students’ culture and made with melodies familiar to one’s ears is more reliable were to be true, then beginning education by playing the works of Turkish composers is important. In this research, Onur Özmen’s Op. 41 This study aimed to examine a work entitled “Sonata for Violin–Piano” from the technical aspect and determine its level. The study is descriptive in nature and employs a questionnaire to violin educators. Data were analyzed as percentage and frequency.
Onur Özmen’in “Op. 41 Keman-Piyano İçin Sonatin” Eserinin İncelenmesi ve Düzeyinin Belirlenmesi
Sonat CoşkunerKeman eğitiminde öğretilmek istenen teknik davranışlar çeşitli egzersizler, etütler ve eserler yoluyla öğretilmektedir. Keman tarihi boyunca P. Billot, R.Kreutzer, J.P. Rode, H. Sitt, A. Seybold gibi besteci ve icracılar keman tekniğini geliştirmek için çeşitli etütler yazmışlardır. Daha sonraları ise meşhur pedagoglar I. Galamian, C. Flesch ve L. Auer ileri keman çalma teknikleri üzerine çalışmalar yapmışlardır. Tüm bu teknik çalışmalarla desteklenen keman eserleri ise Batı müziği literatüründe sistematik bir şekilde başlangıçtan en zor esere kadar yazılmış ve sınıflandırılmıştır. Türk keman literatürüne baktığımızda ise, keman eserlerinin ancak orta ve ileri düzeyler için yazılmış olduğu ve başlangıç aşaması için yazılan eserlerin oldukça az olduğu görülmektedir. Öğrencinin kendi kültürü içerisinde yazılan ve kulağına bildik ezgilerle yapılan bir eğitimin daha nitelikli olacağı düşüncesinin doğru olduğunu kabul edecek olursak, Türk bestecilerinin eserlerini de çalarak eğitimine başlaması ayrıca önem kazanacak tır. Bu araştırmada keman eğitiminin ilk yıllarında hedeflenen sağ ve sol el davranışları için yazılmış olan Onur Özmen’in Op. 41 “Keman-Piyano İçin Sonatin” adlı eserinin teknik açıdan incelenmesi ve eserin seviyesinin tespitinin yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Betimsel bir çalışma olan bu araştırmada keman eğitimcilerine anket uygulanmış ve verilen cevaplar yüzde (%) ve frekans (f) olarak çözümlenmiştir.
This study aimed to determine this piece, which was composed within the scope of the project and based on violin education in terms of right- and left-hand behaviors, position knowledge, and level in violin education. In this manner, this work, which was brought to the Turkish violin repertoire, is important, because it is considered useful in terms of introducing the work to educators and students at the point of which level of violin education can be examined and the techniques it contains. The study used the scanning model to formulate the conceptual framework. Data about the works were obtained through document analysis and a questionnaire with items rated using a five-point Likert-type to educators. In determining the level of the piece composed in the research, open-ended questions were asked about each movement of the piece to four violin educators in Akdeniz University Antalya State Conservatory. According to the results obtained from the findings for the first subproblem, the work includes detaché, legato, martelé, staccato, and tremolo bow techniques, which are basic bow techniques, and spiccato bow techniques, which is considered a high level. Especially for structure in the first movement, a few educators stated that the entrance passage will be played with detaché, while others stated that playing the martelé using the bow technique would be more appropriate. At this point, the result revealed that the character of the piece is decisive and that bow techniques may differ when the stage is passed to the presentation, that is, to the stage of playing the piece as required, after the working stage. Similarly, in the introductory sequence of the third movement, although dotted notes can be played as detaché or staccato during the working and cleaning of sounds, they need to be used as a broadcast spiccato in the actual presentation of the piece. According to the results of the second subproblem, the study finds that the work includes position shifting, pizzicato, and flageolet as left-hand techniques. The pizzicato performance, which is mentioned only in the second movement of the piece, is kept very plain and simple, such that students can easily play it in a slow tempo. As viewed in measures 31 and 32 in Figure 14, quarter notes are used, which helps students to play comfortably and clearly. The flageolet technique, which is another technique used in the work, is mentioned in the 37th and 38th measures only in the second movement. The passage, which began with the natural flageolet with open wire, continues with the artificial flageolet created using the first finger. The study considered that students in the 3rd or 4th year can easily play this passage. Upon examining the shifting, which is another left-hand technique, the study observes that the work is generally within the limits of the first position; however, no notes higher than the B note exist in each section, except for a few places. This situation creates the idea that nearly the entire piece can be played in the first position. However, as in the entrance of the third section, starting in the second position is preferable to avoid putting the fast passage into a risky situation by changing strings or using the third position in certain places to refrain from disturbing the timbre integrity, as demonstrated in the 21st measure of image 14. In this manner, a more qualified piece can be played. As cited in the last example, the shifting of the first, second, and third positions was preferred to avoid unnecessary string changes and timbre integrity throughout the piece. Evidently, finger numbers, position transitions, and bows preferred by the researcher are unique to the researcher; thus, other performers or educators can rearrange them according to preference. The results for the third subproblem indicate that the piece can be played/taught in the 3rd or 4th year of violin education, which garnered various opinions from educators. In other words, the target behavior and difficulty of each section vary within the piece. Although the first movement of Onur Özmen’s “Op.41 Sonatina for Violin–Piano” was found suitable for 3rd-year students, the educators mentioned that the third movement was suitable for 4th-year students. Apparently, these preferences are not rules and may vary according to the readiness, development, and work pace of students. Moreover, based on the results, the study infers that Onur Özmen’s work is suitable for playing in the first year of violin education in terms of right- and left-hand techniques, note values, and position knowledge. The piece can evidently be used in the Turkish violin repertoire, which is scarce and not written specifically for educational purposes.
