Author: Yoshio Yamashita | Major: Music Composition | Semester: Spring 2023

Yoshio Yamashita is a senior music composition major in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. His thesis is mentored by Professor Chalon Ragsdale, University Professor of Percussion; his thesis committee also included Drs. Robert Mueller (MUSC), Daniel Levine (WLLC), and Ron Warren (COMM, appointed by Honors Council). This semester’s research centered on analyzing the settings from the perspectives of performance, pedagogy, and music theory to present in Yamashita’s thesis. Yamashita plans to graduate in Summer 2023; he will then undertake one year of graduate study in instrumental conducting at the Univ. of Ark. with the intention of transferring to an orchestral conducting-specific program after that year.

Research and Impact: 

Jacques Delécluse’s Douze Études (Twelve Studies) are one of the cornerstones of advanced snare drum literature; they are found in almost any repertoire list ranging from undergraduate study to professional orchestral auditions. However, they present a significant musical challenge to the performer and listener due to their formal and rhythmic complexity. This thesis project is dedicated to writing settings for the Études, pieces in which the snare drum Étude is included as a part of the ensemble, not a solo. These settings will provide a musical roadmap to the performer and the audience, hopefully providing a framework in which the Études can be more widely understood and appreciated.

Research Experience:

I chose this topic while studying the Douze Études in the fall of 2020; Professor Chalon

Ragsdale introduced the percussion studio to the work of Pablo Rieppi, a faculty member at the Juilliard School. Prof. Rieppi’s work regarding the Études was composed of piano accompaniments to the Études, though, making each Étude (in my eyes, at least) a solo centered around the snare drummer. From my further research, it seems that Delécluse meant these Études to be precursors to orchestral playing—teaching students the nuances they would need to know in order to successfully integrate themselves into an ensemble. To that end, I decided to compose settings in which the snare drum Étude was integrated into the ensemble rather than soloing with accompaniment. Professor Ragsdale was interested in my work on the Études from the beginning and was more than willing to assist with my thesis when asked.

In this research, I faced the challenge of composing a piece that precisely matched the framework (structure, rhythms, form, dynamics, phrasing) of the Étude in question, while still creating a coherent piece of music. An apt comparison might be writing a book in which the number of chapters and number of pages/paragraphs per chapter are predetermined. In each case, I had to analyze the form of the Étude (most were in a quasi-sonata form) and then write melodies based on the rhythms of the Étude. This proved rather difficult at first due to the irregular nature of the rhythms found in the Études and the lack of formal indicators (in most Western art music, key changes). In many musical forms, sections are demarcated by a change in tonality (key change, major to minor, etc.). In the Études, however, the snare drum is incapable of producing either melody or harmony in that sense, making form difficult to discern at times. Form was determined in each Étude by analyzing the main rhythmic components and grouping them into sections which later composed the form.

This semester, I focused primarily on analyzing the settings (now titled Twelve Pieces for Percussion Ensemble) in preparation for my thesis defense. While analysis of each of the Études was done before composing the settings, the crux of the thesis was revealing how the elements of each of the settings were built out of elements found in the Études—in short, using music theory to justify the musical decisions made while writing the pieces.

Professor Ragsdale played an active role in reviewing the settings as I composed them and also aided me in preparation for my recital performances of Études 1, 7, and 11 this fall. My primary study of the Études has been with Professor Fernando Valencia, who has helped me in preparation of Études 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Professor Ragsdale also connected me with a number of his colleagues who were interested in my thesis work; due to scheduling conflicts and changes in pedagogical plans coming out of the pandemic, my work with them remains ongoing. Additionally, Dr. Robert Mueller, professor of composition and theory, helped me in reviewing the settings and suggesting revisions as I composed them.

In continuation of my thesis work, I will be looking for opportunities to present this research at pertinent conferences and will seek to publish this work in the future; if the settings are published, I will then be allowed to publish my thesis as well, as it is currently being withheld from ScholarWorks due to copyright-sensitive material. I also plan to follow up with percussion faculty members at other schools in order to continue my investigation of these settings’ value in a pedagogical setting (as described in Appendix B of my thesis).

My thesis is available upon request via email at yy013@uark.edu (through April 2024) or yyamashita0013@gmail.com (after April 2024).