RMC-AMS/SEM-SW
Utah State University
March 28–29, 2008
ABSTRACTS
FRIDAY, MARCH 28
Session 1: Early Music (12:45–2:15)
Music and Musicians at the Court of Henri II (r. 1547-1559): A Preliminary Report
John Brobeck (University of Arizona)
Although a not inconsiderable scholarly literature has grown up around the music of the French royal court during the sixteenth century, a curious lacuna exists for the reign of King Henri II (r. 1547-59). Thanks to a compte for the funeral of François Ier (r. 1515-47) we are well informed about the chamber and chapel musicians who served the itinerant royal court at the end of Francis’s reign, and in her remarkable study of courtly song at the royal court Jeanice Brooks has published a detailed list of all royal musicians cited in extant royal court payment records for the reigns of François II (r. 1559-60), Charles IX (r. 1560-74), and Henri III (r. 1575-89). The only published list of Henri II’s musicians, however (Fétis, Revue musicale 1852), bears little resemblance to comparable lists dating from 1547 and earlier, and the patronage of Henri’s court has not been examined in detail in the literature.
Over fifty musicians active at the royal court during Henri II’s reign can be identified from the scholarly literature and unpublished archival and bibliographic records, the most prominent of whom are Claudin de Sermisy, Pierre Certon, Jacotin Lebel, Pierre Sandrin, and Jacques Arcadelt. Although the basic organization of the court’s musical organizations appears to have been unchanged from François Ier’s reign, the number of musicians in the Chambre du roi almost doubled under Henri. Henri also increased the value of ecclesiastical benefices to his musicians by exempting them from taxation and residency requirements, changes that had a dramatic negative influence on some churches. Finally, it is clear that the financial channels through which chapel singers were paid changed sometime between 1535 and 1555, information that suggests new directions for future archival research into the musicians of the Chapelle du roi.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: A Stranger In His Own Land
Joel Schwindt (Benson Public Schools, AZ)
A young French composer named Marc-Antoine Charpentier followed a common custom when he left his native Paris in 1666 to study composition in Rome under the great Jesuit composer Giacomo Carissimi; he returned to Paris around 1670 to find a musical culture embracing a new national style, moving away from the Italian style which had been popular even when he left his native city. Within a few years of the composer’s return, the French public was vehemently rejecting the Italian style in an effort to emphasize the uniqueness of the new style. This new musical-political climate greatly hindered the recognition of Charpentier’s abilities during his lifetime, and led him to utilize both styles, deftly balancing his use of each. This duality of styles is well illustrated in consideration of two of his Christmas dramas, namely, In nativitatem D[omi]ni canticum (H. 416), and the Pastorale sur la naissance de N[otre] S[eigneur] J[ésus]-C[hrist] (H. 483). In light of historical circumstances as well as comparison of musical-dramatic style, general musical style, and genre classification, one can gain a deeper understanding of the composer’s divergent, yet intertwined compositional languages.
A Tale of Two Girls’ Schools, or What Athalie can tell us about Dido
Deborah Kauffman (University of Northern Colorado)
Scholars have continued to struggle with the notion that Henry Purcell composed his only fully-sung opera for the Chelsea school for girls run by Josias Priest, even though the only surviving source (a libretto) dating from that time clearly points to that fact. Nevertheless, in 1992, Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock claimed that Dido and Aeneas was first composed in 1684 for professionals at court, and adapted in 1689 for the Chelsea pupils, basing their conclusions primarily on style analysis. Although it is impossible to prove either point of view, the original conclusion—that the first performance of Dido and Aeneas took place in a girls’ school—cannot be ruled out by any of the surviving evidence. Moreover, the use of music theater within the curriculum of the education of young women was by no means unusual; not only is it clear that other English schools for girls presented various forms of musical theater, there is a close parallel on the European continent, where the royal school for girls at Saint-Cyr presented the premiere of Athalie, a dramatic work by the famous poet Jean Racine, with music provided by composer Jean-Baptiste Moreau. Because much more is known about the performance of musical theater at Saint-Cyr than in Chelsea, aspects of its presentation in France can help illuminate its possibilities in England.
Session 2: 18th and 19th Centuries (2:30–4:30)
Some Negative Lessons in Mozart’s Musical Joke
Amy Holbrook (Arizona State University)
Although Mozart’s date on his copy of Ein musikalischer Spaβ, K. 522, is June 14, 1787, the work was actually begun earlier, probably in 1785. Speculation abounds as to why Mozart in this one instance composed four movements of deliberately bad, ineptly performed music. The existence of instrumental parts indicates that the work may have had a practical purpose, but nevertheless the suggested inspirations range from the death of Mozart’s father to the tune-less singing of his pet starling.
Our music majors probably expect something like P. D. Q. Bach from the Musical Joke, and so for them the funny moments may be few and far between and are likely to be the ones that show the incompetence of the musicians – the polytonal horn-playing, for example, or the violinist who goes berserk during his cadenza. The general clumsiness of the music would also be evident to our students, although this trait is more likely to lead to boredom than to provoke laughter. Mozart’s intended audience was probably his circle of friends, who would be far better equipped than our students to recognize the particular musical conventions that Mozart in the guise of a clueless composer was distorting and parodying, and so they would get the jokes that our students would miss.
Every description of the Musical Joke mentions such examples of feigned incompetence as awkward modulations, lead-footed counterpoint, and graceless phrasing. To appreciate fully the wickedness of Mozart’s parody, however, one must identify the specific conventions that his friends would have heard as attempted but botched by the imaginary, bungling composer. An examination of such instances in the third movement, Adagio cantabile, will attempt not only to explain the specific humor of the Musical Joke, but also to use the negative lessons of the dumb-sounding passages to get a glimpse of the musical qualities the real Mozart valued.
Idée fixe: Obsession or Musical Motif?
Christie Steadman (University of Utah)
In the field of musicology, one often encounters the term “idée fixe”—whose literal translation is a “fixed idea.” Webster’s Dictionary defines idée fixe as an idea that dominates one’s mind especially for a prolonged period: an obsession. The Dictionary of Difficult Words adds an additional meaning: a musical motif. It is this additional definition that seems to have survived into the present day.
This paper reviews the frequent use of idée fixe in medical/psychological terminology and in literary/artistic settings in the early 1800s. It take a careful look at Berlioz’s original program for the Symphonie Fantastique, showing that Berlioz coined the term with a double meaning that is both psychological and musical. The strong autobiographical connection with Berlioz’s program is softened when the medical and literary influences and the self-borrowed sources of his musical theme are considered. Moreover, Berlioz’s memoirs suggest that he reserved the term idée fixe for use in association with this double meaning. Berlioz clearly describes the difference between the use of the idée fixe in the Symphonie Fantastique and the use of his musical theme in Harold in Italy. Using the term idée fixe to refer to any musical motif belies Berlioz’s original use of the term.
“A Mouth, a Consciousness, and a Voice”: Manifestations of Wotan’s Psyche Through Wagner’s Orchestral Writing
Holly Focht (University of Denver)
In Wagner’s Die Walküre, Act II scene ii, the head god Wotan reveals his history and fate to his warrior daughter Brünnhilde. In an October 3, 1855 letter to Franz Liszt, Wagner wrote, “This is the most important scene for the development of the whole of the great four-part drama and, as such, will presumably receive the necessary interest and attention.” While William E. MacDonald has aptly noted that Wotan has a penchant for autobiography, Wotan’s retelling of his version of events that have transpired up until this point serves a pivotal purpose: the audience is made privy to Wotan’s own interpretation of these events through his monologue.
Beyond the god’s words, though, this scene allows the audience to understand Wotan’s underlying feelings and motivations, which I propose Wagner reveals through Wotan’s music. In Unsung Voices (1991), Carolyn Abbate considers the orchestral writing in this scene distinctive: a “screaming orchestra with a single head . . . a mouth, a consciousness, and a voice.” However, this ‘voice’ does not align perfectly with Wotan’s text; rather, it evokes symbolic ideas before Wotan actually gives them speech, in effect voicing motivic ideas as Wotan ‘thinks’ of them. This paper examines a few key examples of this motivic subtext and their possible ramifications for Wotan’s subconscious in the hope of understanding better why Wagner believed this scene to be the most pivotal in the entire Ring cycle. Therefore, like Brünnhilde in this scene, my intention is to interpret what Wotan does not say.
The Brahms Vocal Ensembles and the Tradition of “Hausmusik”
Kelly Dean Hansen (University of Colorado at Boulder)
While a large portion of Johannes Brahms's Lieder for solo voice is part of the standard repertoire, his works for vocal quartet and duet are, along with similar works by his predecessors, considerably less known. Only the "Liebeslieder" Waltes for vocal quartet and piano duet and the "Zigeunerlieder" for vocal quartet and piano are widely performed. These three sets are, however, anomalous in the composer's rather large output of vocal ensembles. The other sets, titled simply "duets" and "quartets," as more "generic" songs for vocal ensemble, are more representative of the genres. They are closer in character to the composer's contemporary Lieder and choral works.
Since vocal duets and quartets were primarily written for domestic entertainment in the nineteenth century, they were not typically associated with the concert hall or with professional performances. This paper will explore the association of Brahms's vocal ensembles with the tradition of "Hausmusik" from the time of Mozart through his own day. The goal of this exploration will be to show that Brahms gradually moved away from the "Hausmusik" tradition in his mature quartets and duets and that the seeds of this development already existed in the earlier works. Evidence of "seriousness" includes harmonic language, performance difficulty, textual subject matter, and complexity of structure. Examples of ensembles from the four stylistic periods usually assigned to Brahms's output will be used to illustrate these ideas, as will a comparison to contemporary solo Lieder, in which the "shift" from "domestic" to "concert" pieces is not as apparent.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29
Session 3: 20th Century (9:30–11:30)
After the Rhapsody: George Gershwin in the Spring of 1924
Susan Neimoyer (University of Utah)
The February 1924 premiere of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue not only created a sensation that resonated throughout the American music world, but resulted in a commission for a piano concerto from conductor Walter Damrosch, which the New York Symphony premiered nineteen months later. Because the Rhapsody was Gershwin’s first serious work of any significant length and the demands of writing of a piano concerto were different than writing a rhapsody, Gershwin indicated more than once that additional study was part of his preparation for writing that work.
The Gershwin Archive at the Library of Congress has a little-known manuscript notebook of short exercises in free composition dating from March and April 1924. As the earliest-known manuscript source following the premiere of the Rhapsody in Blue, it provides intriguing insights into Gershwin’s compositional concerns immediately following the Rhapsody. This paper will examine pieces in the March-April 1924 Notebook that best illustrate those concerns and identify trends that emerge from the set of pieces as a whole. It will be shown that while contrary to the way in which Gershwin portrayed himself and his compositional methods, his approach to writing his concert music was much more careful and methodical than he ever publicly acknowledged.
Use of Cantoric Prayer Modes in Three Psalms for Violoncello and Orchestra (1933) by Frederick Jacobi (1891-1952)
Carey Cheney (University of Utah)
Frederick Jacobi was a Jewish-American composer of art music both for the concert stage and for use in the reform synagogue. As with his teacher Rubin Goldmark, he began his early career searching for a uniquely American sound, composing works using Native American themes for example. He continued his search for an American sound drawing from his personal, spiritual experience. His interpolation of sounds from the orthodox Jewish cantoric tradition, such as in this cello work, was not only part of his American voice but also part of the broadening of the musical scope of the Jewish American reform movement beginning in New York City at this time.
His lush and expressive work for cello and orchestra, Three Psalms for Cello and Orchestra, was composed to complement his Sabbath Evening Service, written first in 1931-1933 and revised in 1952. An intriguing part of the musical language of the cello work is the presence of pitch content from Jewish prayer modes, or Nusach. The ambiguity of major-minor modality and the presence of the augmented second within melody are two striking components of the prayer modes used in the cello line.
My investigation into the use of the palette of Jewish Nusach was aided by two cantors, Hazzan Laurence Loeb from Salt Lake City, Utah and Hazzan Jeremy Lipton, from Los Angeles, California. I will discuss the prayer modes that Jacobi used in the first movement.
On the Reception of East German Music in the United States
Amy Puett (Texas State University)
During the Cold War era, there has been an underlying notion that the political ideologies of socialism and communism should be avoided at all costs and are a threat to the democracy of the United States of America. The many wars that were fought during the Cold War period did not help in disproving this stereotype, and as a consequence, many people who had these beliefs were shunned from society and even deported from the US. This prejudice has seeped into music culture, and, consequently, there are few concerts today for the general public that include musicians from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Many cultures and countries condemn the GDR for its reputation of having an oppressive government and are unwilling to look past this point and explore the music of great composers that evolved during the time of the GDR.
My paper will explore the misperceptions that many Americans have about the political terms of socialism and communism and how this relates to the lack of music of the GDR in concert repertoire of the US. It will especially focus on the composers Hanns Eisler, Kurt Schwaen, and Paul Dessau.
Albinoni’s Adagio: So Pop It Can’t Be Classical
Luke Howard (Brigham Young University)
The so-called "Albinoni Adagio" by Remo Giazotto was assimilated into popular culture almost immediately following its publication in 1948. Over the last fifty years it has been borrowed in movie/TV soundtracks and pop media to such an extent that it has assumed enduring symbolic associations independent of composer intent. It is undeniably a popular piece of music, but its orchestral sobriety would hardly seem to qualify as “pop music.”
This paper tracks the reception history of the Albinoni Adagio in popular culture, from cinematic uses in the 1960s and 70s (Sundays and Cybele, The Trial, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Rollerball) to early cover versions by Procol Harum, The Doors, Renaissance and Yngwie Malmsteen, where it developed enduring associations with themes of loneliness, alienation, and disillusionment. The work continued to gain momentum in the pop sphere through movies like Gallipoli (1981), Flashdance (1985), and Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), and it was also quoted in vernacular musics, running the gamut of styles from metal and progressive rock to jazz, New Age, easy listening, crossover, dance/DJ, and even flamenco.
Although the Albinoni Adagio originally aspired to become a lofty classical masterpiece, this paper concludes that its greatest impact is inextricably tied to its uses in pop culture. The work’s slim (if not outright fraudulent) classical credentials are overshadowed by its pop success, and the proliferation of songs it has inspired are, indisputably, “pop music.” The question, then, is whether the definition of “pop music” can be broadened to include this serious orchestral work. If so, does that dilute the definition to the point of uselessness? If not, where is the elusive dividing line?
Session 4: Topics in Ethnomusicology (1:30–3:00)
Sing and Dance… Jacaré has Arrived: Participatory Experience the Growing Significance of World Music Ensembles
Welson Tremura (University of Florida)
Departing from Mantle Hood’s and Charles Seeger’s original idea about participatory experience this study will discuss and validate world music performances in ethnomusicology by creating favorable circumstances and credibility to non-Western musics. In the formation and development of the Brazilian music ensemble Jacaré Brazil at the University of Florida, world music has mediated collegiality among students, faculty and local musicians through a series of successful experiences obtained through participatory academic activities combined with new philosophical endeavors. Assuming that music information is often exchanged at different levels of understanding and assimilation, world music ensembles are often explained by formed rules and views of specific individuals in their music program. These are often ethnomusicologists who spent time learning how to perform and to teach a specific culture’s music or are natives of the culture under study. To improve further the participatory process, world-music ensembles should embrace a collaborative method for learning, allowing the exchange of information to be placed in more than one front, providing opportunities not only for students and faculty to perform, but also entrusting artistic values and validating performance with standards similar to those afforded to traditional Western art music.
Sing a Song of Praise: An Examination of Church Music in Three Distinct Geographic Settings of Tigrai, Ethiopia
Sarai Brinker (Texas Tech University)
The region of Tigrai, Ethiopia is heavily influenced by the long history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. So strong is the influence the religious tradition that many aspects of the predominant culture, including dress, food consumption, sleeping patterns, burial rights, and musical tradition are all affected. Yet despite the ubiquity of a unifying religion throughout the region, other factors, including geography, are responsible for certain variations in religious and musical practice. Based upon field research conducted in Tigrai, Ethiopia in November, 2007, this paper examines the performance of church music in three distinct geographic settings: inside of an ancient rock hewn church, the city streets in the holy city of Axum during a candlelight ceremony, and within the compound of a new urban church in the capital of the region. In each case, geography plays a significant role in performance practice. Drawing upon evidence collected through photographs, interviews, and musical field recordings, I explore the significance of urban, rural, and political geographies associated with musical practice in each of these settings, and conclude that the places and spaces are significant shapers of religious performance practices associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
“Rolling and Tumbling”: Musical Synthesis in North Mississippi Hill Country Blues Fife and Drum
Lauren Joiner (Texas Tech University)
North Mississippi Hill Country blues fife and drum demonstrates an interesting synthesis of disparate musical styles and priorities. The development of the genre was greatly influenced by the cultural and musical restrictions imposed upon newly arrived African slaves, the conscription of African-American musicians into both American Revolutionary War and Civil War musical units, retained West-African musical priorities and instrumental techniques, as well as geographic location. Drawing on musical analysis, oral history, iconography, and videography, this paper will argue that specific cultural and material circumstances, musical styles, and priorities converged to form North Mississippi Hill Country blues fife and drum.
Session 5: Music of India (3:15–4:15)
Musical Notation in the South Indian Music Oral Tradition: Boon or Bane?
Deepti Navaratna (University of New Mexico)
For centuries, the oral mode of musical transmission in Carnatic music was tuned to suit intimate spaces of learning within musical lineages; often within families. The remarkable feature of this learning system was the adaptability of instruction to learners with different abilities and optimal musical intervention by the teacher targeted to foster individual aesthetic sensibilities in the wake of traditional constraints. In modern times, the musical instruction relies heavily on notated musical scores. While notated music is indispensable to preserving compositions, its excessive usage in pedagogy has coughed up many dialectical questions. Given changing trends, many argue that a notated score ensures uncompromised transmission of musical ideas. In contrast, many traditionalists believe that learning from a notation limits cognitive abilities gathered by learning orally. The core of this music is improvisation and elements of musical embellishment—both of which are highly subjective and specific to a performer. It is opined that overuse of notation without personalized instruction can limit interpretive performance, improvisation, evolution of divergent musical styles at the level of the student. Given the highly free-flowing and stylized nature of the music that is not amenable to notation to begin with, many musicologists argue that the use of notation in pedagogy tends to thwart fresh musical ideas and prototypes music in the name of continuity. The paper will present the notation dialectic in Carnatic music today, in a time of changing cultural choices and notions of traditionalism.
The Classical Music of Maharashtra: a Case Study in the Influence of Regional Culture on Hindustani Music
Jeffrey Grimes (University of Texas at Austin)
In this paper, I will discuss the extent to which the Khyal vocal music genre has been shaped by the regional culture of Maharashtra in the last approximately 100-120 years. Although the birthplace and original home of Khyal is North India, more specifically Delhi and the surrounding regions, the last century has seen a shift, first in terms of the location and availability of patronage and second in terms of the demographic makeup of the performers themselves. While the transition from Muslim to Hindu as the dominant religious community among performers of all genres of Hindustani music has been much commented upon, the shift from North India to Maharashtra and West Bengal as the home bases of the majority of performers has, for the most part, been neglected by scholars of the tradition.
I will examine Khyal in Maharashtra in light of three factors: the types of ornamentation characteristic to Marathi-language music genres, such as theatre or devotional music, the Marathi language, and the Maharashtrian climate and landscape. All three of these factors have had and continue to have a direct impact on the character of Khyal as practiced by Maharashtrian singers, but I also argue that, taken together, they demonstrate deep-seated, culturally based aesthetic preferences which are unique to Maharashtra.