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PLAYING WITH CIRCLES: A MUSICO-POETIC STUDY OF GYORGY KURT AG’S SCENES FROM A NOVEL, OP. 19(1979-1982) DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Diana Lentsner ***** The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Lora Gingerich Dobos, Adviser Dr. Arved Ashby Adviser Dr. Irene Masing-Delic School of Music Graduate Program Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3039496 Copyright 2002 by Lentsner, Diana All rights reserved. ___ __® UMI UMI Microform 3039496 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Diana Lentsner 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The dissertation examines text and music in Scenes from a Novel, op. 19 (1979- 1982) by the distinguished Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag (b. 1926). Scenes from a Novel (for soprano, cimbalom, violin, and double bass) is set to poems by Rimma Dalos, a Russian poet living in Hungary. The first objective of the study is to show that Kurtag achieves a musico-poetic symbiosis by creating a multiplicity of structural/semantic connections between each of Dalos’s fourteen poems and their fifteen musical counterparts, as well as between the poetic cycle as a whole and its musical realization. My analysis, in this respect, is a demonstration or a sample of Kurtag’s unique, scrupulous work with his texts, resulting in a musico-poetic organism, where the two constituents not just complement each other, but are inexplicably interwoven. The second objective is to test what I believe is the optimal analytical approach to Kurtag’s vocal music, and possibly, on a larger scale, to vocal music in general -- an approach where poetry and music are treated as two equal structural constituents of one musico-poetic whole. My analytical ideas are inspired by the writings of the preeminent Russian semiotician Iurii Lotman (1922-1994). In Chapter I, following Lotman’s principles of structuralist poetic analysis, I examine the lexical (word content), phonological (sound ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. content), prosodic (metric organization), graphic (visual presentation), and grammatical levels of poetic structure in each of the fourteen Dalos poems. I discuss the means of Kurtag’s poetic cyclic organization in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 I examine the musical structure of Scenes, consciously minimizing references to the poetic text and using a variety of contemporary analytical techniques. Chapter 4 reveals the structural/semantic implications of the relationship between text and music in this composition. The structural/semantic (as opposed to structural and semantic) indivisibility of text and music becomes apparent only when both text and music are examined together and compared with each other. The main feature of Scenes is the interconnectedness of all the elements within and between its fifteen fragments, which I arrange in conceptual, concentric circles. I propose that the connectedness of the constituent elements is Kurtag’s compositional goal, whereas structural circularity is Kurtag’s aesthetic accomplishment. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my parents. Misha, and Barklay iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In early 1998 I had a conversation about my research plans with Dr. Jan Radzynski, Professor of Composition at The Ohio State University. He asked if I was familiar with Kurtag’s music, and since I was not, advised me to check if our library owned copies of any Kurtag scores and recordings. Scenes from a Novel happened to be one of a few. I thank Dr. Radzynski for his suggestion: this dissertation is a result of the trip to the library I took right after our conversation. In the spring of 1999, while debating with myself which approach I should take in my analysis of Scenes from a Novel, I asked Dr. Irene Masing-Delic, Professor of Russian Literature at The Ohio State University, to teach me how to perform poetic analysis. After hearing my ideas about the role of music and poetic analyses in the interpretation of Kurtag's music, she called me “a structuralist,” and advised me to read lurii Lotman’s book Analysis o f the Poetic Text. I am especially indebted to her for this recommendation. I would like to thank the members of my committee: my adviser Dr. Lora Gingerich Dobos, Dr. Arved Ashby, and Dr. Irene Masing-Delic for their intellectual stimulation, valuable suggestions, and criticism they have given, as well as their enthusiasm. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Irene Masing-Delic, Dr. Graeme Boone, and Alejandro L. Madrid for their help with translations from German and French. I thank Dr. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Margarita Mazo for her continuous support and for her advice “to draw pictures when words do not come to mind” that I took very seriously. I am grateful to Editio Musica Budapest for their gracious permission to reproduce the score of Scenes from a Novel ; I would like especially to thank the Artistic Director of Editio Musica Budapest, Janos Demeny, for providing me with all necessary information, scores and recordings. I thank The Ohio State University for supporting my work with research and travel grants. And last, but not least, 1 am grateful to Gyorgy Kurtag and Rimma Dalos for their interest and encouragement. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA June 1, 1966.............................................. Bom - St. Petersburg, Russia 1981-1985 ................................................. Pskov, Russia School of Music (undergraduate studies in music theory) 1986-1990...................................................St. Petersburg Conservatory (graduate studies in composition) 1991-1998................................................. Private instructor in music theory, aural training, and composition (Columbus, Ohio) 1995-200 2................................................. Ph.D. student, The Ohio State University 1996-200 1................................................. Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University 2000-2001................................................. Lecturer in music theory and composition, Otterbein College (Westerville, Ohio) FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Music vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract......................................................................................................................................ii Dedication ................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments .....................................................................................................................v Vita............................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures ...........................................................................................................................xii List of Musical Examples .......................................................................................................xvi