The Art Songs of Zachary Wadsworth: a Guide to Style, Performance, and Literature
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James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Dissertations The Graduate School Spring 2017 The ra t songs of Zachary Wadsworth: A guide to style performance, and literature Jordan R. Davidson James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019 Part of the American Literature Commons, Composition Commons, Music Performance Commons, Music Practice Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Recommended Citation Davidson, Jordan R., "The ra t songs of Zachary Wadsworth: A guide to style performance, and literature" (2017). Dissertations. 138. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019/138 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Art Songs of Zachary Wadsworth: A Guide to Style, Performance, and Literature Jordan Robert Davidson A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts School of Music May 2017 ________________________________________________________________________ FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair: Kevin McMillan, M.M Committee Members/ Readers: Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, Ph.D. Eric Guinivan, D.M.A. Dedication To my beautiful wife, Elizabeth Ashley, and daughter, Emmeline Avery, for all the sacrifice and development through this process. I love you. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the composer, Zachary Wadsworth. His music has been enlightening, inspiring, and a pleasure to study. Special thanks go to my doctoral committee at James Madison University: Dr. Eric Guinivan for his guidance, sound advice, thoughtful suggestions, and dedication to this work; Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, for her enthusiasm, valued opinions, and time spent reviewing and editing my work; and of course, my committee chair, advisor, mentor, and voice teacher, Kevin McMillan. Without Professor McMillan, Zachary Wadsworth’s music may have never come across my music stand. A sincere thank you for his continued support, advice, and passion for Zachary Wadsworth’s music; it has been such an honor to work on this document with him by my side. I would also like to thank Jeremiah Padilla and Dr. Andrew Connell for assisting in the realization of Wadsworth’s music in my Lecture Recital. Your talents and musicality have brought to life the works in this document. Finally, I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for my wife, Elizabeth. Her encouragement and support to embark on this academic journey were selfless acts of love and respect for which I have no words. I could not have managed the solitary nature of this journey had you not been there for me, waiting for this moment to arrive. You are a wonderful mother, an incredible wife, and most importantly, my best friend. Thank you for all your love and support throughout this process. iii Table of Contents Dedication ii Acknowledgment iii List of Tables vi List of Figures vii Abstract ix Introduction 1 Chapter One. Biography 3 Chapter Two. The Expression of Text through Composition Style 11 Text Selection Process 11 Rhythmic Text Setting and Accompaniment 14 Melody 22 Motive 26 Centricity 30 Chapter Three. Annotated Catalog of Solo Vocal Works 42 Abendländisches Lied 44 After Hearing a Waltz by Bartok 46 Amber Hand, The 48 Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, The 53 Cautionary Tales for Children 57 Corona, La 60 Days of Innocence 62 deep inside the woods 67 for nothing lesse than thee 68 Golden Key, The 73 Lay thy cheek to mine, love 75 Nativity 76 On the Death of Claude Debussy 77 Pictures of the Floating World 79 Present and Future 84 Three Lullabies 90 Under the Night Forever Falling 93 What to Do When Lost in the Woods 94 Conclusion 96 Appendix I: Transcription of In-Person Interview with Wadsworth 98 iv Appendix II: Transcription of E-mail Messages to Musicians and Wadsworth 110 Friday, December 30, 2016, with baritone, Kevin McMillan 110 Tuesday, January 3, 2017, with baritone, Kevin McMillan 111 Tuesday, January 3, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 113 Tuesday, January 3, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 122 Monday, January 9, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 125 Monday, January 9, 2017, with tenor, Zachary Wilder 127 Friday, January 13, 2017, with soprano, Annamarie Zmolek 130 Monday, January 23, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 134 Thursday, March 2, 2017, with the composer, Zachary Wadsworth 141 Thursday, March 9, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 143 Tuesday, March 14, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 145 Monday, April 10, 2017, with composer, Zachary Wadsworth 147 Appendix III: Annotated Catalog Level of Difficulty Breakdown 150 Appendix IV: Songs and Vocal Works Not Included in this Document 151 Bibliography 152 v List of Tables Table I. Pitch centers in Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 40 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Mm. 22-32 from the opening of Britten’s Peter Grimes. 16 Figure 2. Mm. 14-20 of “The Dreame” from Wadsworth’s for nothing 17 lesse than thee. Figure 3. Mm. 16-31 from Wadsworth’s After Hearing a Waltz by Bartok. 19 Figure 4. Mm. 48-50 of “The Garden by Moonlight” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 20 Figure 5. Mm. 262-266 of “III. Saffron from the fringe of the earth” from Wadsworth’s Eurydice. 22 Figure 6. Text from Dylan Thomas’ Vision and Prayer. Shape poem. 23 Figure 7. Representation of the letter X in Dylan Thomas’ Vision and Prayer. 24 Figure 8. Melodic palindrome from Wadsworth’s Under the Night Forever Falling. 25 Figure 9. Mm. 4-6 from Wadsworth’s Lay Thy Cheek to Mine, Love. 25 Figure 10. Mm. 1-3 of “The Whale” from Wadsworth’s The Bad Child’s 26 Book of Beasts. Figure 11. Mm. 6 (a), 10 (b) and 12 (c) of “The Whale” from Wadsworth’s 27 The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts. Figure 12. Mm. 1-4 of “The Dodo” from Wadsworth’s The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts. 28 Figure 13. Breakdown of mm. 6-21 of “The Dodo” from Wadsworth’s The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts. 28 Figure 14. Mm. 246-251 from Wadsworth’s After Hearing a Waltz by Bartok. 30 Figure 15. Mm. 1-12 of “The Garden by Moonlight” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 33 Figure 16. Mm. 39-50 of “The Garden by Moonlight” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 34 Figure 17. Mm. 16-19 of “Opal” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 35 vii Figure 18. Mm. 1-5 of “Opal” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 35 Figure 19a. Mm. 30-37 of “September, 1918” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 37 Figure 19b. Mm. 43-45 of “The Garden by Moonlight” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 37 Figure 20. Mm. 41-44 of “September, 1918” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 38 Figure 21. Mm. 63-65 of “September, 1918” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 38 Figure 22. Reduction of Mm. 1-27 of “Storm-Racked” from Wadsworth’s Pictures of the Floating World. 39 viii Abstract This Doctor of Musical Arts Document explores the role Zachary Wadsworth plays in the development of American Art Song. Born in 1983, composer Zachary Wadsworth has written over forty songs. His music is complex and challenging, with influences from all musical eras, with much of his work focusing on the techniques and sounds of twentieth-century modernism. Wadsworth’s choice of poetry focuses on English literature from many different musical eras, embracing a broad range of themes subjects, and emotions. Following a brief biography of Wadsworth’s early life and career, the document surveys Wadsworth’s contributions to contemporary American art song regarding his use of text and how it informs his compositional process, and style. This study will also analyze how Wadsworth incorporates his compositional influences in his writing and personal style. This thesis also explores the use of text expression in regards to rhythm, both melodically and harmonically, melody, motivic accompaniment, and centricity as compositional devices that underpin the formal foundation of his compositions. While his music can be characterized as atonal, Wadsworth suggests pitch centers as a foundation that may be unnoticeable to most singers. This document includes an annotated catalog of forty-five works for solo voice and various accompanying instruments. The annotated catalog provides support in music analysis, text analysis, and non-standard score indications, and includes an outline of Wadsworth’s interpretive preferences. The annotated catalog also provides essential information about each piece concerning levels of difficulty and accessibility for singers, teachers, pianists, and coaches. ix The research was conducted through interviews with Wadsworth. In addition to preparing, coaching, and performing many of these works, the remaining songs were examined through both professional and unpublished recordings. Several prominent performers of Wadsworth’s vocal music provided live interviews. This study serves as a basis for further research into Wadsworth’s life and works, and for successful performances of his songs. x 1 Introduction I first met Zachary Wadsworth (1983) the summer of 2013 when I was entering the first year of my master’s degree at James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I had been hired to sing in the chorus at the Staunton Music Festival in Staunton, Virginia, for a performance of the Faure Requiem. Little did I know; Zachary Wadsworth was the tenor singing beside me during the rehearsals and performance.