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2012 Mr. Mitty, a Tone Poem for Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble by Nansi Carroll: An Analysis Javier Antonio Rodriguez

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

MR. MITTY, A TONE POEM FOR BASSOON AND CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

BY NANSI CARROLL: AN ANALYSIS

By

JAVIER ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ

A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2012 Javier Antonio Rodriguez defended this treatise on October 15, 2012.

The members of the supervisory committee were:

Jeffrey Keesecker Professor Directing Treatise

Richard Clary University Representative

Eva Amsler Committee Member

Frank Kowalsky Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

ii

In loving memory of Martha Ann Stark

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Nansi Carroll for the contributions she has made to the bassoon repertoire, especially the subject of this treatise, Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble. I am especially grateful for her willingness to allow me to write about her life and experiences as a composer, teacher, pianist, and vocalist. I am also thankful for her friendship and guidance throughout my education and career. I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Jeffrey Keesecker for his guidance while preparing this treatise and during my time as a student at Florida State University. I wish to thank my committee members, Professor Eva Amsler, Professor Richard Clary, and Dr. Frank Kowalsky for all the time and wisdom they have selflessly imparted on behalf of my education. I am thankful for my colleagues at The University of Texas at San Antonio who have been so understanding and patient with me while I began a new job and prepared this treatise simultaneously. I would like to express my perpetual gratitude to my friends and colleagues for their advice and kindness throughout this process, especially Mr. T. Jason Brown, Dr. Michael Deall, Mr. Sean Fredenburg, Mrs. Jenna Nishida, and Dr. Katherine Woolsey. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering love, encouragement, and support. Los amo con todo mi corazón.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ...... vi List of Musical Examples ...... vii Abstract...... ix 1. INTRODUCTION...... 1 A Short History of the Bassoon Concerto...... 1 The One-Movement Concerto ...... 3 A New One-Movement Concerto: Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble...... 4 2. THE MUSICAL LANGUAGE OF NANSI CARROLL ...... 7 Childhood, Early Education, and the Musicianship Program...... 7 College and England...... 10 Return to United States, Graduate School and Early Professional Life ...... 10 Establishment as a Composer in Gainesville, Florida ...... 11 3. A SYNOPSIS OF JAMES THURBER’S “THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY” . 15 4. MR. MITTY, A TONE POEM FOR BASSOON AND CHAMBER ENSEMBLE...... 18 Introduction...... 20 First Fantasy Episode...... 24 First Reality Episode...... 25 Second Fantasy Episode ...... 26 Second Reality Episode ...... 30 Third Fantasy Episode ...... 32 Third Reality Episode ...... 34 Fourth Fantasy Episode...... 35 Fourth Reality Episode ...... 38 Fifth (Last) Fantasy Episode...... 42 Epilogue ...... 43

5. CONCLUSION ...... 46

APPENDICES ...... 47

A. PERMISSION TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS: NANSI CARROLL ...... 47

B. HUMAN SUBJECTS FORM EXEMPTION ...... 48

C. NANSI CARROLL: COMPOSER’S CATALOGUE OF NOTABLE WORKS ...... 49

BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 55

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 58

v

LIST OF TABLES

3.1 Mr. Mitty – Ensemble Characters ...... 19 15

3.2 Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble (modified arch form) ...... 20

vi

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 1-3 ...... 20 Example 2. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, piano, meas. 13...... 21 Example 3. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 14...... 21 Example 4. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 4...... 22 Example 5. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 15-16 ...... 22 Example 6. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 22...... 23 Example 7. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 24 ...... 23 Example 8. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 31...... 24 Example 9. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 38-40 ...... 24 Example 10. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 42-51...... 25 Example 11. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, oboe, meas. 62-65 ...... 26 Example 12. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 94-99...... 27 Example 13. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 109-112...... 29 Example 14. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, cello, meas. 114-124 ...... 30 Example 15. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 129-142 ...... 31 Example 16. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, oboe, meas. 151-153 ...... 31 Example 17. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, horn, meas. 153-154 ...... 32 Example 18. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 156-158 ...... 32 Example 19. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 168-172 ...... 32 Example 20. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, piano, meas. 158, 171-172 ...... 33 Example 21. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, viola, meas. 172-175 ...... 33 Example 22. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 176-178 ...... 34 Example 23. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 188-193 ...... 34 Example 24. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 195-196...... 35 Example 25. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 216-219...... 35 Example 26. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 205-207 ...... 36 Example 27. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, flute, clarinet, meas. 200-201...... 36 Example 28. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 203-204 ...... 37

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Example 29. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 217-221 ...... 37 Example 30. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, flute, meas. 227-230...... 38 Example 31. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, oboe, meas. 230-232 ...... 38 Example 32. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon (original), meas. 234-235 ...... 39 Example 33. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon (revised), meas. 234-235...... 39 Example 34. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 240-244 ...... 40 Example 35. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 245-255...... 41 Example 36. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 255-265 ...... 42 Example 37. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 264-267...... 43 Example 38. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 268-269...... 43 Example 39. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 270-280...... 44 Example 40. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 283-288 ...... 45

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ABSTRACT

The bassoon lacks the substantial concerto repertoire of many of its orchestral counterparts. Although, beyond Mozart, this may pose programming issues for orchestras and chamber ensembles, the dearth of literature may spell opportunity for composers wanting to explore the soloistic qualities of the bassoon. American composer Nansi Carroll has written over 300 vocal, choral, and piano works in her positions as Music Director of St. Augustine Church in Gainesville, FL, Artistic Co-Director of A Musical Offering, and as a faculty member at the University of Florida, Stetson University, and The Walden School. In the past fifteen years she has concentrated on instrumental music, writing solo and chamber works for many instrumental combinations and mixed voices.

After discussing with Dr. Carroll the historical difficulties of programming concerto works for the bassoon, she has written Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble (2011). This work is based on James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” A considerable amount of Carroll’s instrumental catalogue has been composed for the bassoon. She has written six other works with bassoon to date: Regina Caeli: Prelude and Reflections, for solo bassoon (1998, rev. 1999); Canciones, for three solo voices, flute, clarinet, bassoon, cello, and marimba (2004); De Profundis, for contrabassoon and low string quintet (2008); Estrofas: Llama de Amor Viva, for bassoon and piano (2010); The Servant Girl at Emmaus [A Painting by Velazquez], for contralto, three sopranos, soprano saxophone, and bassoon (2011); and Spiritual, for soprano saxophone and bassoon (2012). This treatise will review the evolution of the bassoon concerto from the Baroque era through the Twenty-first Century, with the purpose of discussing how composers have adapted contemporary forms and orchestrations from this genre. A biography of Nansi Carroll’s life and works follows, with emphasis on how the evolution of her career and compositional style brought her to the idea of composing Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble. Finally, An analysis of Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble will outline formal and thematic elements of Carroll’s compositional technique in relation to Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Concertgoers attending a program featuring a bassoon concerto in the Twenty-first Century are likely to see and hear the Concerto in B-flat Major KV191/186 e by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This work continues to be the most notable work in the bassoon repertoire, and the most presented in recordings and concert performances.1 Even though famous masters and lesser-known composers alike have written numerous challenging and significant bassoon concerti since the Baroque era, only a few famous works monopolize the repertoire in recordings and concert performances. The bassoon’s repertoire deserves continued expansion. Diversification may be the key. An expansion of the bassoon concerto repertoire with works containing non-traditional forms, a trend already seen in the late Twentieth and early Twenty- first Centuries, may excite concert audiences and meet orchestral and chamber groups’ needs.

A Short History of the Bassoon Concerto

With substantial works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, Georg Philipp Telemann, and 39 concerti by Antonio Vivaldi, the Baroque era may be considered a golden period for the bassoon. But even with these numbers, the bassoon was hardly the focus of the era, as it primarily remained an instrument used in bass line support. The 39 concerti of Vivaldi represent a mere fraction of over 500 instrumental concerti, 206 of them for violin. Of Mozart’s 44 attributed concerti, again, only one surviving bassoon concerto remains. Though concerti of the late Classical and early Romantic eras by Johann Nepumuk Hummel and Carl Maria von Weber are also highly regarded, these works still do not provide a breadth of bassoon literature compared to that of the violin, piano, or flute oeuvre. Composers such as Vivaldi, Mozart, Hummel, and Weber contributed a respectable output of bassoon concerto literature from the Baroque through Classical and early Romantic

1. Cliff Eisen: “Concerto”, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed August 13, 2012), http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40737?q=concerto&hbutton_search.x=19&hbutt on_search.y=20&source=omo_gmo&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

1 eras. Significant bassoon literature though, turned toward orchestral roles during the mid- Romantic period. Franz Berwald and Ferdinand David wrote concertinos (1827 and 1840 respectively), but the only well-known work for solo bassoon and orchestra in almost 70 years is the Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra in d minor, Op. 62 by Sir Edward Elgar, written in 1909.2 The Paris Conservatory did much to advance bassoon literature leading into the Twentieth Century. Though records for the annual Concours for bassoon date to as early as 1797, the tradition of commissioning French composers to compose solo and chamber works specifically for the annual Concours began in 1898.3 Andrè Jolivet’s Concerto pour basson, orchestra a cordes et piano (1954) has become regarded as a masterwork from this period and is one of the more frequently performed concerti of the Twentieth Century. Written for French bassoon virtuoso Maurice Allard, this work is usually reserved for the most advanced performers. Because of the prevalence of German bassoon playing in most countries today, some bassoonists are reluctant to perform works such as Jolivet’s that were originally meant to be performed on the more agile French bassoon.4 While the Jolivet concerto may stand up in virtuosity to the concerti of other orchestral instruments, even this work is now over a half- century old. Concerti by Sofia Gubaidulina, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and John Williams have gained popularity within the late Twentieth-Century bassoon repertoire. Sofia Gubaidulina’s Concerto for bassoon and low strings (1975) was composed for Russian bassoonist Valeri Popov. This five-movement work uses several extended techniques first catalogued in Bruno Bartolozzi’s New Sound for Woodwinds.56 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Bassoon Concerto (1992) was written for Pittsburgh Symphony principal bassoonist Nancy Goeres. This challenging three-movement

2. Edward Elgar, Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra in d minor, Op. 62 (London: Novello and Company, Limited), 1912.

3. Kristine Klopfenstein Fletcher, The Paris Conservatoire and the Contest Solos for Bassoon (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988), 47.

4. André Jolivet, Concerto pour basson, orchestre à cordes, harpe et piano (Paris: Heugel, 1963).

5. Bruno Bartolozzi, New Sound for Woodwinds (London: Oxford University Press, 1982), 59.

6. Jonathan Powell, liner notes to Gubaidulina, Valeri Popov and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Chandos 9717, CD, 1999. 2 work for student and professional bassoonists alike explores atonal and yet sometimes lyric bassoon writing in a dark musical landscape.7 John Williams’s concerto titled The Five Sacred Trees (1995) was written for New York Philharmonic principal bassoonist Judith LeClair. The five-movement work evokes Celtic music with subjects of mythical and legendary trees.8 The Williams concerto has become quite popular among a younger generation of bassoonists because of the popularity of the composer. While these particular works have gained notoriety among bassoonists as modern masterworks, programming instances within performing organizations still pale in comparison to the Mozart Bassoon Concerto.9

The One-Movement Concerto

One-movement concertinos by Ferdinand David and Francis Berwald of the early Romantic era have had some limited live performance successes beyond commercial recording distribution. These works, though not in standard three-movement concerto form, have gained popularity among chamber ensembles and student concerto competitions for their programming flexibility. Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Ciranda das Sete Notas (1933), though only twelve minutes long, is regarded as a substantial contribution to the concerto literature due to its lyrical and technical demands.10 Michael Daugherty’s Dead Elvis (1993) and Don Freund’s The Life of the Party: Concerto for Bassoon and 16 Friends (2000) have crossed the lines between modernist concert music and post-modern genres in a concerto setting with bassoon and chamber orchestra. Daugherty’s work has received notoriety for the Elvis impersonating jumpsuit the performer is

7. Howard Klein, liner notes to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, Nancy Goeres and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New World Records 80503-2/DIDX #034718, CD, 1996.

8. Jamake Highwater, liner notes to The Five Sacred Trees, Judith LeClair and the London Symphony Orchestra, Sony Classical DIDP 091601, CD, 1996.

9. Cliff Eisen: “Concerto,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed August 13, 2012), http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40737?q=concerto&hbutton_search.x=19&hbutt on_search.y=20&source=omo_gmo&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

10. James M. Keller, “Villa Lobos: Ciranda das Sete Notas/Artist Biography,” San Francisco Symphony Program Notes (Accessed August 13, 2012) http://64.225.159.244/music/ProgramNotes.aspx?id=47424&print=true

3 instructed to wear during performance.11 Freund’s work is known for its through-composed stream of consciousness form and non-traditional orchestral instrumentation that includes drum set, electric guitar, and synthesizer emulating a Hammond organ.12 The one-movement works may be shorter in length than the standard three-movement concerto form works, but the technical and lyrical demands placed on the bassoonist can be just as daunting. Like the Berwald, David, and Elgar works of the Romantic era, these contemporary one-movement works may also give modern orchestras and contemporary chamber groups greater flexibility when scheduling concert seasons. Whether these works are shorter in length than traditional three-movement concerti (allowing for shorter or more diverse programs), or the accompanying orchestration uses fewer instruments (allowing budgetary adaptability in a tighter financial arts market), these one-movement concerti may serve as a model for future commissions of the genre.

A New One-Movement Concerto: Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble

In working with American composer Nansi Carroll, a discussion about the need of continued expansion of the bassoon concerto genre arose. The result has been the commissioning of a new tone-poem bassoon concerto titled Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble, based on the James Thurber short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Carroll’s Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble was commissioned by the author in 2010 and premiered in concert on 22 November 2011.13 She has written several other works for the author including Prelude and Reflections on Regina Caeli for solo bassoon (1998, rev. 2009); De Profundis for contrabassoon and low string quintet (2008); Estrofas: Llama de Amor Viva for bassoon and piano (2010); The Servant Girl at Emmaus for soprano saxophone, bassoon, three sopranos, and contralto (2011); and Spiritual for soprano saxophone

11. Michael Daugherty, Dead Elvis: for small chamber ensemble (New York: Peermusic, 2000).

12. Don Freund, Life of the Party: Concerto for Bassoon and 16 Friends (Maryland Heights, MO: Lauren Keiser Music Publishing, 2000).

13. Nansi Carroll, email message to author, December 21, 2011. 4 and bassoon (2012). To date, Mr. Mitty employs the largest complement of instrumental forces in Nansi Carroll’s catalogue. Carroll chooses the form of the tone poem for her concerto as homage to Richard Strauss’s works, namely Don Quixote.14 Based on James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Carroll’s work uses the solo bassoon line (in a programmatic sense) as the protagonist of the storyline from Thurber’s short story.15 In an interview, she discussed associating the Walter Mitty character with the bassoon long before the idea of writing a specific bassoon piece for the author.16 According to Carroll, the Mitty character “fits the vast expressive qualities the bassoon can employ, albeit yet with an always seeming sadness.”17 The idea of the tone poem, or symphonic poem, has been in use in the orchestral genre as early as Franz Liszt’s Ce qu’on entend sur la montagnei (1848) and Les preludes (1848).18 A tone poem is characterized as a piece of orchestral music in one continuous section, in which a non-musical source is depicted or evoked.19 Like opera, a tone poem seeks to find union between music and drama.20 Unlike opera, the music of a tone poem does not use sung text.21 That Mr. Mitty can be described as both a bassoon concerto and a tone poem gives the work a more unique standing in the concert music repertoire. There are many one-movement symphonic tone poems, but few have been scored specifically in concerto format for a solo instrument. Richard Strauss’s 1895 tone poem Don Quixote, Op. 35 for cello, viola, and large

14. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, March 11, 2011.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Keith T. Johns and Michael Saffle, The Symphonic Poems of Franz Liszt (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press: 1997), 8.

19. Keith T. Johns and Michael Saffle, Symphonic Poems, 6.

20. Keith T. Johns and Michael Saffle, Symphonic Poems, 10.

21. Ibid.

5 orchestra is an example of a tone poem with solo characters.22 Nansi Carroll formally mentions Don Quixote as an influence on Mr. Mitty for its use of solo characters in a tone poem work.23 Carroll also mentions the chamber operas of Benjamin Britten as an influence on Mr. Mitty with regards to orchestration and thematic material.24 Similar to Britten’s Turn of the Screw, Carroll’s musical language in Mr. Mitty demonstrates a willingness to use twelve-tone rows melodically in a tonal language built on triads and progressions.25 Carroll developed this musical language as a student at the Walden School (formerly known as the Junior Conservatory) in Baltimore, Maryland.26 Carroll conveys elements of Thurber’s short story musically in her work. Characters from Thurber’s short story are conveyed as different instruments in the chamber ensemble. Similarities in formal and structure demarcations are found between Thurber’s story and Carroll’s work. Literary moods and themes from Thurber’s story are explored in Carroll’s work as well. Chapter 2 of this treatise will provide a biography of Nansi Carroll including a background of her musical education and the working relationship with the author that led to the creation of Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble. Chapter 3 will provide an analysis of Carroll’s Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble using salient musical and literary themes and features (demarcated by episode) as related to James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Chapter 4 will provide a discussion summary. Finally, the Appendices will include a catalogue of Nansi Carroll’s notable works, categorized by genre.

22. Richard Strauss and Heinrich Hartmann, Don Quixote;fantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters, für grosses Orchester, op.35. (Introduzione, Tema con Variazioni e Finale) (Wien: Universal-Edition, 1912).

23. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, October 1, 2011.

24. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, March 11, 2011.

25. Mervyn Cooke, The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 106.

26. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, October 1, 2011.

6

CHAPTER TWO THE MUSICAL LANGUAGE OF NANSI CARROLL

Childhood, Early Education, and the Musicianship Program

Nansi Carroll was born on 18 November 1946 in New York City. Her mother, Phenola Valentine, was a social worker and homemaker. Her father, Edward Gonzalez Carroll, was an African-American Bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972. Carroll’s only sibling is her brother, Edward Jr., almost nine years her elder.27 The greatest musical influence on Carroll as a child was her father’s brother, Julius Carroll. Described by Carroll as a “guiding light,” Julius Carroll was an organist who arranged spirituals, in addition to being a Methodist minister, and pilot.28 His master’s thesis concerned the theory that one could introduce musical skills to toddlers. Nansi Carroll was the subject of her uncle’s thesis at 18 months of age.29 Carroll began formal piano lessons at age six, though she has admitted she did not like them and did not practice much. It was her uncle Julius who encouraged her to improvise on the piano, which she preferred over structured lessons. Carroll began to study the clarinet at age nine. Her first instrument was a metal clarinet owned by her uncle Julius.30 Carroll (claiming to have “fallen in love with the clarinet”) stopped piano lessons at age nine when her family moved from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland.31 She resumed formal piano training at the Peabody Institute Preparatory School at age twelve. This training at Peabody was her first encounter with the Musicianship Program under the direction of Grace

27. Nansi Carroll, email message to author, May 17, 2012.

28. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, December 12, 2011.

29. Ibid.

30. Ibid.

31. Ibid.

7

Cushman.32 The Musicianship Program, along with Cushman’s summer institute, the Peabody Junior Conservatory Camp, served as the predecessors to what is now The Walden School. Under Grace Cushman, the Musicianship Program was focused on high school students with a few advanced junior high students in attendance.33 Carroll studied at the Peabody Junior Conservatory from eighth grade through high school.34 Grace Cushman founded the Musicianship Program in the 1950’s as a means of educating young musicians in a unique way that encouraged students to improvise and compose at every stage of their studies. Mrs. Cushman, who taught at Peabody Conservatory, continued teaching Musicianship Program techniques at the Peabody Junior Conservatory Camp in Vermont through 1971. After Cushman’s death in 1971, two of her students, David Hogan and Pamela Layman Quist, continued teaching Musicianship Program techniques and began the institution now known as The Walden School. Since 1972, The Walden School has operated a year round campus in San Francisco, CA and a five-week summer program on the campus of the Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire.35 Carroll recounts that Mrs. Cushman was able to teach music theory “her way” at Peabody.36 Cushman’s course was titled “Theory, the Musicianship Approach.”37 According to Carroll, Cushman lamented that every student she encountered was “tonal bound.”38 According to Cushman, “Everything was too related to keys.”39 Cushman felt her contribution to theory pedagogy was to divide the circle of fifths into thirds, therefore keeping triadic harmonies without tonal centers. Instead of Western and/or Schenkerian concepts of voice leading, chord

32. Ibid.

33. Nansi Carroll et al., The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers, ed. Paul Nauert (San Francisco: The Walden School, Ltd., 2002), 4.

34. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, December 12, 2011.

35. Nansi Carroll et al., The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers, 5.

36. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid. 8 progressions were based on a circle of thirds; keys then became irrelevant. Based on closely related chords, notes, and common tones, as well as stacking thirds, certain cycles of thirds also outlined octatonic scales.40 The teaching sequence for the “Musicianship Approach” differed from that of traditional Western music theory pedagogy as well. Cushman taught modal patterns first. That way, when keys and more traditional Western common practice theory were taught, they merely served as another tool (with the understanding that the students were to improvise and compose at every step of the learning process).41 Carroll became more serious about her piano studies during tenth grade. The following summer, she attended Cushman’s Junior Conservatory Camp for the first time. This was her first interaction with other composers, and led her to an interest in composition beyond that of her Musicianship Course training. During the summer after her eleventh-grade year, Flora Cushman (friend, dance teacher, and daughter of Grace Cushman) introduced her to Martha Graham technique, in which the dance is structured but the music is improvised. Carroll was hired to accompany dance lessons on the piano, where she was taught to improvise in the musical style of the Graham technique.42 Playing for dance classes and through the influence of the Graham technique, Carroll learned that accompanying dance is “a partnership in which sometimes the movement motivates the music, and sometimes the music motivates the movement.”43 The role of the music was not simply to accentuate the beats of the dance steps.44 In one particular instance, she recounts learning about a floor routine with a “step, step, leap” dance pattern. The piano, though, does not follow with a traditional “boom, boom, chick” musical pattern. Instead, Carroll learned to improvise over the dancing by thinking, “diddle, diddle, diddle.” Carroll states, “This way, the

40. Nansi Carroll et al., The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers, 75.

41. Based on Cushman’s teachings, Carroll co-wrote Chapter 4 of The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers on cycles with Stephen Coxe.

42. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

43. In a phone conversation with Mrs. Jenna Nishida of Gainesville, FL on 8 September 2012, Mrs. Nishida recounted her conversation earlier that day with Nansi Carroll about her experience as a dance accompanist.

44. Ibid.

9 music made the dancing seem even more weightless.”45 This may have been an important facet of the musical accompaniment of Graham technique, since the dancers were never on pointe like in traditional ballet.46 College and England

In the summer of 1966, after two years of undergraduate studies at Boston University, Carroll received an invitation from Flora Cushman to travel to Devon, England to work as a dance pianist for the American Modern Dance program (what Martha Graham technique was known as outside the US) at the Dartington College of Arts. Carroll left Boston University for Dartington and was lodged there in return for her work as an accompanist in dance classes. Carroll began her formal training in singing while at Dartington.47 After two years of work and voice study at Dartingon, Carroll received an Elmgrant fellowship to study voice privately in London. A year later, she entered the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her first study (major) was voice, and second study (minor) was piano. She was exposed to music of all periods, but found it particularly important to perform twentieth-century music by living composers and colleagues. It is during this time that Carroll mentions she “found her voice as a performer” as well.48

Return to United States, Graduate School, and Early Professional Life

Carroll graduated with a Licentiate in Music from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1972.49 She returned to the U.S., and in the summer of 1973 studied at the Tanglewood Music Center where she met American soprano Phyllis Curtin. Curtin had just been appointed to the faculty at Yale University. Carroll then applied and was accepted to the Yale

45. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

46. The author interprets this dialogue as a transcendence of philosophy between dance and music when comparing Martha Graham dance technique and an overall rhythmic style in the works of Nansi Carroll.

47. Ibid.

48. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

49. Jenna Nishida, email message to author, March 28, 2012. 10

School of Music for graduate work in voice. With Curtin as her principal teacher, Carroll received Master of Music (1975) and Master of Musical Arts (1976) degrees in voice from Yale University. While at Yale, Carroll also resumed composing, composing and arranging spirituals for her own performances. Composing instrumental arrangements of songs became a hallmark of Carroll’s compositional catalogue. The arrangement of the second movement of her clarinet Sonatina, for example, was originally scored as a song. Carroll received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice from Yale University in 1982.50 In 1976, while finishing her graduate studies at Yale, Carroll was hired at Stetson University as Instructor of Voice and Opera Workshop.51 Carroll recounts her first experience living in a southern climate as an “adjustment.” She remembers “orange blossoms and warm Florida breezes in March” as her first impressions of Florida, and “30,000 Baptist churches” in her first encounter with Deland, Florida.52 Carroll taught at Stetson University from 1976-1979. During the summer of 1977, Carroll was invited to work as faculty for the Walden School summer program in New Hampshire, a position she maintained through 1996.53 Nansi Carroll was raised Methodist, as her father was a bishop in the United Methodist Church. She became a Catholic at nineteen years of age when she left Boston University. In 1979, Carroll left Stetson University to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph’s in St. Augustine, Florida, remaining with them for four years (1979-1983). Carroll continued to maintain an active performing career during this time.54

Establishment as a Composer in Gainesville, Florida

In 1983, Nansi Carroll was hired at St. Augustine Catholic Student Center and Catholic Church in Gainesville, Florida as a music minister. During this time she began writing musical arrangements of Psalms for church. Carroll was then hired in 1984 to the piano faculty at The

50. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

51. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Telephone interview. Tallahassee, FL, August 13, 2012.

52. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

53. Ibid.

54. Ibid. 11

University of Florida serving until 1985.55 Carroll returned to St. Augustine Church in 1987 and began her most serious composing to date. She met Sue Martin, a musician, liturgist, and educator, for whom Carroll wrote a number of pieces at the Roman Catholic seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Under Martin’s encouragement, Carroll’s first major composition was a church opera titled Lumen Christi. Carroll’s next work, Nocturnes, Songs of Zion in an Alien Land, a cycle of art songs first sung by the Willis Bodine Chorale, got her into her “compositional groove.”56 During her tenure as music director at St. Augustine Church from 1987-2011, Carroll composed over 300 choral works and was published in GIA, a major publisher of sacred music. Her music also appears in the volume Sacred Sound and Social Change.57 Nansi Carroll’s first instrumental work was Regina Caeli: Prelude and Reflections, for solo bassoon, written for the author for the occasion of his 21st birthday. The author premiered the work at his senior undergraduate bassoon recital at Louisiana State University in 1999. Besides Regina Caeli, Carroll has dedicated three other solo bassoon works to the author: De Profundis, for contrabassoon and low string quintet (2008); Estrofas: Llama de Amor Viva, for bassoon and piano (2010); Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble (2010); and two chamber works for the author’s chamber group, the Post-Haste Reed Duo (saxophone and bassoon): The Servant Girl at Emmaus: [A Painting by Velazquez,] for soprano saxophone, bassoon, contralto, and three sopranos (2011); and Spiritual, for soprano saxophone and bassoon (2012). Some of Carroll’s other instrumental works include pieces for trombone and piano, cello solo, narrator and piano, and a piece for an ensemble consisting of harpsichord, oboe, and violin.58 In 1999, while serving as Music Director at St. Augustine Church, Carroll became familiar with Omnia ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, a diocesan art exhibit in California. This project reached out to its artistic community and commissioned new works that explored the relationship between expression and rational perception. Carroll and Walden School colleague Stephen Coxe

55. Nansi Carroll, email message to author, May 17, 2012.

56. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011.

57. Janet R. Walton, Sacred Sound and Social Change: Liturgical Music in Jewish and Christian Experience, ed. Lawrence A. Hoffman (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1992).

58. See Appendix C. 12 envisioned a similar function through music, so they invited composers to Gainesville, Florida to create new works ranging from liturgical service music to abstract compositions of a spiritual nature. The initial concert was titled Out of the Sacred and involved the St. Augustine Church choir and several guest musicians.59 By 2004, the series had grown to four concerts of traditional choral and instrumental masterworks as well as world premieres by local and guest musicians and composers, and had been renamed the Jubilus Festival. The annual festival occurs just before Lent. Carroll explains that the term Jubilus originates from plainchant, and refers to the final syllable of the sung alleluia. The final a in alleluia is sung as a prolonged melisma and is meant to signify an expression of incomprehensible happiness. During Lent, the singing of the alleluia is traditionally prohibited. Therefore, the use of Jubilus for the festival evokes the coming joy of Easter Sunday, when alleluia is sung once again.60 Several of Carroll’s works have been premiered during the festival.61 Nansi Carroll retired from her position as Music Director of St. Augustine Catholic Student Center in Gainesville, Florida in 2011. Along with colleague Stephen Coxe, she founded and became Artistic Co-Director of A Musical Offering, an arts organization managed under the 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Foundation of North Central Florida based in Gainesville, Florida. The mission of A Musical Offering (AMO) is to “support the musical arts in Gainesville and North-Central Florida through commissioning, performance, and educational outreach.”62 Through the artistic leadership of Carroll and AMO, the Jubilus Festival is the one of the keystone projects of the organization. AMO also presents subscription series concerts, seasonal galas, and composer and performer residencies for which the organization has commissioned local composers (along with Carroll and Coxe) for new works. AMO is also committed to music education outreach in the North Central Florida community by holding music camps

59. A Musical Offering, “A Short History of the Jubilus Festival,” http://amusicaloffering.org/?page_id=2 (accessed August 13, 2012).

60. A Musical Offering, “The Meaning of Jubilus” http://amusicaloffering.org/?page_id=172 (accessed August 13, 2012).

61. Appendix C.

62. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. December 12, 2011. 13 during the summer and educational outreach activities during the Jubilus Festival involving guest artists. The teaching methods used during educational events remain similar to those of Carroll’s training at the Walden School and the Junior Conservatory. Carroll continues to compose choral and instrumental works and resides in Gainesville, Florida.63

63. Ibid. 14

CHAPTER THREE A SYNOPSIS OF “THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY” BY JAMES THURBER

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber (1894-1961) was first published in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939 and subsequently collected in his book My World and Welcome to It in 1942. Perhaps one of the most anthologized short stories in American Literature, Thurber explores the curious daily life of Mr. Walter Mitty.64 An awkward and incompetent man in reality, through a series of fantasies and daydreams, Mitty lives out an intrepid alter ego he would never dare attempt in reality. Thurber begins the story by plunging the reader into Mitty’s first fantasy in which he is a Naval Commander fearlessly driving a hydroplane through a storm with the admiration of his crew. The cylinders of the hydroplane engine make the sound “ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa- pocketa.”65 This onomatopoeia becomes a recurring theme that is transferred throughout the different mechanical devices of Mitty’s subsequent fantasies. Thurber biographer Thomas Fensch theorizes that “ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa” is a sound Thurber always kept in his brain; perhaps the sound was of the snow chains of an automobile or possibly the boil-type coffee percolator Thurber always kept.66 In reality, he is only driving his wife Mrs. Mitty into town (which is assumed to be Waterbury, CT). Rather than receiving the undying admiration of his loyal crew, Mrs. Mitty chides Walter for driving too fast and gives him childlike instructions on what errands to complete while she is at the beauty salon. Even a police officer yells at Mitty for not reacting quickly enough to a changing traffic light. Walter Mitty’s drive past a hospital triggers his second fantasy in which he envisions himself performing surgery on the millionaire banker Wellington McMillan. Mitty’s malapropisms for imaginary diseases impress the other doctors. When the new “anesthetizer”

64. Thomas Fensch, The Man Who Was Walter Mitty: The Life of James Thurber (The Woodlands, TX: New Century Books, 2000), 203.

65. James Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969), 72.

66. Fensch, The Man Who Was Walter Mitty, 202. 15 malfunctions (making the sound “pocketa-pocketa-queep-pocketa-queep”), Mitty thinks fast and shoves a fountain pen in the “anesthetizer” to save the day.67 In reality, a parking lot attendant yells at Mitty for entering a parking garage through the exit lane and not being able to park his car correctly. Ultimately, the attendant tells Walter to get out of his car while the attendant parks his car for him. He remembers the overshoes Mrs. Mitty reminded him to buy and heads for the shoe store. She had also given him a list of other items to purchase, but he cannot quite remember those either. After another set of malapropisms referring to his list, a newsboy runs past talking about the Waterbury trial triggering his third fantasy. Mitty’s third fantasy occurs in a courtroom as Mitty stands accused of murder. Mitty is all too proud to admit to the district attorney that he indeed could have been the killer. Mitty’s brash series of confessions leads to chaos in the courtroom as Mitty’s defense attorney objects, a lovely woman falls into Mitty’s arms, and Mitty himself strikes another man. At that moment, Mitty remembers the puppy biscuits from the list Mrs. Mitty has given him, jarring him from his fantasy, and subjecting him to ridicule from two women passing by laughing at him. Walter quickly hurries into the A. & P. to purchase what Mrs. Mitty had requested. In a flash his outlandish courtroom scene has become a mundane daily task. With overshoes and puppy biscuits in hand, Mitty arrives at the hotel to await Mrs. Mitty and sits into a leather chair and picks up a copy of Liberty Magazine, launching him into his fourth fantasy. In his fourth fantasy, Captain Mitty of the Royal Air Force tosses shots of brandy with his sergeant and speaks cavalierly of lives lived. Flamethrowers in this fantasy produce the “pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa” sound, while Mitty fearlessly agrees to fly the plane himself while whistling the French tune “Auprès de Ma Blonde.”68 Suddenly, Mrs. Mitty strikes him over the shoulder and tells Mitty she had been searching the hotel for him. After an exchange in which Walter asks Mrs. Mitty if she ever considers that he is sometimes “thinking,” Mrs. Mitty dismisses his claim by telling him she’s taking his temperature when they get home. As they exit the hotel and walk towards the parking lot, Mrs. Mitty asks him to wait for a minute while she goes to the corner drug store. Waiting more than a minute, Walter lights up a cigarette sending him into his fifth and last fantasy.

67. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 75.

68. James Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it (New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1969), 80. 16

In his last fantasy, Mitty stands in front of a firing squad. He throws away his blindfold, takes one last drag on his cigarette, and flicks it away as he stands defiant and motionless, “inscrutable to the last.”69

69. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 81. 17

CHAPTER FOUR

MR. MITTY, A TONE POEM FOR BASSOON AND CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Nansi Carroll’s Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble (2011) was commissioned by the author and premiered in recital at The Florida State University on 22 November 2011.70 The work is based on James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Mr. Mitty is scored for solo bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, piano, marimba, two violins, viola, cello, and bass. The scoring outlines a wind quintet (including the solo bassoon line) and a string quintet. In attempts to give the work a colorful orchestration emulating the fantasy elements of the story, Carroll originally envisioned a percussion section consisting of snare drum, celesta, bongos, timpani, tambourine, and vibraphone. For practical and space considerations, a percussion section consisting of the aforementioned piano and marimba was ultimately chosen.71 Mr. Mitty can be considered both a tone poem and a concerto. Written in one continuous movement, Carroll titled the work a tone poem as a formal reference to Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote,72 which employs solo characters in the cello and viola parts. Carroll also thinks of Mr. Mitty as a concerto work for solo bassoon and ensemble with the bassoon serving as the storyline protagonist of the Thurber story and other instruments of the ensemble as supporting cast members.73

70. Video recording of premiere performance of Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble by Nansi Carroll available at http://vimeo.com/33732691

71. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, November 5, 2011.

72. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, March 11, 2011.

73. Ibid. 18

Nansi Carroll’s Mr. Mitty and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” are episodic.74 Mr. Mitty evokes the different fantasy and reality episodes depicted in Thurber’s short story. In both fantasy and reality episodes, Carroll explores the role of the ensemble parts as different characters from the story. In most cases, the winds are their own individual characters, while the strings (with small exceptions in the viola and cello) as a section perform the role of one character.

Table 3.1

Carroll describes Mr. Mitty as a modified arch form, including an introduction and epilogue.75 The letters in the score correspond to changes between fantasy and episode scenes in Thurber’s story.

74. James Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969), 72-82.

75. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, November 5, 2011. 19

Table 3.2

Introduction

The introduction of Mr. Mitty presents all of the motives and themes of the work, whether used later in a fantasy or reality episode. The opening statement of the work is a twelve-note motive. In this complete state, the row is comprised of two six-note whole tone scales ascending separated between the sixth and seventh notes by a half step.

Example 1. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 1-3

20

Nansi Carroll identifies the chamber operas of Benjamin Britten (The Turn of the Screw in particular) as a thematic influence on Mr. Mitty in regards to subsequent interval manipulation.76 In similar fashion to The Turn of the Screw, Carroll presents a main theme using a twelve-note motive without losing sight of a tonal center of Bb.77 Throughout both works, motives are manipulated through variations while maintaining triadic harmonies and progressions.78 In the introduction, after the third measure, other instruments play variants of the motive. An example is a twelve-note variant in the piano in meas. 13 where the half step occurs between the tenth and eleventh notes. The only instrument, though, that plays the row in its original pitch class is the bassoon again in meas. 14.

Example 2. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, piano, meas. 13

Example 3. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 14

76. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, March 11, 2011.

77. Claire Seymore, The Operas of Benjamin Britten: expression and evasion (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2004), 186.

78. Mervyn Cooke, The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 106. 21

The second theme introduced is the reality, or Sorry theme, as first heard in the bassoon in meas. 4. This falling Bb-A half-step motive is Carroll’s musical depiction of Walter Mitty’s apologetic state. There are many instances of melodic and rhythmic text painting based on the text of the Thurber story in Mr. Mitty. Carroll creates this text painting outside the words of the Thurber story to convey Mitty’s pathetic state during the reality episodes of the music. The flute supports the bassoon in eighteen of the twenty-three instances this motive is performed. Carroll describes the timbre of the combination of flute and bassoon as “ultra-bassoon.”79 She also specifies that although this theme signifies Mitty’s apologetic state, the support of the flute suggests a “subconscious strength.”80

Example 4. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 4

The third theme presented in the introduction is Walter Mitty’s Heroic theme, first heard in the solo bassoon line in meas. 15. As opposed to the Sorry theme played by the bassoon in the reality episodes, this leitmotif is heard mainly in the fantasy episodes. In its original form, the three-note motive spans a perfect fifth: the first two notes separated by a step, the second and third with a subsequent leap of a perfect fourth. In several occasions, the theme is either the first motive played by the bassoon or the last motive elided into the Sorry theme, signifying the end of a fantasy episode and the beginning of a reality episode.

Example 5. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 15-16

79. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, October 1, 2011.

80. Ibid. 22

The fourth motive occurs in the bassoon line with a whole-tone line presented in sixteenth notes. The whole-tone language is similar in sound to the opening scale material, though not related in pitch classification. Nansi Carroll specifically calls this theme a “clearing of the throat” non sequitur.81 Carroll uses this non sequitur theme as a depiction of Thurber’s use of ellipses (three periods) at the ends of episodes. In several instances, the transitions leading to the following sections don’t consciously connect in relation to the storyline. Carroll describes these moments as “things connect but they don’t connect.”82

Example 6. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 22

The last motive, and possibly the most recognizable as related to text from the story, is the onomatopoeia Ta-poketa-poketa. She places this theme exclusively with the marimba. James Thurber believed that the horror of life was “fundamentally mechanical.”83 She interprets the theme as the different sounds of inanimate objects throughout the story.

Example 7. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 24

81. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. October 1, 2011.

82. Ibid.

83. Steve King, “Thurber: Mitty and Dangerous,” Today in Literature, http://www.todayinliterature.com/stories.asp?Event_Date=3/18/1939 (accessed August 13, 2012). 23

First Fantasy Episode

The first fantasy episode, beginning at letter A (meas. 28), begins with music in the chamber ensemble evocative of the sea storm that the navy hovercraft in this fantasy tries to motor through. The opening motive of the bassoon line emulates the rhythm of the text of the opening words of the story: “We’re going through!”84 Carroll employs a syllabic compositional technique based on the Thurber text.

Example 8. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 31

In an interview with Carroll, however, she admits to creating some of her own texts for use during Mr. Mitty. One instance of this created text begins from the last sixteenth note of meas. 38 through meas. 40 in the solo bassoon. Carroll explains the line to mean, “I didn’t ask for your opinion!”85

Example 9. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 38-40

84. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 72.

85. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. October 1, 2011. 24

Carroll uses the marimba as the Ta-pocketa-pocketa incarnation to emulate the cylinders of the hovercraft from the Thurber story throughout the first episode of Mr. Mitty. From meas. 42-51, the marimba plays repeated sixteenth note triplets with short rests only in meas. 42, 44, and 45.

Example 10. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 42-51

The end of the first episode, like the introduction, is marked by a series of non sequiturs. The bassoon line presents the complete motive followed by the Heroic theme. The Sorry theme immediately follows the Heroic theme, marking an elision into the first reality episode.

First Reality Episode

In the tone poem, Mrs. Mitty is characterized by the oboe. In the reality episodes one can hear the dialogue between oboe and bassoon. In Carroll’s depiction, many times the oboe will play in a low tessitura and bassoon in a higher range to signify Mrs. Mitty’s dominance and the emasculation of Walter. In this first episode, this dialogue represents Mrs. Mitty scolding Walter

25 for driving too fast and then repeatedly asking him if he has remembered the shopping list she has given him.86 The end of the first reality episode is marked by a non sequitur that includes an unresolved dominant 9th chord missing the 3rd.

Example 11. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, oboe, meas. 62-65

Second Fantasy Episode

In the second fantasy, Walter Mitty becomes a master surgeon tasked with saving millionaire banker Wellington McMillan’s life. Mitty is greeted by the other doctors in the operating room who are trying to diagnose McMillan themselves. Their diagnosis for McMillan is “Obstreosis of the ductal tract, tertiary.”87 Thurber uses nonsense words in Mitty’s diagnosis of his fantasy patient.88 Carroll uses the strings, in imitative counterpoint one measure apart, to portray this humorous moment.

86. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. October 1, 2011

87. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 74.

88. James Ellis, The Allusions in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” The English Journal, 56 no. 4 (1965): 310-313. 26

Example 12. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 94-99

27

Carroll’s rhythmic alteration of the marimba’s Ta-poketa-poketa to poketa-queep-poketa- poketa-queep! in the second fantasy represents the malfunction of the new “anesthetizer” from Thurber’s story. Like Mr. Mitty in the story, the solo bassoon line portrays the saving of the operation and Wellington McMillan’s life by shoving a fountain pen into the “anesthetizer” (which by his accounts will now hold for 10 minutes) allowing him to step in and finish the procedure.89 The episode ends with a calming root position Ab major chord in the piano and the Heroic theme in the bassoon, before being jolted back into reality by the strings and horn. In this sequence, the strings represent the parking lot attendant yelling at Mitty for absentmindedly entering the garage through the exit.

89. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 75. 28

Example 13. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, score, meas. 109-112

29

Second Reality Episode

The beginning of the second reality episode (meas. 114-124) includes the cello acting as a solo character from the Thurber story representing the text “Back it up Mac…Look out for that Buick!...Wrong lane, Mac!...Exit only!”90

Example 14. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, cello, meas. 114-124.

The solo bassoon line responds with a soliloquy as Walter Mitty thinks to himself what he wishes he could say – what Thurber and Carroll in their literary and musical depictions suppose we all want to say at times: “They’re so damn cocky…they think they know everything.”91 The soliloquy is represented by a skewed representation of the three-note Heroic theme and lines reminiscent of both the opening scale and the non sequitur fragment.

90. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 75.

91. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 76. 30

Example 15. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 129-142

The end of this reality episode is marked by Mitty trying to remember his shopping list: “Kleenex? Squibb’s razor blades? No. Toothpaste? Toothbrush, carborundum, initiative, and referendum?”92 (“Carborundum, initiative and referendum” is another set of nonsense words Mitty comes up with when he can’t remember the rest of his list). Carroll depicts this in the bassoon line as the next non sequitur leading into the following fantasy. The short quips are based on the twelve-note motive. The oboe, portraying the wife, once again interjects at the very end of the episode (meas. 151-153) with a line that portrays the phrase “Don’t tell me you forgot the what’s its name!”93

Example 16. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, oboe, meas. 151-153.

92. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 77.

93. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 77. 31

Third Fantasy Episode

A dialogue between the solo bassoon and the horn (the horn acting as the district attorney prosecuting an accused Walter Mitty) dominates the third fantasy section. The horn’s first entrance is syllabic to the Thurber text “Perhaps, this will refresh your memory.”94

Example 17. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, horn, meas. 153-154

Carroll uses syllabic technique once again with the solo bassoon response in meas. 156- 158: “This is my Wembly Vickers 50.80,...”95 Carroll chooses to use melodic elements more closely related to the original row in the bassoon response. The same technique is employed in the bassoon line between meas. 168-172 with the bassoon performing a line that syllabically emulates the text “with any known make of gun, I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst, at 300 feet, with my left hand!”96

Example 18. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 156-158

Example 19. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 168-172

94. Ibid.

95. Ibid.

96. Ibid. 32

After the two bassoon entrances above, the piano performs a fortissimo blurb on whole- tone scale fragments. Carroll chooses to depict this as the “excited buzz” that runs through the courtroom.97 While the strings as a section depict “Objection! Objection!” as a section in meas. 166-167, the viola stands out in a solo line in meas. 172-175 in a portrayal of the dark-haired girl that throws herself into Mitty’s arms as told in Thurber’s story.98

Example 20. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, piano, meas. 171-172

Example 21. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, viola, meas. 172-175

The horn, as the district attorney in this episode, lets out a final blow, and the bassoon plays a line from meas. 176-177 that corresponds to the text “You miserable cur!”99 The episode abruptly ends as the high Bb in “cur” elides into a modified version of the Sorry theme in which Mitty, represented by the solo bassoon, remembers the last item on his shopping list: puppy

97. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 77.

98. Ibid.

99. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 78. 33 biscuit. The surprise of the elision of the previous episode into the next reality episode marks what Carroll refers to as only a “mere coincidental” occurrence of the golden mean of the work.100

Example 22. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 176-178

Third Reality Episode

The following reality episode employs the longest non sequitur in Mr. Mitty. Carroll describes the augmented throat-clearing motive in meas. 188-193 as the “sad anticipation that Walter has to go back to the hotel to pick up Mrs. Mitty.”101 The marimba plays a Ta-poketa- poketa sequence outside of a fantasy episode (as part of the non-sequitur); this can be seen as a possible allusion of Walter Mitty sitting in the chair back in the hotel lobby waiting for his wife, picking up a copy of Liberty, looking at the article “Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air” and imagining the pictures of “…bombing planes and of ruined streets.”102

Example 23. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 188-193

100. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. November 5, 2011

101. Ibid.

102. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 78. 34

Example 24. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 195-196

Fourth Fantasy Episode

In a rounding of the arch form, the fourth fantasy episode begins with material similar to the first; both episodes are of a military nature. In this fantasy, Walter Mitty envisions himself as a Royal Air Force bomber pilot willing to fly the plane alone in the midst of German cannonades and flamethrower attacks. The flamethrowers serve as the marimba’s Ta-poketa-poketa theme for this fantasy, as James Thurber writes, “there was a rat-tat-tatting of machine guns, and from somewhere came the menacing poketa-poketa-poketa of the new flamethrowers.”103 Carroll treats the theme in this episode as an incessant repetition of the motive in the marimba, reminiscent of artillery fire.

Example 25. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, marimba, meas. 216-219

103. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 79. 35

Carroll deviates from the Thurber text in the bassoon line from meas. 205-207. Admitting that this line in the bassoon is congruent to “I’ll fly alone,”104 Carroll mentioned in an interview that she thought these measures to signify “I will fly the plane – myself.”105 The descending whole-tone scale remains as a manipulation of the original motive.

Example 26. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 205-207

The flute and clarinet serve as the voice of Capt. Mitty’s Sergeant in this episode. Scored at the octave, and making some syllabic accommodations, meas. 200-201 may translate to the text "…The cannonading has got the wind up in young Raleigh, sir,…"106 The bassoon responds, with a triplet figure in meas. 203-204 representing Mitty’s text, “Get him to bed,…”107 The “spots” of brandy that Mitty tosses in a cavalier fashion before getting into his bomber are characterized by a rising interval figure in the bassoon between meas. 217-221.108

Example 27. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, flute, clarinet, meas. 200-201

104. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 79.

105. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. November 5, 2011

106. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 79.

107. Ibid.

108. Ibid. 36

Example 28. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 202-204

Example 29. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 217-221

In the fourth fantasy episode of James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter Mitty hums the French tune Auprès de ma Blonde. Auprès de ma Blonde, or Next to my Girlfriend, is a popular chanson from the 17th century. The tune was first sung during the reign of Louis XIV when French sailors were imprisoned in the Netherlands.109 For this reason, the tune is also known as The Prisoner of Holland. The song is also still used as a military march in parades, as a drinking song, and a French nursery rhyme.110 Nansi Carroll uses a fragment of this tune in this episode to evoke the mystique and chivalry of the brandy tossing Captain Mitty and his sergeant. The motive is first heard in the clarinet in meas. 220-221. In this depiction, the sergeant begins the Auprès motive, followed by the brandy-tossing motive in the bassoon. The next instance of this motive occurs the solo bassoon and flute in meas. 227 and 229. This is another instance of Carroll’s self-described “ultra-bassoon” color.111 Of interest, though, is the fact that this “ultra-bassoon” color occurs at the end of a fantasy episode and not with a Sorry theme. Immediately following this instance of

109. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. October 1, 2011.

110. Ibid.

111. Ibid. 37 the Auprès motive is another occurrence of the Sorry theme to begin another reality episode, but without the support of the flute color.112

Example 30. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, flute, meas. 227-230.

Fourth Reality Episode

The fourth reality episode, which begins at meas. 230, continues a rounding of the arch form. In this episode, the solo bassoon and oboe (as Walter and Mrs. Mitty) conclude their dialogue in a non-literal interpretation of the text of the story. Using ascending scale fragments, the oboe line represents text such as, “I’ve been looking all over this hotel for you,” “Why do you have to hide in this old chair?” and “How did you expect me to find you?”113

Example 31. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, oboe, meas. 230-232

Mitty’s response is, “Things close in.”114 This is represented in the solo bassoon line in meas. 234-235. In the original score, Carroll scored this in the highest tessitura, a 3-note variation of the Heroic theme: Bb4-C4-F4. Carroll explained that the effect was once again to

112. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. November 5, 2011.

113. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 80.

114. Ibid. 38 show Mrs. Mitty’s emasculation of Walter by using the oboe’s lowest range against the bassoon’s highest range. With a leap of a perfect fourth from C4 to F4 though, the practical success of this line is limited (few bassoons are equipped with high F keys), therefore an alternate version was subsequently added to the bassoon part an octave lower with a slight variation in rhythm. Though not marked in the original unpublished score, in an interview, Carroll indicated a desire for the bassoon timbre to remain sounding “pinched” as to emulate the mood of the text.115

Example 32. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon (original), meas. 234-235

Example 33. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon (revised), meas. 234-235

Two instances of Ta-poketa-poketa are heard in the marimba in meas. 231-232 and meas. 235 although there is no mention of the phrase at this point in the story. Carroll again explains that while there are many programmatic elements to her work, in this instance, the mood of that phrase, implicit from the text, “is part of Mr. Mitty’s musical language.”116 A mini soliloquy in the bassoon line occurs in meas. 240-244; described by Carroll as Mitty together with his own thoughts, it is a reprise of the soliloquy that had occurred in a previous episode and a foreshadowing of the epilogue.

115. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. October 1, 2011.

116. Ibid. 39

Example 34. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 240-244

The remaining dialogue between the bassoon and oboe lines ends in an “un-resolution” as described by Nansi Carroll.117 Carroll characterizes this final dialogue in the oboe and bassoon in this reality episode by giving the oboe the complete twelve-note motive, moving upward twice, while the bassoon is only allowed to play fragments of the motive moving downwards. In the strings, a Gb major chord disintegrates using ascending motive fragments as the oboe and bassoon end their dialogue and the work moves into the final fantasy episode.

117. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. November 5, 2011. 40

Example 35. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, meas. 245-255

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Fifth (Last) Fantasy Episode

Measure 255 marks the final fantasy episode, in which Walter Mitty faces his last moments in front of a firing squad. In the final rounding of the arch form, the solo bassoon line consists of the themes from the previous four episodes. “We’re going through!” from episode one occurs in meas. 256-256, “Obstreosis of the ductal tract from episode two ” in meas. 257- 259, “You miserable cur!” from episode three occurs in meas. 261-262, and “Auprès de ma Blonde” from episode four occurs in meas. 263-264. Of note is the descending scale in the solo bassoon in meas. 259. Carroll explains that alone, without his wife to interrupt or nag him, “Mr. Mitty is allowed to have the complete descending motive with the half-step in its proper location.”118

Example 36. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 255-265

The marimba in this episode plays the constant Ta-poketa-poketa heard thought the previous fantasies, though again no reference to Ta-poketa-poketa is made in Thurber’s story. This can be seen as a musical representation of the completion of the arch form in support of the above themes heard in the solo bassoon line. Meas. 264-266 represents a final depiction of the opening motive in the bassoon, followed by a “gunshot” by the strings in beat four of meas. 266. In the final bar of the fantasy,

118. Carroll, Nansi. Interview with author. November 5, 2011. 42 the Sorry theme seems to be returning, but instead the theme defiantly moves to C4.

Example 37. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, meas. 264-267

Epilogue

The seemingly liberating moment in Carroll’s depiction of Mitty’s death is followed by the Heroic theme played softly in a high tessitura for the bassoon with a G major chord in the piano underneath, marking the beginning of the Epilogue.

Example 38. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, meas. 268-269 43

In her varying usage of Mitty’s musical themes, Carroll addresses the question of Western Culture’s mixed views of masculinity as depicted in James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Carl Sundell describes this issue as a Man vs. Society conflict in his 1967 essay “The Architecture of Walter Mitty’s Secret Life.”119 On one hand, Walter Mitty is an ordinary man who dreams of being extraordinary. Part of the explanation for this dissatisfaction with his everyday life is that he fails to live up to what he holds up as masculine ideals. Mitty is mechanically inept, a poor driver, a passive husband, and a forgetful man. In his fantasies, however, he is skilled, decisive, bold, brave, and perhaps most importantly, respected by those around him. These are the qualities that Mitty seems to revere as the pinnacle of masculinity. On the other hand, through this story, Thurber also seems to reject typical Romantic ideals of masculinity and instead promotes the everyday sort of masculinity that Walter embodies in real life. After vacillating between hyper-masculine fantasies and emasculating realities, this ultimate self-acceptance is revealed in Carroll’s epilogue, which seems to be more a reflection of Walter Mitty’s character and mood than a direct resemblance to any specific episode. From meas. 270-280, the solo bassoon plays a cadenza-like line that, while based on whole tone/half- step associations, does not follow the rules of the original motive. The irony of the Heroic theme after the final Sorry theme resolution seems to reflect Mitty’s understanding that in reality, he knows who he is, though he sometimes wishes he were someone else.

Example 39. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 270-280

119. Carl Sundell, “The Architecture of Walter Mitty’s Secret Life,” The English Journal 56, no.9 (1967): 1284-1287. 44

After a reminder of the Ta-poketa-poketa theme in the marimba in meas. 280-281, and one last reminder of the Heroic theme from the bassoon also in meas. 281, Carroll depicts the final words of Thurber’s story syllabically through the solo bassoon line from meas. 283-288 “Walter Mitty, Undefeated, inscrutable, to the last!”120

Example 40. Carroll, Mr. Mitty, bassoon, meas. 283-288

120. Thurber, My World – and Welcome to it, 80. 45

CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION

Compared to many other orchestral instruments, the bassoon does not enjoy the same amount of notable concerto literature throughout music history. Vivaldi’s concerti during the Baroque era, Mozart and Hummel’s during the Classical era, and Weber’s during the Romantic era are significant works that are still performed today. While contemporary composers have advanced the bassoon’s concerto literature in the past one hundred years, the literature merits continued diversification. The modern concert audience, though, deserves to become aware of more than just Vivaldi, Mozart, Hummel, and Weber. With the composition of Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble, by Nansi Carroll (commissioned by the author), Carroll and the author hope to contribute a notable work to the Twenty-first Century concert bassoon literature. A biography of Carroll’s life and career provides a background on the development of her musical style. Analysis of Mr. Mitty also provides the listener and performer alike with a comprehensive view of Carroll’s compositional process in this work as it relates to James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Carroll’s working relationship with the author has resulted in at least six works to date commissioned by the author that include the bassoon. That the bassoon has been given such attention is notable as well. Over the past several decades, few composers have shown such enthusiasm toward the bassoon through such a large volume of compositions. It was always the composer’s vision that one does not need to read James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” in order to understand this work. For listeners who choose to read Thurber’s story, the parallels between “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Mr. Mitty may provide an added insight into the literary world of Thurber and the compositional style of Carroll alike. For the performing bassoonist, Carroll has provided a unique work of concert literature that challenges student and professional alike with technically and expressively demanding writing. It is the author’s hope that the analysis provided in this treatise further enhances the listener and performer’s understanding of Carroll’s musical language.

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APPENDIX A PERMISSION TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS: NANSI CARROLL

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APPENDIX B HUMAN SUBJECTS FORM EXEMPTION

From: Julie Haltiwanger Date: December 14, 2011 10:28:55 AM CST To: Javier Rodriguez Subject: RE: Human Research Subjects Forms

No I do not think IRB approval is needed at it would be considered a oral history project.

Julie Haltiwanger Office of Research P O Box 3062742 Tallahassee Fl 32306-2742 850-644-7900 Fax 850-644-4392 [email protected]

From: Javier Rodriguez [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:50 AM To: Julie Haltiwanger Subject: Human Research Subjects Forms

Dear Ms. Haltiwanger,

I am a third year doctoral student in the College of Music. I have recently been admitted to candidacy and am ready to begin research on my DM treatise. The subject of my treatise is a living composer and a work I commissioned from her which I have already premiered. I plan on writing a biography of her life and an analysis of her new work as it relates to a famous American short story. All of my interactions with her have been in the form of tape-recorded audio interviews. The interviews serve as the impetus for finding any other research materials (books, articles, Etc.).

I only recently became aware of the possible need to fill out the Human Research Subjects Forms. Would my scope of research necessitate filling out this particular form for my treatise? Any information or guidance would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Javier Rodriguez DM Candidate in Bassoon Performance The Florida State University Post-Haste Reed Duo www.posthasteduo.com www.soundcloud.com/posthasteduo

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APPENDIX C NANSI CARROLL: COMPOSER’S CATALOGUE OF NOTABLE WORKS

Cantatas & Dramatic Works • Incidental Music for A Reader’s Theatre Performance of the Gospel According to Luke (1985); commissioned by St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul Minn.; performed at St Paul Seminary (1985 & other performances) • Lumen Christi: A Liturgical Music Drama (1986); for five solo voices, chorus, two pianos, & assembly; commissioned by St. Paul’s Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; performed at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Convention (1987 and other performances) • Baile Interior (1987); based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola; for oboe, flute, & piano; commissioned by Ric Rose, UF Professor of Dance; performed by Rick Rose (1987) • Nocturne: Songs of Zion in an Alien Land (1988); a cantata of psalms, hymns, and art songs; for two solo voices, chorus, piano, & assembly; commissioned by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Jacksonville, FL; performed by the Willis Bodine Choral, Gainesville (1990 and other performances) • Credo (1993); text by Theresa Cotter; a cantata for one solo voice, chorus, violin, cello, clarinet, French horn, oboe, & piano; commissioned by the National Association of Pastoral Music; performed at the Pittsburg National Convention (1993), performed by the Willis Bodine Choral, Gainesville (1994) • How Beautiful Upon the Mountains: a Cantata of Choruses and Art Songs (1998); texts from Isaiah, Walt Whitman, Denise Levertov, Gerard Manley Hopkins, an African American Slave Account, and an Account of Dorthy Day’s funeral; for two solo voices, chorus, children’s chorus, & piano; commissioned by St. Augustine Catholic Church, Gainesville, performed at St. Augustine Catholic Church (2008) • A Long Way from Home (2000); a performance piece by Actor Andre DeShields and the Peabody Trio; for spoken voice, violin, cello, & piano; commissioned by Andre DeShields; performed at New York University (2000) • Shadow (2009); based on “The Shadow of your Smile” & Swan Lake; for piano; commissioned by Ric Rose, UF Professor of Dance, for UF’s Shadow Dance Theatre; Performed by the Shadow Dance Theater (2009) • Francis & John: Stories along the Journey (2012); for three solo voices, chorus, children’s chorus, oboe, clarinet, violin, horn, piano, & assembly; commissioned by Holy Faith Catholic Church, Gainesville; performed at Holy Faith Catholic Church (2012)

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Choral Music • The Young Wife (1987); text by D.H. Lawrence; for SATB chorus with divisi; performed by the Willis Bodine Choral, Gainesville (1990) • Psalm 137 from Nocturne: Songs of Zion in an Alien Land (1988); for soloist & unaccompanied chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2008) • Then My Little Soul’s Gonna Shine (1988); an arrangement of the traditional African- American Spiritual; for SATB chorus & piano; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2012); in liturgical use • Over my Head (1990); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; for SATB chorus & solo voice; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2012) • Then I Saw the River (1996); text from Revelations, based on the Wachet Auf choral tune; for chorus, string quartet, harp, & piano; commissioned by St. Paul’s Seminary; performed at the Seminary in (1996) • Del Verbo Divino (1999); text by St. John of the Cross; for solo voice, SATB chorus, & piano; performed at St. Augustine Church, Gainesville (1999), performed at Jubilus (2002 & 2005) • Every Time I feel the Spirit (2000); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2001, 2010) • Fix Me, Jesus (2000); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2001, 2009, 2010); in liturgical use • Lux Aeterna (2000); text: Christina Rossetti’s “Anthem”; for solo voice, SATB chorus, & piano; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2001 & 2002) • Wade in the Water (2000); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2001) • I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray (2002); an arrangement of the traditional African- American Spiritual; for SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2003, 2004, 2011) • Nunc Dimittis—Good Lord in that Heaven (2002); text: Luke 2:29-32 & Penny Jessye’s Deathbed Song; for unaccompanied SSAATTBB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2003 & 2005) • A World to Know: A Cycle for Children’s Chorus (2004); texts: “The Lone Wild Bird” by McFayden, “Pied Beauty” by Hopkins, & “A World to Know” by Hogle; for chorus, piano, & flute; commissioned for the Children’s Choral Festival of Gainesville; performed by the Children’s Choral Festival of Gainesville (2004), performed at the Jubilus Festival (2005) • The Church of Christ in Every Age/Jesu Dulcis Memoria (2006); texts by Fred Pratt Green & St. Bernard—Plainchant Liber Usualis #416; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2007); in use liturgically

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• Stabat Mater (2006); text: the 13th Century Sequence; for three solo voices, solo quartet, & SATB chorus with divisi, with piano interludes (variations on the African-American Spiritual “Were You There?”); performed with choreography by Ric Rose, UF Professor of Dance, at the Jubilus Festival (2007), performed without choreography at the Jubilus Festival (2011) • City Called Heaven (2008); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2010); in liturgical use • The Song of Ruth (2008); for unaccompanied SATB Chorus; commissioned by the Choir of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, GA; performed by the Choir of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church (2008) • The Blind Man (2010); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2010); in liturgical use • Sit Down, Servant (2010); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2011 & 2012) • Wasn’t That a Wonder (2010); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2011) • Were You There? (2010); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; SATB chorus; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2011)

Chamber Music • Canciones (2004); text by St. John of the Cross; a chamber work for three solo voices, flute, clarinet, bassoon, cello, & marimba; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2005 & 2009) • Fantasy and Fast Dance on Bryd one Brere (2006); for oboe, violin, & harpsichord; performed at the Festival of Women Composers, Gainesville, by the Alachua Consort (2006), performed at Jubilus Festival (2006 &2010) • De Profundis (2008); variations on the chorale tune Aus Tiefer Not; for contrabassoon, two violas, two cellos, & string bass • Mr. Mitty: a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble (2010); for bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, marimba, & piano; commissioned by Javier Rodriguez; performed for Rodriguez’s Doctoral Lecture Recital at FSU (2011) • The Servant Girl at Emmaus [A Painting by Velazquez] (2011); text by Hildegard von Bingen and the poem by Denise Levertov; for solo contralto, three sopranos, soprano saxophone, & bassoon; commissioned by Post-Haste Reed Duo; performed by the Post- Haste Reed Duo at the Jubilus Festival (2012)

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Solo Instrumental • Ten Spirituals for Solo Piano: My Lord What a Morning, On my Journey Now, Motherless Child, Wade in the Water, Spirit (Every Time I Feel the Spirit), Swing Low, Wayfaring Stranger, Hush, Somebody’s Calling my Name, Fix me, Jesus, & Twelve Gates (1994-2004); performed at the Jubilus Festival (2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009) • Regina Caeli: Prelude & Reflections, for solo bassoon (1998); commissioned by Javier Rodriguez; performed for Rodriguez’s Senior Recital at LSU (1999), performed at the Jubilus Festival (2000 & 2004), performed by Rodriguez’s Doctoral Recital at FSU (2009) • Sonatina for clarinet & piano (2000); performed at the Jubilus Festival (2004) • City Called Heaven: Variations on the traditional African American Spiritual (2005); for trombone & piano; commissioned by UF Professor Arthur Jennings; performed at UF (2006), performed at the Jubilus Festival (2006), performed at the Jubilus Festival with bassoon & piano (2010) • Piano Interludes from Stabat Mater (2006), performed at Jubilus Festival (2008) • Gonna Tell God all my Troubles (2009); based on traditional African-American Spiritual; for solo cello; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2009) • Estrofas: Llama de Amor Viva (2010); an instrumental setting of the text by St. John of the Cross; for bassoon & piano; commissioned by Javier Rodriguez; performed at Jubilus Festival (2010), performed at Rodriguez’s Doctoral Recital (2010)

Solo Voice • Fix me Jesus (1975); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; for solo voice and piano; performed at Nansi Carroll’s Yale Master of Musical Arts Recital (1976), performed at Jubilus Festival (2008 & 2010) • Mama, is Master Gonna Sell Us Tomorrow? (1975); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; for solo voice and piano; performed at Nansi Carroll’s Yale Master of Musical Arts Recital (1976), performed at Jubilus Festival (2010 & 2011) • The Showings: a song cycle for contralto and piano (1994); text: a poem by Denise Levertov; commissioned by Linda DiFiore, UF Professor of Voice; performed at UF Faculty Recital by Linda DiFiore (1994) • Four Songs (1996); texts by Christina Rossetti: After Communion, from Behold, a Shaking, Amen, and Anthem (adding SATB chorus); commissioned by S’ari Gian (1996); performed at the Jubilus Festival (2002) • Reflections (1998); settings of texts by Kojiju, Nelly Sachs, & Izumi Shikibu; unaccompanied soprano voice; performed at the Jubilus Festival (1999, 2003, 2009, 2011)

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• Little David (2004); an arrangement of the traditional African-American Spiritual; for solo voice and piano; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2008, 2010, 2011)

Liturgical Music • Settings of all Sunday Responsorial Psalms in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the three Liturgical Year Cycles (1984-2012)—approximately 150 individual works; choral & solo; in use liturgically • Twelve Gates into the City (1984); an arrangement of the African-American Spiritual; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • A Psalm of Thanksgiving: Psalm 136 (1985); for cantor, choir, assembly, & keyboard; commissioned for a the Sacred Sound & Social Change Conference; published in Sacred Sound & Social Change: Liturgical Music in Jewish & Christian Experience (1992); performed at the Sacred Sound & Social Change Conference (1985) • Speak Lord (1985); from Carroll’s Incidental Music for A Reader’s Theatre Performance of the Gospel According to Luke; for SATB chorus, solo voice, assembly, & optional keyboard; in liturgical use • Canticle of Parting (1987); text from the Gospel of John; for chorus & assembly; pending publication by GIA; in liturgical use • Jai Jai Yesu (1990); text by C. Jadhav, translated by C. D. Rockey, based on an Indian melody sung by D. S. Darmadalan transcribed by I-to Loh and arranged by Nansi Carroll; for chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • Psalm 148 (1990); for cantor, assembly, & keyboard; pending publication by GIA; in liturgical use • He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands (1991); an arrangement of the African- American Spiritual; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • Prepare Ye the Way (1991); text by M. Scurnec; for SATB chorus, assembly, & optional keyboard; pending publication by GIA; in liturgical use • Easter Sequence (1995); an adaptation of the text by Nansi Carroll set to a folk song tune from Tanzania; for cantor, chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • The Gospel Plow (1995); an arrangement of the African-American Spiritual; for SAB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • How Deep the Silence of the Soul (1995); text by Sylvia Dunstan; for two-part chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise (1995); text by Walter C. Smith; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • I Want Jesus to Walk with Me (1995); setting of African-American Spiritual; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; published by GIA; in liturgical use • My Lord, What a Morning (1995); an arrangement of the African-American Spiritual; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & optional keyboard; in liturgical use

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• My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord (1995); an arrangement of the African-American Spiritual; for optional SATB chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • The Temptation (1995); text by Sylvia Dunstan; for optional chorus, assembly, & keyboard; in liturgical use • Through the Heart of Every City (1995); text by Sylvia Dunstan; for assembly with optional descant & keyboard; in liturgical use • We Stand Amazed before Your Love (1995); text by Sylvia Dunstan; for chorus, assembly, & piano; published by GIA; in liturgical use • Christus Paradox (1998); text by Sylvia Dunstan; for SATB chorus, assembly, & optional keyboard; in liturgical use • Acclamations for Liturgical Celebration (2000); for choir & assembly; performed at the Jubilus Festival (2001)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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______. Interview by author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, October 1, 2011.

______. Interview by author. Tape recording. Gainesville, FL, November 5, 2011.

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______. Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble. Gainesville, FL: Self Published, 2011.

______. “Javier Rodriguez DM Lecture Recital: Mr. Mitty, a tone poem for bassoon and chamber ensemble.” http://vimeo.com/33732691.

______, Stephen Coxe, Carol Thomas Downing, David Hogan, Tom Lopez, Patricia Plude, Carol Prochazka, Pamela Layman Quist, and Leo Wanenchak. The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers. Edited by Paul Nauert. San Francisco: The Walden School, Ltd., 2002.

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Thurber, James. My World - and Welcome to It. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Javier Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Gainesville, FL. He began playing piano at age 6, saxophone at age 11, and bassoon at age 14. He received a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from Louisiana State University in 1999, a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from Louisiana State University in 2002, and has also studied at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He enrolled at The Florida State University in 2009 and served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for three years under the instruction of Professor Jeffrey Keesecker. His other teachers include William Ludwig and William Winstead. Rodriguez received a Doctor of Music degree from The Florida State University in December 2012. Rodriguez has performed with the Acadiana, Austin, Baton Rouge, Central Florida, Jacksonville, Kentucky, Lake Charles, Tallahassee, and Monterrey (MX) Symphonies, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, the Natchez Opera Festival Orchestra, and has also served as Principal Bassoonist of the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra of Washington DC. He has previously served as a Bassoon Instructor with the FSU Summer Music Camps Double Reed Workshop and as a Teaching Assistant at the Brevard Music Festival. He is a co-founding member of the Post- Haste Reed Duo with saxophonist Sean Fredenburg. Post-Haste engagements have led to tours throughout the United States with residencies at numerous festivals and conferences. As a new music advocate, he as commissioned solo and chamber works by composers including Daniel Asia, Nansi Carroll, Stephen Coxe, Bill Douglas, Simon Hutchinson, Joshua Keeling, Jason Charney, Lanier Sammons, and Bang on a Can co-creator Michael Gordon.

Rodriguez is currently Lecturer in Bassoon at The University of Texas at San Antonio where he teaches applied bassoon, Woodwind Instrumental Methods, and performs with the UTSA faculty wind quintet.

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