DOCSLIB.ORG

Voice of the Forgotten American: the Oratorios of Horatio Parker

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

VOICE OF THE FORGOTTEN AMERICAN: THE ORATORIOS OF HORATIO PARKER BY HOWARD SWYERS Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music Indiana University December, 2013 Accepted by the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music. ___________________________________ Carmen-Helena Tellez, Research Director __________________________________ Patricia Stiles, Chairperson __________________________________ Mary Ann Hart __________________________________ Timothy Noble ii Copyright © 2013 Howard Swyers iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Patricia Stiles for being a mentor and a great voice instructor for these many long years. Thanks to Carmen Tellez for her unwavering support, optimism, and the many opportunities she has provided me. Thanks to Patricia Wise and Tim Noble for serving on my committee and for their support. Thanks to my family for putting up with me during the course of my schooling Thanks to all the many people at Indiana University who have helped and supported me through the years in both employment and study. Thanks to Terence Kelly for helping me get started down this long path. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv List of Figures vi List of Musical Examples vii List of Tables ix Chapter 1 - The Cultural Context of Horatio Parker’s Life and His Music 1 Chapter 2 – Hora Novissima 27 Chapter 3 – The Legend of Saint Christopher 70 Chapter 4 – Morven and the Grail 116 Chapter 5 - Conclusion 168 Bibliography 171 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Chart of Hora Novissima Structure 29 Figure 2 – First page of libretto. The italicized stanzas are not set to music and do 118 not otherwise appear in the score. Figure 3 – Libretto as printed from the start of Part 3 through the entrance of the 155 Grail Quartet vi LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example 1 – First statement of theme. Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 29 m. 9-19. 37 Example 2 – Restatement with raised 7th. Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 30 m. 1- 37 8. Example 3 – Passage from Parker’s “Spe modo vivitur.” Hora Novissima. Vocal 40 score, p. 31, m. 1-15. Example 4 – Excerpt taken from Charles Ives, The Celestial Country (Tenebris vitae 41 in lucem coeli) cantata for two solo quartets and chorus, string quartet or string orchestra, trumpet, euphonium, timpani, and organ, (New York: Peer International Corporation, 1973), Vocal Score, p. 28. Example 5 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 44 m. 6 - p. 45 m. 14. 45 Example 6 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 37, m. 9-10. 46 Example 7 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 50, m. 5-12. 47 Example 8 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 75, m. 6-14. 53 Example 9- Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 77, m 1-9. 54 Example 10 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 95. 56 Example 11 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 122. 62 Example 12 - Hora Novissima. Vocal score, p. 124, m. 6-10. 63 Example 13 – Principal theme from Movement I orchestral opening. Hora 65 Novissima. Vocal Score, p. 1 m 11-15. Example 14 – Principal theme from Movement XI. Hora Novissima. Vocal Score, p. 65 28 m 13-16. Example 15 – King Oriens’ theme as it appears in its first occurrence. The Legend of 74 Saint Christopher. Act 1, Scene 1, m. 23-26. Example 16 – King Oriens’ theme introduced 3 bars before his entrance. The 79 Legend of St Christopher, Vocal score, p. 27, m. 4-10. Example 17 – The Queen’s theme. The Legend of St Christopher, Vocal score, p. 79 28, m. 14-17. Example 18 – Initial appearance of Satan’s theme. The Legend of St. Chistopher, 81 Vocal Score. p. 37, m. 10-12 Example 19 – The Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 58, m. 9-20. 85 vii Example 20 – The Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 70. m. 9-22. 88 Example 21 – The Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 80, m. 1-4. 91 Example 22 – Satan’s motive modified into Waltz rhythm. The Legend of St. 92 Christopher. Vocal Score. p. 87, m. 26-31. Example 23 – Transition between first and second section of the “Gloria.” The 101 Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 129. Example 24 – The Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 164, m. 1-2. 107 Example 25 – The Legend of St. Christopher. Vocal Score, p. 168, m. 1-4. 108 Example 26 – First occurrence of Grail Quartet refrain. Morven and the Grail. 120 Vocal Score, p. 12. Example 27 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 22, m. 12-15. 122 Example 28 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 51. 129 Example 29 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 55. 131 Example 30 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 67. 133 Example 31 – Reappearance of “Let me go hence.” Morven and the Grail. Vocal 140 Score, p. 90, m. 4-7. Example 32 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 110. 144 Example 33 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score. p. 113-114. 146 Example 34 – Morven and the Grail. Vocal Score, p. 149, m. 5-16. 154 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 - Vocal Ranges for Hora Novissima 69 Table 2 - Vocal Ranges for The Legend of St. Christopher 113 Table 3 - Vocal Ranges for Morven and the Grail 166 ix I. The Cultural Context of Horatio Parker’s Life and His Music Horatio Parker is an enigma. To modern musicians and audiences, he is largely unknown and relegated to obscurity, even in his native country. Given that he was the first American composer to achieve some modicum of international fame, culminating with him becoming the first American to ever receive an honorary doctorate from Cambridge, this is highly puzzling. That he was highly prominent during his time period, there is a little doubt. His student, Charles Ives, while eventually distancing himself from his instructor, initially used the relationship to further his career. Ives’ cantata, “The Celestial Country,” was modeled on Parker’s oratorio, Hora Novissima, and he made it a point to identify himself prominently as Parker’s student at the premiere.1 With the success of Hora Novissima both in the United States and England, and the later achievements of winning both the Metropolitan Opera’s composition contest with his opera Mona and the National Federation of Music Clubs’ opera composition contest with his Fairyland, there is little doubt that he reached a level of distinction unmatched at the time by his American contemporaries. Parker’s work was largely noted as conservative. As time went by, the taste in American classical music shifted to a much more modern, experimental approach, such as that championed by his former student. In a parallel fashion, other American composers became renowned for their work with popular music elements. Over time, American music became recognized for both this spirit of innovation and the cultural impact imparted by genres in the popular stream. Given that Parker did not cultivate either approach, his work was largely forgotten. Ironically, Parker’s own position on the nature of classical music in America may have in fact contributed to his own music’s demise. As he took over the music program at Yale, he worked to build up the social perception of musicians in America. Parker did not want himself or other musicians to be 1 J. P. Burkholder, “Ives and Yale: The enduring influence of a college experience.” College Music Symposium 39 (1999): 35. 1 classified as bohemians, so he himself had a very dignified, aloof manner that he also worked to impart to his students. Parker’s approach became a symbol of elitism, creating a clear separation between “classical” and popular styles.”2 In fact, he wrote: There are humbler levels of popular taste which are surely significant. It is indeed stirring to hear a great mass of people, including a seven foot policemen singing… The policeman’s eyes and attitude show sincerity and devotion… He is moved by his vocal efforts and enjoys his emotion and singing. So do I, but I wish the music were such as I could swallow without gagging.3 By largely ignoring the vernacular music of his day, Parker failed to appeal to a larger audience and to use the strength of the more native music of his country to separate himself and achieve a more lasting prominence. Youth and Student Years Given Parker’s humble beginnings, it is somewhat surprising that he so readily shunned music in the popular realm. On the other hand, perhaps it is that history that drove Parker so hard to seek a higher place in society. Parker was born on September 15, 1863 in Auburndale, Massachusetts, which was a largely rural environment at the time. His father, Charles, was a distinguished architect.4 His mother was noted as being well educated with a good command of classical and modern languages, and she had a strong poetic sense. Despite this, his formal education appears haphazard, with the only record of his studies appearing at Williams Grade School in Auburndale.5 However, given the strong education of both his parents, it is plausible that he was well tutored at home. Throughout his younger years, Parker showed no interest in musical study. His father was a naturalist and frequently took the children on walks through the fields and woods. As a youth, Parker inherited the love for the outdoors. He spent a good deal of time outside and was also 2 Alan Howard Levy, “The Search for Identity in American Music.” American Music 2, no.
Recommended publications
  • Horatio William Parker (Geb. Auburndale, Massachusetts, 15

    Horatio William Parker (Geb. Auburndale, Massachusetts, 15

    Horatio William Parker (geb. Auburndale, Massachusetts, 15. September 1863 — gest. Cedarhurst, New York, 18. Dezember 1919) Konzert für Orgel und Orchester es-moll op. 55 (1902) I Allegro moderato - Andante p. 1 II Allegretto, ma ben moderato p. 28 III Allegro moderato, molto risoluto - Più mosso p. 37 Vorwort Parker war einer der großen amerikanischen Komponisten und Musikpädagogen. Zunächst hatte er bei seiner Mutter Isabella G. Parker, einer Organistin, seine musikalische Früherziehung erhalten. Dann studierte er in Boston bei John Orth (1850-1932) Klavier, bei Stephen A. Emery (1841-91) Theorie und bei George W. Chadwick (1854-1931) Komposition. Daraufhin begab er sich nach Deutschland, wo er 1882-85 in München bei Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901) in die Lehre ging. Zurück in den Vereinigten Staaten ab 1886, hatte er zunächst in New York verschiedene Stellen als Pädagoge und Organist inne. 1893 ging er nach Boston, wo er Organist und Chormeister an der Trinity Church wurde. Mit der Uraufführung des Oratoriums Hora Novissima, seines bei weitem erfolgreichsten Werks, am 3. Mai 1893 in New York wurde er berühmt. 1894 wurde er Professor an der Yale University, wo er 1904 zum Dekan der Music School gewählt wurde. Zu seinen zahlreichen Schülern zählte Charles Ives (1874-1954) , der ihn weiterhin hoch schätzte, nachdem er die traditionellen Begrenzungen der Tonsprache weit hinter sich gelassen hatte. Um die Jahrhundertwende leitete Parker Aufführungen eigener Werke in England (Hora Novissima op. 30 beim Worcester Festival am 14. September 1899, A Wanderer’s Psalm op. 50 als Auftragswerk des Hereford Festival am 13. September 1900 und den dritten Teil seiner Legend of Saint Christopher op.
  • Handel's Oratorios and the Culture of Sentiment By

    Handel's Oratorios and the Culture of Sentiment By

    Virtue Rewarded: Handel’s Oratorios and the Culture of Sentiment by Jonathan Rhodes Lee A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Davitt Moroney, Chair Professor Mary Ann Smart Professor Emeritus John H. Roberts Professor George Haggerty, UC Riverside Professor Kevis Goodman Fall 2013 Virtue Rewarded: Handel’s Oratorios and the Culture of Sentiment Copyright 2013 by Jonathan Rhodes Lee ABSTRACT Virtue Rewarded: Handel’s Oratorios and the Culture of Sentiment by Jonathan Rhodes Lee Doctor of Philosophy in Music University of California, Berkeley Professor Davitt Moroney, Chair Throughout the 1740s and early 1750s, Handel produced a dozen dramatic oratorios. These works and the people involved in their creation were part of a widespread culture of sentiment. This term encompasses the philosophers who praised an innate “moral sense,” the novelists who aimed to train morality by reducing audiences to tears, and the playwrights who sought (as Colley Cibber put it) to promote “the Interest and Honour of Virtue.” The oratorio, with its English libretti, moralizing lessons, and music that exerted profound effects on the sensibility of the British public, was the ideal vehicle for writers of sentimental persuasions. My dissertation explores how the pervasive sentimentalism in England, reaching first maturity right when Handel committed himself to the oratorio, influenced his last masterpieces as much as it did other artistic products of the mid- eighteenth century. When searching for relationships between music and sentimentalism, historians have logically started with literary influences, from direct transferences, such as operatic settings of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, to indirect ones, such as the model that the Pamela character served for the Ninas, Cecchinas, and other garden girls of late eighteenth-century opera.
  • III CHAPTER III the BAROQUE PERIOD 1. Baroque Music (1600-1750) Baroque – Flamboyant, Elaborately Ornamented A. Characteristic

    III CHAPTER III the BAROQUE PERIOD 1. Baroque Music (1600-1750) Baroque – Flamboyant, Elaborately Ornamented A. Characteristic

    III CHAPTER III THE BAROQUE PERIOD 1. Baroque Music (1600-1750) Baroque – flamboyant, elaborately ornamented a. Characteristics of Baroque Music 1. Unity of Mood – a piece expressed basically one basic mood e.g. rhythmic patterns, melodic patterns 2. Rhythm – rhythmic continuity provides a compelling drive, the beat is more emphasized than before. 3. Dynamics – volume tends to remain constant for a stretch of time. Terraced dynamics – a sudden shift of the dynamics level. (keyboard instruments not capable of cresc/decresc.) 4. Texture – predominantly polyphonic and less frequently homophonic. 5. Chords and the Basso Continuo (Figured Bass) – the progression of chords becomes prominent. Bass Continuo - the standard accompaniment consisting of a keyboard instrument (harpsichord, organ) and a low melodic instrument (violoncello, bassoon). 6. Words and Music – Word-Painting - the musical representation of specific poetic images; E.g. ascending notes for the word heaven. b. The Baroque Orchestra – Composed of chiefly the string section with various other instruments used as needed. Size of approximately 10 – 40 players. c. Baroque Forms – movement – a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger work. -Binary and Ternary are both dominant. 2. The Concerto Grosso and the Ritornello Form - concerto grosso – a small group of soloists pitted against a larger ensemble (tutti), usually consists of 3 movements: (1) fast, (2) slow, (3) fast. - ritornello form - e.g. tutti, solo, tutti, solo, tutti solo, tutti etc. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 Title on autograph score: Concerto 2do à 1 Tromba, 1 Flauto, 1 Hautbois, 1 Violino concertati, è 2 Violini, 1 Viola è Violone in Ripieno col Violoncello è Basso per il Cembalo.
  • Carl Loewe's "Gregor Auf Dem Stein": a Precursor to Late German Romanticism

    Carl Loewe's "Gregor Auf Dem Stein": a Precursor to Late German Romanticism

    Carl Loewe's "Gregor auf dem Stein": A Precursor to Late German Romanticism Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Witkowski, Brian Charles Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 03:11:55 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/217070 CARL LOEWE'S “GREGOR AUF DEM STEIN”: A PRECURSOR TO LATE GERMAN ROMANTICISM by Brian Charles Witkowski _____________________ Copyright © Brian Charles Witkowski 2011 A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF MUSIC In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2011 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Document Committee, we certify that we have read the document prepared by Brian Charles Witkowski entitled Carl Loewe's “Gregor auf dem Stein”: A Precursor to Late German Romanticism and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts ________________________________________________ Date: 11/14/11 Charles Roe ________________________________________________ Date: 11/14/11 Faye Robinson ________________________________________________ Date: 11/14/11 Kristin Dauphinais Final approval and acceptance of this document is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the document to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this document prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement.
  • Towards a Cultural History of Italian Oratorio Around 1700: Circulations, Contexts, and Comparisons

    Towards a Cultural History of Italian Oratorio Around 1700: Circulations, Contexts, and Comparisons

    This is a working paper with minimal footnotes that was not written towards publication—at least not in its present form. Rather, it aims to provide some of the wider historiographical and methodological background for the specific (book) project I am working on at the Italian Academy. Please do not circulate this paper further or quote it without prior written consent. Huub van der Linden, 1 November 2013. Towards a cultural history of Italian oratorio around 1700: Circulations, contexts, and comparisons Huub van der Linden “Parlare e scrivere di musica implica sempre una storia degli ascolti possibili.” Luciano Berio, Intervista sulla musica (1981) 1. Oratorio around 1700: Historiographical issues since 1900 In the years around 1900, one Italian composer was hailed both in Italy and abroad as the future of Italian sacred music. Nowadays almost no one has heard of him. It was Don Lorenzo Perosi (1872-1956), the director of the Sistine Chapel. He was widely seen as one of the most promising new composers in Italy, to such a degree that the Italian press spoke of il momento perosiano (“the Perosian moment”) and that his oratorios appeared to usher in a new flourishing of the genre.1 His oratorios were performed all over Europe as well as in the USA, and received wide-spread attention in the press and music magazines. They also gave rise to the modern historiography of the genre. Like all historiography, that of Italian oratorio is shaped by its own historical context, and like all writing about music, it is related also to music making.
  • Music at Grace 2016-2017

    Music at Grace 2016-2017

    Music at Grace 2016-2017 WELCOME Dear Friends, We are delighted to welcome you to this season of Music at Grace! The coming year continues our tradition of offering glorious sacred choral music at the Sunday Eucharist, Evensong, Lessons and Carols, and in concert. In addition, we are thrilled to announce the debut of Collegium Ancora: Rhode Island’s Professional Chamber Choir, Ensemble-in-Residence at Grace Church. We also welcome the Brown University Chorus and Schola Cantorum of Boston to Grace on April 7 for a gala concert performance of Bach’s monumental St. Matthew Passion. And our Thursdays at Noon concert series resumes in September! This booklet outlines the musical offering for the coming season, particularly the 10 AM Holy Eucharist on Sunday mornings. Also included is an envelope for your support of Music at Grace. Whether you are a parishioner or a friend of music, we hope you will consider making a donation to support our musical presence in Downcity Providence, for the worship or concert setting. A return envelope is enclosed for your convenience, and names listed will be included in the programs for special services and concerts. We wish to remind parishioners of Grace church that any gift made to Music at Grace should be in addition to your regular Stewardship pledge which is so important to the church. We hope that you will walk through our historic doors on Westminster Street in downtown Providence for worship or concert, or both very soon! The Reverend Canon Jonathan Huyck+ Rector Vincent Edwards Director of Music MUSIC
  • School of Music 2016–2017

    School of Music 2016–2017

    BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY BULLETIN OF YALE BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Periodicals postage paid New Haven ct 06520-8227 New Haven, Connecticut School of Music 2016–2017 School of Music 2016–2017 BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Series 112 Number 7 July 25, 2016 BULLETIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY Series 112 Number 7 July 25, 2016 (USPS 078-500) The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, is published seventeen times a year (one time in May and October; three times in June and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and a∞rmatively and September; four times in July; five times in August) by Yale University, 2 Whitney seeks to attract to its faculty, sta≠, and student body qualified persons of diverse back- Avenue, New Haven CT 0651o. Periodicals postage paid at New Haven, Connecticut. grounds. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against Postmaster: Send address changes to Bulletin of Yale University, any individual on account of that individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, PO Box 208227, New Haven CT 06520-8227 status as a protected veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Managing Editor: Kimberly M. Goff-Crews University policy is committed to a∞rmative action under law in employment of Editor: Lesley K. Baier women, minority group members, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans. PO Box 208230, New Haven CT 06520-8230 Inquiries concerning these policies may be referred to Valarie Stanley, Director of the O∞ce for Equal Opportunity Programs, 221 Whitney Avenue, 3rd Floor, 203.432.0849.
  • 1. Charles Ives's Four Ragtime Dances and “True American Music”

    1. Charles Ives's Four Ragtime Dances and “True American Music”

    37076_u01.qxd 3/21/08 5:35 PM Page 17 1. Charles Ives’s Four Ragtime Dances and “True American Music” Someone is quoted as saying that “ragtime is the true American music.” Anyone will admit that it is one of the many true, natural, and, nowadays, conventional means of expression. It is an idiom, perhaps a “set or series of colloquialisms,” similar to those that have added through centuries and through natural means some beauty to all languages. Ragtime has its possibilities. But it does not “represent the American nation” any more than some fine old senators represent it. Perhaps we know it now as an ore before it has been refined into a product. It may be one of nature’s ways of giving art raw material. Time will throw its vices away and weld its virtues into the fabric of our music. It has its uses, as the cruet on the boarding-house table has, but to make a meal of tomato ketchup and horse-radish, to plant a whole farm with sunflowers, even to put a sunflower into every bouquet, would be calling nature something worse than a politician. charles ives, Essays Before a Sonata Today, more than a century after its introduction, the music of ragtime is often regarded with nostalgia as a quaint, polite, antiquated music, but when it burst on the national scene in the late 1890s, its catchy melodies and en- ergetic rhythms sparked both delight and controversy. One of the many fruits of African American musical innovation, this style of popular music captivated the nation through the World War I era with its distinctive, syn- copated rhythms that enlivened solo piano music, arrangements for bands and orchestras, ballroom numbers, and countless popular songs.
  • Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century

    Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century

    Columbus State University CSU ePress Theses and Dissertations Student Publications 2005 The Evolution of Sacred Soli from Oratorios: Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century Holly M. Chesnut Columbus State University Follow this and additional works at: https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Chesnut, Holly M., "The Evolution of Sacred Soli from Oratorios: Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century" (2005). Theses and Dissertations. 126. https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/126 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Publications at CSU ePress. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CSU ePress. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/evolutionofsacreOOches The Evolution ofSacred Soli from Oratorios: Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century Holly M. Chesnut April 11,2005 The Evolution ofSacred Solifrom Oratorios: Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century by Holly Chesnut A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements of the CSU Honors Program For Honors in the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Music College of Arts and Letters Columbus State University ~ Thesis Advisor / 7A^7i^ ULe^LC^ Date W« /o* J £~~ Committee MemW/^tg^^ JlLlZ*^ Date /////& Committee Member ^fu^^ ^AA.fouA^ Date'^/^ST CSU Honors Committee Member ^u/^A^tM^ Date AfizLffj ZG!) ^ Coordinator, Honors Program ^V^&<^1 „ ^w>t/^ Date Ap^f ^ z*^ Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank following people for their valuable help during this project: Ms. Teresa Hopkin for continued support during the course of this project.
  • Christmas Oratorio

    Christmas Oratorio

    WASHINGTON BACH CONSORT Dana Marsh, Artistic Director Christmas Oratorio Weihnachts-Oratorium, BWV 248 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Nine virtual programs offer some of the finest works in the cantata and oratorio repertory. You’ll CHRISTMAS ORATORIO enjoy the Washington Bach Consort as you’ve never Weihnachts-Oratorium, BWV 248 heard them before, but you’ll also gain revelations Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) and insights into the music itself coming from our Dana Marsh, Artistic Director two resident Bach scholars, Michael Marissen and Daniel R. Melamed. Supported in part by grants Part I: The First Day of Christmas from the National Endowment for the Humanities Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248I and the J. Reilly Lewis Legacy Fund, Bach Friday, 12.25.20 at 8 p.m. YouTube & Facebook Interactions is a new digital concert experience offering the expressive heights of Bach’s musical Part II: The Second Day of Christmas language as well as the story behind its creation. Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248II The series features three renowned cantatas, Thursday, 1.7.21 at 8 p.m. on YouTube & Facebook Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131, and Nun komm, Part III: The Third Day of Christmas der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, followed by all six parts Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248III of Bach’s beloved Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248. Thursday, 1.14.21 at 8 p.m. on YouTube & Facebook Each part will be presented on its intended day of liturgical observance, over the twelve days of Part IV: New Year’s Day Christmas to the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6).
  • The Compositional Style of Horatio Parker As Demonstrated In

    The Compositional Style of Horatio Parker As Demonstrated In

    THE COMPOSITIONAL STYLE OF HORATIO PARKER AS DEMONSTRATED IN SELECTED CANTATAS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences By Eric Michael Saari In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS Major Program: Music April 2012 Fargo, North Dakota North Dakota State University Graduate School Title The Compositional Style of Horatio Parker as Demonstrated in Selected Cantatas By Eric Michael Saari The Supervisory Committee certifies that this disquisition complies with North Dakota State University’s regulations and meets the accepted standards for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: Dr. Michael Weber Chair Dr. Jo Ann Miller Dr. Douglas Monroe Dr. Robert O’Connor Approved: 12-21-2012 Dr. John Miller Date Department Chair ABSTRACT Few musicians are familiar with the works of American composer, Horatio Parker (1863– 1919), and those who know him likely are familiar only with his church music. This dissertation aims to bring attention to Parker and his secular choral output, specifically his cantatas. The author has chosen three representative examples of his dramatic secular works for choir and orchestra in order to examine the development of Parker’s compositional style. They are The Ballad of a Knight and His Daughter (1884), Dream-King and His Love (1891), and A Star Song (1901). After a brief biography, the author pays particular attention to Parker’s increasing use of thematic elements as well as the harmonic language and formal construction of the selected works. A course of development is demonstrated highlighting Parker’s increasingly sophisticated use of themes and more chromatic harmonic language.
  • This Album Presents American Piano Music from the Later Part of the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth

    This Album Presents American Piano Music from the Later Part of the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth

    EDWARD MacDOWELL and Company New World Records 80206 This album presents American piano music from the later part of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth. Chronologically it ranges from John Knowles Paine’s Fuga Giocosa, published in 1884, to Henry F. Gilbert’s Mazurka, published in 1902. The majority are from the nineties, a time of great prosperity and self-satisfaction in a nation of philanthropists and “philanthropied,” as a writer characterized it in The New York Times. Though the styles are quite different, there are similarities among the composers themselves. All were pianists or organists or both, all went to Europe for musical training, and all dabbled in the classical forms. If their compatriots earlier in the nineteenth century wrote quantities of ballads, waltzes, galops, marches, polkas, and variations on popular songs (New World Records 80257-2, The Wind Demon), the present group was more likely to write songs (self-consciously referred to as “art songs”) and pieces with abstract titles like prelude, fugue, sonata, trio, quartet, and concerto. There are exceptions. MacDowell’s formal works include two piano concertos, four piano sonatas, and orchestra and piano suites, but he is perhaps best known for his shorter character pieces and nature sketches for piano, such as Fireside Tales and New England Idyls (both completed in 1902). Ethelbert Nevin was essentially a composer of songs and shorter piano pieces, most of them souvenirs of his travels, but he, too, worked in the forms that had become most prestigious in his generation. The central reason for the shift away from dance-inspired and entertainment pieces to formal compositions was that American wealth created a culture that created a musical establishment.