Jules Massenet's Musical Prosody
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JULES MASSENET’S MUSICAL PROSODY FOCUSING ON HIS EIGHT SONG CYCLES AND A COLLECTION, EXPRESSIONS LYRIQUES: A LECTURE RECITAL, TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF SELECTED WORKS OF W. A. MOZART, C. DEBUSSY, R. STRAUSS, D. ARGENTO, V. BELLINI, J. MARX, W. WALTON, C. GOUNOD, A. SCARLATTI, J. RODRIGO, G. FAURÉ, H. WOLF, AND OTHERS Eunhee Chae, B. Mus., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2000 APPROVED: Linda Di Fiore, Major Professor Gene Cho, Minor Professor Paula Homer, Committee Member and UNT Opera Stage Director Tom Clark, Dean of College of Music C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Chae, Eunhee, Jules Massenet’s Musical Prosody Focusing on His Eight Song Cycles And A Collection, Expressions Lyriques: A Lecture Recital, Together with Recitals of Selected Works of W. A. Mozart, F. Schubert, C. Debussy, R. Strauss, D. Argento, V. Bellini, J. Marx, W. Walton, C. Gounod, A. Scarlatti, G. Fauré, J. Rodrigo, H. Wolf, and Others. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), December 2000, 100 pp., 12 figures, 52 illustrations, 1 appendix, bibliography, 86 titles. Jules Massenet’s mélodies feature a distinct vocal treatment regarding musical prosody through his eight song cycles, including Poëme d’Avril, Poëme Pastoral, Poëme du Souvenir, Poëme d’Amour, Poëme d’Hiver, Poëme d’un Soir, and Quelques Chansons Mauves, and a collection, Expressions Lyriques. These mélodies show the influence of the trend of salon music and the high-level poetry from the poetic movements of romanticism, Parnassianism, and symbolism. This study deals with Massenet’s mélodies relating to the prosody idea, which is conspicuous in his vocal treatment. His melodic styles feature four distinct aspects of vocal treatment including lyrical, recitative or parlando, melodramatic, and déclamation rhythmée, and represent the idea of musical prosody of phonetic, syntactic, and semantic aspects. Massenet’s other musical idioms such as harmony, form, and piano treatment, are also closely related to the prosody matter as a semantic aspect, reinforcing the poetic mood and content. In this study, each melodic style related to French versification is examined in detail. The musical analysis regarding the other musical idioms on selected examples Copyright 2000 By Eunhee Chae ii Recordings of all performances submitted as dissertation requirements are on deposit in the University of North Texas Library. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page RECITAL PROGRAMS First Recital . vi Second Recital . vii Third Recital . viii Fourth Recital . x LIST OF FIGURES . xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Musical Prosody Massenet’s Four Melodic Styles Purpose of the Study 2. COMPOSER, JULES MASSENET (1842-1912) . 7 Introduction Brief Review of French Poetry in Massenet’s Time Poetic Aspects of Massenet’s Mélodies 3. MASSENET’S MUSICAL PROSOSY . 15 Overall Review of Massenet’s Song Cycles and Expressions Lyriques Study of Four Melodic Styles Lyrical Style Recitative or Parlando Style Melodramatic Style Déclamation Rhythmée 4. OTHER MUSICAL IDIOMS OF MASSENET’S SONGS . 62 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT.) Page Harmony Musical Form Piano accompaniment Cyclicism 5. PERFORMANCE PRACTICE . 80 Salon Music style French Language Opinions Regarding the Matter of Expression for Execution 6. CONCLUSION . 89 APPENDIX Summary of Principal Ideas of French Versification Related to Singing 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 96 v vi vii viii ix x LIST OF FIGURE Figure Page 1 . 25 2 . 26 3 . 26 4 . 32 5 . 51 6 . 56 7 . 61 8 . 65 9 . 69 10 . 79 11 . 83 12 . 95 xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Examples Page 1. Poëme Pastoral, Musette mm. 9-20 . 20 2. Poëme d’Hiver, No.III mm.1-6 . 20 3. Poëme Pastoral, Aurore mm.1-9 . .21 4. Poëme d’Avril, No. II mm. 16-19 and 29-31 . .. 21 5. Poëme du Souvenir, No. IV mm.1-6 . .. 22 6. Poëme d’Avril, No. V mm. 1-5 . .. 23 7. Poëme d’Hiver, No. I mm. 1-15 . 23 8. Poëme d’Avril, No.III mm. 8-16 . .. 24 9. Poëme du Souvenir, No. I mm. 10-16 . .24 10. Poëme d’Hiver, No. IV mm. 20-22 . .27 11. Poëme d’Hiver, No. V mm. 37-44 . 28 12. Poëme d’Avril, No. III mm. 33-39 . 30 13. Poëme du Souvenir, No. IV mm. 51-61 . 31 14. Poëme d’Octobre, No. 1 mm. 14-16 . .34 15. Poëme d’Octobre, No. 4 mm. 1-7 . .35 16. Poëme du Souvenir, No. V mm. 1-8 . .36 17. Poëme d’Hiver, Noël mm. 7-15 . 37 18. Poëme d’Octobre, No. 2 mm. 1-6 . 38 19. Poëme d’Amour, No. 2 mm.1-3 . 39 20. Poëme d’Octobre, Prelude mm. 8-12 . 40 21. Poëme d’Avril, Prelude mm. 3-6 . 42 22. Expressions Lyriques, Les Nuages mm. 4-9 . 43 23. Expressions Lyriques, Les Nuages mm. 15-18 . 44 24. Expressions Lyriques, Les Nuages mm. 26-31 . 45 25. Expressions Lyriques, Les Nuages mm. 36-40 . 45 26. Expressions Lyriques, Les Nuages mm. 41-43 . 46 27. Expressions Lyriques, Rose de Mai mm. 12-17 . 47 28. Expressions Lyriques, Rose de Mai mm. 8-11 . 48 29. Expressions Lyriques, Dialogue mm. 9-10 . 50 30. Expressions Lyriques, En Voyage mm. 3-7 . 52 31. Expressions Lyriques, Battements d’Ailes mm. 17-19 . 53 32. Expressions Lyriques, La dernière lettre de Werther à Charlotte mm. 10-14. 54 33. Expressions Lyriques, La dernière lettre de Werther à Charlotte mm. 23-24. 54 34. Expressions Lyriques, Comme autrefois mm. 2-3 . 55 35. Expressions Lyriques, Comme autrefois mm. 5-6 . 55 36. Expressions Lyriques, Nocturne mm. 16-19 . 56 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (CONT.) Examples Page 37. Expressions Lyriques, Mélancolie mm. 1-5 . 57 38. Expressions Lyriques, Mélancolie mm. 11-17 . 58 39. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 25-32 . 59 40. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 60-63 . 59 41. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 115-124 . 60 42. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 142-146 . 60 43. Poëme d’Avril, No. VII mm.12-18 . 64 44. Poëme d’Hiver, No. II mm.1-7 . .66 45. Poëme du Souvenir, No. I mm. 1-5 . .71 46. Poëme d’Hiver, No. II mm. 18-22 . 73 47. Poëme d’Avril, No. III mm. 1-9 . 74 48. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 50-58 . 76 49. Expressions Lyriques, Feux-follets d’amour mm. 101-104 . 76 50. Poëme d’Octobre, No. 1 mm. 61-end . 77 51. Poëme d’Hiver, No. II mm. 14-17 . .77 52. Poeme d’Avril, No. I mm. 41-end . .87 xiii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Musical Prosody Vocal music is an art that combines music and words. In this genre, the issue of musical prosody always has been of foremost interest to composers. The term musical prosody refers to a musical setting of a text. The nature of musical rhythm is conspicuously different from the nature of poetic rhythm. The poetry is closely related to versification that coordinates with its own accents, meters, rhymes, and verses while the music also has its original rhythmic system that coordinates with its own principal factors, such as accents, meters, phrases, and cadences. These different natures between the music and.