Annika Forkert Royal Holloway College, University of London BRITISH MUSICAL MODERNISM DEFENDED AGAINST ITS DEVOTEES Submission in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Final Version, December 2014 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees Declaration of Authorship I, Annika Forkert, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: 16 December 2014 2 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees Abstract This thesis forges a strong connection between British music of the early to mid- twentieth century and the concept of modernism. In one important tradition of criticism, modernism has increasingly been regarded as a tendentious concept, or even as a dangerous ideological disguise for what is simply the exclusion of much art from the so called peripheries of Europe and non-Western cultures. An expansion of the concept in literature and music studies has, however, resulted in the indiscriminate application of modernism and in consequence has led it to lose whatever rigour it had formerly – however problematically – enjoyed. The thesis suggests that parts of modernist exclusivity and rigorous definition can be saved, while at the same time the canon of modernist music can be expanded with a solid methodological foundation it has not possessed so far. To this end, this study articulates a new theory based on a model proposed in philosopher Alain Badiou’s recent work, which relates a concentrated, high-modernist core to ‘marginal’ music of the twentieth century. By ‘logicalizing’ this model, the thesis achieves the goal of offering a new engagement with modernism without surrendering to new ideological premises. The theory is put into practice in three case studies of music by British composers with a claim to reconsideration as modernists: Gustav Holst’s orchestral Egdon Heath (1927), Elisabeth Lutyens’s cantata for soprano, mandolin, guitar, harp, and string orchestra O saisons, ô châteaux! (1946), and William Walton’s cycle for reciter and instrumental ensemble, Façade (1921–79). 3 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees Contents Acknowledgements 6 List of Musical Examples 8 List of Figures and Images 10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 11 CHAPTER 2. MODERNISMS 31 2.1 A-Modernism and its Variations 31 2.1.1 A Literary Introduction to A-Modernism 32 2.1.2 Adorno: The Spectre of the Avant-Garde 35 2.1.3 Moderne/Neue Musik/Modernism 39 2.1.4 An Intermediate Conclusion: A-Modernism and Maximalism 42 2.2 Extensions of B-Modernism 45 2.2.1 A Literary Introduction to B-Modernism: New Modernist Studies 45 2.2.2 The Composer in British Musical Modernism 50 2.2.3 The Pastoral in British Musical Modernism 55 2.3 Conclusion: An Impossible Concept? 64 CHAPTER 3. MUSICAL MODERNISM, A THEORETICAL COMPROMISE 71 3.1 Badiou’s Model of Revolutions 72 3.1.1 Spartacus 74 3.1.2 Schoenberg 79 3.2 Badiou in Musicology 85 3.3 B-Modernism, Stabilized 91 3.3.1 De-Politicization 93 3.3.2 Circularity 100 3.4 Coda: So What? 114 4 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees CHAPTER 4. HOLST’S EGDON HEATH AND THE POWER OF THE TRIAD 118 4.1 Introduction: Reloading Holst 119 4.2 Egdon Heath: ‘An Iron Hand in a Glove of Interwoven Satin, Asbestos, and Ectoplasm’ 133 4.2.1 Hardy: Choice of Text 134 4.2.2 Monotony: Choice of Dynamics 138 4.2.3 The Triadic: Choice of Tonality, Themes, and Form 140 4.3 Conclusion: The Power of the Triad 161 CHAPTER 5. LUTYENS’S O SAISONS, Ô CHÂTEAUX! AND THE EXPERIMENTAL FEMALE 165 5.1 Introduction: Logicalizing an Exceptional Composer 166 5.2 Elisabeth Lutyens, Female Modernist 172 5.2.1 O saisons, ô châteaux! 175 5.2.2 Serialism as Feminine 199 5.3 Conclusion: The Experimental Modernist 203 CHAPTER 6. WALTON’S FAÇADE ON THE PATH TO IRONY 206 6.1 Introduction: William Walton and Edith Sitwell 207 6.2 Behind Façade 214 6.2.1 Which Façade? 214 6.2.2 Authenticity and the Consequences 217 6.2.3 Irony in Concert Music 220 6.2.4 ‘Said King Pompey’: From Experimental to Ironic 223 6.3 Conclusion: In Praise of Irony 246 CHAPTER 7. EPILOGUE 249 Appendix 1 257 Bibliography 261 5 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees Acknowledgements The roots of this thesis lie in Berlin Cathedral, where I heard my first piece of twentieth-century British music – Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis – in an advent concert dedicated to English music with my parents. The fascination of this tonal, yet somehow modern, music challenged me to write my Magistra Artium dissertation under Hermann Danuser at Humboldt- University Berlin about the ‘Englishness’ of Vaughan Williams’s Fourth Symphony. It was during this time that I was in danger of getting lost in the apparently inevitable loneliness engulfing the student of British music in my native Germany. When I sent an emergency beacon out of the blue to J. P. E. Harper-Scott at Royal Holloway, University of London, he responded, and has since continued to respond in his role as my PhD supervisor, with his characteristic intellectual generosity and encouragement that is given so freely that one is in danger of taking it for granted. In fact, the effort necessary to bring a German student of musicology up to speed on the operational principles, topics, and methodologies of Anglo–American musicology can not only not be taken for granted, but can hardly be repaid. My studies at Royal Holloway were made possible by funding from FAZIT-Stiftung Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Royal Holloway’s Crosslands Award, and, during the last months of writing up, by a credit from my generous grandmothers. Spiritual funding, as it were, has come from all members of my College’s Music Department, who have shown great kindness, interest, and patience. In particular, I am grateful to Katharine Ellis, Julian Johnson, Julie Brown, and Mark Berry, who acted as advisors and councillors at various stages of writing. Thanks are also due to my PhD examiners, Stephen Downes and Kenneth Smith, for making my viva voce an intellectually stimulating and friendly experience and for providing me with valuable comments during and after the event. Intellectual nourishment and help of different kinds has come from many sides: the ‘bluestockings’ – Sam Blickhan, Clare Brady, Ester Lebedinski, and Stephanie Vos – as well as Paul’s PhD students (the ‘redstockings’) – Rebecca Day, Mike Graham, John Ling, Nathan Mercieca, Sarah Moynihan, Chris Tarrant, and Jess Williams (née 6 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees Collins), who patiently read and criticized provocative material as the thesis grew – and Mariana Brockmann, Marc Ernesti, Tul Israngura Na Ayud, Daniel James, Alex Kolassa, Matt Laube, James Mooney, Thomas Schulz, Laryssa Whittaker, Sam Wilson, Benjamin Wolf, and Ya-Lei Yen. My fellow receptionists at 11 Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, themselves PhD candidates or Drs in History, Classics, Drama, Management, and Geography, delighted and plagued me with distractions and discussions of all kinds. Adrian Paterson was as stimulating as challenging a discussion partner on all imaginable topics and I owe him a particularly great debt for his enlightening comments on Rimbaud’s poem in chapter 5. Rhiannon Mathias has been an inspiring and friendly voice of guidance in my development as a devotee of Elisabeth Lutyens. Despite all the generous help I received, all errors remain mine. The thesis is dedicated to my family, who protected me as long as they could. 7 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees List of Musical Examples 3.1 Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphony no. 4, two motives. 3.2 Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphony no. 4, IV/bb. 453–6. 4.1 Octatonic scale from G (half step – whole step). 4.2.1–6 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, themes 1 to 6. 4.3 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, theme 1. 4.4 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, variant of theme 1, bb. 144–6. 4.5 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, theme 2, two versions (rhythm only). 4.6 Guillaume de Machaut, Fons tocius superbie/O livoris feritas/Fera pessima (three talea statements, making up one color statement). 4.7 Guillaume Dufay, Nuper rosarum flores, cantus firmus (in simplified tempus). 4.8 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, theme 2, bb. 43–4. 4.9 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, theme 3 (antecedent, two phrases), bb. 33–7. 4.10 Ralph Vaughan Williams, A London Symphony (I/bb. 1–3). 4.11 Gustav Holst, Egdon Heath, theme 3 (fourths in the consequent). 5.1 Elisabeth Lutyens, Bagatelle op. 48 no. 5, bb. 9–12. 5.2.1–3 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux! P0, soprano line, Lament of Isis on the Death of Osiris, bb. 1–2. 5.3.1–4 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, row permutations. 5.4 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, bb. 84–5. 5.5 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, bb. 73–8. 5.6 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, b. 42. 5.7 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, bb. 51–3. 5.8 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, bb. 101–8. 5.9 Elisabeth Lutyens, O saisons, ô châteaux!, bb 59–63. 5.10 Arnold Schoenberg, Piano Concerto op. 42, bb. 1–7. 8 Annika Forkert, British Musical Modernism Defended against its Devotees 6.1 William Walton, SKP79, bb. 8–11. 6.2 William Walton, SKP23, bb.