Selected Chamber Works of Dame Ethel Smyth
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SELECTED CHAMBER WORKS OF DAME ETHEL SMYTH By AMY ELIZABETH ZIGLER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2009 1 © 2009 Amy Elizabeth Zigler 2 To Steve 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my colleagues and family. I want to thank my chair, Dr. David Kushner: my journey into the life and music of Ethel Smyth began with his simple suggestion. I also wish to thank Dr. Jennifer Thomas, who constantly pushed me to think as a scholar and not a student. I am indebted to Alice Wilson, Smyth‘s estate agent, who granted me permission to reproduce the composer‘s unpublished works. I wish to thank Lyn Liston at Universal Edition and the agents at Roberton Publications for permission to reproduce Smyth‘s published works. I must also extend a warm thank- you to the British Library Rare Books and Manuscripts staff for their tireless efforts, the Library of Congress, and the staff of the University of Michigan Hatcher Graduate Library Special Collections. I am forever grateful for the love and faith of my family, from my father who showed me the way and my mother who always listened. Finally, I wish to thank Steven Jon Landis, Jr. for his love, devotion, and copying skills. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 21 Background of the Study ......................................................................................... 22 Biographical Overview ............................................................................................ 25 The Problem Statement .......................................................................................... 29 Methodology and the Chamber Works.................................................................... 30 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................................... 36 Biographical Sources .............................................................................................. 37 Descriptions and Analyses of Compositions ........................................................... 50 Dissertations and Theses ....................................................................................... 60 Smyth and the Issue of Gender and Sexuality ........................................................ 61 3 ENGLAND AND GERMANY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY .................. 70 Victorian Society and the Upbringing of Ethel Smyth .............................................. 70 Nineteenth-Century German Society, Women, and Music...................................... 90 4 THE EARLY CHAMBER WORKS OF 1880: SONATA IN C MINOR FOR CELLO AND PIANO AND TRIO IN D MINOR FOR VIOLIN, CELLO AND PIANO................................................................................................................... 103 Biographical Context ............................................................................................. 106 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 116 Sonata in C minor for Cello and Piano ........................................................... 120 Allegro appassionato ............................................................................... 122 Allegretto (ländler tempo) ......................................................................... 143 Andante.................................................................................................... 155 Allegro con fuoco ..................................................................................... 164 Summary.................................................................................................. 175 Trio in D minor for Violin, Cello and Piano ...................................................... 175 Allegro ...................................................................................................... 176 Andante.................................................................................................... 190 5 Scherzo .................................................................................................... 197 Allegro vivace ........................................................................................... 205 Summary.................................................................................................. 221 5 THE PUBLISHED SONATAS OF 1887: SONATA IN A MINOR, OP. 5, FOR CELLO AND PIANO; SONATA IN A MINOR, OP. 7, FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO . 223 Biographical Context ............................................................................................. 224 Reception .............................................................................................................. 240 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 244 Sonata in A minor, Op. 5, for Cello and Piano ................................................ 245 Allegro moderato ...................................................................................... 246 Adagio non troppo .................................................................................... 256 Allegro vivace e grazioso ......................................................................... 266 Sonata in A minor, Op. 7, for Violin and Piano ............................................... 276 Allegro ...................................................................................................... 277 Scherzo .................................................................................................... 291 Andante grazioso ..................................................................................... 299 Allegro vivace ........................................................................................... 310 Summary.................................................................................................. 319 6 STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR (1912) .............................................................. 321 Biographical Context: 1887-1912 .......................................................................... 322 Reception .............................................................................................................. 324 Motivation and Inspiration for the String Quartet in E minor: An Examination of Secondary Sources ........................................................................................... 329 Summary of Analysis by Mercier and Pickett ........................................................ 338 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 343 Allegro lirico .................................................................................................... 343 Allegretto molto leggiero ................................................................................. 352 Andante .......................................................................................................... 359 Allegro energico ............................................................................................. 369 7 CODA AND CONLCUSIONS ................................................................................ 380 History of the Variations on ―Bonny Sweet Robin‖ (Ophelia‘s Song) .................... 381 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 387 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 397 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 397 Manuscripts and collections .................................................................................. 403 Published scores .................................................................................................. 403 Discography .......................................................................................................... 404 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 405 6 LIST OF TABLES 4-1 Formal diagram of first movement, Sonata in C minor, sonata-allegro form ..... 125 4-2 Formal diagram of second movement, Sonata in C minor, dance and trio form .................................................................................................................. 143 4-3 Formal diagram of third movement, Sonata in C minor, theme-and-variations form .................................................................................................................. 156 4.4 Formal diagram of fourth movement, Sonata in C minor, sonata-rondo form ... 165 4-5 Formal diagram of first movement, Trio in D minor, sonata-allegro