Luigi Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero and Gian Carlo
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LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA'S IL PRIGIONIERO AND GIAN CARLO MENOTTI'S THE CONSUL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY by JENNIFER GRAHAM STEPHENSON PAUL H. HOUGHTALING, COMMITTEE CHAIR SUSAN CURTIS FLEMING NIKOS A. PAPPAS STEPHEN V. PELES JONATHAN WHITAKER ELIZABETH AVERSA A DOCUMENT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the School of Music in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2016 Copyright Jennifer Graham Stephenson 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT As art reflects life, so too does it hold a mirror to the lives of the people who create it. The turbulent events of the first decades of the twentieth century, including two World Wars and the rise of Italian Fascism and German Nazism in the 1920s and 30s, affected millions of lives across several continents. This document explores the ways in which Luigi Dallapiccola (1904– 1973) and Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007) voice their reactions to these events in their operas, Il Prigioniero (1948) and The Consul (1950). Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola spent twenty months in internment during the First World War, and would be forced on several occasions to go into hiding during the Second World War. His opposition to Mussolini and the Italian Fascists, coupled with his quasi–obsession with internment and freedom, led to his composition of three works of “protest music,” of which Il Prigioniero is the second. Il Prigioniero tells the story of a prisoner of the Inquisition, his attempt at escape and eventual capture. Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti emigrated to the United States in 1928, at age seventeen, and spent a great much of his time traveling and working in various countries. Having friends and family in many nations, and being of “alien” status in the United States, Menotti was very aware of the processes of immigration and the plight of refugees. The Consul is the story of a woman attempting to obtain an exit visa to escape persecution in her home country. She is met by bureaucratic “red tape” at every turn, and is unable to flee, resulting in her suicide. Although Dallapiccola and Menotti did not know each other, nor do they appear to have ii been familiar with each other's work, both composers drew the same conclusions about the nature of freedom due to their life experiences through shared historical events. Both Il Prigioniero and The Consul explore themes of hope, prayer, accessibility to freedom, and the culpability of both action and inaction in perpetuating oppression. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me throughout my completion of this degree and document. I cannot begin to thank everyone who has made an impact on my education and development for lack of words and space; however, I am incredibly grateful and humbled, and hope that I have taken every opportunity to show my appreciation and gratitude along the way. My thanks first to Dr. Paul Houghtaling, for his mentorship, advice, help, and friendship throughout my degree and the writing of this document. I could not have hoped for a better mentor, nor will I ever be able to express my thanks for the profound way that he has changed my life. My thanks to my committee – Drs. Elizabeth Aversa, Susan Fleming, Nikos Pappas, Stephen Peles, Jonathan Whitaker – for their time, interest, and insightful comments and suggestions. My thanks to the University of Alabama School of Music – both students and faculty – for providing me with a wonderful and life-changing experience both personally and professionally. To Drs. Thomas Robinson and Linda Cummins for their work in arranging meetings and ensuring that my road to success was clear. To my family for their enthusiastic support and unwavering love; especially to my parents, Joe and Andrea Stephenson, who taught me the joy of singing, and whose voices will always be the sweetest to me. And to Brad, for everything. iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF IMAGES ......................................................................................................................... x INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA (1904–1973) ................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2. IL PRIGIONIERO ................................................................................................. 10 a. Composition Background......................................................................................................... 10 b. Synopsis ................................................................................................................................... 12 c. Themes ..................................................................................................................................... 14 d. “La torture par l’ésperance” ..................................................................................................... 16 e. La légende d’Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak .................................................................... 17 f. Character Symbolism ............................................................................................................... 19 i. The Prisoner .............................................................................................................................. 21 ii. The Mother .............................................................................................................................. 22 iii. Chorus ..................................................................................................................................... 23 iv. The Inquisitor .......................................................................................................................... 24 v. The Jailer .................................................................................................................................. 24 vi. King Philip II .......................................................................................................................... 25 v g. Politicization of Plot Elements of La torture par l’ésperance ................................................. 26 i. The Nightmare .......................................................................................................................... 27 ii. Choral Intermezzi .................................................................................................................... 31 iii. Inaction and Action: The Connection of Jailer to Inquisitor .................................................. 35 h. Freedom ................................................................................................................................... 37 i. Hope .......................................................................................................................................... 42 j. Prayer ........................................................................................................................................ 44 l. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER 3. GIAN CARLO MENOTTI (1911–2007) ............................................................. 48 CHAPTER 4. THE CONSUL ...................................................................................................... 54 a. Composition Background.......................................................................................................... 54 b. Synopsis ................................................................................................................................... 57 c. Themes ..................................................................................................................................... 61 d. Source Material for The Consul .............................................................................................. 63 e. Character Symbolism ............................................................................................................... 65 i. John Sorel ................................................................................................................................. 66 ii. Magda Sorel ............................................................................................................................. 67 iii. The Mother ............................................................................................................................. 68 iv. Mr. Kofner ............................................................................................................................... 70 v. The Foreign Woman ................................................................................................................. 70 vi. Anna Gomez ........................................................................................................................... 71 vii. Vera Boronel .........................................................................................................................