Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni's Orchestral Elegies

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Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni's Orchestral Elegies POLYPHONIC HARMONY IN THREE OF FERRUCCIO BUSONI’S ORCHESTRAL ELEGIES Colin Davis, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2015 APPROVED: Timothy L. Jackson, Major Professor Hendrik Schulze, Committee Member Stephen Slottow, Committee Member Frank Heidlberger, Committee Member and Chair of the Department of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology Benjamin Brand, Directory of Graduate Studies for the College of Music James Scott, Dean of the College of Music Costas Tsatsoulis, Interim Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Davis, Colin. Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni’s Orchestral Elegies. Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology - Music Theory), May 2015, 225 pp., 82 musical examples, bibliography, 91 titles. This dissertation focuses on three of Busoni’s late orchestral works known as “orchestral elegies”: Berceuse élégiaque (Elegie no. 1, 1909), Gesang vom Reigen der Geister (Elegie no. 4, 1915), and Sarabande (Elegie no. 5, 1918-19). The study seeks to provide a better understanding of Busoni’s late style as a crucial bridge from late nineteenth-century chromaticism in the works of Liszt, Wagner, and others to the post-tonal languages of the twentieth century. At the heart of this study lies a particular concept that forms the basis of many characteristic features of Busoni’s late style, namely the concept of polyphonic harmony, or harmony as a cumulative result of independent melodic lines. This concept is also related to a technique of orchestration in which the collective harmony is sounded in such a way that the individual voices are distinct. In the highly personal tonal language of Busoni’s late works, passages often consist of a web of motives weaved throughout the voices at the surface level of the music. Linear analysis provides a means of unravelling the dense fabric of voices and illustrating the underlying harmonic progressions, which most often consist of parallel, primarily semitonal, progressions of tertian sonorities. Chapter 1 provides a backdrop for this study, including a brief summary of Busoni’s ideas on the aesthetics of music and a summary of his influence and development as a composer. Chapter 2 addresses the concept of polyphonic harmony in more detail, some theoretical ideas related to it, and characteristics of Busoni’s late style that reflect this concept. Chapter 3 is dedicated to analytical methodology, addressing concepts which emerge from various linear approaches to the analysis of some twentieth-century music. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are each dedicated to a specific work, the purpose being to illuminate through linear analysis compositional characteristics and techniques related to the concept of polyphonic harmony, including the flexibility between the melodic and harmonic realms, chord misalignment, overlap, and superposition. Copyright 2015 by Colin Davis ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Timothy Jackson for his instruction, guidance, and support throughout my graduate studies. His work has been a major source of inspiration for my own. I would also like to express my deep appreciation for Professor Stephen Slottow. His teaching and research have been a great example for my own development as a teacher and scholar and his advice has taught me much over the years. I would also like to thank Professor Frank Heidlberger and Professor Hendrik Schulze for their insightful comments and criticism. I would like to thank my wife, Jenny, without whom I could not have succeeded in my studies. She has been a wonderful source of love and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and support during this process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEGMENTS ................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF EXAMPLES .................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 1.1 Busoni as Composer ................................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................4 1.3 Busoni’s Aesthetic Viewpoint .................................................................................6 1.4 Busoni’s Concept of Young Classicism ................................................................12 1.5 Busoni and the Essence of Music ..........................................................................15 1.6 Influence and Development as a Composer...........................................................17 CHAPTER 2 THE CONCEPT OF POLYPHONIC HARMONY IN BUSONI’S LATE STYLE ................................................................................................................................23 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................23 2.2 J.S. Bach’s Polyphonic Style as a Model for Harmonic Exploration ....................27 2.3 Bernhard Ziehn’s Influence on Busoni’s Harmonic Thinking ..............................31 2.4 Polyphonic Harmony in Busoni’s Late Style.........................................................41 CHAPTER 3 ANALYTICAL APPROACH .................................................................................48 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................48 3.2 Prolongation in Post-Tonal Analysis .....................................................................49 3.3 A More Recent Approach to Prolongation in Tonal Music through Pervasive Fluency ...................................................................................................................56 3.4 An Associational Approach to Post-Tonal, Tertian Music ....................................58 3.5 Analytical Approach to the Orchestral Elegies ......................................................60 CHAPTER 4 BERCEUSE ÉLÉGIAQUE.......................................................................................64 iv 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................64 4.2 Stylistic, Formal, and Structural Overview............................................................68 4.3 Chromatic Fluctuation of the Referential Sonority through Neighbor Tones .......75 4.4 Motive or Melody-Driven Harmony, Interlocking Harmonic Intervals, and the Interaction of Melody and Harmony ................................................................78 4.5 Chord Superposition at the Surface Level .............................................................82 4.6 Migration of Chromatic Linear Progressions through Stretto ...............................85 4.7 The Linearization of Compound Chords ...............................................................86 4.8 Simultaneous Chord Progressions at the Surface Level as a Result of Harmonic Superposition ........................................................................................89 4.9 Further Examples of Chord Superposition, Quartal Chords, Misalignment, Stretto, and the Interaction of Melody and Harmony ............................................91 4.10 Concluding Remarks ..............................................................................................97 CHAPTER 5 GESANG VOM REIGEN DER GEISTER................................................................99 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................99 5.2 Formal and Structural Overview ..........................................................................100 5.3 Progressions Arising from Apparent Voices .......................................................104 5.4 Parallel Progressions with Implied Tones Emphasizing Minor Third-Related Harmonies ............................................................................................................106 5.5 The “Song of the Spirit-Dance” Theme as Absolute Melody..............................108 5.6 Some Instances of Chord Superposition in Gesang .............................................110 CHAPTER 6 SARABANDE .........................................................................................................115 6.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................115 6.2 Formal and Structural Overview ..........................................................................119 6.3 Polyphonic Harmony and Surface-level Conflicts Between Melody and Harmony ..............................................................................................................127 v 6.4 Aspects of Melody and Harmony in Wedge Progressions ..................................131 6.5 Harmonic Overlap Projected through Independent Voices .................................135 6.6 Chromatic Saturation within Migrating Voices ...................................................137 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................139 7.1 Characteristics of Busoni’s Late Style and their Relation to the Concept of Polyphonic Harmony ...........................................................................................139
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