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The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff

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The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 8-2019 The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff Sara Marie Schuhardt Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Schuhardt, Sara Marie, "The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff" (2019). Dissertations. 590. https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/590 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © 2019 SARA MARIE SCHUHARDT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School THE FLUTE WORKS OF ERWIN SCHULHOFF A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Arts Sara Marie Schuhardt College of Performing and Visual Arts School of Music August 2019 This Dissertation by: Sara Marie Schuhardt Entitled: The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Arts in College of Performing and Visual Arts in School of Music Accepted by the Doctoral Committee ______________________________________________________ Carissa Reddick, Ph.D., Research Advisor ______________________________________________________ James Hall, D.M.A., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Jonathan Bellman, D.M.A., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Janice Dickensheets, D.A., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Stephen Luttmann, M.L.S., Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense _________________________________________ Accepted by the Graduate School __________________________________________________ Linda L. Black, Ed.D. Associate Provost and Dean Graduate School and International Admissions Research and Sponsored Projects ABSTRACT Schuhardt, Sara. The Flute Works of Erwin Schulhoff. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2019. While recent scholarship has begun to elucidate the life and compositions of Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff, whose life was cut short during the Holocaust, many of his works remain lesser known. The composer’s three works that feature flute (Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass; Sonata for Flute and Pianoforte; and Double Concerto for Flute and Piano) paint an intriguing picture of his late-1920s distinct and eclectic instrumental style. Recent in-depth theories of musical agency (which has long been a pervasive, albeit previously little-defined, perspective in music circles) by Hatten, Klorman, and Monahan supply an excellent lens through which to view chamber music. Coupled with stylistic, formal, and general analysis, the application of agential theories to this music yields fruitful snapshots of musical discourse and Schulhoff’s stylistic synthesis. Analyses of the three flute works reveal a distinct conversation between and “proto-narrativity” of the chamber music instrument personas of each piece as well as the interaction of folk music elements, modernist harmonic practices, jazz materials, Neoclassical tendencies, rhythmic vitality, metric ambiguity, and traditional formal structures within the composer’s style between 1925 and 1927. The numerous conversational and stylistic interactions uncovered using this kind of agential approach have profound implications for theorists, musicologists, and performers alike. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe endless thanks to several people who have been involved in this project, including all of my committee members. Thank you especially to my research advisor, Dr. Carissa Reddick, for feeding my excitement about my topic, reassuring me that I was always where I needed to be in the process, and responding enthusiastically to my ideas. I certainly could not have finished this document (and my years of education!) without the continual support of my family and friends, to whom I am utterly grateful. I dedicate this dissertation, then, with love, to Randy, Shannon, and Brittany (my dad, mom, and sister). Also, Rachael Diebold and Brielle Frost, you have my deepest gratitude for all of your patient listening during the ups and downs of such an endeavor. And Becky Herfkens, thank you for being my second set of eyes in editing my writing. My thanks also goes to Dr. James Hall for diving into Schulhoff’s Sonata for Flute and Pianoforte with me as I learned it for my doctoral recital, the experience which first sparked my interest in this music. Finally, thank you to Hal Leonard LLC and Universal AG for granting me the following copyright permissions: Sonata For Flute And Pianoforte By Edwin Schulhoff Copyright (c) 1928, 1996 by Chester Music Ltd., London International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard LLC Erwin Schulhoff „Concertino | für Flöte, Viola und Kontrabass“ © Copyright 1927 by Universal Edition A.G., Wien iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 About Erwin Schulhoff ................................................................................................... 3 Schulhoff’s Musical Style ............................................................................................... 7 Historical Context ......................................................................................................... 12 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER II ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES ............................................................... 24 Theories of Musical Agency ......................................................................................... 26 Tools of General Analysis ............................................................................................ 38 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER III CONCERTINO FOR FLUTE, VIOLA, AND DOUBLE BASS, WV 75 (1925) ................................................................................................................... 42 Background ................................................................................................................... 42 Movement I: Andante con moto ................................................................................... 44 Analysis of Movement I ............................................................................................ 45 Folk Elements and Agency in Movement I .............................................................. 60 Movement II: Furiant .................................................................................................... 62 Analysis of Movement II .......................................................................................... 63 Folk Elements and Agency in Movement II ............................................................. 75 Movement III: Andante ................................................................................................. 76 Analysis of Movement III ......................................................................................... 76 Folk Elements and Agency in Movement III ............................................................ 84 Movement IV: Rondino ................................................................................................ 85 Analysis of Movement IV ......................................................................................... 85 Folk Elements and Agency in Movement IV ........................................................... 94 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 96 v CHAPTER IV SONATA FOR FLUTE AND PIANOFORTE, WV 86 (1927) .............. 97 Background ................................................................................................................... 97 Movement I: Allegro moderato .................................................................................... 99 Analysis of Movement I ............................................................................................ 99 Impressionism, Ambiguity, and Agency in Movement I ........................................ 116 Movement II: Scherzo (Allegro giocoso) ................................................................... 118 Analysis of Movement II ........................................................................................ 118 Humor, Folk Influences, and Agency in Movement II ........................................... 127 Movement III: Aria (Andante) .................................................................................... 129 Analysis of Movement III ....................................................................................... 129 Metrical Dissonance, Impressionism, and Agency in Movement III .................... 135 Movement IV: Rondo-Finale (Allegro molto) ............................................................ 137 Analysis of Movement IV ....................................................................................... 137 Clarity, Modality, and Agency in Movement IV ...................................................
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