Echoes of the Avant-Garde in American Minimalist Opera
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ECHOES OF THE AVANT-GARDE IN AMERICAN MINIMALIST OPERA Ryan Scott Ebright A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music. Chapel Hill 2014 Approved by: Mark Katz Tim Carter Brigid Cohen Annegret Fauser Philip Rupprecht © 2014 Ryan Scott Ebright ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Ryan Scott Ebright: Echoes of the Avant-garde in American Minimalist Opera (Under the direction of Mark Katz) The closing decades of the twentieth century witnessed a resurgence of American opera, led in large part by the popular and critical success of minimalism. Based on repetitive musical structures, minimalism emerged out of the fervid artistic intermingling of mid twentieth- century American avant-garde communities, where music, film, dance, theater, technology, and the visual arts converged. Within opera, minimalism has been transformational, bringing a new, accessible musical language and an avant-garde aesthetic of experimentation and politicization. Thus, minimalism’s influence invites a reappraisal of how opera has been and continues to be defined and experienced at the turn of the twenty-first century. “Echoes of the Avant-garde in American Minimalist Opera” offers a critical history of this subgenre through case studies of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha (1980), Steve Reich’s The Cave (1993), and John Adams’s Doctor Atomic (2005). This project employs oral history and archival research as well as musical, dramatic, and dramaturgical analyses to investigate three interconnected lines of inquiry. The first traces the roots of these operas to the aesthetics and practices of the American avant-garde communities with which these composers collaborated early in their careers. The second examines how the non-traditional modes of communication used by these operas—whether narrative or technological— restructure the relationship between spectator and performer. The third line of inquiry takes a iii political approach, focusing on how these works perform exceptionalist notions of national identity. Through the construction of interdisciplinary frameworks that draw on theories of drama, narrativity, film, and sound studies, this dissertation presents a nuanced profile of the evolution of American opera. It also offers a musically-oriented perspective on cultural constructions of American identity, thus contributing to a growing body of scholarship on American exceptionalism. Finally, this dissertation documents the avant-garde’s continued legacy as its aesthetics, practices, and politics transfer across genre, time, and space. iv For Sara. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like the operas I write about, this dissertation is the product of people working together. The contributions of my subjects and colleagues have made this study infinitely richer than it would be otherwise. I owe my first debt of gratitude to the members of my committee, who have guided me throughout this process. Mark Katz, my advisor, continually encouraged me to confront the larger questions surrounding this topic. Brigid Cohen, with whom I began this study, set me on my path and provided continual support, and the rest of my committee— Tim Carter, Annegret Fauser, and Philip Rupprecht—provided valuable feedback and suggestions. Other scholars have also given generously of their time and resources, especially Alice Cotter, who shared with me research opportunities and sources to which I otherwise would not have had access. I am also grateful to the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of Music and Music Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, especially David Garcia, Kristen Turner, Chris Reali, and Matt Franke, all of whom were sources of valuable insight and encouragement as they read and discussed early chapter drafts. The Department of Music generously funded several research and conference trips through the Kenan Graduate Student Activities Fund, allowing me to travel to San Francisco, New York, Princeton, Little Rock, and Long Beach. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at UNC- Chapel Hill provided further support through the Suzanne Levy Summer Research Fellowship, which supported my trip to the Paul Sacher Stiftung, a Graduate Student vi Transportation Grant that made possible my travel to the Fourth International Conference of Minimalist Music, and the Dissertation Completion Fellowship, which allowed me to dedicate my last year in Chapel Hill to writing and researching without interruption. A travel award from the Graduate and Professional Student Federation at UNC-Chapel Hill gave me the opportunity to conduct additional research and interviews in New York. The staffs of the institutions I visited were always helpful and accommodating. I wish to first thank the San Francisco Opera for welcoming my visit in 2012; David Gockley, Kip Cranna, and Steven White were extremely supportive. At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sharon Lehner and Louie Fleck kindly allowed me to view their archival materials, and the staffs of the Music Division of the New York Public Library and Mandeville Special Collections at the University of California, San Diego helped me track down additional materials. At the Paul Sacher Stiftung, my research was enriched and aided by Matthias Kassel, Johanna Blask, and Tina Kilvio. This dissertation would not have been possible without the contributions of the artists and collaborators about whom I write, and I am so grateful for their willingness to speak with me about their work and answer my questions. Garnett Bruce, Dennis Russell Davies, Constance DeJong, David Gockley, Mark Grey, Robert Israel, Beryl Korot, Nick Mangano, Carey Perloff, and Peter Sellars all generously gave of their time to speak with me, and several provided valuable comments and corrections on drafts of this study. I would also like to specifically thank Kip Cranna, Constance DeJong, Beryl Korot, Steve Reich, and Pamela Rosenberg for giving me permission to include transcriptions of their unpublished documents. vii Finally, I wish to thank my friends and family. Kevin Wetzel, Damon Ferrante, and Garnett Bruce, three long-time friends and musical colleagues, encouraged me through their continued interest in my dissertation, and Garnett provided me with an introduction to both Mark Grey and David Gockley. Mick Bonde and Chris Shenkle graciously furnished me with accommodations during research trips to New York City, usually on short notice. My parents and in-laws also provided help at critical junctures, happily spending time with their grandchildren so that I could have time to think and write. In the final stages, my mother, Linda, crossed the country repeatedly, and my debt to her is immense. My son, Emerson, and daughter, McCarron, helped remind of larger perspectives on life. And, finally, I must express my gratitude and appreciation for Sara, without whom this dissertation would not have been possible. From start to finish, she was there, supporting me every step of the way, reading every word that I wrote, and providing honest and invaluable feedback. This dissertation is dedicated to her. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF MUSIC EXAMPLES ............................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................. xii LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................................xiii INTRODUCTION. THE CHANGING IMAGE OF OPERA.................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1. EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH: MINIMALISM GOES TO THE OPERA HOUSE...................................................................................................... 13 The American (Theatrical) Avant-garde........................................................................... 17 Minimalism....................................................................................................................... 25 American Opera and Narratives of Exceptionalism ......................................................... 32 Einstein on the Beach: Avant-garde, American, Minimalist Opera ................................. 40 CHAPTER 2. SATYAGRAHA: INTERWEAVING NARRATIVES...................................... 46 Authoring Satyagraha: Synopsis and Chronology ........................................................... 48 From Paris to SoHo: Glass, His Collaborators, and the Avant-garde............................... 64 Completing the Work: Semantic Space and the Aesthetics of Spectatorship in Satyagraha ............................................................................................. 73 Gandhi in America: Satyagraha from the Civil Rights Movement to Occupy Lincoln Center..................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER 3. THE CAVE: THEATER OF TESTIMONY AND TECHNOLOGY ............ 100 Collaborating on The Cave: Chronology and Synopsis.................................................. 102 Reich, Korot, and the Technological Avant-Garde ........................................................ 126 Sampling Testimonies: The Musico-Theatrical Aesthetics of The Cave........................ 133 ix “Reconciling the Family of Man”: (De-)Politicizing The Cave ..................................... 143 CHAPTER 4. DOCTOR ATOMIC: FUSING ART AND LIFE..........................................