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Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Idea Of ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD’S IDEA OF THE “MODERN”: DEVELOPING VARIATION IN THE PIANO CONCERTO IN C SHARP, OPUS 17 Shu-Yuan Huang, B.F.A, M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2014 APPROVED: Gustavo Romero, Major Professor Margaret Notley, Related Field Professor Pamela Mia Paul, Committee Member Steven Harlos, Chair of Keyboard Studies Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music James Scott, Dean of the College of Music Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Huang, Shu-Yuan. Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Idea of the “Modern”: Developing Variation in the Piano Concerto in C sharp, Opus 17. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), May 2014, 48 pp., 41 musical examples, references, 35 titles. This study examines the Piano Concerto in C sharp, Op.17 (1923), by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), in light of developing variation, techniques that transform motivic ideas and create musical continuity in this work. The troublesome reception history of Korngold’s piano concerto derives from its complex musical features, which have created difficulties in understanding and evaluating this piece. Consequently, critics and scholars often label the highly sophisticated yet tonal musical language in this piece a residue of Romanticism from the nineteenth century. In this document, in contrast, examination of motivic development and connections in Korngold’s piano concerto reveals thematic and structural coherence in light of Korngold’s idea of modernity. This study provides a historical and technical survey of developing variation and discusses Korngold’s implementation of these techniques in his early compositions and the piano concerto. By doing so, this study recognizes the progressive aspect in Korngold’s music. Copyright 2014 by Shu-Yuan Huang ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my profound gratitude to those who helped me through the preparation of my dissertation. I am deeply indebted to my major professor Gustavo Romero, who took pains to discuss the way of presenting ideas with me, Dr. Margaret Notley for her marvelous editing, and Dr. Pamela Paul for her corrections. I am also grateful to Megan Woller and Philip Williams for editing and proofreading my draft and Donna Arnold for helping me obtain the scores. The unconditional support from my family also made the completion of this dissertation possible. All musical examples from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s works are reproduced with permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ..................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPING VARIATION .................................................6 CHAPTER 3 DEVELOPING VARIATION IN KORNGOLD’S PIANO CONCERTO .............18 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................45 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................46 iv LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES All musical examples from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s works are reproduced with permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG. Page EXAMPLE 2.1a Piano sonata No. 2, Op. 2, 1st mov., mm. 1-4 ................................................... 11 EXAMPLE 2.1b Piano sonata No. 2, Op. 2, 1st mov., mm. 9-12 ................................................. 11 EXAMPLE 2.1c Piano sonata No. 2, Op. 2, 1st mov., mm. 30-31 ............................................... 12 EXAMPLE 2.2a Violin sonata, Op. 6, 1st mov., mm. 1-4 ............................................................ 13 EXAMPLE 2.2b Violin sonata, Op. 6, 1st mov., m. 30 ................................................................ 13 EXAMPLE 2.2c Violin sonata, Op. 6, 1st mov., m. 18................................................................. 14 EXAMPLE 2.2d Violin sonata, Op. 6, 1st mov., m. 43 ................................................................ 14 EXAMPLE 2.3a Piano quintet, Op. 15, 3rd mov., rehearsal 49 .................................................... 15 EXAMPLE 2.3b Piano quintet, Op. 15, 3rd mov., rehearsal 54 .................................................... 16 EXAMPLE 2.3c Piano quintet, Op. 15, 3rd mov., rehearsal 55 .................................................... 16 EXAMPLE 3.1 First theme, piano part, mm. 1-5 ......................................................................... 19 EXAMPLE 3.2a Motive A in the piano part, m. 1 ....................................................................... 20 EXAMPLE 3.2b A1 in the piano part, mm. 47-48 ........................................................................ 20 EXAMPLE 3.2c Motive A, A1, and A3, mm. 157-61 ................................................................... 21 EXAMPLE 3.2d Second theme, piano part, mm. 54-58 .............................................................. 22 EXAMPLE 3.3a B1 in the piano part, mm. 19-20 ........................................................................ 23 EXAMPLE 3.3b B1 in the orchestral part, mm. 35-36 ................................................................. 24 EXAMPLE 3.3c B1 in the orchestral part, mm. 39-41 ................................................................. 24 v EXAMPLE 3.4a Motive B and B1, mm. 89-93 ............................................................................ 26 EXAMPLE 3.4b Third theme, orchestral part, mm. 102-3 .......................................................... 27 EXAMPLE 3.5a A4 in the orchestral part, mm. 167-68 ............................................................... 29 EXAMPLE 3.5b A4 in the orchestral part, mm. 187-89 ............................................................... 29 EXAMPLE 3.6a Motive C in the piano part, mm. 1 .................................................................... 30 EXAMPLE 3.6b C1 and C2 in the piano part, mm. 172................................................................ 30 EXAMPLE 3.6c C3 in the orchestral part, mm. 174-75 ............................................................... 31 EXAMPLE 3.6d C3 in the piano part, mm. 219-23 ...................................................................... 31 EXAMPLE 3.7 First scherzo, mm. 227-28................................................................................... 32 EXAMPLE 3.8a A5, C1, and C2 in the piano part, mm. 189-91 ................................................... 33 EXAMPLE 3.8b A5 and B2, mm. 400-4 ....................................................................................... 33 EXAMPLE 3.9 Cadenza, mm. 201-2 ........................................................................................... 34 EXAMPLE 3.10a “Reigen,” mm. 244-50 .................................................................................... 36 EXAMPLE 3.10b “Reigen,” mm. 279-82 .................................................................................... 37 EXAMPLE 3.11a Motive A in the piano part, mm. 319-20 ......................................................... 38 EXAMPLE 3.11b “Slow movement,” piano part, mm. 328-32 ................................................... 38 EXAMPLE 3.12 Recapitulation, mm. 455-60 .............................................................................. 39 EXAMPLE 3.13a Motive B and B1 in the orchestral part, mm. 531-32 ...................................... 40 EXAMPLE 3.13b A1 in the piano part, mm. 594-95 .................................................................... 41 EXAMPLE 3.14a Motive C and C3 in the piano part, mm. 461-62 ............................................. 41 EXAMPLE 3.14b First theme, orchestral part, mm. 466-70 ........................................................ 42 EXAMPLE 3.15 Second theme, mm. 488-89............................................................................... 43 EXAMPLE 3.16 Motive A in the piano part, mm. 580-81 ........................................................... 44 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Piano Concerto in C sharp, Op. 17 (1923), composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and commissioned by the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, is one of the earliest piano concerti for the left hand alone. Although Wittgenstein’s 1924 premiere of Korngold’s piano concerto was well received by audiences, some contemporary critics found it difficult to understand due to its complex musical features. A reviewer for the Arbeiter-Zeitung wrote, “It [is] arguably impossible after one hearing to evaluate or review Korngold’s piano concerto, a work so interesting in its structure, so rich in imagination in its details and so many-sided.”1 Ernst Decsey of the Neues Wiener Tagblatt indeed considered the formal and thematic continuity in Korngold’s piano concerto to be “modern.”2 Decsey’s comment contrasts with the general impression of Korngold as a conservative composer because he never relinquished tonality.3 While other composers during the same period explored new musical languages such as serialism, Korngold held that modernism in music did
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