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ORIENTALISM in BENJAMIN BRITTEN's CURLEW RIVER By c.l ORIENTALISM IN BENJAMIN BRITTEN'S CURLEW RIVER by JEAN HODGINS B. Mus., The University of British Columbia, 1963 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Music We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May, 1981 Jean Hodgins, 1981 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requir ments for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by hi or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Music The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date .0, oH. .11V ABSTRACT ORIENTALISM IN BENJAMIN BRITTEN'S CURLEW RIVER by JEAN HODGINS Benjamin Britten's Curlew River, Op. 71 was written in 1964, eight years after a prolonged trip to the Near East. This trip had a profound effect on three of Britten's major works, namely his ballet score The Prince of the Pagodas,- Op. 55 written in 1956, Songs from the Chinese, Op. 58 written in 19 57 and finally Curlew River. These three works show in various ways a merging of Britten's personal style with specifi oriental musical characteristics giving rise to a particularly interesting cultural synthesis. In the last of these works, Curlew River, the' compositional style of the composer becomes so integrated with oriental, and specifically Noh-drama charac• teristics that to analyse and enumerate separate cultural aspects in the music becomes a difficult task. In order to discuss Curlew River as a cross-cultural phenomenon, a critical examination of certain aspects of style and performance in two cultural spheres is necessary. A brief discussion of the Medieval mystery play and the Japanese Noh Drama and their important components is a logical preliminary to any detailed analysis of Curlew River. Also, a general look at what "orientalism" has meant historically, in the field of western music, is important in forming some points of reference for the proposed study. Further, in an attempt to characterize "orientalism" in Curlew River, a brief look at Britten's previous excursions into this area will be undertaken On a more detailed level, a discussion of certain aspects of Britten's compositional techniques in Curlew River is necessary emphasizing specific cultural borrowings from the Japanese Noh Drama in areas of vocal, instrumental, ensemble, dramatic and structural writing. It is expected that, in con• sidering Britten's treatment of adapted non-western composi• tional techniques within the framework of his own personal style, a clearer conception will evolve of the extent to which Britten integrates aspects of two such diverse musical cultures. Although Benjamin Britten, in a "Note by the Composer" enclosed in the London Recording (1965) of Curlew River, writes that there is "nothing specifically Japanese left in the Parable that William Plomer and I have written" a strong case can be made for the cultural synthesis that Curlew River rep• resents. While lists of parallels may be drawn between the two types of morality plays - the Noh Drama.and the Medieval religious play - and while further parallels may be drawn be• tween Sumidagawa and its realization Curlew River, the real task lies in showing how Britten was able to avoid a naive pastiche of the Japanese model and instead was able to create an integrated, viable and innovative Church Parable. While the parallel concept is generally realized by researchers, there have been few attempts to show the depth of cross- cultural concept inherent in Curlew River. Therefore, it would appear to be important to examine crit• ically and to reveal Benjamin Britten's extraordinary ability to absorb another culture's musical ideal, to incorporate this ideal iv into conventions of his own musical culture and. to arrive at a work that is still representative of his own highly individual compositional style. Curlew River, the last of Britten's works directly influenced by orientalism and considered by many scholars to be tremendously influential on his later scores, presents a unique opportunity for such a study. V TABLE' OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT viii INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. ORIENTALISM Introduction 5 Chinoiserie 6 Orientalism in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Music 12 Japonaiserie in the Nineteenth Century ... 17 Orientalism in Nineteenth Century Music . 18 Summary 24 II. DRAMATIC AND FORMAL ELEMENTS: ASSOCIATION WITH JAPANESE NOH-DRAMA .... 27 III. INSTRUMENTAL ELEMENTS: COINCIDENCE AND ASSOCIATION WITH JAPANESE MUSIC 54 IV. VOCAL ELEMENTS: COINCIDENCE AND ASSOCIATION WITH JAPANESE MUSIC 81 V. CONCLUSIONS 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books and Articles 103 Music Editions 106 vi LIST OF TABLES LIST OF TABLES TABLE I NOH STRUCTURE AND MUSICAL STYLE .40 TABLE II COMPARISON BETWEEN NOH-DRAMA AND CURLEW RIVER - DRAMATIC AND MUSICAL STRUCTURE 43 / \ vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Man dressed for working compared to Ferryman .... 36 1 2. Madwoman costumes 36 3. Man in travelling clothes compared to Traveller . 36 4. Nohkan 57 5. Ko tzuzumi 57 6. 0 tzuzumi 57 7. Taiko 5 7 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank several people for their help and advice in the preparation of this thesis. Dr. Dimitri Conomos, my committee chairman, was particularly helpful with his extensive knowledge of the music of Benjamin Britten. Dr. Robert Morris and Mr. Elliot Weisgarber both lent their expertise in matters of vocal works and Japanese music. Dr. Ming-Yueh Liang is largely responsible for my continued interest in the field of Asian music. Dr. Terence Bailey and Kathryn Bailey were mentors for many of the ideas in the thesis, and Dr. Evan Kreider kindly spent considerable time on details of presentation. r 1 INTRODUCTION In 1955, Benjamin Britten took an extended trip to the Far East, where he heard performances of the Balinese gamelan and the traditional music of Japan. These two experiences, vividly recalled in a companion's travel diary,1 left a profound impression on Britten's musical expression over the next decade. With remarkable sensitivity to a foreign musical genre, Britten absorbed oriental characteristics into his compositional fibre, creating a fascinating synthesis of qualities from two musical cultures. Three specific works, the Prince of the Pagodas, Songs from the Chinese and Curlew River, all written between 1956 and 1964 show this cultural synthesis to a greater or lesser degree. The latest of the three works, Curlew River, composed in 1964, presents the greatest variety and complexity of orientalisms and, as a consequence, provides a rich source for examination. This church parable, based on a Japanese Noh-drama, is of interest to scholars for many different reasons. As the first of Britten's church parables, it represents a new musical genre combining elements of opera, cantata and oratorio as well as aspects of the ancient morality play. Furthermore, many scholars feel that Curlew River symbolizes the transition to Britten's last stylistic period of composi• tion, a period marked by increased abstraction in rhythm, tonality and harmony. However, of singular importance to this Ludwig, Prince of Hesse and the Rhine. "Ausflug Ost", 1956, A Tribute to Benjamin Britten on his Fiftieth Birthday by A. Gishford, Faber, London, 1963. 2 thesis are the adaptations of oriental musical characteristics into western musical forms. Such stylistic aspects as per• formance medium and practice, melody, rhythm, harmony and form are examined only to the extent that they shed light on the question of a cross-cultural synthesis. The above stylistic considerations in Curlew River are identified both by their oriental prototype and by Britten's adaptation. This bilateral approach offers a concrete appreciation of the extent to which Britten borrows and interprets another culture's musical attri• butes, skillfully blending them into a European artistic conception. In exposing these characteristics some interesting consid• erations arise which should be noted at this time. While many of the orientalisms are self-evident, 'once the background of Curlew River is understood, many other Eastern features which are less obvious require fairly intense scrutiny. However, there lie dangers in too close an examination of the score of Curlew River if the researcher begins seeing more cultural borrowings than are truly present. It is prudent to remember that while Britten was a great musician with a sensitive ear, he was expert neither in Japanese music nor in the Noh-drama. His stay in Tokyo was very brief and it appears that he saw 2 only two performances of this kind of theatre. He was also present at one special performance of gagaku, the Japanese Benjamin Britten, "A Note By the Composer" in the record notes for Curlew River, London Recording, OSA-1156, 1956. 3 Imperial Court Music. Undoubtedly, the essential aspects of the performances that Britten attended in Japan were explained to him by experts, but nowhere in any writings about Britten are there any indications that he studied Japanese music. Rather, it appears that Britten was influenced to a remarkable degree by this limited exposure to the Noh-drama and gagaku, which provided the impetus for his formed utilization of Japanese musical idioms. Therefore, it is important to conduct any examination of Curlew River with a realistic attitude to the degree of complexity of orientalisms in the score. Although Britten's knowledge of Japanese musical practise is that of the educated and perceptive layman, his usage is masterly.
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