University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 2015 Carl Friedrich Zelter’s Kantate Auf Den Tod Friedrichs: An Historical Overview, Conductor’s Guide, And Modern Edition Dustin C. Ousley University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Ousley, D. C.(2015). Carl Friedrich Zelter’s Kantate Auf Den Tod Friedrichs: An Historical Overview, Conductor’s Guide, And Modern Edition. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3714 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CARL FRIEDRICH ZELTER’S KANTATE AUF DEN TOD FRIEDRICHS: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW, CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE, AND MODERN EDITION by Dustin C. Ousley Bachelor of Arts Furman University, 2003 Master of Music University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2005 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting School of Music University of South Carolina 2015 Accepted by: Ellen Exner, Major Professor Larry Wyatt, Committee Member Alicia Walker, Committee Member Andrew Gowan, Committee Member Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by Dustin C. Ousley, 2015 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The inspiration for this document grew out of a conversation with Dr. Ellen Exner, Assistant Professor of Music History at the University of South Carolina. She presented this composition and challenged me to take the project. I am indebted to Dr. Exner for "throwing down the gauntlet” and providing me with such an interesting avenue for exploration. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Larry Wyatt for his patience, trust, and professional guidance throughout my time in the DMA program. I have learned so much from rehearsals, classes, and spontaneous chats. Thanks, also, to Dr. Alicia Walker, who has shown equal patience in her mentorship, always gracious and willing to be a “listening ear.” Thanks to both of you for the amazing and enriching opportunities you have provided for me during this degree program. Additional thanks goes to Dr. Andrew Gowan for his significant feedback as a committee member for both my comprehensive exam and document. I also would like to gratefully acknowledge the work of all involved in the preparation and performance of Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs: To the Coker Singers, Stephanie Beinlich, Johnnie Felder, Dan Cole, and the faculty and students at USC, for bringing just the right combination of experience, professionalism, finesse, and drama to the performance. Finally, I owe more than a word of thanks to my wife, Lee Whittington Ousley: thank you for your love, your support, for always finding a way to make life easier for me, and for being my life companion. iii ABSTRACT This study of Carl Friedrich Zelter’s Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs marks the first scholarly and musical exploration of the piece since the eighteenth century. A hand- copied score of the cantata was converted into modern notation in 2009 using the program Sibelius. This version of the score, as well as instrumental parts, was used for the lecture-recital that grew from the study of this work. The manuscript’s present-day owner, Renate de La Trobe of Hamburg, Germany, granted access to a fair copy of the original score with a dedication in Zelter’s own hand. A member of Mrs. de La Trobe’s family received a copy of the score from Zelter himself in the eighteenth century. Carl Friedrich Zelter was a German composer, conductor, and pedagogue who spent his entire life in the city of Berlin and played a central role in shaping public musical life in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs represents a pivotal moment in Zelter’s life. Prior to the funeral cantata’s composition, Zelter’s father had no enthusiasm about his son’s artistic pursuits; a relationship oddly parallel with that of Frederick the Great and his father, but less violent. Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs may not have received the acclaim Zelter had hoped for at the time of its premiere in 1786, but it found favor with his father, who counted Frederick as his greatest hero. Georg Zelter did not live to hear his son’s speech at the 1809 commemoration of Frederick’s death, but the pride, passion, and love that Carl Friedrich Zelter poured into his cantata most definitely convinced Georg that his son’s musical talents were put to productive use. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi FOREWORD ................................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1. FREDERICK THE GREAT (THE INSPIRATION) ..................................6 CHAPTER 2. CARL FRIEDRICH ZELTER (THE COMPOSER) .................................15 CHAPTER 3. SCORE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................21 CHAPTER 4. PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS ..................................................44 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION .........................................................................................57 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................59 APPENDIX A: ENGLISH TRANSLATION ...................................................................61 APPENDIX B: FORM CHARTS .....................................................................................65 APPENDIX C: DMA RECITAL PROGRAMS ...............................................................71 APPENDIX D: PREFACE TO MODERN EDITION .....................................................77 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 - New Grove Dictionary (Carl Friedrich Zelter’s List of Works) ....................13 Figure 1.2 - Opening of Kantate auf den Tod Friedrichs ..................................................13 (Hand-Copied Score) Figure 1.3 - Map of Prussia Before and After Frederick the Great’s reign .......................14 (1740-1786) Figure 3.1 – Opening movement—Sonata form ................................................................32 (Movement 1, first page) Figure 3.2 - Abrupt shift in modulation .............................................................................33 (Movement 1, mm. 29-30) Figure 3.3 - Delaying the harmonic resolution (“Avoiding reality”) .................................33 (Movement 1, mm. 47-48) Figure 3.4 - 4-3 suspension (viola part) .............................................................................34 (Movement 1, mm. 1-2) Figure 3.5 - Other examples of harmonic/melodic suspensions ........................................35 (Movement 1, m. 32, mm. 36-40, m. 44) Figure 3.6 - Descending soprano “sobbing” sequence ......................................................37 (Movement 4, mm. 45-58) Figure 3.7 - Rhythmic pattern of Frederick’s descent into the grave ................................38 (Movement 4, mm. 60-69) Figure 3.8a - Melismatic passage—Tenor Aria .................................................................39 (Movement 7, mm. 34-38) Figure 3.8b - Melismatic passage—Soprano Aria .............................................................40 (Movement 9, mm. 72-76) Figure 3.9a - Tenor recitative with cadence following text ...............................................41 (Movement 2, mm. 18-23) vi Figure 3.9b - Tenor recitative with cadence following text ...............................................42 (Movement 6, mm. 12-15) Figure 3.10a - Bass recitative with simultaneous cadence and text ...................................43 (Movement 3, mm. 24-26) Figure 3.10b - Soprano recitative with simultaneous cadence and text .............................43 (Movement 8, mm. 19-24) Figure 4.1 - The Prussians’ “Stunned Silence” ..................................................................56 (Movement 2, mm. 41-48) vii FOREWORD This dissertation is part of the document requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting. The requirement also consisted of four recitals whose programs are included in Appendix C. The content of this document focuses on a work by Carl Friedrich Zelter that was composed in the late-eighteenth century to commemorate the death of Frederick the Great. The work, in private possession from the late-eighteenth century and then tucked into storage before the outbreak of World War II, was reintroduced through a North American premiere performed in excerpt on Sunday, February 22, 2015 in the recital hall of the University of South Carolina’s School of Music in Columbia, South Carolina. The program featured the Coker Singers from Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and the orchestra featured faculty and students from the University of South Carolina. Stephanie Beinlich, Johnnie Felder, and Daniel Cole served as soprano, tenor, and bass