Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem and the Transformation From
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MCDERMOTT, PAMELA D. J., DMA. The Requiem Reinvented: Brahms‘s Ein deutsches Requiem and the Transformation from Literal to Symbolic. (2010) Directed by Dr. Welborn Young. 217 pp. Johannes Brahms was the first composer to claim the requiem genre without utilizing the Catholic Missa pro defunctis text. Brahms compiled passages from Luther‘s Bible for his 1868 Ein deutsches Requiem, texts that focused on comfort for the living rather than judgment and pleas for mercy on behalf of the deceased. The absence of the traditional text and the change in message created a discrepancy between the genre named in the title and the language and content of the text, and engendered debate concerning the work‘s genre classification. This unresolved debate affects understanding about the development of the genre after 1868. This study applied semiotic theory to the question of genre classification for Ein deutsches Requiem. Marcel Danesi‘s The Quest for Meaning: A Guide to Semiotic Theory and Practice (2007) outlined a method for organizing information relevant to encoded meaning in signifiers such as signs, symbols, and icons. This theory was applied to Ein deutsches Requiem in order to uncover and document encoded meaning behind the word ―requiem‖ in Brahms‘s title. Robert Chase‘s Dies Irae: A Guide to Requiem Music (2003) and Memento Mori: A Guide to Contemporary Memorial Music (2007) provided data from the earliest requiem manuscripts to twenty-first century requiems. Analysis of these data resulted in clearly defined systems of convention related to the genre over time. Identification of the specific practices of requiem composers by era was foundational for an accurate description of the genre both before and after Ein deutsches Requiem. This semiotic study examined ―requiem‖ as a literal term and as a signifier, and defined its moment of signification as it relates to the musical genre. Consideration of historical, comparative, and cultural contexts described how communication through ―requiem‖ as a symbol was achieved. Further analysis outlined the impact of this symbolic requiem on the genre after 1868. The question of genre classification was resolved, enabling a new understanding of the evolution of the requiem genre. THE REQUIEM REINVENTED: BRAHMS‘S EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM AND THE TRANSFORMATION FROM LITERAL TO SYMBOLIC By Pamela D. J. McDermott A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts Greensboro 2010 Approved by ____________________________________ Committee Chair © 2010 Pamela D. J. McDermott APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair ________________________________________ Welborn E. Young Committee Members ________________________________________ David Holley ________________________________________ Randy Kohlenberg ________________________________________ Robert Wells _____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee _____________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii TABLE OF CONTENTS [Semiotics] central aim is to investigate, decipher, document, and explain the what, how, and why of signs, no matter how simple or complex they are. – Marcel Danesi, The Quest for Meaning Page LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 II. DOCUMENTING THE WHAT: A NEW REQUIEM ........................................ 8 Early Writings .......................................................................................... 8 Personal Motivation................................................................................ 11 The Title ................................................................................................. 16 III. EXPLAINING THE WHAT: THE REQUIEM BRAHMS INHERITED.......... 20 Becoming ―Requiem‖ ............................................................................. 20 Requiem by Title .................................................................................... 24 Requiem by Function.............................................................................. 27 Requiem by Form ................................................................................... 38 IV. DOCUMENTING THE HOW: FORM AND TEXT ANALYSIS .................... 44 Systems of Convention Related to Form ................................................. 47 Musical Elements by Movement ............................................................. 53 Systems of Convention Related to Text .................................................. 65 Textual Elements by Movement ............................................................. 68 V. EXPLAINING THE HOW: CULTURAL CONTEXT ..................................... 78 Politics and Religion ............................................................................... 79 Musical Lineage ..................................................................................... 90 Romantic Form ..................................................................................... 101 Requiem as a Cultural Term ................................................................. 105 Brahms in Relation to Culture .............................................................. 108 iii VI. DOCUMENTING THE WHY: EVIDENCE OF A SYMBOL ....................... 121 Reception of the Work .......................................................................... 122 Late-Romantic Requiems: Following Ein deutsches Requiem ............... 131 The Twentieth Century through 1950: Signs of Expansion ................... 134 Post-1950: A Door Wide Open ............................................................. 145 VII. EXPLAINING THE WHY: SYMBOLISM AND ENCODED MEANING .... 148 Symbolism ........................................................................................... 148 Encoded Meaning ................................................................................. 154 VIII. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 168 Primary Sources ............................................................................................... 168 Brahms Sources ............................................................................................... 168 Composer Sources ........................................................................................... 170 General Sources: Music ................................................................................... 172 General Sources: Non-Music............................................................................ 175 APPENDIX A: LITURGICAL REQUIEM TEXTS ..................................................... 177 APPENDIX B: REQUIEM FORMS AND FUNCTIONS, 1750-1867 ......................... 183 APPENDIX C: IDENTIFICATION OF ELEMENTS BY ERA ................................... 188 APPENDIX D: REQUIEM LENGTH AND MOVEMENTS, 1750-1867 .................... 192 APPENDIX E: EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM TEXTS ................................................ 195 APPENDIX F: LECHNER TEXT ............................................................................... 199 APPENDIX G: HEBBEL TEXT ................................................................................. 201 APPENDIX H: REQUIEM POETRY .......................................................................... 202 APPENDIX I: REQUIEM FÜR MIGNON TEXT ........................................................ 203 APPENDIX J: ROMANTIC ERA REQUIEMS ........................................................... 206 iv APPENDIX K: PRE-1950 REQUIEMS ...................................................................... 208 APPENDIX L: POST-1950 REQUIEMS..................................................................... 212 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Final stanzas of the Dies irae poem ................................................................. 23 Figure 2. Table showing similarities in the six-movement structure ............................... 49 Figure 3. Table showing similarities in the seven-movement structure ........................... 50 Figure 4. First movement text comparison ..................................................................... 69 Figure 5. Second movement text comparison ................................................................. 70 Figure 6. Third movement text comparison .................................................................... 72 Figure 7. Fourth movement text comparison .................................................................. 73 Figure 8. Excerpts from ―Deutsche Spruch von Leben und Tod‖ ................................... 92 vi 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Johannes Brahms‘s Ein deutsches Requiem nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, op. 45, was a progressive work within the requiem genre. Brahms‘s combination of music based on the requiem genre, a universally meaningful text, and a bold use of the word ―requiem‖ in the title moved the requiem genre outside the bounds of a single denomination and renewed the relevance of the form. Brahms‘s work established a new precedent