Rhythmic Freedom in Mendelssohn's Six Organ Sonatas
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Rhythmic Freedom in Mendelssohn's Six Organ Sonatas Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Thomas , William Kullen Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 07:16:54 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/642104 RHYTHMIC FREEDOM IN MENDELSSOHN’S SIX ORGAN SONATAS by William Kullen Thomas _____________________________ Copyright ©William Kullen Thomas 2020 A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the FRED FOX SCHOOL OF MUSIC In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2020 2 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Doctor of Musical Arts Document Committee, we certify that we have read the document prepared by William Kullen Thomas, titled Rhythmic Freedom in Mendelssohn’s Six Organ Sonatas and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. ___ ____________________________________ Date: June 15, 2020 Professor Rex A. Woods ___ ______________________________________ Date: June 15, 2020 Dr. Jay Rosenblatt Date: June 15, 2020 Professor Edward Reid Final approval and acceptance of this document is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the document to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this document prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement. Date: June 15, 2020 Professor Rex A. Woods Document Committee Chair Fred Fox School of Music 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, thank you to the major committee members of my doctoral advisory committee, Professor Rex Woods, Dr. Jay Rosenblatt, and Professor Edward Reid. I am sincerely grateful for both your guidance and assistance in the development of this document. I am also very grateful to several mentors that have guided me along my musical journey. First, thank you to my high-school organ teacher, Canon Dr. Michael Velting from Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee, for always supporting and encouraging me through the years. Thank you to my undergraduate organ professor Dr. J. Ryan Garber for believing in my potential as a performer, and thank you to my graduate organ teacher Professor John Brock for helping me advance my skill level as an organist. Thank you also to Musicologist, Dr. Rachel Golden, with whom I studied at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. While working on a master’s degree, Dr. Golden strongly encouraged me to purse a doctorate and continue with my love and research of Felix Mendelssohn. Importantly, thank you to my mother, Dr. Donna Eley Bush, retired Professor of Business from Middle Tennessee State University, for teaching me the importance and value of achieving higher education. Finally, it is to the wonderful clergy and congregation of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Tucson, Arizona to whom I feel the most indebted. I have had the privilege and honor of serving as the Director of Music and an Administrative Associate at Christ the King during my doctoral work. Without the love and support of the members of Christ the King, the completion of my DMA would not have been possible. 4 DEDICATION To the members of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Tucson, Arizona. “Words seem to me so ambiguous, so vague, so easily misunderstood in comparison to a piece of genuine music, which fills one’s soul with a thousand better things than words .” Felix Mendelssohn 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................................6 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES...................................................................................................7 ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 1: MENDELSSOHN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ORGAN...............................11 1.1 A Non-Conventional Approach to Playing Organ Repertoire…………………..…….11 1.2 The Spontaneous Mendelssohn ....................................................................................18 CHAPTER 2: APPROACHES TO RHYTHM…………………………………………………..22 2.1 The Nineteenth Century ...............................................................................................22 2.2 The Twentieth Century ................................................................................................24 CHAPTER 3: FEATURES OF AND GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR PERORMANCE PRACTICE IN THE SIX ORGAN SONATAS OPUS 65…………...…………………….....…29 3.1 Background and Overview………………………………………………….………..29 3.2 Registration…………………………………………………………………………..32 3.3 Ambiguity of Slurs ………….......................................................................................33 3.4 Rhythmic Irregularities.…………..……………………………………………….….36 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION......................................................................................................51 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................53 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Advertisement July 24, 1845 in the Musical World …………………………………...30 7 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Musical Example 1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in A Minor , BWV 543, mm. 1-2..………13 Musical Example 2. Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in A Minor , BWV 543, mm. 21-22.…….13 Musical Example 3. Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in A Minor , BWV 543, mm. 30-33..……14 Musical Example 4. Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in A Minor , BWV 543, mm. 34-36…..…14 Musical Example 5. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , Op. 65 first movement, mm. 96-103…….……………………………………………………………………………...…33 Musical Example 6. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , fourth movement, mm. 14…………………………………………………………………………………………………34 Musical Example 7. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 6 in D Minor , Op. 65 first movement, mm. 27-29………………………………………………………………………...…35 Musical Example 8. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 5 in D Major , second movement, mm. 1-7……..……………………………………………………………………………………36 Musical Example 9. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , fourth movement, mm. 60-66…..…………………………………………………………………………………………36 Musical Example 10. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , second movement mm. 1-13…………………………………………………………………………………………37 Musical Example 11. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 6 in D Minor , third movement, mm. 15……..…………………………………………………………………………………..……....37 Musical Example 12. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , first movement, mm. 61-65……………………………………………..………………………………………………38 Musical Example 13. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , first movement, mm. 121-129…………………………………………………………………………………………..38 Musical Example 14. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , first movement, mm. 116-120…..……………………………………………………………………………………....39 Musical Example 15. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 1 in F Minor , third movement, mm. 44-52….………………………………………………………………………………………….40 Musical Example 16. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Major , third movement, mm. 60-68……………………………………………………………………………………………..41 Musical Example 17. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 5 in D Major , first movement, mm. 20-26….………………………………………………………………..……………………..….42 8 Musical Example 18. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 5 in D Major , second movement, mm. 49-55..……………………………………………………………………………………....42 Musical Example 19. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 6 in D Minor , first movement, mm. 182-190………………………………………………………………………………………..…42 Musical Example 20. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Major , first movement, mm. 19-23….………………………………………………………………………………………….43 Musical Example 21. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 2 in C Major , second movement, mm. 1-4….……………………………………………………………………………………….43 Musical Example 22. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 3 in A Major , first movement, mm. 58-61….………………………………………………………………………………………….44 Musical Example 23. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 3 in A Major , first movement, mm. 66-69..………………………………………………………………………………………...….45 Musical Example 24. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 3 in A Major , first movement, mm. 81-83..………………………………………………………………………………………..…..45 Musical Example 25. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 3 in A Major , first movement, mm. 95-97………………………………………………………………………………………….….45 Musical Example 26. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 3 in A Major , first movement, mm. 101-104……………………………………………………………………………………….….46 Musical Example 27. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 4 in B-Flat Major , first movement, mm. 1-4…………………………………………………………………………………...……...46 Musical Example 28. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 5 in D Major , first movement, mm. 1-26…..…………………………………………………………………………………………..47 Musical Example 29. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 6 in D Minor , first movement, mm. 1-25….…………………………………………………………………………………………...47 Musical Example 30. Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonata No. 6 in D Minor , first movement,