A Study and Performance Guide of George Chadwick’S a Flower Cycle

The European Yankee: A Study and Performance Guide of George Chadwick’s A Flower Cycle Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors McNiff, Brian 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 02:29:24 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/630542 THE EUROPEAN YANKEE: A STUDY AND PERFORMANCE GUIDE OF GEORGE CHADWICK’S A FLOWER CYCLE by Brian McNiff __________________________ Copyright © Brian McNiff 2018 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 2018 2 THE UNIVERSITYOF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Document Committee, we certifythat we have read the dissertation prepared by Brian McNiff, titled The European Yankee: A Study and PerformanceGuide of A Flower Cycle, by George WhitefieldChadwick, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirementfor the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. I Final approval and acceptance fth's document is contingent upon t e candidate's submission of the finalcopies of the document to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I h ve read this docwnent prepared under my d'rection and recommend that it be accepted as folfill. g t Elocumentreguirement ., ® <.... 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This document has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library . Brief quotations from this document are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Brian McNiff 4 Acknowledgements: It would be impossible to recognize everyone responsible for the success of this document and my college career, but I would like to express my thanks in part to following people. I would like to begin with a special thanks to Mary Alice Perrin-Mohr at New England Conservatory for her assistance with the George Chadwick collection. To Drs. Bill Faucett at the University of South Florida and Jonathan English of Syracuse University for their assistance and knowledge for this project. To my doctoral committee. To Drs. Bruce Chamberlain, Elizabeth Schauer, Kristin Dauphinais, Andrew Stuckey, Jay Rosenblatt, and Hugo Vera for all of your knowledge, assistance, and time. I never would have made it to this point without all of your help and patience. Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Cockrell for the time and effort that you put in to help my performance career both at the University and Opera in the Ozarks. Thank you to Dr. John Brobeck for your insight as both a teacher and advisor. I thank all of my colleagues and students for the opportunity to work with some amazing voices, and wonderful talent be it on stage, in the classroom, or outside of it. I want to thank Drs. Ivette Ortiz, Kim Moeller, and MacKenzie Romriell as they helped recruit me when I had begun looking for programs. Thank you to Kyungsun Choi, my accompanist for this entire journey. I’m so lucky to have been able to work with someone so professional and accommodating, even when you’re not sure where I went in the music. Finally, thank you to my family. To my parents who have always supported me, no matter how crazy my ideas have been. To my wife, Katy for her endless support and patience… mostly patience, and to my son William. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………..……………………………………..………6 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES…………………………….………………………….………7 ABSTRACT…………………………………….………………………..………………….…….9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…….……………………….…………….…………...………10 Purpose of Study...……………………………………………………………………….11 Statement of Primary Thesis………………………………………….………………….12 Review of Scholarly Literature……………………………………….………………….12 CHAPTER 2: CHADWICK’S MUSICAL LANGUAGE…………..………..…………………16 Brief Biography…………..………………………………………...……………………16 Musical Education…………………………..…………………………………………...17 Return to America…………………………………..……………………………….......20 Musical Style and Output………………………………………………………………...21 Musical Style of A Flower Cycle……….………………………...…...…………………24 Stylistic Features Beyond A Flower Cycle………………...………….……………....…37 CHAPTER 3: HISTORY OF A FLOWER CYCLE……..…………...……………..……………48 Song Cycle vs. Song Collection……………………………………………………….…49 Conclusion…………………………………………...………………….……………….51 APPENDIX A: Description of Songs…………………………………………………………...53 APPENDIX B: Poetry and Rhyme Scheme of A Flower Cycle…….………….….……………59 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….….……………67 6 LIST OF FIGURES Table 1. Published Art Song Collections………………………………………………….……21 Table 2. Poetry and translation of Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen, from Dichterliebe, Op.48, Robert Schumann……………………………………………………………………………….57 7 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Musical Example 1. George W. Chadwick, The Crocus, mm 1-5……………….………………24 Musical Example 2. Felix Mendelssohn, Die Nonne, mm 1-9, 14-23….………..………………25 Musical Example 3. George W. Chadwick, The Water Lily, mm 1-2……………..…………….27 Musical Example 4. Robert Schumann, Hör ich das liedchen klingen, Op. 48, mm 1-3……..…27 Musical Example 5. Johannes Brahms, An die Nachtigall, Op. 46, mm 45-47…….……………28 Musical Example 6. George W. Chadwick, The Cardinal Flower, mm 21-22………….………28 Musical Example 7. Franz Schubert, Die Forelle, D. 550, Op. 32, mm 1-3…………………….29 Musical Example 8, Richard Wagner, Tout n’est qu’images fugitives, mm 27-30……………...30 Musical Example 9. George W. Chadwick, The Jasmine, mm 1-4……………………...………30 Musical Example 10. Henri Duparc, L’invitation au voyage, mm 1-6………..…………………31 Musical Example 11. George Chadwick, The Crocus, mm 12-17……………………...……….32 Musical Example 12. George Chadwick, The Water Lily, mm. 9-12………...…………….……33 Musical example 13. George Chadwick, The Cardinal Flower, mm. 19-22………...…....……..34 Musical example 14. Johannes Brahms, Die Mainacht, Op. 43 no. 2, mm 19-26………...…….36 Musical Example 15. George W. Chadwick, Melpomene, mm. 1-4……………………….……38 Musical Example 16. George W. Chadwick. Oh, Let Night Speak of Me, m. 16………..………39 Musical Example 17. George W. Chadwick. Oh, Let Night Speak of Me, mm. 19-20….………40 Musical Example 18. George W. Chadwick, The Foxglove, mm.1-4…………………..……….41 Musical Example 19. George W. Chadwick, The Meadow Rue, mm 7-12……………..……….42 Musical Example 20. George W. Chadwick, The Meadow Rue, mm 1-2……………………….43 Musical Example 21. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Neue Liebe, Op. 19 no. 4, mm 12-15……43 Musical Example 22. George W. Chadwick, Allah, F201, mm. 1-8…………………….………44 8 Musical Example 23. George W. Chadwick, The Cyclamen, mm 4-7…………………..………45 9 ABSTRACT This document examines the solo vocal music of American composer, George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931), and focuses on his 1892 collection, A Flower Cycle, with poetry written by Arlo Bates (1850-1918). It highlights the European influence in Chadwick’s writing style that created a Euro-American hybridized style in the United States. Though his instrumental works have been widely performed and analyzed, his art songs have not received the same amount of attention. Excerpts of the songs in A Flower Cycle will be analyzed and compared to various German lied and French mélodie to show the similarities in style and Chadwick’s penchant for being influenced by these European composers. The second intent of this document is to provide a guide with which to perform any or all of the pieces therein with proper understanding of the text and how it is set musically. The poetry is believed to have been written specifically to be set to the music for this collection with the exception of The Jacqueminot Rose, which was the inspiration for the construction of A Flower Cycle. 10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) has been described as a forgotten American composer throughout most of the twentieth century. Victor Yellin reports that if Chadwick had been another type of artist than a composer, whose works and achievements were “easily visible,” a study of his life would have existed well before his 1990 biography: “Without a tradition of performance, passing commentators understandably tried to cram Chadwick into neat pigeonholes of their design. But their theological dualism—American v. European, vernacular v. cultivated, all perhaps useful textbook categories—simply do not fit the man.”1 George Chadwick was a common man. He had few, if any, exploitable details of his life. He was physically unspectacular, did not possess an outlandish personality, and though he was a competent organist, was never described as much of a performer. George Chadwick was not the type of person one would expect to be the respected president of one of the most prestigious and recognizable music schools in the country. His “commonness,” as Yellin describes, was not without a great price.2 His music has not been performed regularly, and only since the turn of the twenty-first century have Chadwick’s works begun appearing again consistently. I came upon the music of George Chadwick in the most appropriate way possible for myself. In May of 2012, I was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, bowling at the USBC open championship tournament. After the tournament ended, I took a side trip to Avery Island, known as the home of the Tabasco Sauce Plant and Nature Preserve. In the small museum room in the factory, I noticed the cover page for “Tabasco, A Burlesque Opera,” by G. W. Chadwick. After 1 Victor F.

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