UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

Date: November 11, 2006

I, Robert A. Wells hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of:

Doctor of Musical Arts in:

Voice It is entitled:

David Diamond as Song Composer:

A survey of selected vocal works of David Diamond

with theoretical and stylistic analysis of six early songs,

The Midnight Meditation, and Hebrew Melodies.

This work and its defense approved by:

Chair: Dr. Joel Hoffman

Mr. Kenneth Griffiths

Mr. David Adams

DAVID DIAMOND AS SONG COMPOSER: A survey of selected vocal works of David Diamond with a theoretical and stylistic analysis of six early songs, The Midnight Meditation, and Hebrew Melodies.

A thesis submitted to the

Graduate School

of the University of Cincinnati

In partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

In the College-Conservatory of Music

By

ROBERT ALLEN WELLS

B.M. Voice, State University of New York College at Fredonia, 1987 M.M. Voice, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 1989

Committee Chair: Dr. Joel Hoffman WELLS, ROBERT ALLEN, D.M.A. David Diamond as Song Composer (2006) Joel Hoffman, Advisor

ABSTRACT

David Leo Diamond (1915 – 2005) was one of the most prolific American composers of the twentieth century, having written eleven symphonies, nine string quartets, numerous works for solo piano and chamber ensemble, incidental music, and more than one hundred vocal works. A student of Roger Sessions and Nadia Boulanger, Diamond was a significant figure in American music, both as a composer and as a teacher. The purpose of this document is to highlight Diamond’s achievements as a composer of works for voice and piano by providing a survey of his compositions in this genre along with a theoretical and stylistic analysis of selected, seminal compositions. The first chapter will comprise a brief biography of Diamond’s life while placing his major compositions into the context of his stylistic evolution and development. Chapter Two, a survey the major works for voice and piano, will define more specifically Diamond’s compositional style and approach as illustrated by his setting of text to music. The third chapter includes more detailed analyses of six songs that are representative of his early period of composition, On Death (1943), For an Old Man (1943), Music, when soft voices die (1943), Epitaph (1945), To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars (1945), and My Spirit will not Haunt the Mound (1946). Two song cycles, The Midnight Meditation (1951), and Hebrew Melodies (1968) represent Diamond’s further evolution as a composer and are discussed in detail in this chapter. Chapter Four, the concluding chapter, summarizes Diamond’s achievements as a composer of significance in the genre of vocal literature and addresses the comparative lack of recognition he has received for his works for voice when compared with his instrumental compositions. Despite the breadth and depth of his output for voice, Diamond’s reputation rests primarily on his orchestral and chamber works. The songs of David Diamond merit further scholarly inquiry and more frequent public performance. It is the author’s assertion that increased study and performance of his works will elevate Diamond’s works to their rightful place in American Art Song.

iii iv

In Memoriam Dr. William Black

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One ……………………………………………………………………………… 2

Chapter Two ……………………………………………………………………………..16

Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………………………32

A. Six Early Songs ………………………………………………………………….. 32

B. The Midnight Meditation ………………………………………………………… 45

C. Hebrew Melodies …………………………………………………………………60

Chapter Four ……………………………………………………………………………. 73

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………. 80

vi CHAPTER I

BIOGRAPHY

David Leo Diamond was born 9 July 1915 in Rochester, New York, the son of

Osias and Anna Schildhaus Diamond both of whom were immigrants of Austrian-Jewish heritage. His parents, his mother in particular, kindled young Diamond’s interest in musical pursuits. Despite their inability to provide him with the necessary financial resources to purchase an instrument or pay for lessons, he had, by the age of seven, taught himself to play the violin using an instrument borrowed from a family friend. In the course of learning the instrument, he also devised a system of notation based on the four strings of the violin and used this system for his very first compositions. Diamond’s first formal musical training occurred at the Rochester Public Schools, where, preferring to work on music rather than his scholastic assignments, he made arrangements with other students to exchange original music for completed homework.

Because of financial hardships, Diamond’s parents found it necessary to move the family to Cleveland where they might live with relatives. While there, he captured the attention of the Swiss violinist, André de Ribaupierre. The latter arranged for a wealthy patron to sponsor Diamond’s music studies at the Cleveland Institute. From 1927-29,

Diamond studied both violin and music theory with Ribaupierre. When the family returned to live in Rochester, Diamond attended high school and continued his musical studies as a scholarship student at the Eastman School of Music. Uncomfortable in a structured academic learning environment, he much preferred the atmosphere of the library where he was free to explore in his own way areas of greater interest. When finances permitted, he attended performances in the concert hall and the theatre, absorbing as much as possible from these experiences. All the while, Diamond was busy composing music whenever time allowed. By the time of his high school graduation in

1933, he had completed over one hundred compositions, almost all of which had been performed. His first orchestral work, the Symphony in One Movement, was completed at age eighteen and premiered by Howard Hanson in Rochester in 1933. Like nearly all of his juvenilia, Diamond later withdrew the composition from public performance.

Determining the atmosphere at Eastman to be too conservative, Diamond left after his freshman year, choosing instead to study for two years (1934-36) at the New Music

School and Dalcroze Institute in New York City. He studied composition with Roger

Sessions as well as receiving Dalcroze instruction from Paul Boepple. His study with

Sessions would surely impart strong influence on his compositions; Diamond’s affinity with the formal style and lyricism of the music of the Classical and Romantic eras was certainly a strong match for the compositional approach of Roger Sessions in the 1930’s.

Indeed, Sessions, with whom Diamond continued to study privately following his work at the New Music School, made quite an impression on the young composer. Many years later he would describe the former as “...one of the great minds of today, either within or without [outside] the field of music.”1

The latter half of the 1930’s would prove to be a period of great significance for

David Diamond in terms of his firm establishment within the current circles of musician- composers and literary figures and in the maturation of his early compositional style.

Diamond greatly admired the music of the French School of composers, in particular the

1 Current Biography, (New York: H. W. Wilson, 1966), 77.

2 works of Satie and Ravel. He listened repeatedly to the music of Ravel as well as that of

Berlioz taking particular notice of their techniques in orchestration. The music of

Debussy and Poulenc also strongly influenced Diamond’s compositional approach, especially in the area of vocal composition. In this period, Diamond traveled to Paris on three separate occasions where he met the likes of Darius Milhaud, Albert Roussel,

André Gide, James Joyce, and the composer-teacher, Nadia Boulanger. Roussel and

Boulanger were responsible for introducing Diamond to a great many influential persons in Parisian musical circles.

Diamond’s first trip to Paris came in 1935, the result of his collaboration with e. e. cummings on the ballet, TOM, based on the story, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Cary Ross, who commissioned the work, funded Diamond’s trip to Paris where he was to meet with the choreographer, Leonide Massine in order to discuss the score. Unresolved conflicts with

Massine over the production and a subsequent lack of funds prevented the work from being performed, but the trip was indeed important to the composer in that he made his first, significant contacts with Milhaud and Roussel. He returned to France again in the summer of 1937, this time to study with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau. Boulanger introduced Diamond to Igor Stravinsky, who listened to and made suggestions for the improvement of the younger composer’s Psalm for Orchestra. This work, with the revisions suggested by Stravinsky, won the Juilliard Publication Award later that same year. Diamond was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1938, in part due to his work on the Psalm for Orchestra, and it was through this fellowship that Diamond was able to make his third trip to Paris, again to study with Boulanger. He found the atmosphere in Paris to be stimulating and supportive, and he was “considered to be one of

3 the most gifted of the younger American composers.”2 The advent of the World War II forced the composer to return to the United States in 1939.

During the course of four years and three Paris residencies, Diamond firmly established himself as a composer with a definite style and unique voice. His approach to composition reflected the strong influences of the French composers as well as that of his revered teacher, Roger Sessions. The music of this period is reflective of his interests in things French through his use of unusual sonorities, modal harmonies, and refined lyricism. Much of his music from this period is rhythmically complex and utilizes sonata-allegro or contrapuntal structures as basic formal designs upon which he built and expanded. His music for voice and strings in particular is idiomatic, and his orchestration is representative of his concentrated study of those he considered masters of handling orchestral sonorities, Ravel in particular. Diamond completed a number of important works during this period, including A Sinfonietta (1935) for which he won the $2500

Elfrida Whiteman Scholarship, Psalm for Orchestra, Elegy in Memory of Maurice Ravel

(1937), the Heroic Piece (1939), and the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra (1939), all of which are clearly representative of the composer’s distinct style.

That style would become even more refined in the decade of the 1940’s. With his

String Quartet No. 1 and Symphony No. 1, completed in 1940 and 1941 respectively,

Diamond’s works displayed a leaner formal design. He made use of more modest elements of melody, harmony, and perhaps to a lesser degree, rhythm. His complex, contrapuntal techniques continued to evolve in the 1940’s. He did not, however, give up his individual style of lyricism, but rather exploited his gift for melodic development in

2Madeleine Goss, Modern Music Makers, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1952), 452.

4 both vocal and instrumental genres. Taken as a group, the works of this period are diatonic and frequently modal in harmonic structure.

With the completion of his first symphony and string quartet, for which he won the Prix de Rome in 1942, Diamond set the stage for a period of vigorous compositional activity. He finished his second symphony in early 1943, and he followed fairly quickly with his third and fourth symphonies in 1945. The symphonies epitomize much of

Diamond’s compositional output of this period. They are tonal, their harmonies are based on diatonic and/or modal structures, and their organizational schemes utilize

Classical or Romantic forms. For example, the first three movements of Symphony No. 2, termed a “neo-Romantic work...” by Virgil Thomson3 are unified by derivations of thematic material introduced in the first movement, and the symphony concludes with a finale in a modified rondo form. The third symphony is a cyclical work; each of the four movements is linked by two thematic elements. Like the first and fourth symphonies, these two works make use of fugato sections, extended rhythmic and melodic development, sonata-allegro configuration, complete with development and recapitulation, and rich and varied exploration of orchestral colors.

Other major instrumental works of the same period include the Rounds for

Orchestra, a work based on canonic form, incidental music for Shakespeare’s The

Tempest, the second and third string quartets, and Music for Shakespeare’s Romeo and

Juliet (1947). Diamond also composed music in other genres, including incidental music for radio broadcast (e.g. The CBS Symphony performed Diamond’s music for the

Edward R. Murrow series, Hear it Now), music for chamber and choral ensembles, and a

3Victoria Kimberling, David Diamond: A Bio-Bibliography, (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1987), 11.

5 film score for the movie, Anna Lucasta (1949). He also completed nearly fifty songs for voice and piano from 1940 to 1950.

David Diamond’s notoriety in the United States grew as his compositional style matured and as he firmly established his own musical voice. Prior to his return to New

York in 1939, he and his music were more widely recognized in Paris than in his native country. This situation changed in the early forties as Diamond’s music attracted the attention of influential conductors. Dmitri Mitropoulos, Serge Koussevitsky, and the young Leonard Bernstein were among those who enthusiastically championed his works.

His first symphony was given its première by the New York Philharmonic, and symphonies two, three, and four were premièred by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

While the works were not always greeted with favorable critical acclaim, audience reaction to his symphonic works was generally quite positive. The composer’s work also attracted attention in more erudite circles. In addition to the Prix de Rome, Diamond was awarded the Paderewski Prize in 1943 (for his Quartet for Piano and String Trio), recognition by the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1944, and a succession of citations by the New York Music Critics’ Circle, including awards in 1946 and 1947.

Despite the significant momentum of his career in the late 1940’s, David

Diamond could not ignore the aggressive politics of McCarthy and his fellow party members. In order to escape their repressive activities, he moved to Italy in 1951.

During his first year he accepted a Fulbright Professorship at the University in Rome. He moved to Florence in 1952 and maintained his residence there until 1965. He returned to the United States briefly in 1956 because of the illness and subsequent death of his mother and again in 1961 and 1963 as the Slee Lecturer at the University of Buffalo. His

6 residence in Italy produced a number of significant works, including five string quartets, four symphonies, the Nonet for Strings, This Sacred Ground, a work for chorus, children’s chorus, and orchestra utilizing the text of the Gettysburg Address, The World of Paul Klee, a work for orchestra composed in the manner of Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and the song cycle, We Two.

The period in Italy also produced a marked shift in compositional style.

Beginning with the Quintet for Clarinet, two violas and two cellos, Diamond’s compositions became much more chromatic. Works of the period have been incorrectly labeled serial music because of this intense chromaticism, but the composer refutes such classification:

4 “I am not now and never have been a 12-note composer.”

Diamond redefined this statement a number of years later to mean that he had absorbed the 12-tone techniques of Berg rather than Schönberg or Webern. Among the major works that exemplify his matured chromatic style, The World of Paul Klee (1957) and the

Symphony No. 8 (1960) illustrate Diamond’s adaptation of the 12-tone technique while retaining the composer’s stylistic signature and avoiding rigid serialism.

In The World of Paul Klee, Diamond uses versions of a 12-note row as a unifying feature for the work as a whole. In much the same way that Musorgsky utilized variations of the “Promenade” in his Pictures at an Exhibition, each section of

Diamond’s work begins with a “frame” of five or six measures. The frames themselves present the version of the original row, which will be used in each successive section.

Elements of the row also provide the raw material for the piece’s melodic line expressed

4Kimberling, 30

7 through waltz-like and pastorale-style movements. Similarly, Diamond freely adapted the 12-tone technique in his Symphony No. 8 by using it in combination with Classical formal structures such as sonata-allegro form, theme and variations, and a climactic double fugue. He established tonal centers by manipulating the row, and it is through those manipulations that the two large movements of the symphony are linked. Because he found it difficult to balance conscious mathematical arrangement of pitches with musical expressiveness, Diamond avoided the rigid and systematic approach of the orthodox serialists. Instead, he adapted those qualities of the 12-tone approach that fit best into his already mature and individual musical voice.

Indeed, by relying on his individuality and his judgment, he consciously avoided various avante garde movements in the late 1950’s many of which he openly disdained.

He regarded aleatoric music, for example, as not music at all, but rather more appropriate for very limited types of performance venues such as theatre and improvisational shows.

Though his music from this period is often extremely chromatic and despite his occasional forays into 12-tone composition, Diamond did not believe in the concept of purely atonal music. He considered all music to be in reference to a given tonal center and to fall within the overtone systems of nature or of the well-tempered system. It was this overriding tonal scheme, even through occasionally intense chromaticism, that when combined with neo-Romantic lyricism and neo-Classic forms gave Diamond’s music its strongly individual character. For him, it was both a solid and flexible means by which to approach his compositions and allowed him to maintain aesthetic values he considered to be important.

8 It is important to note that Diamond’s philosophical approach to composition was based on the maintenance of aesthetic integrity. It was his belief that a composer cannot be true to his art if he lowers his music to the level of the public. He must write music that expresses the values of the society and the culture of his time without abandoning his integrity. For Diamond personally, that aesthetic was based on a strong belief in the timelessness of the romantic spirit. He fully subscribed to the idea that the path away from what he perceived to be musical chaos (of the avante garde movements) was through revival of that romantic spirit with a rejuvenation of the classical technical procedures. When one understands this basic philosophical ideal, one can better understand Diamond’s compositional direction in the 1950’s and its continuation in the following decades.

Diamond continued to apply this philosophy throughout his career and as many composers of his generation did, he occasionally found it necessary to defend the musical and artistic integrity of his works. The classroom was one of his preferred venues from which he could espouse his compositional philosophy, and indeed he was an active teacher even as he maintained his prolific level of composition. Upon his return to the

United States in the summer of 1965, he was a Visiting Composer at the Aspen Music

Festival in Colorado. The following fall, he accepted a position on the composition faculty at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, a position from which he resigned in 1967. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1966 and would go on to hold positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the American

University in Rome. Diamond was a professor of composition at the Juilliard School from 1973 until his retirement in 1986. His attitude toward teaching was consistent with

9 his philosophical approach to composition; he believed that it was his moral obligation to share his insights and compositional views with others. Drawing on both positive and negative experiences with his own instructors, he approached teaching as a way of dealing with the potential in each student. In much the same way that he, when a student, rebelled against the confinement of academia, he occasionally encountered conflict when trying to deal freely with his students.

Beginning with his works of the mid-1960’s, he began to synthesize the chromaticism of the 1950’s with the strong neo-Romantic and neo-Classic approach of the late-1930’s and 1940’s. In 1964, he completed his Symphony No. 5 while in Ponza,

Italy. He had begun working on the symphony in 1951, but put it aside to finish other projects, including his Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth symphonies. When Leonard Bernstein inquired about the status of the fifth, Diamond stopped working on the Ninth Symphony in order to complete it. The work itself was originally to have been a programmatic symphony based on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, but Diamond was unable to find a gratifying realization of his original sketches. Upon returning to the work in 1964, he rejected the programmatic themes in favor of more abstract musical ideas. When he had finished, he considered it one of his best works and dedicated it to Bernstein. In its final form, it is a two-movement work that recalls Diamond’s earlier style in that it lacks much of the outright chromaticism of the period in which it was completed. It does, however, contain the intricate thematic development and concentrated formal design of the composer’s more mature works. In the composer’s own estimation, the fifth symphony contains his best fugue for large orchestra.

10 The Fifth Symphony was premiered by Bernstein and the New York

Philharmonic in April 1966 and was received with great acclaim. This concert along with a number of other similar events marked a significant turning point in Diamond’s career. When he returned to live in the United States in 1965, he discovered that during his absence his music had experienced another period of disregard. The year of his return coincided with a number of concerts given in honor of his fiftieth birthday, and a great many of Diamond’s former detractors now delivered rather opposite opinions of his music. An article in the New York Times by Richard Freed acknowledged the

“rediscovery” of Diamond’s music. What had once been considered to be too dissonant or without merit was judged to be quite acceptable. The composer responded to the new attention with sincere appreciation, but he tempered that response with the opinion that such renewed interest was due to a “change in the critics ears...”5

Among the major works completed in the years following his permanent return to the United States are the String Quartets Nos. 9 & 10, the Concerto No. 3 for Violin and

Orchestra, and To Music: A Choral Symphony. The String Quartet No. 9 was written in honor of the seventieth birthday of Diamond’s former teacher, Roger Sessions. It not only includes manipulations of motivic and thematic material from Sessions’ Violin

Concerto, but its musical content also recalls Diamond’s first string quartet written in

1940. Diamond completed the Violin Concerto No. 3 in 1968 on a commission from the

Thorne Music Fund. The concerto is in two large movements the first of which opens with the solo violin presenting thematic material countered by a second theme in the full orchestra. This work, like nearly all of Diamond’s works of the period, was realized

5Kimberling, 64

11 through contrapuntal and classical formal structures. The second large movement features sections of canonic music and an intricate rondo. Written for the Manhattan

School of Music’s fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1967, To Music: A Choral

Symphony was not actually performed until 1970. It is a highly contrapuntal, three- movement work for chorus, tenor and baritone soloists, and large orchestra. The text of

Masefield’s To Music is the basis for the first movement, and the third utilizes

Longfellow’s Dedication. The second movement is for orchestra alone.

While it is tempting to categorize a composer’s output according to stylistic considerations, it is equally important in Diamond’s case to emphasize the gradual evolution of his compositional style based on a certain number of constant features.

Perhaps one of the most evident stylistic changes that occurred in Diamond’s music from the late 1930’s was the gradual shift from diatonic harmonies to an increasingly chromatic approach. As has been mentioned already, this shift to chromaticism began in the late 1940’s and had fully developed by the mid-1950’s. At the same time, Diamond’s melodic approach, always tied to his gift of intense lyricism, shifted from linear, step- wise melodies, to more angular phrases with sudden and large intervallic leaps. What remained constant throughout Diamond’s stylistic development was his strong attachment to things Romantic, not to mention Classical and Baroque. His explorations of melodic development, harmonic structures, and even rhythmic complexities were all grounded in his adaptations of older forms. Sonata-allegro, canon, fugue, and rondo were among the standard templates that Diamond adapted in his large-scale works. Often these basic formal structures are masked in Diamond’s intense precision and craft of composition. Entire movements unified by small rhythmic fragments, complex fugato

12 sections based on lengthy thematic materials, and thematic fragments developed on all levels of melody, rhythm, and harmony in elaborate sonata-allegro design are representative of what can be found throughout the works of Diamond’s compositional career.

It makes sense then, that the 1970’s and subsequently the 1980’s would be a period of integration of the stylistic traits that had come before. The music of Diamond’s more recent compositions reveals a chromatic approach with a strong connection to the

Classical and Romantic aesthetic values of his earliest works. It was also in this period that Diamond completed his first opera, The Noblest Game (1975), to a libretto of Katie

Louchheim. He had begun other operas, but withdrew them before completion. His other representative works from this period include a song cycle The Fall for which more detailed discussion will follow in subsequent chapters of this document, A Secular

Cantata (1976) a nine movement work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra to the sonnets of James Agee, the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano (1981), and the Symphony No 9, a work begun in 1961. This final work, originally a composition for bass-baritone and piano but later developed into a symphonic work, uses untitled poetic fragments and sonnets of Michelangelo as its textual basis. It also forms a solid example of the merger of Diamond’s stylistic attributes in his later works. The symphony is in two large movements, the second of which makes use of thematic and melodic material presented in movement one as a form of unification. Movement one is based on the sonata-allegro principle with two major thematic ideas developed in full. The second movement contains “musical commentaries on Death both from my [Diamond’s] songs and from

Brahms are hidden in the fabric of the orchestral polyphony so that they do not project as

13 obvious quotations...”6 Permeating the movement is a recurring triplet figure, constantly varied and manipulated. The second movement, the text of which deals with acceptance of approaching death, contains a scherzo section in the middle that serves as a musical and expressive contrast as well as a sort of commentary on the slow sections that precede and follow it.

Even beyond the age of seventy, Diamond continued to write with great energy.

Among the works of the mid-1980’s are included his Kaddish for Cello and Orchestra,

Hearts Music and Tantivy, both for band, Symphony No. 10, written for the Seattle

Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gerhard Schwartz, and the Symphony No. 11 which was commissioned for the 150th Anniversary of the New York Philharmonic.

In the years following his retirement from the Julliard School, Diamond received a number of prestigious awards, among them the William Shuman Lifetime Achievement

Award (1986), the Edward MacDowell Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement, the Gold

Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991), and the National Medal of

Arts (1995). David Diamond died June 13, 2005, in his Rochester, New York home, only weeks short of his ninetieth birthday.

6Kimberling, 51

14 CHAPTER II

SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO

David Diamond was one of the most prolific American composers of the twentieth century whether one measures the sheer number of compositions or the breadth of his output, which spans orchestral, chamber, and vocal literature. If one considers only his compositions for voice, the very same might be said. He has composed nearly one hundred songs for voice and piano, and when his works for voice with instrumental accompaniment are included, the total is well above that mark. Despite their number, the songs of Diamond remain relatively unknown, overshadowed in popularity not only by his instrumental music, but also by the solo vocal repertoire of Ives, Barber, Copland,

Rorem, and others. The lack of wider interest in the vocal music of David Diamond could perhaps be due in part to the comparative scarcity of attention by historians and scholars. Early reference to Diamond’s songs is limited to biographical entries provided by David Ewen and Madeleine Goss who allude to his achievements as a song composer, but focus more on his symphonic works and chamber music. Victoria Kimberling, in her extensive discussion of the composer, David Diamond, a bio-bibliography, acknowledges an almost complete lack of attention given to his vocal and choral literature, not only in her biography but in other biographical discussions as well. Specific reference does appear in Denis Stevens’ A History of Song in which Hans Nathan asserts that Diamond

“has cultivated the art-song more consistently than any other American composer of his standing”7 and later states that his songs are among his “finest achievements.”8 Only

7Stevens, Denis, ed. A History of Song (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1960), 444 8Stevens, 444

15 within the last decade, as prominent performing artists increasingly pay homage to the genre of American Art Song through creative recital programming and recording projects, has the vocal music of David Diamond, along with other lesser known contemporaries, gained more wide-spread consideration. Victoria Etnier Villamil hypothesizes that the vast number of songs and lack of consistency in style and quality contributes to what she terms “mysterious and shocking neglect”9 of Diamond’s vocal repertoire.

Notwithstanding the fact that his songs have been consistently overlooked,

Diamond possessed a strong affection for his vocal music. In an interview with

Madeleine Goss, he stated, “The combination of great and tender texts by Melville, St.

Teresa of Avila, Joyce, Mansfield, Lovelace, Keats and others, with my particular melodic, polyphonic and harmonic style, makes for the natural continuance of the art song in our century.”10 Diamond’s approach to song composition was, in his own mind, different from that of his instrumental works, in that it was “equivalent to the most intimate kind of moment of despair in the sense of being totally honest with oneself as a human being.”11 Certainly, Diamond’s attention to detail and craftsmanship was at least as high as in his instrumental compositions. His affinity for the compositional styles of composers of French mélodie such as Debussy, Poulenc, Satie, and Ravel (the latter, he considered to be the consummate contemporary composer) is immediately evident, particularly with regard to setting of texts. In general, Diamond set poetry to music in a manner that closely matched the natural rhythm and inflection of the spoken phrases,

9Victoria Etnier Villamil, A Singer’s Guide to the American Art Song (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1993), 131 10Madeleine Goss, Modern Music Makers (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1970), 454-5 11R. Friday, Analyses and Interpretations of Selected Songs of David Diamond (New York University: Ph. D. Dissertation, 1984), 22

16 consistently utilizing a syllabic text declamation in his melodic lines. When composing a song, Diamond first scanned the text, reading it aloud in order to acquire the flow of the language in his ear. He then attempted to match the style of the poetry to his own style, making use of note values, melodic contour, accents, and rests to suggest “an imaginative reading”12 of the poetry. With regard to his approach to prosody, one sees clearly the influences not only of the French composers with whom he had a personal relationship, but also composers such as Modeste Musorgsky, whose vocal music he greatly admired.13

Upon completing (and frequently while composing) the melodic setting of the text, Diamond composed a bass line in counterpoint to the vocal line (or, less frequently, to the soprano line). In this way, he remained true to his penchant for the contrapuntal style that is so prevalent in his instrumental works. Once the melodic contour and basic tonal concepts were established, he would then fill in harmonies and textures without sacrificing the independence of individual lines in the piano accompaniment. In his early songs (those written before 1950), sonority changes are frequently reliant upon alterations of chordal spacing and texture rather than actual chord changes. When chord changes do occur, they do so more as a succession of chords rather than functioning as a harmonic progression. Repeated use of modal harmonies in triadic formation, pandiatonicism with open, parallel sonorities, and the infrequent use of the tritone mark the dominant harmonic characteristics of Diamond’s early songs.

Among the other features of David Diamond’s vocal music composed prior to

1950, the frequent appearance of such poets as Melville, Keats, Shelley, and Thomas

12 Stevens, 446 13 Friday, 35

17 Hardy reveals his strong fondness for literature of the 19th century. Out of his close association with poets such as James Agee and e. e. cummings, he “produced a full flowering of my taste in choosing texts for settings...”14 He was drawn to poets and poetry intuitively, if not psychologically; a great many of the poems he set in the 1940’s can be said to be, in a sense, autobiographical in their philosophical preoccupation with death and personal struggle. At the time in which he wrote these songs, Diamond regularly faced financial hardship and struggled as a young composer seeking professional recognition for his works. It is logical that he would be attracted to poems that not only expressed similar emotional attitudes, but also offered some sense of solace within the boundaries of death or despair. Such is the overriding mood in the early songs.

Like his instrumental works, most of Diamond’s songs written before 1940 exist in only manuscript and have since been withdrawn. A few, including Four Ladies (1935; revised 1962) and the Vocalises for Voice and Viola (1935; revised 1956), were reworked for later publication. In the decade of the 1940’s, Diamond completed well over forty songs, with the great majority composed from 1943 to 1946. The songs from this period consistently exemplify the stylistic characteristics outlined above, yet because Diamond’s goal was to bring out musically the underlying emotion(s) of each poem rather than individual words contained therein, there is great variety in the music of this period.

On Death (1943), a setting of the text of John Clare (1793-1864) is a spare and bleak song that speaks of disdain for life and of desire for death and the grave. It is a slow and sustained work, opening with a section for unaccompanied voice that is followed by imitative entries in the piano part. Overall, the sonorities are open and

14Ruth C. Friedberg, American Art Song and American Poetry Vol. III (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1987), 74

18 spartan with frequent, extended sections in which the accompaniment consists of only two voices. Diamond reserves more closely spaced chords and lush harmonies for the more expansive and emotionally-charged middle section of the piece, and the ending, despite the resolve expressed by the text, makes use of a final chord (an e-minor chord with an added major ninth that is seemingly unresolved). By contrast, For an Old Man, written in the same year, is an agitated and intensely bitter outburst of an aging man. In setting this T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) poem, Diamond exploits ostinato-like rhythmic figures, syncopation, frequent accents, and a relentless eighth-note pulse from the beginning to the end. In keeping with his style of the period, harmonies are tonally based, frequently modal and in triadic formation, and employ parallel motion. The melodic line relies on the alternation of repeated pitches with step-wise linear passages to express the hostility of the text, and in doing so, provides a framework for the harmonic construction of the song while effectively delivering the poetry in speech-like fashion.

Also composed in 1943, Music, when soft voices die presents Percy Bysshe Shelley’s

(1792-1822) well-known poem utilizing a similarly conversational melodic device as a means to quite a different end. Where For an Old Man is angular and driven, Music, when soft voices die is lyric, fluid, and sustained. It is in 6/8 with frequent use of hemiola to provide added emphasis to important words in the text. The accompaniment is built of constantly flowing eighth-notes, in paired voices that converge and separate in characteristic alterations of chord spacing for musical effect and emphasis.

These three songs of 1943, which will be analyzed in greater detail in the following chapter, exemplify the songs of the 1940’s in their commonalities and in their resultant differences. All three are reliant on compositional techniques that have been

19 outlined in this discussion of Diamond’s vocal and instrumental music: modal harmonies and contrapuntal accompaniments, delivery of texts in idiomatic speech patterns, and largely Romantic content. While they do utilize similar techniques of construction, the end results are quite different and quite successfully so. Because the emphasis begins with the text itself and the goal is to construct a so-called “imaginative” reading,

Diamond is able to compose a melody and accompaniment that captures the overall mood of the poetry rather than that of specific words or phrases contained within.

The same can be said of the majority of songs written in the 1940’s, including the

Seven Songs first published in 1946. This collection contains songs composed from 1940 to 1944, and is comprised of Billy in the Darbies (Herman Melville, 1819-1891), Four

Uncles (e. e. cummings, 1894-1962), Souvent j’ai dit a mon Mari (Katherine Mansfield,

1890-1923), My Little Mother (Katherine Mansfield), Sister Jane (Jean de la Fontaine,

1621-1695), The Lover as Mirror (Edward Stringham, 1918-?), and The Twisted Trinity

(Carson McCullers, 1917-1967). Billy in the Darbies sets the ballad that serves as the epilogue to Billy Budd, Foretopman in its entirety. It is an extended ballad with folk-like elements and is dramatic in its portrayal of the babbling young sailor condemned to death by hanging. Four Uncles is a charming and poignant vignette that describes, from a child’s perspective, four different and rather eccentric men. Diamond captures well the spontaneity and honesty of the poetry in this lively and unpretentious work. Much more intimate are the two settings taken from the Journal of Katherine Mansfield: Souvent j’ai dit a mon Mari and My Little Mother. They are simple and moving, and convey personal recollections of a woman and her relationship with husband and mother. The first of the two Mansfield settings couples a waltz-like melody with an accompaniment that consists

20 almost entirely of two contrapuntal lines. Charming in its simplicity, this light-hearted setting successfully combines the regular meter and rhythm of the French text with

Diamond’s musical style. More typical of Diamond’s melodies is that of My Little

Mother with its comparatively short phrases and frequently changing meter. Sister Jane is a humorous and satirical little sketch of a now pious nun who once led a less cloistered way of life. It is a brisk and buoyant setting of this seventeenth century poem, with a brief, hymn-like middle section during which the abbess admonishes her flock. In The

Lover as Mirror we return to a typical subject for Diamond’s compositions: the dark, somber side of love and life. Stringham’s poem, rich with mythological allusions, portrays the lover as one who reflects and confronts one’s past evils. The collection is rounded out by The Twisted Trinity, a song of betrayal and bitter disappointment. For this poem, Diamond composed a song with intertwining musical lines and a voice part with a comparatively wide range and greater use of perfect fourth and octave leaps.

Diamond published two other collections of songs in the mid-1940’s. The first,

Five Songs from The Tempest was composed in 1944 for the Margaret Webster production of this Shakespeare play. Diamond also composed orchestral music for this production, completing a small orchestral version in 1944 and a later version for large orchestra in 1946. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra gave the premiere of the latter version’s overture in 1949. Of the five songs composed to texts from The Tempest, four

(“Come unto these yellow sands,” “Full Fathom Five,” “While you here do snoring lie,” and “Where the bee sucks.”) belong to the nymph, Ariel. The remaining song, Caliban’s

“No more dams I’ll make for fish,” is set for low male voice, and is the longest, most

21 dramatic of the group. The others are musically compact and share a lyricism that is born of an expanded recitation of Shakespeare’s texts.

In 1947, Diamond published a collection of five songs to texts of Herman

Melville, Logan Pearsall Smith and one anonymous poem. These songs, mostly somber in mood, were written in 1945-46. This World is Not My Home (Anonymous) is graceful and musically refined, and is representative of Diamond’s ability to compose songs about death that are emotionally expressive without being overly sentimental. A Portrait and

Monody are both song settings of Herman Melville poems. The former, subtitled “The

Marchioness of Brinvilliers,” aptly reflects, in musical depiction, Melville’s description of the painter’s attempts to combine light and shade in a way that would reveal the true, underlying character of the woman portrayed. Diamond sets a lyrical vocal line above an accompaniment of weaving lines and ornamental figurations throughout. Monody is a poem of lament for a once beloved friend, who has since become estranged and died.

Musically, it shares the refined qualities of Diamond’s maturing compositional style. In it one finds the same attention to poetic details and accentuations, with greater pauses between poetic phrases for the purpose of emphasis. Harmonically, it shares the same tonal context of other songs of the period, utilizing seventh and ninth chords frequently, in textures that are fuller and richer than the songs of even two years earlier. In much the same way, the two settings of poems from Logan Pearsall Smith’s More Trivia show

Diamond’s developing compositional refinement with their thicker harmonic textures and text settings that rely as much on the pauses in the poetry as on the speech-like melodic elements. Somewhere is an optimistic journey into the future, using descriptive nautical metaphors to describe the passage to an unknown destination. Diamond, who typically is

22 drawn to elegiac subjects, reveals a lighter side with The Epitaph. It is a lively and charming work with its staccato accompaniment and brief, quizzical phrases that relates, in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, the poet’s daydream of attending his own funeral.

In addition to the published collections, Diamond also published a number of individual songs in the 1940’s. Notable among them are To Lucasta, On Going to the

Wars (1944, Richard Lovelace), I have Longed to Move Away (1944, Dylan Thomas), Be

Music, Night (1944, Kenneth Patchen), Let Nothing Disturb Thee (1945, St. Teresa of

Avila), Epitaph (1945, Herman Melville), Brigid’s Song (1946, James Joyce), Lift not the

Painted Veil (1946, Percy Bysshe Shelley), Chatterton (1946, John Keats), Even though the World keeps changing (1946, Rainer Maria Rilke) and My Spirit will not haunt the

Mound (1946, Thomas Hardy). From this period also come three sacred solo songs,

Prayer (1945, Theodore Roethke), The Shepherd Boy sings in the Valley of Humiliation

(1946, John Bunyan), and the very moving David Mourns for Absalom (1946, II Samuel

18:33). These songs, three of which will be analyzed in detail in the following chapter, share the compositional characteristics outlined thus far. They certainly are worthy of investigation for their musical qualities. These early songs are very approachable, and while they share a general uniformity in terms of sonority and harmonic framework, they are, as has already been stated, as varied as the poetry that Diamond has chosen for musical setting.

Between 1946 and 1949, Diamond composed only the cycle, L’Ame de Debussy, a cycle of nine songs based upon letters of the French composer. This cycle, available only in manuscript (its publication having been blocked by Debussy’s heirs) retains much of the flavor of the earlier songs.

23 Beginning in 1950, Diamond’s music shows a marked change on many levels.

Modal, diatonic harmonies have been replaced by music that is much more chromatic, with frequently shifting harmonies and overlapping tonalities. The interval of the tritone, which was used very sparingly in his earlier compositions, becomes much more prevalent, contributing to a greater sense of harmonic instability and transience. Because the emphasis in the songs of this period has changed from one of capturing the mood of the poem in its entirety to one of highlighting individual words and phrases, the overall character of the music from the post-1950 era is much more restless. This restlessness is achieved by frequent changes in dynamics, tempi, and rhythmic figurations. Poetic emphasis is realized musically through varying articulation in the vocal line, abrupt changes from ascending to descending pitch (and vice versa), and rapidly changing rhythms. The qualities of the earlier songs that contribute to their accessibility are less evident in the later songs. Lyricism gives way to a more declamatory style, conjunct melodic motion is replaced by disjunct, angular phrases with wide leaps that can exploit extremes of the vocal range, and clearly outlined tonal and modal harmonies are succeeded by overlapping tonalities and highly chromatic musical lines. While the music of this period is frequently labeled as atonal, Diamond has vehemently insisted that his music (if not all music) can be referenced to a pitch or tonal center and to the overtone systems found in nature. Despite this insistence, one finds occasions in his music of the

1950’s and 1960’s where the pitch center is quite thoroughly obscured, giving some credence to the atonal label. Greater structural complexity in the songs composed during this period significantly increases their level of difficulty for both singer and accompanist.

24 Shortly before completing the Quintet for Clarinet, Two Violas and Two Cellos in

1950 (the work that represents Diamond’s shift to a new, more chromatic style),

Diamond completed the song, Love is more (e. e. cummings). This song (along with three others published in the same year: How it was with them, If you can’t, and The

Children of the Poor, to texts of Walt Whitman, e. e. cummings, and Victor Hugo, respectively) is clearly indicative of the new compositional direction for his vocal music.

Chromaticism has dramatically increased in both the vocal line and the accompaniment of Love is More. Viewed as individual lines, they are each tonally centered, but when played as part of the whole, the resulting effect is that of overlapping tonalities, with alternating moments of dissonance and consonance. Functionally, the harmonies are transitional in much the same way that they were in the earlier songs. Chords change in succession rather than in progression, and this, coupled with the heightened chromaticism, gives Love is More and its successors a sense of harmonic restlessness and irresolution. Diamond’s approach to composing the accompaniment remains contrapuntal, achieved now with significantly greater rhythmic intricacy. Rhythmic motives are more compact and are woven more deeply into the texture of the accompaniment so that they are frequently less overtly recognizable. Diamond employs juxtaposition of duple and triple divisions of the beat with greater regularity, and changes in rhythmic figures occur more often.

While Love is More clearly exhibits much of what is new in Diamond’s vocal compositional style, it serves as a transitional piece in his total output given its adherence to strong lyricism in the vocal line and to chromaticism that is girded by a reasonably strong (and recognizable) tonal foundation. With the completion of the cycle, A Midnight

25 Meditation in 1951, Diamond had thoroughly settled into the new style. This set of four songs to poetry of Elder Olson is dark and desolate, laden with morbid imagery. The music is similarly cheerless, with fragmented phrases, intense chromaticism and dissonance, and almost non-stop changes in tempo. Diamond paid careful attention to the meaning and emotion behind each phrase of poetry and then set each accordingly, opting to highlight specifics rather than the overall emotional context. As a result, the breadth of emotion ranges from brooding and contemplative to extreme agitation with frequent crescendi to climaxes of biting pessimism. Dynamic changes are rapid and extreme.

Despite its increased complexity, the writing remains linear, although tightly interwoven lines and closely spaced chords frequently mask the linear nature of each individual line.

Such writing, coupled with significantly heightened chromaticism, serves to obscure the tonal center. Diamond does not, however, foray into complete atonality in this cycle, for the chromaticism and linear writing are frequently built upon triadic formations and rely upon intervals of the seventh and ninth. There are moments, however brief, of tonal clarity, but they are invariably succeeded with non-functional harmonies and outright dissonance.

Following the completion of A Midnight Meditation in 1951, Diamond composed no other works for solo voice and piano for nearly a decade, focusing instead on larger- scale works. Among the more significant vocal works of the period during which he lived in Italy are a number of works for chorus and the single movement work, This

Sacred Ground, for baritone solo, chorus, children’s chorus, and orchestra. In addition to the song cycle, We Two, he wrote only three songs during his residency in Florence; The

26 Millenium (1960, Dinesen), I shall imagine life (1962, e. e. cummings), and My Papa’s

Waltz (1964; Theodore Roethke).

Diamond returned to the texts of William Shakespeare for his song cycle entitled,

We Two, which he completed in Berlin in 1964. The nine songs in the cycle are a progression of thoughts and observations representative of a relationship over time. The texts deal with absolute love, insecurity, deception, and ultimately solace in loving another. Musically, We Two reveals an adaptation of Diamond’s earlier approach to song composition to the more chromatic approach of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Where A

Midnight Meditation is characterized by intense chromaticism, closely spaced harmonies, short, episodic musical ideas, and complex contrapuntal structures, We Two is less overtly chromatic, more linear in terms of melodic line and accompaniment, with broader phrase structures, and more open in terms of sonorities. Diamond utilizes frequent melodic imitation and interchange between voice and piano. The accompaniment makes abundant use of parallel thirds, open fifths, and octaves, resulting in a texture that is more transparent, even austere when compared with that of A Midnight Meditation. Diamond also manipulates melodic motives more overtly as a means of unifying the entire cycle.

Melodic motives and fragments that appear in early songs are paraphrased and developed in later songs of the cycle.

In October 1968, Diamond completed Love and Time, a cycle of four songs to texts of Katie Louchheim (1903 - 1991). The texts, from Louchheim’s With or Without

Roses, are about love itself, of what it is constructed, its value in comparison to the generosity of nature on a summer day, and its ability to bridge the space of time.

Diamond’s musical response to these texts is equally buoyant and appropriately

27 lighthearted. The musical texture is fittingly light. Melodic material in the voice part is developed through repetition and slight modification within the context of individual songs. Diamond relies on his typical syllabic setting of text to melody; there are only two instances in the cycle in which two pitches are assigned to one syllable. He makes use of melodic contour, combining stepwise and triadic movement in such a manner as to lessen the outward force of the chromatic harmony. As in A Midnight Meditation, the interludes within each song and the postludes are more pronounced episodes. The end result is an emphasis on individual phrases and ideas rather than a representation of the entire poetic idea exclusively. The accompaniment is far less directly imitative of melodic material used in the voice line when compared with We Two, but rather makes use of the development of rhythmic material and counter melody to the voice part. As a whole,

Love and Time is a charming departure from the more brooding and somber texts frequently chosen by Diamond for musical setting.

Other works of 1968 include Do I Love You? (Larson) and the song cycle,

Hebrew Melodies. The latter work sets to music the poetry of Lord Byron (1788-1924).

Making use of the interval of the augmented second as well as altered scale degrees (most notably, the lowered second and raised fourth scale degrees), Diamond infuses the

Hebrew Melodies with a melodic sonority frequently associated with more traditional

Jewish music and Hebrew cantilations. Also notable is the occurrence of melismatic phrases within the cycle, again reminiscent of the florid style of Hebrew chant. Diamond makes use of motivic interchange between voice and piano both within individual songs and throughout the course of the cycle. Rhythmically, the accompaniment is characterized by frequent changes in pattern with regular shifts from duple to triple

28 division of the beat, juxtaposition of two against three, and recurrent meter changes.

Poetically, the cycle is concerned with burdens of a heavy heart, the hope for solace in the afterlife, and the trappings of vanity. A more detailed analysis of the Hebrew

Melodies will follow in a subsequent chapter of this document.

Following the Hebrew Melodies, Diamond completed five individual songs and one additional song cycle between 1969 and 1971. The incidental songs include Ode

(1969, A. W. E. O’Schaunessy), Life and Death (1969, C. Tichborne), Homage to Paul

Klee (1970, B. Deutsch), Christmas Tree (1970, e. e. cummings), and I am Rose (1971,

G. Stein). Diamond’s settings of the O’Schaunessy, Tichborne, and Deutsch texts are, in light of their subject matter, quite typical of the period. Given their focus on death and the life of one no longer living, they are not an illogical thematic progression after the even darker subject matter of the Lord Byron texts in the Hebrew Melodies. Of lighter subject matter and musical treatment are Diamond’s settings of Christmas Tree and I am

Rose. In the former, he makes use of parallel chord movement, hearkening back to his style of the 1940’s, contrapuntal accompaniment, and doubling of the voice line within the piano part, sometimes overtly and other times hidden within the texture of the accompaniment. While the vocal line makes use of some level of chromaticism, its occurrence within the context of clearly defined triadic harmonies aids in establishing a strong connection with a tonal center. Diamond’s setting of I am Rose makes very fine use of an ostinato accompaniment for nearly all of its twenty-six bars. Established in the first two bars, the pattern remains largely unchanged, but for a brief shift of tonality in anticipation of the climax of the final vocal line. The postlude is a rhythmic and melodic

29 expansion of that ostinato theme ending, as does Christmas Tree, with a ninth chord, also reminiscent of Diamond’s early compositional style.

30 CHAPTER III

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

A. Six Early Songs

On Death opens with voice alone, introducing melodic material in a g-minor tonality that continues through measure 20. Utilizing the same melodic material in two- part canonic entrances, the piano enters in measure 6, quickly shifting to a contrapuntal relationship with the continuing vocal line. (Example 1) Writing for the piano is characterized by predominance of movement by thirds and sixths. At the mention of death in measures 13 – 15, the sonority in the accompaniment abruptly changes to open fourths and fifths, along with a brief shift to a more homophonic texture. The contrapuntal accompaniment returns in measure 16, now making use of movement in parallel fifths.

31

Example 1 – On Death Measures 1 – 9. Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1944 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP). International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Another unifying feature in On Death, typical of Diamond’s compositions, is the use of a rhythmic motive in repetition or variation. In this instance, that rhythmic material is presented in its complete form for the first time in measure 6. That rhythmic figure,

in the context of  time signature, is a consistent element throughout the composition, returning in both vocal and piano lines, often used as a focal point, and frequently embedded within the overall texture, as it is in measure 12. In measure 18, the rhythmic figure and melodic motive return and function as transitional material to the middle section of the piece. In measures 19 – 21, that motivic material is expanded over a pedal

32 G, with the transition ending on the downbeat of Measure 23. Measures 24 – 32, the middle section of the piece, make significant use of open fourths and fifths in stepwise motion, resting briefly on C – G in measure 28 at mention of “the grave.” Often these open sonorities are juxtaposed, resulting in a sequence of seventh or ninth chords, as in measures 33 – 34. The original motivic material returns, this time in inversion under a repeated D in measures 36 – 37, serving as a transition to the final section. The g-minor tonality of the vocal line returns in measure 38 and continues until measure 44, at which point there is a shift to e-minor. This tonality remains through the final ten measures, concluding on e9.

Diamond makes use of a compositional approach that is typical of the period in

On Death through his attention to rhythm and contour of spoken text in devising his melodic setting. He also makes use of his technique of writing a bass line in counterpoint with the melodic line in the voice, and his setting expresses the overall mood of the poetry rather than specific musical gestures for each line of text or sentiment. He does, however, foreshadow future composition to some degree in changing sonority at specific text references within this setting, as he does at mention of death and the grave. This is not so much overt or specific text painting as it is representation of the mood or emotion of a given line of text within the greater context of the composition.

Shifting modality is a prominent feature in For an Old Man. The melodic line consists of phrases that are built on one of two predominant intervals: minor 3rd and major 2nd. The first phrase opens with four beats of repeated eighth-notes, alternating on

33 the pitches D and F. Two bars later, the repeated eighth-notes alternate on pitches A and

B. (Example 2) The former pitch pair typically occurs over a tonal center of D while the latter is most often supported by harmonies built on E.

Example 2 – For an Old Man Measures 1 – 5 Music by David Leo Diamond Copyright © 1951 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc. Copyright Renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by Permission. All rights reserved.

The eighth-note pulse that characterizes each of these phrase beginnings continues almost without pause from beginning to end of the piece. The melodic line in the voice does make frequent use of triple division of the beat in opposition to the continuing duple eighth-note pulse in the piano; this rhythmic variation is driven by the spoken rhythm of the text, placing important words and syllables on strong metric beats and intensifying the rhythmic energy of the piece as a whole. Melodic style is, when not engaged in one of the above-mentioned patterns, stepwise with few leaps larger than a third other than those at phrase endings.

The accompaniment makes use of both the heavily accented eighth-note pulsations and the interval of the minor third to great effect. Both elements are utilized frequently, and the former is a nearly constant element in the piano, often with accents or

34 staccato markings to enhance the strong rhythmic drive. The piano writing adds to the sense of modal sonority and shifting center of pitch with its use of parallel fourths, open sonorities of fourths and fifths, and series of parallel chords. While the pitch center may be clearly identified at one moment, it is often quickly obscured by rapid chord changes that make use of harmonies with added sevenths and ninths, as in Measures 14 – 20. This middle section of the piece, beginning in Measure 14, establishes d7 as the harmonic base, yet in the following measure, chord changes occur as frequently as every half beat disguising or shifting the tonal center for several bars, until d7 is reestablished in measure

20. The final seven measures move briefly through F-major, d-minor, f-minor, e-minor

(with passing moments of G-major), ending finally on a C7 chord. (Example 3)

Example 3 – For an Old Man Measures 29 – 32 Music by David Leo Diamond Copyright © 1951 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc. Copyright Renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by Permission. All rights reserved.

The tempo marking of Allegro barbaro, the intensity of rhythm and accents, the shifting modality, the relentless drive from beginning to end, all combine to make this setting of the poem by T. S. Eliot very effective.

35 Music, when soft voices die is representative of many of Diamond’s songs of the period in its sonority, accompaniment, melodic style, and relative brevity. The entire song comprises only twenty-two bars written in 6/8 (with the exception of one measure in

7/8). With its use of stepwise movement and comparatively small intervals (typically, minor thirds and perfect fourths), the melodic line follows the contour of Shelley’s familiar text. Diamond’s rhythmic setting not only follows the natural declamation of the poetry but also takes great care to place stressed syllables on strong beats within each bar and within individual phrases. The text setting is almost entirely syllabic, with only three instances of a single syllable sung over two pitches. Diamond also makes use of hemiola in the melodic setting of the text to highlight specific phrases, as in measure 4 and again in measure 16. (Example 4)

Example 4 – Music, when soft voices die Measures 1 – 5 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1944 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Music, when soft voices die opens with a brief introduction in F. The tonal center of the first half of the song alternates from F to D, then shifts without preparation to E in measure 12 and then again quickly to G. In addition to its reliance on stepwise

36 movement, the melodic line makes frequent use of ascending fourths, ascending and descending minor thirds, and is marked by an almost complete absence of any leading tone approach to the pitch center or dominant-tonic harmonic relationship. These elements combine to give the melody its modal sonority. This overriding modality is also suggested by the occasional occurrence of the ascending minor seventh, from D to C in the first eleven bars and from E to D in the latter half. This modal sonority is also reinforced by the piano accompaniment that incorporates nearly constant movement of parallel thirds, triads, and seventh chords in a progression of passing harmonies to and from the tonal center. In the first half, the harmonies move outward from d minor, often to F and occasionally down to B-flat, before returning again to D via parallel chord movement or stepwise harmonic motion. Similarly, in the second half, the melody outlines e minor and supporting chords pass in succession from E to C and G, but here the underlying tonal center remains centered on G, ultimately ending on a G9 chord.

When voice and piano parts are considered together as a unit, there is almost constant eighth-note movement from the beginning of the piece to the end. This not only provides the rhythmic pulse for the piece, but also contributes to the seemingly constant shifting of harmonies without a total blurring of the tonal framework. Musically, the song can be divided into two halves. Following a two-bar introduction, a brief motive in the voice line is introduced and repeated with slight variation in measures 3 – 7. The motive is built on the pitch sequence C-F-D-G-F-D-C. (See Example 4) A counter melody is introduced in the voice line in measure 8 as the motivic material moves to the soprano line of the piano. The voice line in measures 10 – 11 is built on a condensation

37 of both thematic elements, motive and counter melody. In the following measure, the motive is presented in the voice line, up one whole step from its original presentation.

This pitch center of the voice remains through the end of the piece, with underlying G major and minor harmonies, alternating with chords built on C and E. Seventh chords abound throughout, adding to the lack of harmonic stability but for a fleeting moment. If one includes the two-bar introduction and the sustained final chord in the last two bars, one can discern a mirror image of the phrase structure of the piece as a whole: Phrase lengths of 2, 5, and 4 measures each are repeated in reverse order.

Epitaph makes use of a simple motive as the basis for its entire structural organization. This song opens with a four-note ascending motive, D – D – G – A, which is then repeated up one whole step, E – E – A – B. (Example 5) Establishing a pattern of ascending fourth followed by an ascending major second, the figure spans only a perfect fifth. These three intervals combine to serve as the dominant structure on which much of the melodic material is constructed. It also serves to define the basic harmonic language of this brief song, in that the tonality alternates regularly from A to B.

38

Example 5 – Epitaph Measures 1 – 4 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1946 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Typical of this early period in Diamond’s output, seventh and ninth chords are prevalent in the piano, and chord movement is frequently stepwise rather than functional in the tradition of Western Music. In some instances, as in measures 3 – 4 and 14 – 15, chord movement mimics the same intervallic relationship of the original motive.

The rhythm of the melodic figure in the introduction,

is frequently utilized, together with or separate from, the melodic motive. This figure often is exchanged back and forth between voice and piano, almost in a call and response format. In other instances, this motive serves as counterpoint to the voice line (Measures

15 – 18) or as a connection between shorter, fragmented phrases (Measures 3 – 10).

Ultimately, the song ends in much the same manner as it begins, with the initial motive,

39 D – G – A, followed by the same sequential repetition, E – A – B, this time in even quarter-notes, all over an open fifth in the bass, G – D, to build the final chord of e11.

The melodic writing for the voice varies somewhat from that of other compositions in the same year. Whereas most songs of this period are marked by lyrical, often step-wise melodies that follow closely the contour of the poetry on which they are based, the melodic line in Epitaph is characterized by comparatively short, fragmented phrases. Written largely in  with alternating bars in  at the beginning, the first ten measures contain vocal phrases of one or two measures in length, separated by three or four beats of rest. While this may be reflective of the nature of Melville’s text, the fragmentary nature of the vocal writing stands in contrast to other songs of the period in which one seldom finds breaks within an individual strophe. At seven bars in length, the central phrase in Epitaph is the longest phrase in the song, and it is also the most

expansive in terms of range. Beginning at Measure 12, the vocal line descends from G5

to D4 and then makes use of the initial melodic motive to ascend back to D5. The final two phrases, at four and three measures in length, respectively, return to the shorter phrases of the opening. The simplicity of the motive on which this song is based and the frequent exchange of melodic and rhythmic material complement the short musical gestures in the vocal line and provide strong unification of material in this brief, but effective setting.

Diamond’s setting of Richard Lovelace’s text, To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars, displays the typical melodic and harmonic writing found in many of his earlier songs.

40 The voice line is predominantly linear and stepwise with most intervallic leaps limited to thirds and occasionally, fourths. The text setting is syllabic, making use of triple division of the beat and occasionally, sixteenth-note rhythms to reflect the nature of the patterns of the spoken text. Meter regularly alternates between  and , and the harmonic language, as in many of Diamond’s other songs of this period, is characterized by frequent use of seventh chords and a tonal center that is often established, only to be quickly blurred by frequent chord changes and non-functional harmonic progressions. In this case, the tonal center is D throughout much of the song. Diamond also maintains his traditional approach to setting text to music in that the bass line of the accompaniment does serve as counterpoint to the melodic line in the voice (or soprano line in the piano when the voice is not present), and inner voices, when they occur, tend to fill out the harmonic color and texture.

Shared motivic material is less obvious in To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars than in other songs of the period. However, one small rhythmic pattern, two eighth-notes followed by a quarter-note most, frequently in descending diatonic motion, does serve as a unifying feature. Introduced in the voice part in the first bar, this figure is immediately imitated in the bass line of the piano, where it continues, often in counterpoint to the melody in the voice.

41

Example 6 – To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars Measures 1 – 4 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1946 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

At times, this figure appears in rapid succession, with each repetition of the motive overlapping the last note of the previous iteration, as in Measures 9 – 10. In measures 12

– 13 and again in measure 15, where the tempo marking changes to poco agitato, the motive changes from eighth-note and quarter-note values to sixteenth-note and eighth- note values, respectively. This use and expansion of a small rhythmic fragment as the basis for compositional and structural unification foreshadows Diamond’s approach to later compositions, in which he would develop similar fragments with much greater complexity.

The key signature of My Spirit will not haunt the mound is three flats, implying either E major or c-minor. In fact, the melody opens by outlining a c7 chord and remaining in c-minor for much of the first 10 measures, shifting briefly to e-minor in measures 12 – 15, and after passing through d, returns to the very same c7 chord with which the song began. The shift from c to e is facilitated by the use of A-natural in

42 Measure 12 as a bridge. There is a feeling of melodic minor in the first 15 measures as the sixth scale degree is typically raised in ascending lines and lowered in descending patterns. This treatment is not universal in the accompaniment, but does follow a similar pattern much of the time. Harmonic movement underneath this melody is largely a progression of chords that move either by 2nd or 4th. There are brief passages where chord movement alternates between two adjacent tones before moving up or down a 4th. For example, in Measures 17 – 20, the chord pattern moves quickly from d7 to g7, then alternates between g7 and f7 for three bars, with chord changes every one or two beats.

The accompaniment consists largely of homophonic chords, frequently changing with each quarter note in meters of  and . This texture is altered by the use of a pattern of two sixteenth-notes and an eighth-note that serves as rhythmic counterpoint to the quarter note movement, as well as filling in sonorities. When combined, melody and accompaniment provide an overall sonority of shifting modality rather than functional harmonic progression in an anticipated minor tonality.

43

B. The Midnight Meditation

James T. Holliday writes that David Diamond described his own compositional style in The Midnight Meditation to be “almost serial,” owing at least in part to his admiration of and interest in the works of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg15. This statement refers to the intense chromaticism and apparent lack of central tonality that is characteristic of the cycle. References in standard song literature texts more frequently describe the cycle and works of the period as freely atonal or atonal. Such descriptions are slightly misleading. Chromatic or intensely chromatic more appropriately classify the four songs of The Midnight Meditation. Diamond does not employ the use of strict serial compositional techniques in this cycle, justifying his use of the phrase, “almost serial.”

He had stated in an earlier interview, as has been noted in this document, that he did not consider himself a 12-tone composer. There are, in fact, no tone rows upon which any of the four songs are based. One can find, however, great complexity of chord construction and progression, both of which serve to prevent a sense of harmonic stability or tonal center. The existence of repeated pitches, chords or tone clusters also belies the adherence to rigid serial technique. Chords that employ a broad spectrum of sonorities, major, diminished, augmented, with added 7th, 9th, 11th, etc., alternating consonant and dissonant sonorities, and even overlapping tonalities are utilized in non-functional succession. Chord changes often move by whole or half step, as they do in the second

15 James T. Holliday, The Solo Songs of David Diamond, (University of Maryland: DMA Thesis), 43

44 measure of the cycle, where the sequence is B+ - A11 – G7. Most often, each individual chord is unto itself a clearly identifiable sonority, but in the context of surrounding, unrelated chords, the effect is one of a rapidly shifting, unstable tonal landscape.

Among the other significant stylistic characteristics of this song cycle and other songs of this period are elements found in the melodic writing, rhythmic structure and development, and greater independence of writing for voice and piano parts. Text setting for the voice is more expressive of a single phrase or group of phrases of text rather than an attempt to capture the overall mood of the entire poem. Overt existence and manipulation of melodic motives as a means of compositional unification is rare.

Although the rhythm of the text is still reflected in the musical setting, melodic phrases in the vocal line reflect the mood or sentiment of a given line of text and do not follow as strictly the contour of spoken lines of text. In addition to highlighting individual phrases, the vocal writing in The Midnight Meditation is significantly more demanding than that of Diamond’s earlier songs. Vocal lines contain large leaps, expansive range (more than two octaves), chromatic, angular lines, and complex rhythms. In all four songs of the cycle, the text setting is syllabic, melismatic writing is nonexistent, and with the exception of final notes in each song, there are few sustained pitches of significant length.

The four songs of The Midnight Meditation are settings of desolate, pessimistic texts that describe the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, written by Elder Olson. They are a series of constantly changing images and emotions, with stark descriptions of the futility of hope, the relentless cycle of tyranny’s triumph over humanity. There are

45 frequent tempo and meter changes, an abundance of very specific expressive markings

(For example, “Hollow Sound” in Measure 14 of Song I), and strictly guided dynamic markings, all of which serve to express the rapid changes of emotion and sentiment.

The first song begins with a lengthy introduction in continually shifting meters. A rhythmic motive introduced in the first measure becomes a constant element throughout the first song, limited almost exclusively to the piano part. In its complete form, this motive appears as below.

This motive is frequently reduced only to the latter portion, consisting of four sixteenth- notes. The group of four sixteenth-notes most often contains three descending pitches followed by a repetition of the third pitch. This four-note motive occurs only one time in the voice part, on the last beat in measure 39. All other occurrences of this rhythmic motive appear in the piano accompaniment. In most cases when the voice is present, only the figure of four sixteenth-notes is utilized. There are instances, as in measures 30,

37, and 40, among others, when the motive occurs in eighth-note rhythmic patterns.

During piano interludes the motive appears in its complete form.

Including the introduction, the song can be divided into four sections. The first portion, for piano solo, consists of thirteen measures in which the mood of the piece is established and the motivic material is introduced. The motive remains largely in the left

46 hand of the piano, serving as a counterpoint to the right hand’s succession of chords. The rhythmic figure returns in Measure 7, following a brief development and rapid changes in tempo. The motive is once again developed, this time in a much more complex texture.

The voice enters in measure 14, at which point the second section of the piece begins. Short phrases in the vocal line are linked together by interjections of the four- note motive in the piano. The motive serves as counterpoint to the voice in this section, during which the text describes the protagonist’s first encounter with the aftermath of destruction. This second section concludes and is bridged with the third section in measure 23, the second half of which reiterates the texture and rhythm of the measure 1.

There follow three bars of interlude, again dominated by the rhythmic pattern in the left hand of the piano against a progression of chords whose sonorities in this case are dominated by parallel sixths and fifths. The tempo and rhythmic energy increase in this interlude in anticipation of the poetic description of ruins and the energy of the wind. In a clear example of text painting, the piano takes on the rising and falling of the wind in triplet patterns that ascend and descend beginning in measure 32. (Example 7)

Example 7 – Midnight Meditation I Measures 32 – 34 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

47

As the poet describes the wind’s path through the destruction, the accompaniment continues its text painting with ever-increasing speed achieved through tempo change and subdivision of the beat: triplet, sixteenth, triplet 16ths, and ultimately 32nd-notes in rising and falling scale passages underneath the voice which rises and soars above.

The fourth strophe begins without pause or interlude in measure 38, and two bars later, as the winds calm and the text moves to a description of past civilizations also brought down by the hand of man, there is a gradual relaxation and thinning of texture in the piano, ending with only the left hand repeating the four-note motive in measure 46.

(Example 8)

Example 8 – Midnight Meditation I Measures 40 – 45 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

This two-voice counterpoint of voice and piano continues for nearly six measures, followed by an ascending version of the four-note motive for two measures (Measures

51-52). The piece concludes with an eight-measure postlude, which after a final iteration of the initial thematic material, recalls the triplet movement of measures 32 – 38, gradually slowing to the final A chord.

48

II.

The second song in the cycle recounts the profound nature of the cycle of life and repetition of history from the point of view of the futility of mourning the passing of the seasons or grieving over death at the hand of mankind. Perhaps more profound is the sense that one ought not rejoice in the resurgence of life following death, for that life will inevitably be conquered by death once again. This focus on the death portion of the life cycle continues the pessimism presented in the first song. The imagery of the text also makes reference to the immensity and infinite nature of time as contrasted by the finite nature of a comparatively small individual. Diamond makes use of frequently changing meters of two, three and four beats per measure as well as constant shifts in texture to express musically the mood or sentiment of each phrase of text. Large homophonic chord sequences are contrasted with two-voice counterpoint, the latter including voice or piano alone. This song is thematically connected to the first by the inclusion of the same four-note rhythmic/melodic pattern that was so pervasive in the first song of the cycle. In this case, however, the thematic material is used more sparingly, typically to anchor major sections of the composition. Its first occurrence comes in an interlude (Measure

13), the midway point in the first section of this piece. It is more pronounced in measures

23 – 24 (Example 9), where it again serves as a counterpoint to the vocal line, here in reference to the mournful wind, signifying the passing of the seasons.

49

Example 9 – Midnight Meditation II Measures 23 – 25 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The first, extended portion of the song concludes in measure 25, delineated from what follows by texture and mood. This opening section, containing two strophes of text, describes the relationship of the individual to the vast darkness of time. The use of a cappella and accompaniment consisting only of octaves at the low extreme of the keyboard are obvious tools for conveying profound depth, isolation, and darkness.

Beginning in measure 13, a four-bar interlude, in two-voice counterpoint characterized by alternating major and minor thirds, bridges the two halves of this first section, and when the voice enters in measure 17, the two-voice counterpoint continues between voice and piano through measure 23. This section ends with a three measure phrase in which the piano takes up the thematic material from the first song in the cycle, this time in the right hand of the piano, while the left hand matches the rhythm of the voice.

The first section concludes in measure 25, at which point a brief, bridge-like interlude begins. This interlude continues in two-part counterpoint but quickly adds inner

50 voices and thickens in texture so that within four bars, the counterpoint has shifted to complex, chromatic chord changes, including overlapping tonalities. The voice returns in measure 29 at which point there is a significant reduction in tempo, a shift to 6/4 meter, and change in mood. Here as the text describes the continual resurgence of death, the piano part ascends, emerging out of the texture, only to descend and begin again. The meter shifts to a lilting 6/8 in Measure 38, illustrating musically the cyclical repetition of the life cycle as described in the text. Measures 46 – 47 mark the midway point of this second section, and here again there is a brief utterance of the theme in the left hand of the piano as the meter shifts back to 2/4 in measure 47. At this point the poem describes a series of mythological images – the phoenix, the sphinx, and the chimera. The intensity of the text is matched by rhythmic intensity in both piano and voice parts, as well as by heightened chromaticism. In the final measures of this section, the use of the four-note motive is also more frequent, intense, and overt. Rather than simply utilizing this motive as punctuation for this section by incorporating it at the end, it is increasingly prevalent until it is the dominant feature of the piano in measures 56 – 58. (Example 10)

Example 10 – Midnight Meditation II Measures 56 – 58 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The final section of the piece begins in measure 59 and continues on through to the end. After a brief return to two-voice counterpoint in measures 62 –63, there is a

51 constant shifting of emphasis and texture, as the piano part seems to move toward more independence of the vocal line. Tempo changes are constant until the end, occasionally reversing course within a single bar, adding to the sense of instability. The counterpoint between voice and bass line of the piano continues until measure 66, at which point there is a forceful outburst to highlight the image of time/death holding whole civilizations in its grasp. This is in contrast to the final line of text which expresses the reality that one small individual cannot escape unnoticed by this immense, all-encompassing power. The postlude consists of four bars that return to the original meter of 3/2, and arise to overtake the voice in both pitch and dynamic, only to dissipate into a single ascending line, seemingly into thin air.

III.

The third song of the cycle begins in rather a different mood than the previous two songs, aided by an eight measure piano introduction in 2/4, with both hands playing quite high in the treble range, hinting at the image of the carousel in the first line of text.

The texture at the outset is one that remains through much of the song; a great deal of the writing is in two or three part counterpoint. There are, of course, portions where chords contain four or more pitches, but those are comparatively brief and serve more to add color and texture to the preexistent counterpoint, and by comparison there are few extended chordal passages. Like the other songs in the cycle, however, there are frequent changes in tempo and dynamic, and a now-standard approach to illuminating individual lines of text through means of text painting. Thematic material from the first song does

52 recur here, to a lesser degree than in song number two. The use of the four-note motive occurs most often as four eighth-notes interspersed throughout, occasionally with an added minor 2nd to provide the sonority of clustered pitches, as in Measure 6. (Example

11)

Example 11 – Midnight Meditation III Measures 4 – 8 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The opening section of the piece in which reference is made to children riding,

“the year’s sweet carousel…the faëry wheel…” as a metaphor for a simplistic, naïve view of the passage of time and history, has a similarly light and dance-like texture. Including the introduction, much of the writing is in two-part counterpoint, until the beginning of the second strophe in measure 20, at which point the counterpoint is in three voices.

Measure 16 provides an example of a brief excursion away from the overarching texture by making use of a more typical progression of seventh chords and dissonant sonorities, only to return to the contrapuntal texture in the following bar. The first section, containing two relatively equal strophes, is characterized not only by this texture, but by

53 the rapid declamation of text in a melodic line that relies on stepwise movement in combination with intervallic leaps that often outline triads of varying sonority.

The mood changes for the second large section of the piece, which begins at the tempo change in measure 30, and is marked by slightly more expansive and angular melodic writing for the voice and increased rhythmic intensity and tighter chromatic writing for the piano. The text compares the passage of time and human civilization to the seismic movement of earth and sea, making use of images that allude to the formation and destruction of the universe. The accompaniment reflects these clear and explosive images with sharp rhythms, rapidly ascending phrases, running figures, etc. to illustrate specific images in the text. This becomes more expansive in measure 44, in a four- measure interlude that serves as a bridge to the next section of the song. With a gradual reduction in tempo and a shift of the underlying beat from the quarter to the half-note, there is a feeling of broadening, less frenetic movement. Here, the text compares the ambiguity that comes of long expanses of time, marked by bits of history that track the motion of civilization through time and history. The vocal line is much more angular in this portion of the song, with large leaps, extremes of range, and longer duration of individual pitches and syllables. By contrast, this section makes more consistent use of thicker textures, dissonance, seventh and ninth chords, and exploitation of the nearly the full range of the keyboard. Clear text painting occurs in Measures 56 – 61 to coincide with the coursing of the wind and turning of the whirlpool. (Example 12)

54 Example 12 – Midnight Meditation III Measures 56 – 61 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The final two strophes of text begin in Measure 62, with a return to the initial two-voice counterpoint with which the piece began, albeit in a very different mood and setting. The text setting retains the more expansive nature of the previous section, but returns to a somewhat more linear melodic line. Leaps, in general, become smaller, and the tessitura of the final phrases returns to the middle from the outer extremes of pitch.

Rhythmic drive is significantly reduced to coincide with a sense of resolve in the text, and beginning in Measure 70, the quarter-note pulse slows gradually to the end, nearly all pitches change only on the quarter-note, leading to an almost chorale-like passage in

Measures 81 – 83. The final statement accentuates the boundlessness and ambiguity of the text by concluding, after a final a cappella declaration in the voice, with overlapping ninth chords.

IV.

The final song serves as both musical and poetic conclusion. The poem’s protagonist reveals a level of maturity, a more pragmatic view of one’s place in the passage of time: time will continue to move forward, but hope, despite our efforts, does not arise with each new day. The pessimism of the earlier songs remains, but there is an

55 added level of resolve and acceptance. The expressive marking at the beginning, “con rassegnazione spirituale,” directs the singer to perform this “with spiritual resignation.”

There are few tempo changes in this final song of the cycle. The opening tempo,

( = 48), remains constant for the first two-thirds of the song, becomes gradually quicker for ten measures, after which the tempo gradually slows until the end. This is in stark contrast to the frequent changes in tempo that occur in the first three songs of the cycle.

There is a return to a fuller texture for the concluding song, with its long passages of chordal accompaniment. Use of thematic material from the first song follows a similar pattern to that of the third song, in that the presence of the four-note motive is sporadic and interwoven into the texture of the piano. Most often, it takes the form of four eighth- notes, and while it frequently follows the expected pattern of two descending pitches followed by two repeated pitches, there are a few instances where the two repeated notes are approached from below, as in measures 22 – 23.

Following a seven-measure introduction characterized by a progression of seventh and ninth chords, often delineated only by chromatic movement of inner voices, the voice begins a melody that is notable for the frequent use of perfect intervals. Fourths and fifths occur with some regularity, and while that provides a certain degree of angularity to the melodic line, it also affords more open sonorities and fewer chromatic passages. This open sonority of the vocal line is countered with dissonant harmony in the piano, surrounding the occasional fleeting moment of consonant harmony. The opening section, with its overriding four-part chordal texture, interwoven thematic material, and

56 descriptive text, continues through the first half of Measure 21. The last two beats of

Measure 21 mark a change in tone as the poet states for the first time his realization and resignation. Here, where the text states, “The treadmill as a treadmill…” the accompaniment, with its short descending phrases, is more contrapuntal than preceding measures, and while the texture is less thick, the chromatic movement and dissonant harmonies remain. There is an increased triplet division of the beat in the vocal line, working against duple subdivision in the piano. In Measures 33 – 35, where the text speaks of the dawn of hope, both voice and piano begin an ascent in pitch and a substantial crescendo, only to drop suddenly in Measure 36 with the realization that hope does not, in fact, arise with the new day. Measure 40 begins the final third of the piece with an intensification of melodic line and accompaniment, marked by running sixteenth- notes in the bass line of the piano, ten measures of stringendo poco a poco, and a melodic line that spans two octaves. This is followed by a comparatively rapid slowing of tempo and a reduction in rhythmic furor in the piano. The four-note motive appears once again, in Measures 47 – 48, and again in 50 – 51, to punctuate the final phrase of text, “…And the future rises…like a city rising from the infinite sea.” This final phrase begins at fortissimo dynamic level and gradually diminishes to piano on the final, sustained pitch in the voice. The song cycle concludes with the very same overlapping chords with which Diamond finished the third song, this time building them gradually from the bottom over the course of the final four measures. (Example 13)

57 Example 13 – Midnight Meditation IV Measures 53 – 56 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1954 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

58

C. Hebrew Melodies

The four songs of the cycle, Hebrew Melodies were completed in the year 1968 to texts of Lord Byron and reveal a synthesis of techniques of the earlier two stylistic periods in

Diamond’s compositional development. Use of chromatic writing is combined with a return to more clearly identifiable tonal centers. Rhythmic and melodic motives are introduced and developed, and thematic material is often shared between voice and piano.

In this cycle, individual phrases of text are highlighted by dynamic, dramatic changes in pitch, reinforcement by motive in the piano, and rhythmic intensification. Among the specific features of this cycle, are altered scale degrees, in particular the lowered second scale degree and the raised fourth, as well as the frequent presence of the Augmented 2nd in the melodic writing. These and other characteristics borrow from the styles of traditional Jewish liturgical and folk music.

The first song, My soul is dark, opens with a brief introductory section, built on pedal tone C, doubled at the octave in the bass of the piano. This helps to establish C as the tonal center of the opening of the piece, and is contrasted by sharply accented quarter notes a tritone away, on G-flat, followed by clustered chords utilizing pitches D – F – G –

C. The voice enters in Measure 5, begins in c-minor, with the lowered second scale degree, and the introductory statement concludes in Measure 7. (Example 14) The melody of this opening statement in the vocal line will ultimately return to conclude the cycle.

59 Example 14 – Hebrew Melodies I Measures 1 – 7 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

C remains the tonal center, as outlined by a brief melismatic passage in Measures 10 –

11, an imitative variant of a gesture in the piano two bars earlier. This utilization of melismatic passages is relatively rare in the song compositions of David Diamond, and it is a feature that will be repeated in the cycle evoking the style of traditional Jewish music. This same pitch pattern is taken up by the piano in measure 16, this time countered by a melody introduced in the right hand of the piano in Measure 13. Absent only for a few bars, the octave C pedal tone remains constant through the first seventeen measures, at which point it moves to A-flat and begins to function as part of the counterpoint to the vocal line.

Measures 8 – 17 are characterized by melody and countermelody, one introduced by the voice and the other by the piano. Entrances are imitative, and motivic material is freely shared between both parts. The second half of Measure 17 marks the beginning of a new section. The voice sings a sustained melody over imitative lines of running eighth- notes in the piano characterized by ascending half-steps and descending minor thirds, all

60 over a bass line that slowly descends from B to C, making use of the augmented 2nd of F to E. The melodic motive of Measure 13 returns in Measure 24, this time with parallel chord movement underneath. A variant of this motive continues as counterpoint to the voice in Measure 26. This also marks the beginning of a transition away from the tonal center from C, shifting first to D in Measure 32.

In a four-measure interlude that begins in Measure 32, the running eighth-note patterns return and continue until Measure 42. These figures are a dominant feature, serving to contrast the longer, sustained pitches in the voice and bass line. (Example 15)

Example 15 – Hebrew Medodies I Measures 34 – 37 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Throughout this section, as the text becomes more intense, the accompaniment follows suit, with more rhythmic activity, more tightly woven chromatic movement in the running figures in the piano, and sweeping crescendi. When the melodic line becomes declamatory and its phrases a bit shorter, the piano punctuates with imitative gestures in response, as in Measures 40 to the end. The emotional intensity is also marked by the

61 shifting tonal center, working to B-flat in Measure 36, arriving briefly at D-flat in

Measure 41, and passing through E and F, before finally arriving at D in the final bars.

The brief postlude features an extended version of the initial phrase in the voice line, utilizing intervals of minor third followed by minor second before returning to tonal center. (Example 16)

Example 16 – Hebrew Melodies I Measures 52 – 55 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The second song, If that high world, opens with a six measure introduction that features a transparent texture, imitative writing, and short motive on the following pitch sequence:

C-F-G–B

The vocal line, which introduces a second bit of thematic material, enters on the last beat of the sixth measure. (Example 17) Both of these pitch sequences will recur, the latter more overtly and more frequently than the first. In general, there is a prevalence of open

62 fourths and fifths, occurring melodically, harmonically, and occasionally both simultaneously, producing 7th chord sonorities. Parallel movement of chords as well as perfect intervals also occur with some regularity throughout this song and most noticeably in the initial section comprising the first 18 measures.

Example 17 – Hebrew Melodies II Measures 1 – 10 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The texture and mood shift as the second major section of the song begins in

Measure 19. The rhythmic complexity in the piano increases substantially, from chordal accompaniment to contrapuntal writing, with alternating duple and triple subdivision of the beat, and running sixteenth-note figures, coupled with a gradual increase in tempo.

As the text in Measures 20 – 24 describes the soaring of the soul to eternity after death,

63 the vocal line ascends to its highest pitch (B5) and the accompaniment, with its increased intensity, ascends and soars in a clear instance of text painting. (Example 18)

Example 18 – Hebrew Melodies II Measures 20 – 23 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The succeeding two measures serve as transition to the third strophe, which begins in Measure 29. The bass line of the piano (beginning with the final note of

Measure 27) outlines the same melodic sequence of the opening introduction. This sets the stage for chromatic movement in the bass line, first doubled at the octave, leading to parallel sixths, and ultimately fourths and fifths. The right hand of the piano in this section continues with the contrapuntal texture and running eighth and sixteenth note figures. The result is a merger of textures of the previous two sections of the song in the

64 context of rapidly changing harmonies and heightened chromatic movement in both voice and piano.

After a brief melismatic utterance in Measure 38 that is reminiscent of a similar melismatic passage in the first song, the final section of the piece commences with a return to the open sonority and texture of the first eighteen bars. The bass line of the piano is largely in octaves, and the harmonies, in contrast with the dissonance and frequent occurrence of the tritone in the middle two portions of the piece, are startlingly consonant and clear. The final statement of the vocal line is punctuated by a succession of sharply accented chords, each with an added tone (7th, 9th). The song concludes with a brief postlude that utilizes a similarly imitative pattern, this time a variant of the theme introduced by the voice in which the original pitch sequence is embedded.

The most expansive and dramatic song of the four is entitled, Saul. This retelling of the story of the return of Samuel from the dead is given a very programmatic and intense musical setting. Opening with octave doubling in both hands of the piano, the summons begins with the very first notes. Open sonorities are dominant, parallel, chromatic movement takes precedence, and passing chords create a shifting from consonance to dissonance. In measure 5, the voice enters and calls forth Samuel from the dead. Sustained d-minor with an added G, undergirds a trumpet-like figure in the treble of the piano. As this declamatory summons continues, the piano responds in dramatic fashion, with heavy accents and rhythmic drive through the end of the first section of the song.

65

Following this summoning of Samuel, the rumbling of the earth is represented by tightly woven chromatic figures in triplet sixteenth notes, beginning in Measure 15 and continuing though Measure 20, as the earth opens to release the prophet. (Example 19)

Example 19 – Hebrew Melodies III Measures 15 – 19 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

This is followed by a detailed description of the dead prophet’s physical appearance, each phrase accompanied by a change in texture and harmony. Throughout the descriptive portion, consonant harmonies are succeeded by dissonance, sonorities shift rapidly, and the intensity of counterpoint alters to reflect each individual phrase of text. A dramatic shift occurs in measure 43, as Saul sees the prophet and falls to earth. Both voice and

66 piano descend in striking passages that exploit, in the case of the accompaniment, the extreme range of the keyboard.

In similarly dramatic manner, the cumulative fury of the piece gives way, as

Samuel speaks (Measure 49), to bass line octaves on C, the temporary tonal center.

What begin as low, pointed statements, punctuated by short, chromatic rumblings in the piano, gradually build into broader, more powerful, prophetic statements foretelling of

Saul’s demise.

The vocal writing, which has been decidedly more linear up to this point in the song, now becomes increasingly angular, with wide leaps and swings from one extreme of the vocal range to the other and widely contrasting dynamic levels. The accompaniment in these initial statements of the prophet retains a chordal texture, with short rhythmic figures serving as punctuation between phrases in the vocal line. The prophesy that Saul will join Samuel among the dead the following day is stated first in

Measure 74, in an ascending line from E to B, over a chromatically descending bass line and open chords that line up rhythmically with each subsequent phrase entrance in the voice. In the final section, as the description of the destruction of Saul and his own in the ensuing battle, the rhythmic and harmonic intensity similarly rise, leading to a final proclamation of Saul’s demise. The final four measures, in chorale-like fashion, end on a

B9, at full dynamic. (Example 20)

67

Example 20 – Hebrew Melodies III Measures 101-105 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Subtitled, Ciaccona, the fourth and final song of the cycle opens with a brief melodic pattern that outlines G#-minor and repeats with slight variations for the first eight measures. (Example 21) This figure bears similarities to the thematic material of the second song of the cycle and shares a tonal center with the opening of the portion of that melody.

68

Example 21 – Hebrew Melodies IV Measures 1 – 5 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

The text of this final song of the cycle looks back on a life seemingly well lived.

After a description of accumulated material wealth and power, the protagonist arrives at the realization that such happiness is superficial. In the end, none of the material accumulation feeds the heart or the soul, and the pain endures forever. To illustrate that point, Diamond repeats the final phrase of text, an occurrence which seldom occurs in his song compositions. The melodic setting of this text alternates between lyric, stepwise phrases and short, angular phrases with widely spanning leaps. The opening phrases, over the initial chaconne theme, stay within the G#-minor tonal center and the melodic line is overtly diatonic. As the text in the second half of the song describes the absence of true happiness in the recollection of the past, the melodic line increases in chromaticism and becomes more expansive in range. Due in part to the form in which

69 this song is written, there are few significant changes in texture, and tempo changes are limited to slight alterations at phrase endings.

At the end of the eighth measure, the original chaconne pattern is expanded and shifts up one octave, where it continues for two measures before a shift in tonal center to outlining a fully diminished 11th chord built on A#. As is the case with the initial eight measures, the addition of chords in the right hand and the vocal line results in a progression of harmonies, both consonant and dissonant that have little functional relationship to the chord outlined by the pattern in the left hand of the piano. The original chaconne figure eventually returns in measure 31, now in the right hand of the piano, in the context of a three-part contrapuntal interlude. (Example 22) While the pitch pattern avoids strict adherence to the original pattern, the rhythmic essence continues, with steady eighth-note pulse and syncopated rhythms continuing. The motive moves from the top voice of the accompaniment through inner voices until the second half of Measure

37, at which point it returns to its original form in the bass line of the piano.

70 Example 22 – Hebrew Melodies IV Measures 31 – 34 Music by David Leo Diamond. Copyright © 1969 by Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc., Copyright renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Three-voice counterpoint continues in the accompaniment until Measure 39, after which the texture, over the course of two measures, thins to a single line. In Measure 42 the motive begins, outlining A but quickly shifts, resolving to A. This is followed by a slow reprise of the motive which begins the first song of the cycle, here ultimately resolving to unison A, estinguendo a quasi niente.

71 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

At the time of his death in 2005, David Diamond was described in The New York

Times as “…a major American composer…” whose music was noted for its “…lush, intense lyricism.”16 Referring to Diamond’s musical contributions, Gerard Schwarz, who in recent years has made numerous recordings of Diamond’s orchestral works, remarked,

“…it was beautiful music, in the sense he had a tremendous melodic gift…At times it was as elegant and expressive as music can be, and at times extremely driven.”17

Such assessments are apt descriptions of David Diamond’s output, whether they are in reference to his chamber works, his orchestral compositions, or his vocal music. There can be little doubt of his legacy as a significant American composer of the twentieth century. A great many of his compositions are representative of the development of a distinctly American musical style in the early and middle twentieth century, and while he eschewed the movement toward atonality and strict serialism in the 1950’s and 1960’s, his music of the period did reflect such influences. That his works, along with those of his contemporaries, garnered renewed interest in the latter decades of the twentieth century is a testament to their enduring significance.

16 Daniel J. Wakin, “David Diamond, 89, Intensely Lyrical Composer is Dead.” The New York Times. (June 15, 2005) 17 Ibid.

72 It is somewhat ironic that a composer known for his lyricism would receive consistent accolades for his instrumental works while gaining comparatively little attention for a significant collection of solo vocal works. Given the breadth of his compositions for voice and piano, both in number and in substance, one can only speculate as to the reasons for this lack of notice beyond the relatively small circle of his composer colleagues and students. To be sure, Diamond, through his teaching and writing, exercised considerable influence on the generation of composers who would follow him, among them his student, William Flanagan, and more recently, Richard

Hundley who counts the “young David Diamond” among his major influences.18 Yet,

Diamond’s songs remain comparatively unknown to a great many current professionals and students of singing. One might surmise that his early works, with their accessible sonorities, clear tonal centers, and linear melodic lines, fell out of fashion with the rise of atonality and the avant garde movement of the 1950’s. Certainly, the fact that a great many solo vocal compositions of the 1940’s were not, until relatively recently, readily available from publishers contributed to the lack of wider access to these works. One might also reasonably assume that Diamond’s vocal music of the 1950’s and 1960’s, with its exceedingly high demands on both singer and pianist, would discourage novice singers from further exploration.

Regardless of such speculation and any conclusions that might be drawn from such endeavors, one cannot ignore the significance of David Diamond’s contribution to the larger repertory of solo vocal music. His songs of the 1940’s, representative of his

18 Friedberg, 249

73 earlier style of composition, provide a wealth of material for exploration. While a cursory evaluation may leave one with the impression that the songs of the period are inconsistent in their style or structure – an impression furthered by their treatment in those few scholarly references that do exist – careful study reveals fundamental elements that remain constant throughout all of these works. Melodic lines carefully crafted to reflect rhythm and contour of poetic text, contrapuntal piano accompaniments with varying texture and complexity to represent the emotion of the poetic line, and accessible sonorities of shifting modalities and richness of color that embody a lush neo-

Romanticism are all hallmarks of the songs of this period. Diamond’s choice of poets and texts is a reflection of his affinity for the prominent literary figures of his day and of the nineteenth century, and his musical interpretations of these texts provide keen insight into the composer, both musically and personally. In the case of more familiar texts, such as Shelley’s Music, when soft voices die, Diamond’s settings provide viable programming alternatives to other, more familiar musical settings.

The songs of this period are readily accessible to both singer and audience, and young singers in particular should find them quite approachable in their musical and vocal demands. Linear melodic lines that do not push the extremes of range and clear tonal centers within each song contribute to this accessibility. By contrast, the songs of the early 1950’s are not as readily approachable. With more angular vocal writing that includes wide leaps, disjunct melodic lines, extended pitch range, and increasingly complex rhythmic figurations, Diamond’s comparatively small number of songs from this decade call for a singer of considerable maturity, both vocally and musically. With

74 their emphasis on expressing single phrases of text, or even single words, rather than the larger emotional scope of each respective poem, individual songs of this period demand a greater range of expressive capabilities, not to mention the versatility to make frequent and rapid changes. Piano accompaniments are also increasingly complex in structure and sonority. In contrast to Diamond’s songs of the 1940’s, in which the vocal line is most often supported harmonically by the piano, the accompaniment is substantially more independent of the voice. Tonal centers are masked by rapidly shifting chords and intense chromaticism. Small rhythmic figures in the accompaniment serve as unifying features within individual songs, but these motives are not often shared with the vocal line. It is clear that the songs of the 1950’s require that both singer and pianist possess great skill, an extensive range of musical and emotional expression, and the versatility to meet the many demands presented in the scores.

The combination of chromatic sonorities, complex rhythmic and melodic construction, and frequently somber texts, contributes to the difficulty listeners may experience in attempting to understand these songs after only a single hearing, and this fact may indeed deter both listener and performer alike. However, a thorough study of the songs that comprise the cycle, A Midnight Meditation reveals the detailed craftsmanship that underlies the work as a whole. Understanding the underlying structural components upon which a work is built enhances one’s appreciation for the work in its complete form, breaking down external barriers to its accessibility. And while the same can be said of virtually any composer, it remains an important truth that one cannot fully understand later compositions without knowing the context in which they

75 exist. Familiarity with Diamond’s earlier vocal works along with his instrumental compositions of the 1940’s and 1950’s is invaluable in fully understanding the language and intent of this song cycle, and familiarity with the compositions of Diamond’s contemporaries also aids in viewing his works as a part of a greater whole. This cycle, along with Diamond’s other vocal works of the same time period are certainly worthy of further inquiry and study and represent his growth and development as a composer while resisting and reacting to the more avante garde movement that surrounded him.

By synthesizing compositional elements that he utilized in the 1940’s with those of the 1950’s, Diamond displayed his continued evolution as a composer. His works from the 1960’s and beyond highlight his return to the compositional language and approach upon which his earliest mature works are based while not abandoning the more adventurous chromaticism that marked his compositions in the preceding decade. Works from the final major period in Diamond’s compositional life feature linear melodic lines, overt development and exchange of melodic motives between voice and piano, and open sonorities while still making use of chromatic harmonies, albeit not to the same degree as in A Midnight Meditation. While it may be difficult, even impossible to immediately discern the tonal center within the songs that comprise the cycle, A Midnight Meditation, one finds more easily identifiable tonal centers in the later songs.

It is this evolution of style in Diamond’s compositions for voice, returning to and incorporating the techniques that were prevalent in his earlier songs, that increases their approachability. While the demands on the performers remain relatively high, due to the

76 extensive pitch range, breadth of phrase, and musical sophistication, the existence of clearly identifiable musical gestures as well as clear tonal centers and consonant sonorities gives rise to songs that are accessible to the listener. The three cycles written in the 1960’s, We Two, Hebrew Melodies, and Love and Time, epitomize the synthesis of

Diamond’s stylistic characteristics. In each, one finds clear examples of stylistic attributes from both the 1940’s and 1950’s. Like the songs of the 1940’s, phrase structure and melodic construction are reliant on and reflective of the structure and contour of poetic phrase. Rather than expressing the overall mood or emotion of each poem in its entirety, as one finds in the settings of the 1940’s, individual phrases are illuminated and techniques of text painting are effectively utilized. By setting a wide array of texts, from Shakespeare and Lord Byron to Louchheim and e. e. cummings,

Diamond confirms his ability to express musically poems that vary in form and sentiment while consistently incorporating his signature compositional techniques.

The songs of David Diamond represent a substantive portion of this composer’s total compositional output. That he was a major figure in American music in the twentieth century is beyond debate. His reputation as a composer of finely crafted music, with intricate and complex contrapuntal structures, sophisticated development of melodic and rhythmic motives, and heightened lyricism is well deserved. Those very features that contribute to the success and notoriety of his large-scale works are also effective components of his more intimate settings for voice and piano. Diamond’s songs certainly merit further study, and such scholarly investigation coupled with increased exposure to

77 his vocal works through public performance may elevate them to their rightful position in

American art song.

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