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Musical Portrayals of Death in Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances Of The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2015 Musical Portrayals of Death in Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death Graham Michael Anduri University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Anduri, Graham Michael, "Musical Portrayals of Death in Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death" (2015). Dissertations. 95. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/95 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi MUSICAL PORTRAYALS OF DEATH IN MUSORGSKY’S SONGS AND DANCES OF DEATH by Graham Michael Anduri Abstract of Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts May 2015 ABSTRACT MUSICAL PORTRAYALS OF DEATH IN MUSORGSKY’S SONGS AND DANCES OF DEATH by Graham Michael Anduri May 2015 Musorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death presents a set of unique portrayals of death in art song literature. Aside from the obvious challenge of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet which are unfamiliar to most Western performers, the unique musical style, historical context, and complex psychological implications of Songs and Dances of Death require a good deal of study before one can fully grasp the profundity and importance of this cycle. Musorgsky’s views on music and life, the Zeitgeist in which these songs were composed, a historical analysis of the medieval Dance of Death tradition and its influence on the poet and composer, as well as an analysis of the psychological phenomenon of death personifications are provided to engender a holistic approach to interpreting these songs. A musical analysis illustrates the musical manifestations of the aforementioned elements. A guide to the various editions and their inherent merits and/or flaws gives the performer the necessary information to find a suitable version of the cycle. A word-for- word translation, IPA transliteration, and pronunciation guide are also included to facilitate the learning of the text by non-Russian speakers. ii COPYRIGHT BY GRAHAM MICHAEL ANDURI 2015 The University of Southern Mississippi MUSICAL PORTRAYALS OF DEATH IN MUSORGSKY’S SONGS AND DANCES OF DEATH by Graham Michael Anduri A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Approved: __Dr. Maryann Kyle___________________ Committee Chair __Dr. J. Taylor Hightower______________ __Dr. Susan Ruggiero__________________ __Dr. Daniel Beard____________________ __Dr. Christopher Goertzen_____________ _Dr. Karen S. Coats___________________ Dean of the Graduate School May 2015 DEDICATION I would first like to acknowledge my wife, Stefanie, for her unwavering love and support as we journeyed through three degrees together. This document and the degree it represents would not have been possible without my family supporting and encouraging me and my career throughout my life. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due to each of my committee members, especially Dr. Maryann Kyle for her steadfast guidance. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Stanley Hauer for editorial assistance. Thank you also to Lindsey Nuesca, Paul Lankau, and Ellen Rissinger for help with Russian translations and diction. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………… ……………..……….…………….ii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………….…….……..iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………….…….……iv LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………….………….…………vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS……………………………………….……………………vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………..1 II. MUSORGSKY’S MILIEU…………………………………………………3 III. COMPOSITIONAL STYLE………………………………….…………..10 IV. THE MEDIEVAL DANCE OF DEATH AND ITS LEGACY…………..17 V. PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO SONGS AND DANCES OF DEATH .. …..23 Lullaby Serenade Trepak Field Commander VI. THE EDITIONS……………………………………………………….….60 VII. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………...63 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………...64 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..79 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Sections of “Lullaby”…………………………..………………………………..28 2. Ranges and Tessituras of Each Song in Each Key……..………………………..62 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Dies Irae Plainchant Melody…………………………………………………….18 2. Totentanz Woodcarvings by Hans Holbein the Younger………………………..20 3. Octatonic Introductory Melody and Vocal Entrance…………………………….26 4. Triadic Arpeggios in “Lullaby”………………………………………………….27 5. Variation of Introductory Theme and “Knock”…………………………….........28 6. Altered Lullaby Motive………………………………………………..………...29 6a. Lullaby Motive…………………………………………………..……………....29 7. Death’s Opening Phrase in “Lullaby”……………………..…………………….30 8. Final Lullaby Motive………………………………………………………...…..31 9. Chord Mutations…………………………………………………………………33 10. Tonal Instability in Mother’s Final Line………………………………………...33 11. Leading Tone Introduction and Jumping Bass Line……………………………. 36 12. Melodic Leaps…………………………………………………………………...36 13. Key Change Transition to Death’s Serenade Motive…………………..………..37 14. Death Being Seduced in Section Two…………………………………………...38 15. Death Being Seduced in Section Four…………………………………………...39 16. “You are mine!”………………………………………………………………… 40 17. Opening Chords and Dies Irae in Bass…………………………………………. 43 18. Uses of Different Sections of Original Plainchant Melody…………………….. 44 19. Variations of Dies Irae Theme………………………………………………….. 44 20. Dies Irae Becomes the Trepak………………………………………………….. 45 vii 21. Death’s Homophonic Accompaniment………………………………………..... 45 22. Alternating Time Signatures…………………………………………...……….. 46 23. Blizzard Scales………………………………………………………………….. 47 24. Interlude Back to Trepak…………………………………………...……………47 25. Falling Asleep…………………………………………………………………... 48 26. Birdsong Variation of Dies Irae………………………………………………… 48 27. Last Stirrings…………………………………………………………………..... 49 28. Final Cadence……………………………………………………………………49 29. Battle Scene………………………………………………………………...……51 30. Death’s Approach……………………………………………………..…….….. 52 31. Death’s Appearance………………………………………………………...…... 52 32. “Z dymen pozarow” Hymn Melody…………………………………….……….53 33. “Z dymen pozarow” Theme in Top Voice of Piano……………...…………….. 55 34 . Fragment of A in Top Voice of Piano……………………...……………………55 35 . First stanza of Death’s Speech………………………………………………….. 56 36 . Accompaniment is Filled Out in Second Stanza……………………………….. 56 37 . Theme A in Piano……………………………………………………...……….. 57 38 . Themes B”, C of Final Statement of “Z dymen pozarow”……………………... 57 39. Final Cadence of “Field Commander”…………………………………………..58 viii 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Musorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death presents a set of unique portrayals of death in art song literature. Often considered his crowning achievement in the genre, these songs have had profound influences on many of the major composers of the twentieth century. Certain challenges exist which the performer must acknowledge when learning this music. Aside from the obvious challenge of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet which are unfamiliar to most Western performers, the unique musical style, historical context, and complex psychological implications of Songs and Dances of Death require a good deal of study before one can fully grasp the profundity and importance of this cycle. The present document synthesizes and expounds upon the relevant research and information needed to undertake a well-informed and artistic interpretation of Musorgsky’s final song cycle. Individual interpretation must remain of the utmost importance for any singing artist. However, it is important to have sufficient background knowledge to inform one’s interpretation. It is therefore the aim of this paper to provide a musical, historical, and psychological analysis of the various characters of Death in the cycle. Musorgsky’s views on music and life, the Zeitgeist in which these songs were composed, a historical analysis of the medieval Dance of Death tradition and its influence on the poet and composer, as well as an analysis of the psychological phenomenon of death personifications are provided to engender a holistic approach to interpreting these songs. A musical analysis illustrates the musical manifestations of the aforementioned elements. A word-for-word translation, IPA transliteration, and pronunciation guide are also included to facilitate the 2 learning of the text by non-Russian speakers. Finally, a guide to the various editions and their inherent merits and/or flaws gives the performer the necessary information to find a suitable version of the cycle. In the few performance-based writings which do exist on Songs and Dances of Death , two important elements of research are conspicuously absent: the importance and influence of the medieval Dance of Death, or Totentanz, on the cycle, and the exploration of different personifications of death and their musical representations. These factors present uncommon challenges to and opportunities for the performer. Taking them into consideration offers the performer an array of subtlety and nuance which is not addressed in existing analyses of these songs. 3 CHAPTER II MUSORGSKY’S MILIEU Today, Musorgsky is perhaps the most famous composer of the Moguchaya kuchka. Literally translated
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