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Gustav Mahler : Conducting Multiculturalism
GUSTAV MAHLER : CONDUCTING MULTICULTURALISM Victoria Hallinan 1 Musicologists and historians have generally paid much more attention to Gustav Mahler’s famous career as a composer than to his work as a conductor. His choices in concert repertoire and style, however, reveal much about his personal experiences in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his interactions with cont- emporary cultural and political upheavals. This project examines Mahler’s conducting career in the multicultural climate of late nineteenth-century Vienna and New York. It investigates the degree to which these contexts influenced the conductor’s repertoire and questions whether Mahler can be viewed as an early proponent of multiculturalism. There is a wealth of scholarship on Gustav Mahler’s diverse compositional activity, but his conducting repertoire and the multicultural contexts that influenced it, has not received the same critical attention. 2 In this paper, I examine Mahler’s connection to the crumbling, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century depiction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as united and question whether he can be regarded as an exemplar of early multiculturalism. I trace Mahler’s career through Budapest, Vienna and New York, explore the degree to which his repertoire choices reflected the established opera canon of his time, or reflected contemporary cultural and political trends, and address uncertainties about Mahler’s relationship to the various multicultural contexts in which he lived and worked. Ultimately, I argue that Mahler’s varied experiences cannot be separated from his decisions regarding what kinds of music he believed his audiences would want to hear, as well as what kinds of music he felt were relevant or important to share. -
Female Composer Segment Catalogue
FEMALE CLASSICAL COMPOSERS from past to present ʻFreed from the shackles and tatters of the old tradition and prejudice, American and European women in music are now universally hailed as important factors in the concert and teaching fields and as … fast developing assets in the creative spheres of the profession.’ This affirmation was made in 1935 by Frédérique Petrides, the Belgian-born female violinist, conductor, teacher and publisher who was a pioneering advocate for women in music. Some 80 years on, it’s gratifying to note how her words have been rewarded with substance in this catalogue of music by women composers. Petrides was able to look back on the foundations laid by those who were well-connected by family name, such as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, and survey the crop of composers active in her own time, including Louise Talma and Amy Beach in America, Rebecca Clarke and Liza Lehmann in England, Nadia Boulanger in France and Lou Koster in Luxembourg. She could hardly have foreseen, however, the creative explosion in the latter half of the 20th century generated by a whole new raft of female composers – a happy development that continues today. We hope you will enjoy exploring this catalogue that has not only historical depth but a truly international voice, as exemplified in the works of the significant number of 21st-century composers: be it the highly colourful and accessible American chamber music of Jennifer Higdon, the Asian hues of Vivian Fung’s imaginative scores, the ancient-and-modern syntheses of Sofia Gubaidulina, or the hallmark symphonic sounds of the Russian-born Alla Pavlova. -
Mahler's Third Symphony and the Languages of Transcendence
Mahler’s Third Symphony and the Languages of Transcendence Megan H. Francisco A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts University of Washington 2016 Stephen Rumph, Chair JoAnn Taricani Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Music ©Copyright 2016 Megan H. Francisco University of Washington Abstract Mahler’s Third Symphony and the Languages of Transcendence Megan H. Francisco Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Stephen Rumph Music History A work reaching beyond any of his previous compositional efforts, Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony embodies cultural, political, and philosophical ideals of the Viennese fin-de- siècle generation. Comprising six enormous movements and lasting over ninety minutes, the work stretches the boundaries of symphonic form while simultaneously testing the patience of its listeners. Mahler provided a brief program to accompany his symphony, which begins with creation, moves through inanimate flowers to animals, before finally reaching humanity in the fourth movement. In this movement, Mahler used an excerpt from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra to introduce spoken language into the symphony. The relationship of music and language plays an integral role in Mahler’s expressive design of the Third Symphony, specifically in his vision of transcendence. Mahler creates a subtle transformation from elevated language (the fourth) to a polytextuality of folksong and onomatopoeia (the fifth) that culminates in the final, transcendent sixth movement. Throughout these last three movements, Mahler incorporates philosophical concepts from Nietzsche and his beloved Arthur Schopenhauer. In studying the treatment of language in these culminating movements, this thesis shows how Nietzsche’s metaphysical philosophies help listeners encounter and transcend Schopenhauer’s Will at the climactic end of the Third Symphony. -
O Du Mein Österreich: Patriotic Music and Multinational Identity in The
O du mein Österreich: Patriotic Music and Multinational Identity in the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Jason Stephen Heilman Department of Music Duke University Date: _______________________ Approved: ______________________________ Bryan R. Gilliam, Supervisor ______________________________ Scott Lindroth ______________________________ James Rolleston ______________________________ Malachi Hacohen Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music in the Graduate School of Duke University 2009 ABSTRACT O du mein Österreich: Patriotic Music and Multinational Identity in the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Jason Stephen Heilman Department of Music Duke University Date: _______________________ Approved: ______________________________ Bryan R. Gilliam, Supervisor ______________________________ Scott Lindroth ______________________________ James Rolleston ______________________________ Malachi Hacohen An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music in the Graduate School of Duke University 2009 Copyright by Jason Stephen Heilman 2009 Abstract As a multinational state with a population that spoke eleven different languages, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was considered an anachronism during the age of heightened nationalism leading up to the First World War. This situation has made the search for a single Austro-Hungarian identity so difficult that many historians have declared it impossible. Yet the Dual Monarchy possessed one potentially unifying cultural aspect that has long been critically neglected: the extensive repertoire of marches and patriotic music performed by the military bands of the Imperial and Royal Austro- Hungarian Army. This Militärmusik actively blended idioms representing the various nationalist musics from around the empire in an attempt to reflect and even celebrate its multinational makeup. -
MAHLERFEST XXXIV the RETURN Decadence & Debauchery | Premieres Mahler’S Fifth Symphony | 1920S: ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
August 24–28, 2021 Boulder, CO Kenneth Woods Artistic Director SAVE THE DATE MAHLERFEST XXXV May 17–22, 2022 * Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C Minor Boulder Concert Chorale Stacey Rishoi Mezzo-soprano April Fredrick Soprano Richard Wagner Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Act One Stacey Rishoi Mezzo-soprano Brennen Guillory Tenor Matthew Sharp Bass-baritone * All programming and artists subject to change KENNETH WOODS Mahler’s First | Mahler’s Musical Heirs Symphony | Mahler and Beethoven MAHLERFEST.ORG MAHLERFEST XXXIV THE RETURN Decadence & Debauchery | Premieres Mahler’s Fifth Symphony | 1920s: ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 1 MAHLERFEST XXXIV FESTIVAL WEEK TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 7 PM | Chamber Concert | Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street Page 6 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 4 PM | Jason Starr Films | Boedecker Theater, Dairy Arts Center Page 9 THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 4 PM | Chamber Concert | The Academy, 970 Aurora Avenue Page 10 FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 8 PM | Chamber Orchestra Concert | Boulder Bandshell, 1212 Canyon Boulevard Page 13 SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 9:30 AM–3:30 PM | Symposium | License No. 1 (under the Hotel Boulderado) Page 16 SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 7 PM | Orchestral Concert Festival Finale | Macky Auditorium, CU Boulder Page 17 Pre-concert Lecture by Kenneth Woods at 6 PM ALL WEEK | Open Rehearsals, Dinners, and Other Events See full schedule online PRESIDENT’S GREETING elcome to MahlerFest XXXIV – What a year it’s been! We are back and looking to the future with great excitement and hope. I would like to thank our dedicated and gifted MahlerFest orchestra and festival musicians, our generous supporters, and our wonderful audience. I also want to acknowledge the immense contributions of Executive Director Ethan Hecht and Maestro Kenneth Woods that not only make this festival Wpossible but also facilitate its evolution. -
PROGRAM NOTES Anton Webern Passacaglia for Orchestra, Op. 1
PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Anton Webern Born December 2, 1883, Vienna, Austria. Died September 15, 1945, Mittersill, near Salzburg, Austria. Passacaglia for Orchestra, Op. 1 Webern composed his Passacaglia in 1908 and conducted the first performance in Vienna that year. The score calls for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and english horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, triangle, tam-tam, harp, and strings. Performance time is approximately eleven minutes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Webern’s Passacaglia were given at Orchestra Hall on February 10 and 11, 1944, with Désiré Defauw conducting. Our most recent subscription concert performances were given on November 25, 26, and 27, 1994, with Pierre Boulez conducting. The Orchestra first performed this work at the Ravinia Festival on July 28, 1990, with Gianluigi Gelmetti conducting, and most recently on July 22, 2000, with Bernhard Klee conducting. Op. 1 is a composer’s calling card—the earliest music that he officially sends out into the world. For every composer like Franz Schubert, whose first published work (the song Der Erlkönig) is a masterpiece that he will often equal but seldom surpass, there are countless others for whom op. 1 scarcely conveys what later years will bring. Orchestral music bearing op. 1 has seldom stayed in the repertory; it usually is followed by music which is better, more popular, and more characteristic—who today hears Stravinsky’s Symphony in E-flat, Richard Strauss’s Festmarsch, or Shostakovich’s Scherzo in F-sharp? Anton Webern’s op. -
Modern Art Music Terms
Modern Art Music Terms Aria: A lyrical type of singing with a steady beat, accompanied by orchestra; a songful monologue or duet in an opera or other dramatic vocal work. Atonality: In modern music, the absence (intentional avoidance) of a tonal center. Avant Garde: (French for "at the forefront") Modern music that is on the cutting edge of innovation.. Counterpoint: Combining two or more independent melodies to make an intricate polyphonic texture. Form: The musical design or shape of a movement or complete work. Expressionism: A style in modern painting and music that projects the inner fear or turmoil of the artist, using abrasive colors/sounds and distortions (begun in music by Schoenberg, Webern and Berg). Impressionism: A term borrowed from 19th-century French art (Claude Monet) to loosely describe early 20th- century French music that focuses on blurred atmosphere and suggestion. Debussy "Nuages" from Trois Nocturnes (1899) Indeterminacy: (also called "Chance Music") A generic term applied to any situation where the performer is given freedom from a composer's notational prescription (when some aspect of the piece is left to chance or the choices of the performer). Metric Modulation: A technique used by Elliott Carter and others to precisely change tempo by using a note value in the original tempo as a metrical time-pivot into the new tempo. Carter String Quartet No. 5 (1995) Minimalism: An avant garde compositional approach that reiterates and slowly transforms small musical motives to create expansive and mesmerizing works. Glass Glassworks (1982); other minimalist composers are Steve Reich and John Adams. Neo-Classicism: Modern music that uses Classic gestures or forms (such as Theme and Variation Form, Rondo Form, Sonata Form, etc.) but still has modern harmonies and instrumentation. -
Tradition As Muse Schoenberg's Musical Morphology and Nascent
Tradition as Muse Schoenberg's Musical Morphology and Nascent Dodecaphony by Áine Heneghan A dissertation submitted in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to The University of Dublin Trinity College March 2006 DECLARATION I, Áine Heneghan, declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other University and that it consists entirely of my own work. I agree that the Library may lend or copy the thesis upon request, this permission covering only single copies made for study purposes, subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement. Signed __________________ Áine Heneghan March 2006 Summary of the Dissertation Tradition as Muse: Schoenberg's Musical Morphology and Nascent Dodecaphony by Áine Heneghan The University of Dublin Trinity College March 2006 This study reappraises the evolution of Arnold Schoenberg's method of composing with twelve tones by examining the interrelationship of his theoretical writings and compositional practice. Premised on the idea that theory and practice were interdependent for Schoenberg, I argue, on the one hand, that the richness and diversity of his nascent dodecaphony can be fully appreciated only in the context of the development of his musical thought and, on the other hand, that his terminological concepts—for example, Grundgestalt, 'unfolding' [Abwicklung], the distinction between Satz and Periode (sentence and period), and the differentiation of 'stable' and 'loose' construction—came about precisely because of his compositional experiments during the early 1920s. The discussion and musical analyses of selected movements from the Klavierstücke, Op. 23, the Serenade, Op. 24, and the Suite für Klavier, Op. -
Form-Generating Elements in Aton Webern's String Quartet (1905)
FORM-GENERATING ELEMENTS IN ANTON WEBERN’S STRING QUARTET (1905) David Orvek Orvek 1 Anton Webern’s String Quartet (1905) lies at a pivotal point in his career. While most scholars to date (including Webern himself) have tended to view this quartet as a mere stepping stone toward Webern’s later atonal language, Sebastian Wedler1 argues for the interpretation of the work on its own terms as an instance of an altogether different path that Webern later abandoned. In particular, Wedler focuses on Webern’s treatment of sonata form. Where Wedler argues for understanding the quartet’s significant sonata deformations as the way in which Webern engages with the sonata rhetoric of the early twentieth century, however, I argue that it is in these deformations that the quartet most points towards the future. In particular, the most significant of the quartet’s deformations is the withholding of a secondary theme and the establishment of a secondary key area until the coda. The conflict between the primary and secondary thematic areas is the essential element in a sonata, and its absence during the main part of the sonata is hugely significant. By removing this essential generator of form from the sonata’s main action space, Webern forces the sonata to rely heavily upon inversional symmetry and the composing out of set class 3-3 (014) for its structural support. What is especially significant here is that neither technique requires the use of a tonal center. By relying on organizational principles that do not depend on tonality, Webern has made it possible to construct a unified and coherent musical work entirely from non-tonal materials, though he would not fully explore these ideas for some time. -
Mahler Symphony No. 9 | Program Notes
27 Season 2018-2019 Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 Friday, May 10, at 2:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Sunday, May 12, at 2:00 Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major I. Andante comodo II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb III. Rondo—Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig IV. Adagio: Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend This program runs approximately 1 hour, 40 minutes, and will be performed without an intermission. The May 9 concert celebrates our 12-year partnership with the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. The May 9 concert is sponsored by Lisa and Peter DiLullo. The May 10 concert is sponsored by Peter A. Benoliel and Willo Carey. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM, and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 28 Please join us following the May 10 concert for a free Chamber Postlude featuring members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Mahler/arr. Wen Adagietto, from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor Che-Hung Chen Viola Marvin Moon Viola Burchard Tang Viola Meng Wang Viola Haydn Divertimento in D major, for three cellos Derek Barnes Cello John Koen Cello Alex Veltman Cello The Postlude runs approximately 25 minutes. 29 30 31 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and orchestra, and maximizes is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues impact through Research. orchestras in the world, to discover new and The Orchestra’s -
Escher String Quartet
carte blanche concert i: Escher String Quartet ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY (1871–1942) July 23 String Quartet no. 1, op. 4 (1896) Allegro con fuoco Wednesday, July 23, 8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Menlo School Allegretto Breit und kräftig Vivace e con fuoco String Quartet no. 2, op. 15 (1913–1915) PROGRAM OVERVIEW Sehr mäßig – Heftig und liedenschaftlich – Andante mosso – Etwas rascher Adagio The four string quartets of Alexander von Zemlinsky represent Schnell (die Achtel) one of the most powerful cycles of the modern quartet Andante – Allegro molto – Langsam – Andante literature. Composed over a period spanning four decades, IntermissiON the cycle chronicles critical points of the composer’s life and String Quartet no. 3, op. 19 (1924) career. Following the Romantically Brahmsian First Quartet, the Allegretto: Gemachlich, innig bewegt Second, written in response to a spurned marriage proposal, Thema mit Variationen: Geheimnisvoll bewegt, nich zu schnell – Variationen I–VII Romanze: Sehr mäßige Achtel, Andante sostenuto NCHE CONCERTS turns turbulent. In his Third Quartet, Zemlinsky departs from Burleske: Sehr lebhaft, Allegro moderato A his earlier tonal language towards an Expressionist idiom String Quartet no. 4, op. 25 (1936) L influenced by his famous brother-in-law, Arnold Schoenberg. Präludium: Poco adagio B The final quartet is written as an homage to Zemlinsky’s dear Burleske: Vivace friend and colleague, Alban Berg. Adagietto: Adagio Intermezzo: Allegretto Barcarole (Thema mit Variationen): Poco adagio RTE RTE Finale: Doppelfuge: Allegro molto energico SPECIAL THANKS A Escher String Quartet: Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd, violins; Pierre Lapointe, viola; Music@Menlo dedicates this performance to Darren H. -
The Modernist Kaleidoscope: Schoenberg's Reception History in England, America, Germany and Austria 1908-1924 by Sarah Elain
The Modernist Kaleidoscope: Schoenberg’s Reception History in England, America, Germany and Austria 1908-1924 by Sarah Elaine Neill Department of Music Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ R. Larry Todd, Supervisor ___________________________ Severine Neff ___________________________ Philip Rupprecht ___________________________ John Supko ___________________________ Jacqueline Waeber Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music in the Graduate School of Duke University 2014 ABSTRACT The Modernist Kaleidoscope: Schoenberg’s Reception History in England, America, Germany and Austria 1908-1924 by Sarah Elaine Neill Department of Music Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ R. Larry Todd, Supervisor ___________________________ Severine Neff ___________________________ Philip Rupprecht ___________________________ John Supko ___________________________ Jacqueline Waeber An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music in the Graduate School of Duke University 2014 Copyright by Sarah Elaine Neill 2014 Abstract Much of our understanding of Schoenberg and his music today is colored by early responses to his so-called free-atonal work from the first part of the twentieth century, especially in his birthplace, Vienna. This early, crucial reception history has been incredibly significant and subversive; the details of the personal and political motivations behind deeply negative or manically positive responses to Schoenberg’s music have not been preserved with the same fidelity as the scandalous reactions themselves. We know that Schoenberg was feared, despised, lauded, and imitated early in his career, but much of the explanation as to why has been forgotten or overlooked.