Wanderer” and His Music
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TRIANGLES OF SOUL—SCHUBERT THE “WANDERER” AND HIS MUSIC EXPLAINED BY NEO-RIEMANNIAN GRAPHS by KANAKO ISHIHAMA A DISSERTATION Presented to the School of Music and Dance and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Kanako Ishihama Title: Triangles of Soul—Schubert the “Wanderer” and His Music Explained by Neo- Riemannian Graphs This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the School of Music and Dance by: Jack Boss Chairperson Alexandre Dossin Core Member Drew Nobile Core Member Jeffrey Librett Institutional Representative and Sara D. Hodges Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2017 ii © 2017 Kanako Ishihama This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (United States) License. iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Kanako Ishihama Doctor of Philosophy University of Oregon, School of Music and Dance September 2017 Title: Triangles of Soul—Schubert the “Wanderer” and His Music Explained by Neo- Riemannian Graphs In Schubert’s music, the theme “wandering” is used frequently, closely related to human life and death. I presume that, being stricken by serious illness and facing challenging relationships, Schubert lived his short life with agony and dismay, confronting the life theme “death.” In that sense, Schubert himself was probably the wanderer who kept trudging throughout his life journey. In 1822, Schubert composed the allegorical tale “My Dream,” and in that tale, he writes as follows; “when I attempted to sing of love, it turned to pain. And again, when I tried to sing of pain, it turned to love. Thus were love and pain divided in me” (Deutsch 1977, 227). Schubert lived his life, struggling between love and pain, and between life and death. Human life and death conflict with each other, but exist together in the same place. In other words, death is a root of life. If one can perceive that life and death both exist at the root of one’s life, the form of life should be represented by a circular path, not by a linear formation. This notion accords with Schubert’s musical style, where the same material comes back again and again in a circular formation. I assume that the notion—death as a root of life—is the essential conception of “wandering” that iv Schubert’s music expresses. In this dissertation, I would like to offer several Neo- Riemannian analyses and graphs of Schubert’s piano compositions; Impromptus D. 899, Moments Musical D. 780, Sonata in C-minor D. 958, and the “Wanderer” Fantasy D. 760. For each work and movement, I will map out the harmonic structure and key progressions on a Tonnetz graph, and suggest a new way to comprehend the nature of “wandering” that Schubert’s music portrays. Through the configurations and harmonic motions on the Tonnetz graphs, I will establish a way to comprehend Schubert’s concept of circular “wandering” visually and geometrically. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Kanako Ishihama GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Music Theory, 2017, University of Oregon Master of Music, Piano Performance, 2011, University of Oregon Master of Music, Piano Pedagogy, 2011, University of Oregon Bachelor of Music, Piano Performance, 2008, University of Oregon AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Neo-Riemannian Graphs and Analysis Schubert’s Piano Music Harmonic Analysis Schenkerian Analysis Performance and Analysis PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow in Music Theory, University of Oregon, 2011–2016 Rehearsal Pianist, the Corvallis Symphony, 2006 vi GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: The Second Prize, MTNA Young Artist Piano Performance Northwest Division Competition, 2009 Concerto Competition, University of Oregon School of Music, 2009 Achievement Award, Outstanding Undergraduate Work in Keyboard Performance, University of Oregon, 2008 The First Prize, MTNA Young Artist Piano Performance State Competition, 2008 The Second Prize, MTNA/OMTA Gladys Strong Competition, Portland, 2008 Phi Beta Scholarship Award, Eugene, 2006 Ruth Close Musical Fellow Scholarship, 2005–2009 The Second Prize, Elizabeth Harper Vaughn Piano Concerto Competition, Kingsport, TN, 2005 The Second Prize, MTNA/OMTA Gladys Strong Competition, Portland, 2005 Awarded by Japan Piano Teacher’s Association, Japan, 2001 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Professor Jack Boss, who provided me his detailed comments, guidance and assistance during the whole process of creating this dissertation. I learned a lot from his teaching during this academic year of writing the dissertation and also during the past 12 years when I have taken several of his music theory classes. I am also grateful for the guidance that other dissertation committee members gave me. Professor Alexandre Dossin not only provided me his comments on this dissertation but also has taught me piano for the past 6 years. Professor Drew Nobile gave me detailed comments on this dissertation to help me refine both the texts and graphs. Professor Jeffrey Librett gave me helpful suggestions and comments to explore my ideas about the German literature and related concepts. I also want to thank my parents, Kazuo Ishihama and Saeko Ishihama, for their support and immutable love. viii To My Parents ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 II. THE CONCEPT OF “WANDERING” .................................................................. 14 “Wandering” Depicted in German Literature ..................................................... 14 “Wandering” Portrayed in Schubert’s Music ...................................................... 20 Schubert’s “My Dream” ...................................................................................... 26 Schubert’s Conception of “Wandering” and His View of Life and Death ................................................................................ 35 III. SURVEY OF THE EXISTING LITERATURE .................................................... 40 Charles Fisk’s Analysis ....................................................................................... 40 Rene Rusch’s Analysis ........................................................................................ 46 Jeffrey Perry’s Analysis ...................................................................................... 48 William Kinderman’s Analysis ........................................................................... 50 Peter Pesic’s Analysis ......................................................................................... 52 John Bell Young’s Analysis ................................................................................ 54 Richard Cohn’s Analysis .................................................................................... 55 Michael Siciliano’s Analysis .............................................................................. 57 Theodor Adorno’s Analysis ................................................................................ 59 x Chapter Page IV. IMPROMPTUS, D. 899 (1827) ............................................................................ 66 Impromptu D. 899-No. 1 in C Minor .................................................................. 76 Impromptu D. 899-No. 2 in E-flat Major ........................................................... 79 Impromptu D. 899-No. 3 in G-flat Major ........................................................... 83 Impromptu D. 899-No. 4 in A-flat Major ........................................................... 85 V. MOMENTS MUSICAL, D. 780 (1823–28) .......................................................... 101 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 1 in C Major ........................................................ 105 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 2 in A-flat Major .................................................. 109 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 3 in F Minor ......................................................... 115 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 4 in C-sharp Minor .............................................. 116 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 5 in F Minor ......................................................... 119 Moment Musical D. 780-No. 6 in A-flat Major .................................................. 122 VI. SONATA IN C MINOR, D. 958 (1828) .............................................................. 129 Sonata in C minor D. 958, First Movement (Allegro) ........................................ 134 Sonata in C minor D. 958, Second Movement (Adagio) .................................... 142 Sonata in C minor D. 958, Third Movement (Menuetto & Trio) ....................... 152 Sonata in C minor D. 958, Fourth Movement (Allegro) ..................................... 155 xi Chapter Page VII. THE “WANDERER” FANTASY, D. 760 (1822) .............................................. 163 The “Wanderer” Fantasy D. 760, First Movement (Allegro) ........................... 166 The “Wanderer” Fantasy D. 760, Second Movement (Adagio) ....................... 170 The “Wanderer” Fantasy D. 760, Third Movement (Scherzo) ......................... 175 The “Wanderer” Fantasy D. 760, Fourth Movement (Finale; Allegro) ............ 178