Emily Dickinson's "There Came a Wind Like a Bugle--"
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Emily Dickinson's "There Came a Wind like a Bugle--": A Singer's Analysis of Song Settings by Ernst Bacon, Lee Hoiby, and Gordon Getty by Amanda Beth Castellone A Research Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts Approved November 2011 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Jerry Doan, Co-Chair Anne Elgar Kopta, Co-Chair Dale Dreyfoos Robert Mills Kay Norton ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY December 2011 ABSTRACT Emily Dickinson is a well-known American poet of the nineteenth century, and her oeuvre consists of nearly 2,000 posthumously published poems. Written largely in hymn form with unique ideas of punctuation and grammar, her poetry attracts composers with its inherent musicality. The twentieth-century American composers Aaron Copland, Ernst Bacon, Lee Hoiby, and Gordon Getty have created song settings of Dickinson's poetry. Copland's song cycle Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1949-50) is admired by many as an illustration of poetry; however, the Dickinson cycles by Bacon, Hoiby, and Getty are also valuable, lesser-known representations of her writing. Settings of one poem, "There came a Wind like a Bugle--", are common among Copland's Twelve Poems, Bacon's cycle Songs from Emily Dickinson: Nature, Time, and Space (1930), Hoiby's Four Dickinson Songs (1988), and Getty's The White Election (1982). These latter three settings have previously undergone some theoretical analysis; however, this paper considers a performance analysis of these songs from a singer's point of view. Chapter 1 provides background for this study. Chapter 2 consists of a biographical overview of Dickinson's life and writing style, as well as a brief literary analysis of "There came a Wind like a Bugle--". Chapters 3, 4, and 5 discuss Ernst Bacon, Lee Hoiby, and Gordon Getty, respectively; each chapter consists of a short biography of the composer and a discussion of his writing style, a brief theoretical analysis of his song i setting, and commentary on the merits of his setting from the point of view of a singer. Observations of the depiction of mood in the song and challenges for the singer are also noted. This paper provides a comparative analysis of three solo vocal settings of one Emily Dickinson poem as a guide for singers who wish to begin studying song settings of this poem. The Bacon and Hoiby settings were found to be lyrical, tonal representations of the imagery presented in "There came a Wind like a Bugle--". The Getty setting was found to be a musically starker representation of the poem's atmosphere. These settings are distinctive and worthy of study and performance. ii Dedicated to my family. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of my committee, each of whom has coached me both in the classroom and on this project. I appreciate all of your time and help. I am especially grateful to Anne Kopta, whose dedication through my years at Arizona State University has been treasured. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 Selection Process and Copland Setting ..................................... 1 Literature Review ....................................................................... 4 2 EMILY DICKINSON ..................................................................... 8 Childhood ................................................................................... 8 Literary and Religious Influences.............................................. 9 Seclusion .................................................................................... 11 Writing Style and "There came a Wind like a Bugle--" .......... 14 3 ERNST BACON ........................................................................... 26 Background and Writing Style ................................................ 26 Analysis of Bacon's "A Wind like a Bugle" .............................. 27 Observations .............................................................................30 4 LEE HOIBY ................................................................................... 38 Background and Writing Style ................................................ 38 Analysis of Hoiby's "There came a Wind like a Bugle" ........... 41 Observations ............................................................................. 44 5 GORDON GETTY ........................................................................ 52 Background and Writing Style ................................................ 52 v CHAPTER Page Analysis of Getty's "There Came a Wind Like a Bugle" .......... 56 Observations ............................................................................. 59 6 CONCLUSION ............................................................................. 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................... 71 APPENDIX A AUTHOR'S LABELS FOR LINES OF DICKINSON TEXT ..... 76 B SCIENTIFIC PITCH NOTATION ............................................. 78 C PERMISSIONS ......................................................................... 80 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Bacon's Alterations to Dickinson's Text ..................................... 28 2. Lines of Bacon's Setting with Highlights for Singers ................. 29 3. Hoiby's Alterations to Dickinson's Text ..................................... 42 4. Lines of Hoiby's Setting with Highlights for Singers ................. 43 5. Getty's Alterations to Dickinson's Text ...................................... 56 6. Lines of Getty's Setting with Highlights for Singers .................. 57 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Wind Motive, mm. 1-9 ................................................................. 32 2. Tritone Leaps, Half-Step Increments, and Barred Motive, mm. 18-21 .................................................................................. 33 3. Bell Motive, mm. 35-40 .............................................................. 34 4. Wind Motive and Vocal Bugle Fanfare, mm. 1-3 ....................... 45 5. Snake Motive, mm. 15-16 ............................................................ 47 6. Melisma on "flying tidings," mm. 32-33 .................................... 50 7. Weather Motive and Vocal Bugle Fanfare, mm. 1-2 .................. 60 8. Wind Chords, Bell Motive, and Ascending Vocal Line, mm. 8-9 ..................................................................................... 61 9. Transition to Largo Ending, mm. 32-34 .................................... 62 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The poetry of Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is composed of vivid detail and dramatic imagery. Many composers have set her poetry to music because its inherent musicality in both syntax and cadence renders it an ideal text for both solo singers and vocal ensembles. Hundreds of solo vocal settings exist. This paper explores three that are based on one Dickinson poem, "There came a Wind like a Bugle--" (ca. 1883).1 The settings presented here are those by Ernst Bacon, Lee Hoiby, and Gordon Getty. SELECTION PROCESS AND COPLAND SETTING Aaron Copland's song cycle Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1949-50) grew to popularity shortly after its premiere in May of 1950. Copland (1900-1990) was previously known for his orchestral settings, and Twelve Poems, his first large-scale vocal work, represented a pivotal point in his compositional career. The affection he felt for this song cycle inspired him to write many more vocal works. As such an important piece in both Copland's compositional evolution and the history of American art song, Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson has enjoyed countless 1 Dickinson did not title her poems, and they are generally recognized by their first line. The first line of this poem is "There came a Wind like a Bugle--", and the dashes at the end of the phrase are maintained in this paper to facilitate differentiation between poem title and song title. Songs listed later in this paper are distinguished by their composers' deliberately capitalized titles. 1 performances and academic studies. It was the initial interest of this author to pursue an examination of these songs; however, several scholars including Larry Starr have provided intensive and stimulating studies of this song cycle (see Literature Review). The second song of Copland's Twelve Poems is a setting of Dickinson's "There came a Wind like a Bugle--", which encouraged this author's search for other solo vocal settings of this poem. Copland's setting contains similar elements to the three songs examined in this paper: Starr notes that the opening line contains a bugle line in both the piano and the voice that is "clearly intended to 'paint' the opening line of the poem."2 Copland's setting also contains rushing patterns in the piano line to represent the fervor of a windy storm. A continued study of Starr's book, as well as the dissertations and articles which examine Twelve Poems, would provide the reader with further insight and analysis into the Copland settings which are not studied in this paper. This author's continued search for solo vocal settings of Emily Dickinson's poem "There came a Wind like a Bugle--" identified five others; two settings for chorus and one for soprano with