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I an Attentive Interpretation Study of Claude Debussy's Trois Chansons

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I an Attentive Interpretation Study of Claude Debussy's Trois Chansons An Attentive Interpretation Study of Claude Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano, Including Jake Heggie’s Arrangement of Trois Chansons de Bilitis for Mezzo-Soprano and String Quartet D.M.A. Document Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Élise DesChamps Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2019 D.M.A. Document Committee Dr. Scott McCoy, Advisor Professor Edward Bak Professor Alan Green i Copyright by Élise DesChamps 2019 ii Abstract This document is an outgrowth of my strong desire to gain a deeper understanding of Debussy’s musical style, as well as Jake Heggie’s, and to create a new connection in the existing literature. A recent arrangement of Trois chansons de Bilitis by Jake Heggie creates a vehicle which allows this study to connect the two geniuses. The first chapter is an introduction on the subject, followed by two chapters on Debussy’s, and Louÿs’ lives, where simple yet thorough biographies are established. The fourth chapter is focusing on the collaboration between Debussy and Louÿs, and the birth of Bilitis. Chapter five is an interpretation guide exposing compositional elements including, but not limited to, diction, primary sources, harmony, melody, rhythm, text, and formal structure, including topics most pertinent to performance practice. Chapter six is dedicated to Jake Heggie. The final pages of the document include a full musical score, Eugène Fromont’s first edition, with interpretation markings, suggested breaths, complete International Phonetic Alphabet, and an English translation. Also included is a lexicon, and, with Jake Heggie’s kind permission, a sample page of his arrangement of Debussy’s song cycle, published by Bent Pen Music. This document is intended to aid artists in the preparation of an informed performance of Trois chansons de Bilitis, the song cycle with piano or string quartet. iii Dedication À ma fille Viviane. iv Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank the chair of my committee, my advisor, teacher, and mentor, Dr. Scott McCoy. Since the beginning of this incredible journey at The Ohio State University, you supported, challenged, and guided my development as a singer, teacher, and person. Secondly, I would like to thank The Ohio State University faculty members of my committee, Dr. Robin Rice, Professor Alan Green, Professor Edward Bak, and Dr. Lawrence Tomassini. Furthermore, I thank my close collaborators, pianist Edward Bak, Dr. C. Patrick Woliver, Professor Alan Green, and The Ohio State University Music and Dance Library Staff, Margaret (“Gretchen”) Atkinson and Jarod Ogier, Eileen Davis, Julia Johnson Fisher, Daniel Gallagher, Leland Greene, Dr. Kelly Hale, Rebecca Harrah, Jake Heggie, Roland Laroche, Joseph Mueller, Lorraine Prieur, Hélène M. Stevens, my sisters, my family, my students, and my friends. I would also like to thank my dear friends Kyle and Rebecca Ketelsen for their generous, consistent love and support, and for being the inspiration behind this document; I caught on fire during Pélléas et Mélisande at The Metropolitan Opera. Finally, thank you to my beloved husband, Brian, and my beautiful daughter, Viviane, who supported every step, every breath, every heartbeat associated with this degree with tremendous love, support, and incredible patience. v Vita 1991.........................................................B.M. Cello, Conservatoire de Music de Montréal 1994...........................................B.A. Music History, Conservatoire de Music de Montréal 1997...............................................................M.M. Voice Performance, Indiana University 1998..............................Winner, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Jeunes Artists Série 2007-2019...................................................................Adjunct Lecturer, Capital University 2008......................................................Young American Artist Program, Cincinnati Opera 2014-2019....................................................Artist-in-Residence, Bay View Music Festival 2016................................Winner, The Ohio State University DMA Concerto Competition 2016-2019.......Graduate Teaching Associate, School of Music, The Ohio State University 2017-2018.........Margaret Speaks Graduate Voice Scholarship, The Ohio State University 2017-2018.....................................................CDW Scholarship, The Ohio State University 2017-2018...............................................................................Honor Society Phi Kappa Phi 2019....................................................................Golden Key International Honour Society 2019...............................................................National Association of Teachers of Singing 2019.................................................Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Iowa Field of Study Major Field: Music vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1. An Introduction to Trois chansons de Bilitis ..................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918) ............................................................... 7 Chapter 3. Pierre-Félix Louis (1870-1925) ....................................................................... 15 Chapter 4. The Connivances of Debussy and Louÿs, or The Birth of Bilitis .................... 20 Chapter 5. Interpretation Guide ......................................................................................... 23 Chapter 6. John Stephen Heggie (b.1961) ......................................................................... 37 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 46 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 47 Preface for Appendix A ..................................................................................................... 50 Appendix A. Annotated Musical Score ............................................................................. 55 Appendix B. Page 5 of Jake Heggie’s Arrangement of Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis ................................................................................................................................. 67 Appendix C. Lexicon ........................................................................................................ 68 vii Chapter 1. An Introduction to Trois chansons de Bilitis Trois chansons de Bilitis, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano, composed by Claude Debussy in 1897, on poetry by Pierre Louÿs, was arranged for mezzo-soprano and string quartet in 2017 by American composer Jake Heggie. I started to work on Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis in 2016 with Dr. Scott McCoy and performed the song cycle on two Doctoral recitals (one of mine, and one of a pianist friend), and at Bay View Music Festival. In the summer of 2017, I performed “This Journey” from the opera Dead Man Walking, by Jake Heggie on text by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, and The Deepest Desire: Four Meditations on Love (2002), a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano, which brought the opportunity to meet and coach with the composer in the Fall of 2017. In 2018, I performed My True Love Hath My Heart (1996), Paper Wings (1997), “A Lucky Child” from A Statue of Venus (2005), and will perform The Deepest Desire: Four Meditations on Love again this summer and the song cycle Camille Claudel: Into the Fire (2012) later this year. My latest performance of Jake Heggie material was his string quartet arrangement of Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis in April 2019. One can say that I am a recent advocate of Heggie; every vocal piece that I have encountered from his catalogue has felt like it was written for me, and I am compelled to discover more. Jake Heggie understands the mezzo-soprano voice and writes to perfection, having great singers as models, such as Joyce DiDonato and Frederica von Stade. He said: 1 The lyric mezzo-soprano is just so real. There is such a real sense of humanity and character in that voice. When it gets into those really high regions it’s strained, and that is real, too, but there is also something very earthy about it. I love the way a lyric mezzo can ‘fly-off’ too, but also how it can be very grounded. Mezzos also have a strong middle voice that expresses the text clearly. In a soprano voice, you don’t get very clear text in the middle.1 In the past year, Debussy and Heggie held active parts in my repertoire, intertwining with my vocal study, and borrowing from Louÿs’ poetry in “La chevelure,” ainsi que deux lauriers n’ont souvent qu’une racine [like two laurels that often have only
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