DOCSLIB.ORG

Harmony, Tonality and Structure in Vaughan Williams's Music

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Harmony, Tonality and Structure in Vaughan Williams's Music Harmony, Tonality and Structure in Vaughan Williams's Music Volume 1 David Manning A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor of the University of Wales, Cardiff December 2003 Summary Many elements of and reflections on tonality are to be found in Vaughan Williams’s music: tonal centres are established and sustained, consonant triads are pervasive, and sonata form (a structure associated with tonality) is influential in the symphonies. But elements of the tonal system are also challenged: the diatonic scale is modified by modal alterations which affect the hierarchical relation of scale degrees, often consonant triads are not arranged according to the familiar patterns of functional harmony, and the closure of sonata form is compromised by the evasive epilogue ending of many movements and rotational structures. This music is not tonal or atonal, nor does it stand on any historical path between these two thoroughly theorised principles of pitch organisation. With no obvious single theoretical model at hand through which to explore Vaughan Williams’s music, this analysis engages with Schenkerian principles, Neo-Riemannian theory, and the idea of sonata deformation, interpreting selected extracts from various works in detail. Elements of coherence and local unities are proposed, yet disruptions, ambiguities, subversions, and distancing frames all feature at different stages. These are a challenge to the specific principle of organisation in question; sometimes they also raise concerns for the engagement of theory with this repertoire in general. At such points, meta-theoretical issues arise, while the overall focus remains on the analytical understanding of Vaughan Williams’s music. The text of this thesis comprises Volume One, with supporting examples, figures and tables presented in Volume Two. Acknowledgements There are a number of people and organisations it is my pleasure to acknowledge for their support and assistance in the completion of this project. My colleagues at the Department of Music, Cardiff University contributed help, encouragement and friendship over the last three years. In particular Ken Gloag has provided me with thoughtful and stimulating supervision. A university funded studentship provided the financial means to undertake this work. Finally, thanks go to my parents, Joyce and Finbarr, for their continuous support. Contents Introduction 1 1. Contexts: Vaughan Williams Studies, Music Theory and Analysis 5 Contested Values 10 Analysis of Vaughan Williams’s Music 19 Recent Theory and Analysis 25 2. Tonality and Modal Pitch Resources 36 Schenker and Vaughan Williams 37 Salzer’s Schenker 39 Schenker Studies 44 Modalised Tonality 49 The Lark Ascending 57 Conclusions 67 3. Characteristic Harmonic Progressions: Adhering to ‘An Alternative Mode of Determination’? 73 Modalised Tonality 74 The Combined Modal Scale and Chromaticism 77 Triadic Juxtapositions 81 Neo-Riemannian Theory 82 Neo-Riemannian Analysis 94 High VLE Scores 100 ‘From far, from eve and morning’ 107 O Vos Omnes 109 Conclusion 112 4. Locating and Challenging Tonal Centricity 119 The Limits of Modalised Tonality? 121 Undermining Modalised Tonality 124 Juxtaposition as a Tonal Strategy 127 Resisting Modalised Tonality 133 Conclusion 144 5. Structure in the Symphonies 146 Features of Vaughan Williams’s Symphonic Discourse 146 Sonata Form, Sonata Deformation and the ‘Early Moderns’ 148 First Movement Structural Strategies in the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies 156 Rotational Form in A Pastoral Symphony 161 A London Symphony, Slow Movement 169 Symphony in D Major 174 Sonata Deformation Types 181 Structure and Genre 183 Ninth Symphony Finale 186 Form and Expressive Shape 189 Conclusion 193 6. Conclusions 201 Bibliography 212 1 Introduction How can the elements that comprise Vaughan Williams’s music be understood? Do the musical materials cohere, and how can their striking juxtapositions be interpreted? Many previous accounts turn outwards to established notions of the pastoral, national identity and spiritualism, at best situating Vaughan Williams and his music in contested political, social and cultural contexts, at worst restating assumed judgements without fully evaluating what these terms mean. Fewer studies turn inwards, to analyse the music. With an awareness of both, summarised in Chapter One, this study interprets selected extracts and works, in order to understand how the musical materials relate to or resist one another, motivated by a commitment to close reading and theoretical engagement. Common-practice tonality and Schenkerian analysis provide a benchmark against which to examine the interaction of modal pitch resources and tonal centricity in Chapter Two. Drawing on Felix Salzer’s Schenkerian graph of a three bar excerpt from the Fifth Symphony, the impact of the flattened seventh degree on the security of the tonic, and relations between scale degrees, is discussed. It is noted that modal alteration broadens the range of possible tonal strategies. This provides a context for a detailed analysis of tonal and modal procedures in The Lark Ascending. Here the interaction of overlapping pentatonic, modal and diatonic pitch groupings is explored. For much of the piece, modal alterations reduce the inherent tension within the scale. Coexistence replaces opposition between the tonic scale degree and the ‘leading note’, while pentatonic groupings built on the tonic and dominant also minimise the difference between these two ‘polar opposites’. It is proposed that modal alterations can be understood as a defining element of ‘modalised tonality’. 2 Exploration of ‘characteristic’ harmonic progressions is the subject of Chapter Three. The concept of a ‘Complete Modal Scale’ is proposed as an underpinning element of modalised tonality, before contrasting perspectives from Neo-Riemannian theory and a recent study of chromatic transformations by David Kopp are introduced. Although it is essential to be aware of the differences between harmonic progressions in nineteenth-century repertoire and early twentieth-century British music, studies of music by composers including Schubert and Brahms offer a significant perspective on Vaughan Williams’s harmonic procedures. ‘Characteristic’ progressions include third relations and stepwise movement. These often remain within the Complete Modal Scale, but at other times this is exceeded, prompting a discussion of the role of ‘chromaticism’ in modalised tonality. Those progressions which highlight equal division of the octave can feature particularly strong voice leading progressions, while the tonal centre is challenged. At other times the tonic retains its referential function, and is even affirmed by ‘characteristic’ progressions. Two short pieces provide case studies where Vaughan Williams’s ‘characteristic’ progressions are particularly prominent. Challenges to the stability of tonal centres feature during the works analysed in Chapter Four. The undermining of tonal stability, juxtaposition as a tonal strategy, and tonal resistance, are considered in a range of choral and orchestral works. The implications of the continued appearance of diatonic tonality in the composer’s work is addressed. The chapter ends with analysis of two related extracts: the final movement of the Sixth Symphony, and ‘Cloud-Capp’d Towers’ from Three Shakespeare Songs, where semitonal relations resist tonal stability. While tonal centricity is challenged in these works, the notions of modal alteration and modalised tonality are still influential. 3 A thorough exploration of a range of diverse harmonic and tonal strategies in Chapters Two to Four provide a context for a study of structure in Chapter Five. Sonata deformation theory and rotational form, developed by James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, are introduced. Although these theoretical concepts have been developed with reference to the music of Mahler, Sibelius and Strauss, similar structural procedures are found in the symphonies of Vaughan Williams. In addition two new categories of sonata deformation are proposed. While sonata deformation theory has emerged in response to movements in dialogue with sonata form, this chapter also considers the role of structure in other types of symphonic movement. Chapter Six concludes the thesis with a consideration of broader issues, suggested by the preceding analyses of harmony, tonality and structure. With reference to the wider contexts discussed in Chapter One points of contact are made between an emerging analytical approach and previous contextual studies. 4 Note on Terminology Pitches with a subscript number indicate register, where C4 is middle C, and the C an octave above is C5. Notes without a subscript number refer to that pitch irrespective of register. Superscript numbers following bar references indicate a particular beat within that bar. For example, in time, the second dotted crotchet beat of bar two is written as ‘bar 24’. Bar references are given in relation to rehearsal numbers or letters, depending upon what is given in the published score. The bar at figure 15 is written as ‘bar 15.1’ for example. Chords are referred to by roman numerals using lower case to indicate the minor mode. 5 Chapter 1 Contexts: Vaughan Williams Studies, Music Theory and Analysis The music of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) resists organisation into stylistic periods. New elements can be seen to emerge at various stages, but this does not usually result in the rejection of other compositional
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 01-Sargeant-PM
    CERI OWEN Vaughan Williams’s Early Songs On Singing and Listening in Vaughan Williams’s Early Songs CERI OWEN I begin with a question not posed amid the singer narrates with ardent urgency their sound- recent and unusually liberal scholarly atten- ing and, apparently, their hearing. But precisely tion devoted to a song cycle by Ralph Vaughan who is engaged in these acts at this, the musi- Williams, the Robert Louis Stevenson settings, cal and emotional heart of the cycle? Songs of Travel, composed between 1901 and The recollected songs are first heard on the 1904.1 My question relates to “Youth and Love,” lips of the speaker in “The Vagabond,” an os- the fourth song of the cycle, in which an unex- tensibly archetypal Romantic wayfarer who in- pectedly impassioned climax erupts with pecu- troduces himself at the cycle’s opening in the liar force amid music of otherwise unparalleled lyric first-person, grimly issuing a characteris- serenity. Here, as strains of songs heard earlier tic demand for the solitary life on the open intrude into the piano’s accompaniment, the road. This lyric voice, its eye fixed squarely on the future, is retained in two subsequent songs, “Let Beauty Awake” and “The Roadside Fire” I thank Byron Adams, Daniel M. Grimley, and Julian (in which life with a beloved is contemplated).2 Johnson for their comments on this research, and espe- cially Benedict Taylor, for his invaluable editorial sugges- With “Youth and Love,” however, Vaughan tions. Thanks also to Clive Wilmer for his discussion of Williams rearranges the order of Stevenson’s Rossetti with me.
    [Show full text]
  • VAUGHAN WILLIAMS His Broadcasting Career Covers Both Radio and Television
    557643bk VW US 16/8/05 5:02 pm Page 5 8.557643 Iain Burnside Songs of Travel (Words by Robert Louis Stevenson) 24:03 1 The Vagabond 3:24 The English Song Series • 14 DDD Iain Burnside enjoys a unique reputation as pianist and broadcaster, forged through his commitment to the song 2 Let Beauty awake 1:57 repertoire and his collaborations with leading international singers, including Dame Margaret Price, Susan Chilcott, 3 The Roadside Fire 2:17 Galina Gorchakova, Adrianne Pieczonka, Amanda Roocroft, Yvonne Kenny and Susan Bickley; David Daniels, 4 John Mark Ainsley, Mark Padmore and Bryn Terfel. He has also worked with some outstanding younger singers, Youth and Love 3:34 including Lisa Milne, Sally Matthews, Sarah Connolly; William Dazeley, Roderick Williams and Jonathan Lemalu. 5 In Dreams 2:18 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS His broadcasting career covers both radio and television. He continues to present BBC Radio 3’s Voices programme, 6 The Infinite Shining Heavens 2:15 and has recently been honoured with a Sony Radio Award. His innovative programming led to highly acclaimed 7 Whither must I wander? 4:14 recordings comprising songs by Schoenberg with Sarah Connolly and Roderick Williams, Debussy with Lisa Milne 8 Songs of Travel and Susan Bickley, and Copland with Susan Chilcott. His television involvement includes the Cardiff Singer of the Bright is the ring of words 2:10 World, Leeds International Piano Competition and BBC Young Musician of the Year. He has devised concert series 9 I have trod the upward and the downward slope 1:54 The House of Life • Four poems by Fredegond Shove for a number of organizations, among them the acclaimed Century Songs for the Bath Festival and The Crucible, Sheffield, the International Song Recital Series at London’s South Bank Centre, and the Finzi Friends’ triennial The House of Life (Words by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) 26:27 festival of English Song in Ludlow.
    [Show full text]
  • RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS a London Symphony Serenade to Music Rochester Philharmonic Christopher Seaman EUGÈNE YSAŸE Six Sonatas for Solo Violin Op.27 TAI MURRAY, Violin
    RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Serenade to Music Rochester Philharmonic Christopher Seaman EUGÈNE YSAŸE Six Sonatas for Solo Violin op.27 TAI MURRAY, violin PRODUCTION USA FRANZ LISZT RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) A London Symphony (1912-1913, rev.1920) [42’42] (Symphony no.2, in G major) 1 | I. Lento – Allegro risoluto 13’28 2 | II. Lento 9’22 3 | III. Scherzo [Nocturne]: Allegro vivace 8’03 4 | IV. Andante con moto – Maestoso alla marcia – Allegro 11’48 Epilogue: Andante sostenuto 5 | Serenade to Music (original version, 1939) [12’33] Juliana Athayde, solo violin Singers from Mercury Opera Rochester Benton Hess, artistic director Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Christopher Seaman, conductor Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams, 1957 - akg-images / ullstein bild Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Christopher Seaman, Music Director 1998–2011 Violin 1 Juliana Athayde, Concertmaster The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair* Wilfredo Degláns, Associate Concertmaster Shannon Nance, Assistant Concertmaster Perrin Yang, Tigran Vardanyan, Ellen Rathjen, William Hunt, Kenneth Langley, Lise Stoddard Jeremy Hill, An-Chi OuYang, Margaret Leenhouts, Heidi Brodwin, Ainur Zabenova Violin 2 David Brickman, Principal Daryl Perlo, Assistant Principal Patricia Sunwoo, John Sullivan, Lara Sipols, Nancy Hunt, Boris Zapesochny, Liana Koteva Kirvan Markiyan Melnychenko, Karine Stone, Chloe Fedor, Man Yui Kitty Cheung, Hee Sagong Viola Melissa Matson, Principal Michael Larco, Assistant Principal Marc Anderson, Elizabeth Seka, Olita Povero, Lisa
    [Show full text]
  • Vaughan Williams a Cotswold Romance • the Death of Tintagiles
    VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A Cotswold Romance • The Death of Tintagiles London Philharmonic Choir Rosa Mannion soprano London Symphony Orchestra Thomas Randle tenor Matthew Brook baritone Richard Hickox Greg Barrett Richard Hickox (1948 – 2008) Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958) premiere recordings A Cotswold Romance* 39:34 Adapted from Hugh the Drover by Maurice Jacobson (1896 – 1976) in collaboration with the composer 1 1 The Men of Cotsall 3:47 2 2 Sweet Little Linnet 1:27 3 3 Hugh’s Song of the Road 4:06 4 4 Love at First Sight 6:05 5 5 The Best Man in England 2:22 6 6 Alone and Friendless 2:24 7 7 The Fight and its Sequel 4:48 8 8 Hugh in the Stocks 1:51 9 9 Mary Escapes 4:28 10 10 Freedom at Last 7:52 3 The Death of Tintagiles 14:48 11 Prelude. Largo – Andantino – Adagio – 5:37 12 1 Lento – 1:10 13 2 Allegro – 0:42 14 3 Lento – Andante tranquillo – Lento – 2:51 15 4 Moderato – 1:09 16 41/2 Allegro – 1:00 17 5 Lento 2:15 TT 54:34 Rosa Mannion soprano (Mary)* Thomas Randle tenor (Hugh)* Matthew Brook baritone* London Philharmonic Choir* London Symphony Orchestra Richard Hickox 4 Vaughan Williams: A Cotswold Romance / The Death of Tintagiles Vaughan Williams composed his ‘ballad-opera’ and ‘The Roadside Fire’ from the earlier Hugh the Drover, from which A Cotswold setting of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poetry in Romance is adapted, between 1910 and 1914. Songs of Travel. Writing to his librettist, the journalist Harold Hugh the Drover was first performed in Child, in 1910, he said: public on 14 July 1924 by forces of the British I have an idea for an opera written to real National Opera Company at His Majesty’s English words, with a certain amount of Theatre, London, conducted by Malcolm real English music… Sargent.
    [Show full text]
  • Cheryl Ann Durgan Eduard J. Hamilton
    In memory of Cheryl Ann Durgan Cheryl Ann Durgan, 59, of Gardiner Road died Cheryl Ann was always positive. She loved her birds, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at her residence. dogs and cats. She would go to the animal shelter fre- She was born in Troy, N.Y., on Jan. 14, 1953, a daughter quently and come home with a new pet. of William H. and Rose P. (Snyder) Hoffman. She was president of Maine State Caged Bird Society She graduated from Averill Park High School in New and president of the Capital Area Wheels R.V. Club/Good York in 1971. She attended many colleges and was recently Sam. attending University of Maine. She is survived by her husband, Richard A. Durgan, of She was employed by the City of Bath as head of general Dresden; two sons, Bryan Lewis, and his wife, Alyason, of assistance for 18 years. On Oct. 1, 2001, she was employed Maryland, and Brett Lewis and his wife, Melissa, of Mary- as activities director for Augusta Rehabilitation, Country land; one sister, Darlene R. Schnoop, and her husband, Manor in Coopers Mills, Field Crest Nursing Home and Mike, of Augusta; five grandchildren; many great-grand- as a coordinator for Catholic Charities in Augusta. children; and numerous nieces and nephews. Eduard J. Hamilton By Josef Lindholm III, Curator of Birds, Tulsa Zoo I saw Elvis in Tijuana. It was Elvis in his decline, heavy- set, in that iconic white high-collared suit glittering with rhinestones. His hair was a brilliant orange yellow. But all that garishness did not compare to the burden he bore: Five boxy wooden cages, each with at least a dozen male Painted Buntings, strung down his back.
    [Show full text]
  • We Are TEN – in This Issue
    RVW No.31 NEW 2004 Final 6/10/04 10:36 Page 1 Journal of the No.31 October 2004 EDITOR Stephen Connock RVW (see address below) Society We are TEN – In this issue... and still growing! G What RVW means to me Testimonials by sixteen The RVW Society celebrated its 10th anniversary this July – just as we signed up our 1000 th new members member to mark a decade of growth and achievement. When John Bishop (still much missed), Robin Barber and I (Stephen Connock) came together to form the Society our aim was to widen from page 4 appreciation of RVW’s music, particularly through recordings of neglected but high quality music. Looking back, we feel proud of what we have achieved. G 49th Parallel World premieres Through our involvement with Richard Hickox, and Chandos, we have stimulated many fine world by Richard Young premiere recordings, including The Poisoned Kiss, A Cotswold Romance, Norfolk Rhapsody No.2, page 14 The Death of Tintagiles and the original version of A London Symphony. Our work on The Poisoned Kiss represents a special contribution as we worked closely with Ursula Vaughan Williams on shaping the libretto for the recording. And what beautiful music there is! G Index to Journals 11-29 Medal of Honour The Trustees sought to mark our Tenth Anniversary in a special way and decided to award an International Medal of Honour to people who have made a remarkable contribution to RVW’s music. The first such Award was given to Richard Hickox during the concert in Gloucester and more .
    [Show full text]
  • Tournament 11 Round #9
    Tournament 11 Round 9 Tossups 1. This man described the homosexuality of Kochan in his work Confessions of a Mask. He wrote another work in which Isao (EYE-sow), Ying Chan, and Toru are all successive incarnations of Kiyaoki, who appears in Spring Snow. That work by this author centers on the lawyer Shigekuni Honda. This author ended a novel with Mizoguchi's arson of the titular (*) Temple of the Golden Pavilion. All of those works were completed prior to this author's televised suicide by seppuku (SEH-puh-koo). For 10 points, name this Japanese author who wrote the Sea of Fertility tetralogy. ANSWER: Yukio Mishima [or Mishima Yukio; do not accept or prompt on "Yukio" by itself; or Kimitake Hiraoka; or Hiraoka Kimitake; do not accept or prompt on "Kimitake" by itself] 020-09-10-09102 2. This man's first symphony sets poems from Whitman's Leaves of Grass and contains the movements "The Explorers" and "On the Beach at Night Alone". He wrote a piece for violin and orchestra based on a George Meredith poem that depicts a (*) bird rising up to the heavens. Another of this man's works was inspired by the music of the composer of the motet Spem in alium. For 10 points, identify this British composer of A Sea Symphony and The Lark Ascending who wrote fantasias on "Greensleeves" and on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. ANSWER: Ralph Vaughan Williams 029-09-10-09103 3. This politician decried the forced removal of Ali Maher as an attack on his nation's sovereignty.
    [Show full text]
  • Performances from 1974 to 2020
    Performances from 1974 to 2020 2019-20 December 1 & 2, 2018 Michael Slon, Conductor September 28 & 29, 2019 Family Holiday Concerts Benjamin Rous, Conductor MOZART Symphony No. 32 February 16 & 17, 2019 ROUSTOM Ramal Benjamin Rous, Conductor BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major RAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunte RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major November 16 & 17, 2019 MOYA Siempre Lunes, Siempre Marzo Benjamin Rous & Michael Slon, Conductors KODALY Variations on a HunGarian FolksonG MONTGOMERY Caught by the Wind ‘The Peacock’ RICHARD STRAUSS Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major March 23 & 24, 2019 MENDELSSOHN Psalm 42 Benjamin Rous, Conductor BRUCKNER Te Deum in C Major BARTOK Violin Concerto No. 2 MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A Major December 6 & 7, 2019 Michael Slon, Conductor April 27 & 28, 2019 Family Holiday Concerts Benjamin Rous, Conductor WAGNER Prelude from Parsifal February 15 & 16, 2020 SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A minor Benjamin Rous, Conductor SHATIN PipinG the Earth BUTTERWORTH A Shropshire Lad RESPIGHI Pines of Rome BRITTEN Nocturne GRACE WILLIAMS Elegy for String Orchestra June 1, 2019 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS On Wenlock Edge Benjamin Rous, Conductor ARNOLD Tam o’Shanter Overture Pops at the Paramount 2018-19 2017-18 September 29 & 30, 2018 September 23 & 24, 2017 Benjamin Rous, Conductor Benjamin Rous, Conductor BOWEN Concerto in C minor for Viola WALKER Lyric for StrinGs and Orchestra ADAMS Short Ride in a Fast Machine MUSGRAVE SonG of the Enchanter MOZART Clarinet Concerto in A Major SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 in D Major BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major November 17 & 18, 2018 October 6, 2017 Damon Gupton, Conductor Michael Slon, Conductor ROSSINI Overture to Semiramide UVA Bicentennial Celebration BARBER Violin Concerto WALKER Lyric for StrinGs TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.
    [Show full text]
  • VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphonies Nos
    VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphonies Nos. 3 "Pastoral" and 6 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Kees Bakels Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958) Symphony No. 3 (Pastoral Symphony) Symphony No. 6 in E Minor Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in the Gloucestershire village of Down Ampney in 1872, the son of a clergyman. His ancestry on both his father's and mother's side was of some intellectual distinction. His father was descended from a family eminent in the law, while his maternal grandfather was a Wedgwood and his grandmother a Darwin. On the death of his father in 1875 the family moved to live with his mother's father at Leith Hill Place in Surrey. As a child Vaughan Williams learned the piano and the violin and received a conventional upper middle class education at Charterhouse, after which he delayed entry to Cambridge, preferring instead to study at the Royal College of Music, where his teachers included Hubert Parry and Walter Parratt, later Master of the Queen's Musick, both soon to be knighted. In 1892 he took up his place at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read History, but took composition lessons from Charles Wood. After graduation in both Music and History, he returned to the Royal College, where he studied composition with Stanford, and, perhaps more important, became a friend of a fellow-student Gustav Holst. The friendship with Holst was to prove of great importance in frank exchanges of views on one another's compositions in the years following. In 1897 Vaughan Williams married and took the opportunity to visit Berlin, where he had lessons from Max Bruch and widened his musical experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Nonatonic Harmonic Structures in Symphonies by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax Cameron Logan [email protected]
    University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 12-2-2014 Nonatonic Harmonic Structures in Symphonies by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax Cameron Logan [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Logan, Cameron, "Nonatonic Harmonic Structures in Symphonies by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 603. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/603 i Nonatonic Harmonic Structures in Symphonies by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax Cameron Logan, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2014 This study explores the pitch structures of passages within certain works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax. A methodology that employs the nonatonic collection (set class 9-12) facilitates new insights into the harmonic language of symphonies by these two composers. The nonatonic collection has received only limited attention in studies of neo-Riemannian operations and transformational theory. This study seeks to go further in exploring the nonatonic‟s potential in forming transformational networks, especially those involving familiar types of seventh chords. An analysis of the entirety of Vaughan Williams‟s Fourth Symphony serves as the exemplar for these theories, and reveals that the nonatonic collection acts as a connecting thread between seemingly disparate pitch elements throughout the work. Nonatonicism is also revealed to be a significant structuring element in passages from Vaughan Williams‟s Sixth Symphony and his Sinfonia Antartica. A review of the historical context of the symphony in Great Britain shows that the need to craft a work of intellectual depth, simultaneously original and traditional, weighed heavily on the minds of British symphonists in the early twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Aaron Copland and Ralph Vaughan Williams Through Analysis of Copland's "In the Beginning", and Vaughan Williams' "Sancta Civitas"
    Ouachita Baptist University Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita OBU Graduate Theses University Archives 8-1964 A Study of Aaron Copland and Ralph Vaughan Williams Through Analysis of Copland's "In the Beginning", and Vaughan Williams' "Sancta Civitas" Minerva Ann Phillips Ouachita Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/grad_theses Part of the Composition Commons, and the Music Pedagogy Commons Recommended Citation Phillips, Minerva Ann, "A Study of Aaron Copland and Ralph Vaughan Williams Through Analysis of Copland's "In the Beginning", and Vaughan Williams' "Sancta Civitas"" (1964). OBU Graduate Theses. 49. https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/grad_theses/49 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Archives at Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. It has been accepted for inclusion in OBU Graduate Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF AARON COPLAND AND RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS THROUGH ANALYSES OF COPLAND'S IN TH~ BEGINNING, AND VAUGHAN WIT,LIAMS t SANCTA CIVITAS .. .•.. ' A thesis Presented to the Division of Graduate Studies Ouachita Baptist College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Music Education by Minerva Aru1 Phillips August, 1964 A STUDY Oli' AJ\HON COl?LAND AND l1ALPH VAUGHAN WILLIANS VAUGHAN WILLIANS' SANCTA CIVITAS :Major Professor TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .1 Background of
    [Show full text]
  • Elizabeth Watts’ Countess Brought Real Poise to Her Moments in the Spotlight As the Opera’S Least Comic Character
    ` MOZART The Marriage of Figaro, English National Opera / Edusei, Coliseum Elizabeth Watts’ Countess brought real poise to her moments in the spotlight as the opera’s least comic character. Flora Willson, The Guardian, March 2020 MENDELSSOHN Elijah, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo, Barbican Hall There was an admirable operatic sweep to Elizabeth Watts’ contributions, with a fine sense of anguish as the Widow, and a touching simplicity in the extended Adagio aria which opens the second half, ‘Hear ye, Israel’, exquisitely sustained.’ Alexander Hall, Classical Source, February 2020 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.3 ‘Pastoral’, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins, Hyperion Half-remembered, haunting bugle calls are beautifully handled here, as is the long, wordless soprano solo that closes the last movement, a meditation on all that has gone before, lovingly realised by Elizabeth Watts. Stephen Pritchard, The Guardian, January 2020 HANDEL Brockes-Passion, Academy of Ancient Music / Richard Egarr CD recording – AAM Records Elizabeth Watts In the Daughter of Zion’s 14 solos … Elizabeth Watts sings with fervent intensity, the brightness of her tone tempered by a warm mezzo glint. Highlights among Soprano her arias are legion. I would just pick out the sublime ‘Die ihr Gottes Gnad’ after Judas’s suicide, voice and oboe vying with each other in grieving eloquence, and her no-holds-barred attack in the violent ‘Schäumst du, du Schaum der Welt’ as she rails against Christ’s mockery by the Jews. Richard Wigmore, Gramophone, November 2019 The solo singing is outstanding, with … Elizabeth Watts ravishing as the Daughter of Zion Hugh Canning, The Times, September 2019 The soprano Elizabeth Watts is powerfully expressive in the generous 16 arias given to the Daughter of Zion … piercing every word as if it’s a matter of life or death.
    [Show full text]