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The Harmonic Representation of the Feminine in Puccini Ya-Hui Cheng

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The Harmonic Representation of the Feminine in Puccini Ya-Hui Cheng Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 The Harmonic Representation of the Feminine in Puccini Ya-Hui Cheng Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC THE HARMONIC REPRESENTATION OF THE FEMININE IN PUCCINI By YA-HUI CHENG A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Ya-Hui Cheng All Rights Reserved The Members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Ya-Hui Cheng defended on July 9, 2008. __________________________ Matthew Shaftel Professor Directing Dissertation __________________________ Douglas Fisher Outside Committee Member __________________________ Jane Piper Clendinning Committee Member __________________________ Linda Saladin-Adams Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When I begin the doctoral program, my teachers suggested I work on something that I could live with for the next ten or more years. I am glad to have gotten that part right! I’ve enjoyed every aspect of my research and sincerely appreciate my advisor Professor Matthew Shaftel and the members of my committee, Professors Jane Piper Clendinning, Douglas Fisher and Linda Saladin-Adams, not only for their continuous support and guidance but also for the inspiration I have gained from each of them. My desire to explore the work of Puccini began while working on an opera project with Professor Clendinning and continued with Professor Fisher’s Opera Literature courses. Then, in Professor Saladin-Adams’s Gender Studies course, I was inspired by the literary analysis of gender issues, and the idea for my dissertation on the evolution of Puccini’s writing for his female protagonists developed. Finally, my advisor, Professor Shaftel, kindly gave me space in which to grow; his invaluable suggestions and consistent encouragement made it possible for me to develop and finish this project. Each of my professors played a significant and yet different role in the progress of my work. Thanks particularly to the College of Music at Florida State University for giving me the best doctoral experience possible. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all the professors who have contributed to my education since I first came to the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree. Without their help in the different stages of building a solid theoretical foundation, I could never have come this far. Thanks also to my editors and friends, Nikki Nojima Louis and Hsin-Jung Tsai, for their advice and expertise. Finally, I am also grateful to Giacomo Puccini, whose operas have kept me intellectually and emotionally stimulated. Indeed, when I was a child preparing my first piano recital, my teacher asked me to play the Chinese song Mo-Li-Hua from Puccini’s Turandot. I am gratified that it is with the work of Puccini that I complete my last music theory degree and launch the beginning of my career. Finally, I warmly express appreciation for my family in Taiwan for their tremendous support in allowing me to study in the United States for more than a decade, and to whom this work is dedicated. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................iii List of Musical Examples...............................................................................................vi List of Figures................................................................................................................ix List of Tables .................................................................................................................xi Abstract.........................................................................................................................xii INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1 Research on Italian Opera............................................................................................1 Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).....................................................................................3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY .................................6 Selected Relevant Literature Review on Puccini and His Music ..................................6 Methodology.............................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 2: HARMONIC REPRESENTATIONS OF VERISMO IN 1896................ 36 La bohème................................................................................................................. 38 Musical Synopsis – La bohème..................................................................................44 Musetta: “Quando me’n vo' ” ....................................................................................48 Mimì: “Mi chiamano Mimì” ...................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 3: HARMONIC REPRESENTATION OF TOSCA (1900).......................... 69 Tosca ........................................................................................................................69 Musical Synopsis – Tosca .........................................................................................85 Tosca: “Vissi d’arte” ................................................................................................. 94 CHAPTER 4: HARMONIC REPRESENTATION OF MADAMA BUTTERFLY (1904) .................................................................................................................................... 109 Madama Butterfly.................................................................................................... 109 Musical Synopsis – Madama Butterfly .................................................................... 125 Butterfly: “Un bel dì”.............................................................................................. 136 CHAPTER 5: HARMONIC REPRESENTATION OF TURANDOT (1924)................ 151 Turandot ................................................................................................................. 151 Musical Synopsis – Turandot .................................................................................. 182 Liù: “Signore, ascolta!”........................................................................................... 194 Turandot: “In questa reggia”................................................................................... 198 iv CHAPTER 6: THE HARMONIC REPRESENTATION OF THE FEMININE IN PUCCINI .................................................................................................................... 216 6.1 The Feminine .................................................................................................... 217 6.2 Harmonic Representation .................................................................................. 218 6.3 The Harmonic Representation of the Feminine .................................................. 221 6.4 Giacomo Puccini and Italian Opera.................................................................... 222 6.5 Conclusion and Directions for Future Study ...................................................... 224 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................... 227 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH....................................................................................... 237 v LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example 2.1: I/36/10-13 – End of B section and beginning of the 2nd A section.............54 Example 2.2: I/38/20-23 – End of 2nd B section and coda ..............................................55 Example 2.3: The “sweet magic” motion of 5^- 6^-5^ ........................................................61 Example 2.4: The ending as “death” in 5^....................................................................... 65 Example 2.5: Harmonic dualist relation.........................................................................67 Example 3.1: The abbreviation of Tosca’s entrance scene and Madonna tune................ 76 Example 3.2: Where is Angelotti? (II/36) – suffer motif................................................ 79 Example 3.3: Madonna and the suffer motifs................................................................. 79 Example 3.4: Suffering towards Madonna.....................................................................80 Example 3.5: Death tune (II/63) ....................................................................................83 Example 3.6: Spoletta and Tosca...................................................................................84 Example 3.7: Minor octave descent...............................................................................95 Example 3.8: The continuing of Tonic motion – II/53 ................................................. 103 Example 3.9: The deceptive motion and religious faith – II/53 .................................... 103 Example 3.10: Launch from the parapet – III/40/12-III/41........................................... 105 Example 3.11: Cavaradossi: "E lucevan le stele " – III/12/2-3 ..................................... 105 Example 3.12: Tosca and Cavaradossi........................................................................
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