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Ralph Vaughan Williams's Settings of George Herbert's Poetry in Five Mystical Songs Jessica Victoria Horton

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Ralph Vaughan Williams's Settings of George Herbert's Poetry in Five Mystical Songs Jessica Victoria Horton Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 A Joyous Synchrony: Ralph Vaughan Williams's Settings of George Herbert's Poetry in Five Mystical Songs Jessica Victoria Horton Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC A JOYOUS SYNCHRONY: RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’S SETTINGS OF GEORGE HERBERT’S POETRY IN FIVE MYSTICAL SONGS By JESSICA VICTORIA HORTON A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2006 The members of the Committee approve the Treatise of Jessica Horton defended on October 27, 2006. ______________________ Carolyn Bridger Professor Directing Treatise ______________________ James Mathes Outside Committee Member ______________________ Timothy Hoekman Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to acknowledge all those who have guided and encouraged me throughout these past years of study. The completion of this treatise and degree is a direct result of the many people who have invested their lives in my personal and musical development. I am especially indebted to Anne Morton, my first piano teacher, who created a spark of interest in me as a six-year-old, and continued to nurture my love for music through her weekly instruction for the following fifteen years. My most sincere appreciation is due to Carolyn Bridger, who, through her tireless dedication to her students has exemplified all that a mentor should be. I am indebted to Timothy Hoekman for teaching me the art of vocal accompanying and for serving on both my graduate committees the past four years. I would also like to express my appreciation to James Mathes, who generously agreed to sit on this committee. A special debt is owed my father, whose literary insight has contributed greatly to this treatise, and whose daily advice and encouragement have motivated me to forge ahead to the finish line. Finally, I thank God for guiding my steps throughout these both difficult and rewarding years of study. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Musical Examples ..........................................………………………………….... v Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….vii INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………. 1 PART I – POET AND COMPOSER 1. GEORGE HERBERT .....................................................................................................4 2. RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ...............................................................................13 PART II – THE SONGS 3. EASTER .......................................................................................................................19 4. I GOT ME FLOWERS .................................................................................................28 5. LOVE BADE ME WELCOME ....................................................................................32 6. THE CALL ...................................................................................................................39 7. ANTIPHON ..................................................................................................................43 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................48 APPENDIX: SCANSIONS OF POETRY ........................................................................53 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................55 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................................57 iv LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES* Example 1. Easter, mm. 2-3... ……….……………………………………….…………21 Example 2. Easter, mm. 59-60.................……………………….………………………22 Example 3. Easter, m. 49………………………………………………………………...22 Example 4. Easter, m. 68 ...……………………………………………………………...23 Example 5. Easter, mm. 71-72 .…………………………………………………………23 Example 6. Easter, mm. 7-10.......……………………………………………………….24 Example 7. Easter, m. 50 ...…………………………………………………….………. 24 Example 8. Easter, mm. 54-55 ..……………………………………………………….. 25 Example 9. Easter, mm. 73-74a ..………………………………………………………. 25 Example 10. Easter, mm. 14a ...………………………………………………………... 26 Example 11. Easter, mm. 83-87 .......….......…………………………………………… 26 Example 12. I Got Me Flowers, mm. 3-4 ...……………………………………………..29 Example 13. I Got Me Flowers, mm. 22-25 .…………………………………………... 30 Example 14. I Got Me Flowers, mm. 27-28a ...……..…………………………………. 30 Example 15. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 15-16 …………………………………….. 34 Example 16. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 12-13 …………………………………….. 35 Example 17. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 26-28a …………………………….……... 35 Example 18. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 30-31.…………………………………….. 36 Example 19. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 39-41 …………………………………….. 36 v Example 20. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 46-47 …………………………………….. 37 Example 21. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 64-68a …………………………….……... 37 Example 22. Love Bade Me Welcome, mm. 69-70 …………………………………….. 38 Example 23. The Call, mm. 2-5a ……….……………………………………….……... 40 Example 24. The Call, mm. 10-11 ……….…………………………………………….. 41 Example 25. The Call, mm. 28-29 ………………………………………………………41 Example 26. Antiphon, mm. 15-19 ……………...……………………………………... 44 Example 27. Antiphon, mm. 17, 54 ……………..…………………………………….. 44 Example 28. Antiphon, mm. 26-29 …………...………………………………………... 45 Example 29. Antiphon, mm. 38-39 ...…………………………………………………... 45 Example 30. Antiphon, mm. 81-85 ……...……………………………………………... 46 Example 31. Antiphon, mm. 93-94 …………………………………………………….. 46 Example 32. Antiphon, mm. 132-38 …………...………………………………………. 47 *All Examples are taken from Stainer & Bell Edition. vi ABSTRACT The responsibility of every vocal coach is to supply the singer with an accurate and sensible interpretation of poetic text. Such textual interpretation and understanding are fundamental to successful musical performance. Naturally following an understanding of the poetry is an understanding of the composer’s setting of poetic elements. In Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, clear consistencies can be observed between music and poetry. In each song, the poetry of George Herbert is complemented by the composer’s choice of musical settings. This treatise examines elements of Herbert’s poetry in the context of Vaughan Williams’s settings. Elements such as rhythm, pattern, variation, and poetic meaning are discussed in regards to each poem and song. Furthermore, this treatise will explore what may have caused Vaughan Williams’s attraction to Herbert’s poetry. vii INTRODUCTION Essential for every successful vocal coach is an acute understanding of poetry and text. Accordingly, this treatise will give close attention to the elements of poetry that affect musical setting as well as to an understanding of the particular poems themselves. A singer as well as a vocal coach must be completely aware of the technical and dramatic elements of the poetry. Convincing presentation of a poem in song demands a definite understanding of each line’s meter and thought, and of overall development and patterning. Especially significant are variations from rhythmical patterns. Such knowledge of text is the starting point of song study and must not be neglected. One of the foremost English song composers of the twentieth century, Ralph Vaughan Williams came to define the genre of English song. Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, composed when he was thirty-eight, are his first substantial settings of religious poetry of any sort. These songs sparked the composer’s lasting interest in religious poetry and biblical texts, a fact of note, considering Vaughan Williams’s agnostic persuasions. This treatise will investigate the composer’s affinity for George Herbert’s poetry and consider his settings of the selected poems. Part I of the paper will discuss the biographical details of Herbert and Vaughan Williams, respectively, and will connect the two. The paradoxical attraction of the pious George Herbert for the agnostic Vaughan Williams will be examined in detail within these first two chapters. The first chapter will briefly address Herbert’s life, before turning to his poetry. Herbert was a gifted musician in his own right, and his poems abound with musical allusions and metaphors. His poetry contains elements that make it particularly attractive for musical setting. It is introspective and thoughtful, written with an evenness of meter, and laced with dramatic elements. In the second chapter Vaughan Williams’s affinity for Herbert’s poetry will be explored in reference to the composer’s childhood and later influences. Whereas Part I will attempt to answer why Herbert’s poetry was attractive to Vaughan Williams, Part II will address how the composer set the poems. These five chapters of the treatise will constitute the core of the paper, analyzing the songs with 1 regard to the marriage of the poetry and the music. Vaughan Williams’s musical stressing of words in response to poetic meter and meaning will be addressed in great detail. The poetry’s schematic form, rhyme, meter, and thought line all will be examined in relation to the musical setting. The musical analyses will go beyond a mechanical treatment of meter and scansion and will explore poetic elements such as regularity, variation, and dramatic meaning, and a complete scansion of each poem will
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