Doctor of Musical Arts

Confronting the Celebrant of Bernstein’s Mass: A Study of Musical Borrowing A document submitted to The Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS in the Performance Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music Voice 2014 by John W. Wright B.M., Maryville College, 1987 M.M., University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 1990 Committee Chair: David Adams i ABSTRACT This document studies musical borrowing in the five principal solos of the Celebrant, the central character of Bernstein’s Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers (1971), with words by co-lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The solos treated are “A Simple Song,” “The Word of the Lord,” “Our Father . .,” “I Go On,” and “Fraction: Things Get Broken.” Drawing on reports of borrowing found in published secondary literature by Jack Gottlieb, Paul Laird, and Helen Smith, and also in unpublished research by Copland scholar Daniel Mathers, this study documents Bernstein’s sources, analyzes their compositional uses for Mass, and explores them critically in light of the work’s eclectic musical conception and aims. Critical findings treat how Bernstein chose and manipulated his sources in view of several objectives crucial to this work’s composition, its function of dedicating the opening of Kennedy Center (on September 8, 1971), and its long, controversial reception. These objectives include the widely discussed “reaffirmation of faith” which Bernstein strove to express in Mass; defiance of political and religious dogma; use of his own personalized faith symbolism; and continued synthesis of vernacular and classical influences for which he remains most celebrated. In all, the music of the Celebrant emerges as a linchpin for understanding Bernstein’s eclecticism as indeed something carefully and strategically managed. ii © Copyright by John W. Wright 2014 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures v List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Chapters 1. Simply Coplandesque: “A Simple Song” 18 2. Gracias a Violeta Parra: “The Word of the Lord” 27 3. Born of Faith Symbolism: “Our Father . .” 38 4. Keeping it “Reel”? “I Go On” 43 5. Into Madness: “Fraction: Things Get Broken” 49 6. Conclusion: Celebrating the Celebrant 78 Selected Bibliography 96 Appendix: Vocal Solos from Mass Published Separately 110 iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables 1. New material in “Fraction: Things Get Broken” 64 2. Thematic recall in “Fraction: Things Get Broken” 65 Figures 1. Various formal aspects of “Fraction: Things Get Broken”: hybrid, episodic form (A B C D – E A’) 71 2. Tonal aspects of musical form in “Fraction: Things Get Broken” 72 3. Textual wordplay in cadenza of “Fraction: Things Get Broken,” mm. 245–78 75 4. Formal diagram of “Our Father . .”: song form 92 5. Formal diagram of “A Simple Song”: song form (A B A) with introduction 92 6. Formal diagram of “The Word of the Lord”: repeated song form 93 7. Formal diagram of “I Go On”: strophic form 93 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Examples 1. Bernstein’s “lauda” motive and its source variants in Copland’s Our Town (film score 1940; suite rev. 1944) 21 2. Accompaniment of Bernstein’s “A Simple Song” as patterned after the opening of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto (1948) 24 3. Transcription by Luis Gaston Soublette of “De Génesis prencipiaron,” in Violeta Parra, Cantos folklóricos chilenos 33 4. Melody borrowed from Parra in Bernstein’s “The Word of the Lord,” first statement of A theme, mm. 6–18, transposed to Parra’s key of C major 36 5. Faith motives in Bernstein’s music, as identified by Jack Gottlieb, given set-class analysis 40 6. “Our Father . .” (complete), with set analysis 41 7. Shared motives of “I Go On” and “I Remember You” (1942) 45 8. Bernstein’s “row,” via Beethoven, as used in Mass 57 9. Order positions of row as unfold in “Fraction: Things Get Broken,” mm. 7–18 59 10. Refrain based on “Agnus Dei” of Mass 61 11. Dirge music in Mass 63 12. Dance theme in “Fraction: Things Get Broken,” mm. 129–64 68 13. Use of patchwork in cadenza of “Fraction: Things Get Broken,” mm. 245–78 70 14. Accented A opening“Fraction: Things Get Broken,” mm. 1–5 74 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This document marks the culmination of a twenty-four year journey. Its completion and that of the D.M.A. are certainly milestones. Each one would have been impossible without the support of steadfast friends, family, colleagues, teachers and students. I thank the following: the CCM voice faculty, particularly my former voice teacher David Adams, advisor and chair of my committees; the remaining members of my committees, Mary Henderson-Stucky, Kenneth Griffiths, and Richard Hess—all made the transition back into the program after so many years as seamless as possible; my colleagues at Salisbury University for their patience and push, particularly Dr. Linda Cockey (Former Chair) and readers/editors during the process, Dr. William Folger (Chair), Dr. Jerry Tabor, Dr. Danielle Cumming, Dr. Kathleen Shannon, and Dr. Jackie Chooi-Theng Lew; Dr. Corinne Pubill and Dr. Louise Detwiler for their language expertise and Spanish translations; the Salisbury University Blackwell Library staff, particularly Kathryn Kalmanson and Amy Jones; and Salisbury University for its support with travel and travel expenses. For permissions to reproduce copyrighted material within musical examples, I acknowledge the kind cooperation of Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.; The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.; the Hal Leonard Corporation; and Milena Rojas Cereceda, Coordinator of the Violeta Parra Foundation. vii I am forever grateful to Neal Gittleman, conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. His forty-year dream of producing Bernstein’s Mass included me and provided the spirit and inspiration for this project. Sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Catherine Roma for decades of performance opportunities, for instilling belief in me, and for the donation of a hardbound copy of the published Mass—the latter used for Ohio’s first performance of the work; to Dr. Richard Benedum (Former Chair, University of Dayton) for his ongoing encouragement to finish; to Dr. Robert Bonham (Professor Emeritus of Maryville College) for his lifelong mentorship and friendship; and to the late tenor Richard Wright and family for the donation of his vocal music library to Salisbury University, which included another first edition of the score of Mass. Jeffrey Alexander Bernstein kindly forwarded me a copy of his dissertation on Bernstein. The completion of this project could not have happened were it not for a chance reuniting one year ago with my friend now mentor, Daniel E. Mathers, whose guidance and assistance these past few months have shown me the meaning, method, and sometimes joy of research. It is to him—Copland scholar, soul mate, collaborative pianist, and improviser extraordinaire—that I am forever indebted. Lastly, I express my deepest gratitude to my family for their continuous love and support; to my partner in life, Bruce Glover, who endured the research “tornado” to hit our family room last summer, and who always had lunch and/or dinner waiting when Danny and I came up for air; and to my parents, James G. Wright and the late Fannie H. Wright, for finding ways to afford me career opportunities they didn’t even understand. For that I am eternally gratefully. viii INTRODUCTION Commissioned to open the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C., Leonard Bernstein delivered with Mass (1971) a work at once extremely suited, yet paradoxically strange, to his task. Written with an ecumenical flair surpassing anything else from his pen, the work itself displays a broad, representative palette of the performing arts in America. The degree of controversy it has provoked, however, reflects the zeal with which Bernstein took seriously his task and his courage in commenting on political and spiritual struggles confronting the nation. Yet, in doing so, the work arguably attains a level of universality many have come to regard as Bernstein’s best bid, along with the musical West Side Story (1957), for entry into the pantheon of most distinguished American composers of the past century. In confronting such a major, sizable work—requiring over two hundred performers originally—and one with such a distinguished yet mixed reception, scholars and other commentators have understandably had to cast a very wide net. The role of vernacular styles within the work, the mixture with styles of art music, the nature of the religious symbolism and philosophic nuances, and at times, the seemingly sheer excess of theatricality (including, e.g., actions of destroying sacramental vessels at one point), certainly all compete for attention in one of the richest works by probably one of the most eclectic and outspoken composers to have lived. In the case of a work as curious and diversified as Bernstein’s Mass, therefore, no little wonder can surround the fact that the 1 role of the Celebrant, by all accounts the most important character of Mass, still stands very much in the shadow of the achievement amassed by this unique work as a whole. To begin redressing this imbalance, the document at hand offers an extended study of the musical borrowing undertaken by Bernstein in composing the role of Mass’s Celebrant. It identifies and introduces the sources used in composing the Celebrant’s five principal solos, and offers extensive analysis of the borrowings themselves explaining their uses.1 In addition to this analytical dimension, the investigation strives to be critical in nature by examining these same borrowings in light of the composer’s own views about Mass, his stated compositional intentions, and the hopes he expressed for this capstone work.

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