Miriam Gideon's Cantata, the Habitable Earth
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Major Papers Graduate School 2003 Miriam Gideon's cantata, The aH bitable Earth: a conductor's analysis Stella Panayotova Bonilla Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_majorpapers Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Bonilla, Stella Panayotova, "Miriam Gideon's cantata, The aH bitable Earth: a conductor's analysis" (2003). LSU Major Papers. 20. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_majorpapers/20 This Major Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Major Papers by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MIRIAM GIDEON’S CANTATA, THE HABITABLE EARTH: A CONDUCTOR’S ANALYSIS A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Stella Panayotova Bonilla B.M., State Academy of Music, Sofia, Bulgaria, 1991 M.M., Louisiana State University, 1994 August 2003 ©Copyright 2003 Stella Panayotova Bonilla All rights reserved ii DEDICATION To you mom, and to the memory of my beloved father. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Dr. Kenneth Fulton for his guidance through the years, his faith in me and his invaluable help in accomplishing this project. Thanks to Dr. Robert Peck for his inspirational insight. Thanks to Dr. Cornelia Yarbrough and Dr. Sara Lynn Baird for being role models of professionalism and musicianship. Thanks to my husband Hector and my little boy Andres for their love and support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF EXAMPLES...................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1. BIOGRAPHY AND COMPOSITIONAL OUTPUT..................................1 Biography..................................................................................................................1 Compositional Output...............................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2. THE HABITABLE EARTH: TEXT AND FORMAL STRUCTURE ........50 Text ........................................................................................................................50 Formal Structure ....................................................................................................65 CHAPTER 3. THE HABITABLE EARTH: ANALYSIS.................................................72 Analytical Techniques ...........................................................................................72 Part I.......................................................................................................................79 Part II ...................................................................................................................106 Part III ..................................................................................................................141 CHAPTER 4. ADDITIONAL STYLISTIC OBSERVATIONS AND REHEARSAL STRATEGIES..................................................................................................................154 Additional Stylistic Observations ........................................................................154 Rehearsal Strategies.............................................................................................163 Size of Ensemble and Programming....................................................................176 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................177 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................179 APPENDIX: LETTERS OF PERMISSION....................................................................183 VITA................................................................................................................................196 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. The Habitable Earth, Part I, text......................................................................60 TABLE 2. The Habitable Earth, Part II, text ....................................................................62 TABLE 3. The Habitable Earth, Part III, new text ...........................................................64 TABLE 4. The Habitable Earth, Part I, overall structure..................................................66 TABLE 5. The Habitable Earth, Part III, overall structure...............................................67 TABLE 6. The Habitable Earth, Part II, “Drunkard’s Lament,” overall structure ...........69 TABLE 7. The Habitable Earth, Part II, section two, overall structure............................70 vi LIST OF EXAMPLES 1.1. The Condemned Playground, “Hiroshima”, measures 18-24....................................12 1.2. The Condemned Playground, “Hiroshima”, measures 26-39....................................13 1.3. The Condemned Playground, “Hiroshima”, measures 41-43....................................14 1.4. The Hound of Heaven, measures 1-17 .......................................................................17 1.5. The Hound of Heaven, measures 141-149 .................................................................19 1.6. The Hound of Heaven, measures 51-57 .....................................................................21 1.7. Three Sonnets from a Fatal Interview, “Night is my sister,”measures 1-19 .............23 1.8. Questions on Nature, Movement one, voice only, measures 1-4 ..............................25 1.9. Questions on Nature, Movement two, voice only, measures 1-6 ..............................26 1.10. Questions on Nature, Movement three, voice only, measures 1-5 ...........................26 1.11. Questions on Nature, Movement four, voice only, measures 1-9 ............................26 1.12.Questions on Nature, Movement six, voice only, measures 1-6 ...............................26 1.13. Questions on Nature, Movement seven, voice only, measures 1-3..........................27 1.14. Questions on Nature, Movement two, measures 11-15............................................27 1.15. Questions on Nature, Movement three, measures1-4...............................................28 1.16. Questions on Nature, Movement one, measures 14-15 ............................................28 1.17. Rhymes from the Hill, “Die Korfsche Uhre,” measures 1-6 .....................................29 1.18. How Goodly are Thy Tents, measures 1-9................................................................31 1.19. Adon Olam, measures 1-8.........................................................................................33 1.20. Adon Olam, measures 43-47.....................................................................................35 1.21. Shirat Miriam L’Shabbat, Organ Prelude, measures 1-3..........................................37 1.22. Shirat Miriam L’Shabbat, Silent Prayer No. 8, measures 1-4 ..................................37 vii 1.23. Shirat Miriam L’Shabbat, Silent Prayer No. 11, measures 1-4 ................................38 1.24. Shirat Miriam L’Shabbat, “Sh’ma,” measures 1-26.................................................38 1.25. Spiritual Madrigals, “Halleluja,” measures 1-10 .....................................................42 1.26. Spiritual Madrigals, “Halleluja,” measures 51-66 ...................................................43 1.27. Spiritual Madrigals, “Halleluja,” measures 87-96 ...................................................45 1.28. Fantasy on a Javanese Motives, measures 1-15 .......................................................47 2.1. The Habitable Earth, Part I, text................................................................................54 2.2. The Habitable Earth, Part II, section one, text ..........................................................56 2.3. The Habitable Earth, Part II, section two, text..........................................................57 2.4. The Habitable Earth, Part III, text.............................................................................57 2.5. The Habitable Earth, Part III, verses 3:13, 3:16 and 3:17.........................................58 3.1. Interval class table.....................................................................................................78 3.2. The Habitable Earth, Part I, measures 1-3 ...............................................................81 3.3. The Habitable Earth, Part I, measures 4-6 ...............................................................81 3.4. Part I, melodic line, measures 4-6.............................................................................82 3.5. Part I, harmonic progression, measures 4-6..............................................................83 3.6. The Habitable Earth, Part I, measures 7-9 ...............................................................83 3.7. The Habitable Earth, Part I.