University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Music Music 2021 An Analysis of Kingdom of the Heart's Content, Op. 11 by Joseph Baber Sanghee Kim University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2021.022 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kim, Sanghee, "An Analysis of Kingdom of the Heart's Content, Op. 11 by Joseph Baber" (2021). Theses and Dissertations--Music. 176. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/176 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Music at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Music by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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Sanghee Kim, Student Dr. Irina Voro, Major Professor Dr. Lance Brunner, Director of Graduate Studies AN ANALYSIS OF KINGDOM OF THE HEART’S CONTENT, OP. 11 BY JOSEPH BABER ________________________________________ DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PROJECT ________________________________________ A DMA project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky By Sanghee Kim Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Irina Voro, Professor of Piano Lexington, Kentucky 2021 Copyright © Sanghee Kim 2021 ABSTRACT OF DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PROJECT AN ANALYSIS OF KINGDOM OF THE HEART’S CONTENT, OP. 11 BY JOSEPH BABER Kingdom of the Heart’s Content, Op. 11 is a selection of twelve sketches written between 1952 and 1956. In this work, Joseph Baber draws inspiration from his childhood memories and a variety of locations in Richmond, Virginia, using his unique blend of folk idioms, traditional forms and harmonies, and capricious metric changes to bring these vignettes to life. Kingdom of the Heart’s Content is comprised of twelve movements with the programmatic titles: Introduction: Stick Horses, Walk to Monroe Park, Charlie Short, Tag, Monument Avenue, Battle Abbey, Cycling, Sleighbells, Park Avenue Triangle, Goblins, Spring, and Finale: West End Farewell. The purposes of this DMA project are 1) to provide pianists and teachers with insight into Joseph Baber’s life, compositional style, and musical philosophy, 2) to provide a descriptive analysis and a brief performance suggestion of Kingdom of the Heart’s Content. This document will introduce the selected piano work by Joseph Baber to students and teachers; provide biographical information about Joseph Baber’s life, education, and career; and examine his compositions in the context of his personal narrative. KEYWORDS: Joseph Baber, childhood, Richmond, solo piano, program music, twelve musical sketches Sanghee Kim February 19, 2021 AN ANALYSIS OF KINGDOM OF THE HEART’S CONTENT, OP. 11 BY JOSEPH BABER By Sanghee Kim Dr. Irina Voro Director of DMA Project Dr. Lance Brunner Director of Graduate Studies February 19, 2021 Date DEDICATION To my family. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Irina Voro for being a persistent and encouraging mentor who is full of passion and positive energy. Her ingenious teaching style has helped me to achieve many goals and has shaped me into the musician I am today. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee: Dr. Lance Brunner for his help and encouragement during the writing process; Dr. Schuyler Robinson for his support, insightful comments about artistry, and musicianship; Dr. Jason Dovel for his thoughtful feedback and considerable coaching throughout the degree program, and Dr. Min-Young Lee for her well-rounded advice as I earned my degree. I also want to thank the composer, Joseph Baber, who constantly helped and encouraged me throughout this process. His support and guidance made this project possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………. iii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ……………………………………………………… v PART I: “Kingdom of the Heart’s Content” for solo piano by Joseph Baber Chapter 1 Introduction……………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter 2 Biography of Joseph Baber…………………………………………….... 5 Chapter 3 An analysis of Kingdom of the Heart’s Content, Op. 11 ...……………. 23 Chapter 4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 85 Appendix Interview with Joseph Baber, 11/7/2019……………………………….. 88 PART II: Degree Recitals Program I……………………………………………………………………………….. 92 Program II…………………………….………………………………………………… 95 Program III……………………………………………………………………………. 100 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………103 VITA ………………………………………………………………………………….. 106 iv LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example 1. Opening in Introduction: Stick Horses, mm. 1–5…………………………… 26 Example 2. Use of regular pulse in the second section of the repeated A, mm. 48–54 ……. 27 Example 3. Motivic harmonic unit in Stick Horses …………….…………………………. 28 Example 4. Melodic movement by third and sequence of harmonic unit, mm. 13–24 …….. 28 Example 5. Modified harmonic unit in coda, mm. 59–67 ………………………………. 29 Example 6. Initial theme in the opening of Walk to Monroe Park, mm. 1–3 ……………… 31 Example 7. New melodic material in intro of B section, mm. 10–13 ………………………32 Example 8. Insertion of fraction of Part B before ending, mm. 36–38 ……………………. 33 Example 9a. First theme in Walk to Monroe Park, mm. 1–4 ……………………………… 33 Example 9b. Second theme in Walk to Monroe Park, mm. 7 ……………………………… 33 Example 10. Combination of first and second themes, mm. 32 and 33 ………………… 34 Example 11. Finding melody in scales in Walk to Monroe Park, mm. 12–15 …………….. 35 Example 12. Motivic idea and motivic development in Charlie Short, mm. 1–2 …………. 37 Example 13. Sequential patterns of motive in Charlie Short, mm. 9–10 ………………….. 37 Example 14. Use of Picardy third, mm. 11–13 …………………………………………. 38 Example 15. Shaping phrases in Charlie Short, m. 8 ……………………………………… 39 Example 16. Opening section in Tag, mm. 1–3 ……………………………………………. 40 Example 17. Second section in Tag, mm. 7–9 …………………………………………… 41 Example 18. Transition in Tag, mm. 14–16 …………………………………………………41 Example 19. Introduction of contrasting material, mm. 17–19 ……………………………. 42 Example 20. Reintroduce the motivic rhythm, mm. 23–25 …………………………….. 42 Example 21. Raising E♭ to E-natural before returning to home key, mm. 29–31 ………….. 43 v Example 22. Shaping in the repeated-notes phrase in Tag, m. 3 ………………………….. 44 Example 23. Opening section in Monument Avenue, mm. 1–4 …….…………………….. 46 Example 24. A series of tetra chord, mm. 7–10 ….…………………………………….. 46 Example 25. Reappearing of opening chord (BMm7♭9) ………………………………….47 Example 26. Octave displacement over chromatic scale, mm. 11 and 12 ……….………47 Example 27. Variants of dominant seventh, mm. 21–24 …………………………………. 48 Example 28. Insertion of E minor chord for the main theme, mm. 25–27 ………………… 49 Example 29. Inequality between notes in Monument Avenue, mm. 37–40 ………………. .50 Example 30. First phrase of first period in Battle Abbey, mm. 1–3 ……………………….. 52 Example 31. Use of polyphonic texture in Part B, mm. 13 and 14 ………….…………….. 53 Example 32. Use of diminished chords and intervals, mm. 15 and 16 …..…………….. 54 Example 33. ‘Question and Answer’ arrangements in Battle Abbey, mm. 1–3 ...………. 54 Example 34. Use of upper neighbor tone in Cycling, mm. 1–4 ……..…………………. 56 Example 35. Second recurring theme, mm. 15–18 ……….……………………………. 57 Example 36. Episode II, mm. 19–24 ………………...…………………………………. 57 Example 37. Episode III, mm. 33–35 …………………………….………………………. 58 Example 38. Use of creeping chromaticism, mm. 25–28 ………...……………………. 58 Example 39. Use of sostenuto al fine in coda of Cycling, mm. 40–43 …...………………. 59 Example 40. Associating musical idea with character in Cycling, mm. 29–32………… 60 Example 41. Introduction of ‘earthly theme’ in Sleighbells, mm. 1–10 ……………….…. 62 Example 42. ‘Heavenly theme’ beginning at measure 33, mm. 33–44 ..…………………. 63 Example 43. Returning to ‘earthly theme,’ in coda, mm. 44–47 ...………………………. 64 Example 44. Ending phrase of Sleighbells, mm. 51-54 ………….………………………. 64 vi Example 45. Shaping phrases in staccato passage in Sleighbells, mm. 34–37 ……….. 65 Example 46a. Excerpt from Rock-a-Bye Baby ……….…………………………………… 66 Example 46b. Quoted theme from song of Rock-a-Bye Baby, mm. 1 and 2 ……………… 66 Example 47. Opening in Park Avenue Triangle, mm. 1–5 ……………………………….. 67 Example 48. Use of modified D major scale in Part B, mm. 11–15 …..……………….. 68 Example 49. Use of fifth scale degree lowered, mm. 16–18 …….……………………… 68 Example 50. Cadence at the end of the first phrase, mm. 3 and 4 ………………………… 69 Example 51. Use of anticipation, mm. 6–10 ……………………..……………………….. 70 Example 52.