LENDHOLM, James Roger, 1936- the PARLEMENT of HEFNE: a LITURGICAL DRAMA for SOLOISTS, CHORUS, DANCERS, STRINGS, WOOD WINDS, BR

This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-6280 LENDHOLM, James Roger, 1936- THE PARLEMENT OF HEFNE: A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR SOLOISTS, CHORUS, DANCERS, STRINGS, WOOD WINDS, BRASS, PERCUSSION, TIMPANI, ORGAN, AND PRE-RECORDED TAPE. [Original Composition]. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1965 Music Please Note: Electronic accompaniment available on tape at Ohio State University Library. University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan James Roger Lindholm 1967 All Rights Reserved THE PARLEMENT OF HEFNE: A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR SOLOISTS, CHORUS, DANCERS, STRINGS, WOODWINDS, BRASS, PERCUSSION, TIMPANI, ORGAN, AND PRE-RECORDED TAPE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By James Roger Lindholm, B.M., M.M. ****** The Ohio State University 1965 Approved by / Nortnan^-F; Phe lp Adviser School of Music Richard H. Hoppin School of Music ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In pursuing a project of this kind one is dependent on many for help and advice along the way. Grateful acknowledgment is expressed to those who helped in so many ways during the writing and creation of the composition presented herein. I am especially grateful to Professors Norman Phelps and Richard Hoppin of The Ohio State University for their constant advice and criticism, and for the experience I have gained from their teaching. I am indebted to Norma White for her assistance in copying the score, and to Marilyn Aldridge for typing the manuscript. And to one other I am more than grateful for her ever present encouragement and the countless ways in which she helped to make this possible, I am more than indebted to Cathy. VITA March 7, 1936 Born - Chicago, Illinois 1957. B.M., Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 1958. M.M., Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 1958-1959 . Instructor, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida 1959-1962 . Professor, Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia 1962-1965 . Research Assistant, School of Music, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS Film Music: Crisis and the University. An Ohio State University Production The Prodigal. A Roberts Production Quinthesis. A Bradford-Wynn Production Recording: Toccata for Percussion and Band. Coronet Records, Inc. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Music Studies in Music Theory and Composition. Professors Norman F. Phelps and Marshall Barnes Studies in Music History. Professor Richard H. Hoppin Studies in Theatre. Professor Roy H. Bowen iii CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................ ii VITA ...................................................... lii INTRODUCTION .............................................. 1 Chapter I. THE MEDIEVAL MYSTERY DRAMA ..................... 5 General History The Cycle Ludus Coventriae II. THE COMPOSITIONAL PROCEDURE ................... 30 Text Media Electronic Tape Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo Contrapuntal Structures Form and Style III. PRODUCTION NOTES ................................ 39 Introduction Placement of Performers Setting and Properties Staging Lighting Costuming Production Staff Instrumental Ensembles Adaptations Summary APPENDIXES ................................................ 50 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................. 63 THE PARLEMENT OF H E F N E .................................. 66 Score and Electronic Tape iv INTRODUCTION As a composer, ray compositional interests have been in the area of vocal and religious music. I was first attracted to the idea of a con temporary setting of a medieval drama, when in 1952 I saw a television performance of The Slaughter of the Innocents. At that time I began collecting modern editions of mystery plays and reading available histo ries, musical and theatrical, on the subject of the liturgical drama. \ In 1961, when I encountered a modern edition of The Parlement of Hefne, I was immediately attracted by its dramatic possibilities. Several years passed, however, before any of the ideas concerning a musical setting took shape. My work with the Ohio State University Dance Group and experiments with electronic means for musical composition played major roles in determining the present form of the composition. A contemporary setting of a medieval mystery play is not unprece dented. Two medieval "operas" have been written within the last ten o years. In 1958 Noye1s Fludde, composed by Benjamin Britten, received its first performance at the Aldeburgh Festival, in Oxford Church, June 18. Igor Stravinsky's composition The Flood was first performed on television June 14, 1962. *E. Martin Browne (ed.), Religious Drama 2: Mystery and Morality Plays (New York: Meridian Books, 1958), 86-96. 2 Benjamin Britten, Noye's Fludde (London: Hawkes and Son, Ltd., 1958). 3 Igor Stravinsky, The Flood : A Musical Play (London: Boosey and Hawkes, Ltd., 1962). 1 2 The text for Move1s Fludde Is drawn from the Chester cycle and adheres to the Middle English text and stage directions. Besides the major characters of God, Noah, Mrs. Noah, and the sons and daughters-in law of Noah, the manuscript calls for a procession of animals. Britten has used children for this procession into the ark. All the theatrical effects, such as the building of the ark and the flood proper, are performed in full view of the congregation. The older boys and men in the cast put boards together to make an ark, and during the flood scene younger children move cut out waves back and forth. Musically, the Britten work has attempted to capture the naive quality inherent in the drama. This has been achieved through par ticipation of children. Since there exists no indication in the manuscript as to the age of the characters, Britten has used older children to sing the roles of Noah's sons and their wives. Children of varying ages are also used in the orchestra; they play recorders, bugles, string and percussion instruments. The congregation is also brought into the action through the use of three hymns that are called for in the manuscript, but with no indication of congregational participation. Harmonically, the music is tonal. The vocal lines are simple, yet expressive, and are within the capabilities of children. The Flood. however, was approached from a different viewpoint. While Noye1s Fludde heightens the dramatic action through music, Stravinsky's work approaches absolute music. No attempt is made to make the viewer an integral part of the action. The text is disjointed, employing sections of the York and Chester cycles, the Book of Genesis, and original dialogue written by Robert Craft. In a review of the television production, Richard Franko Goldman found the text to be lacking in meaning. Certain concepts of art preclude the possibility of being simple or even straightforward, and a greater value is attached to the obscure than to the direct. We must ran sack the past, refer to medieval plays, rather than remain with anything that still lives in our tradition, rather than attempt to re-interpret myth and symbol in a way having some meaning for our times. What we now have is The Flood not as morality, but as Art. As such it is meaningless.^ The same principle characters are present in The Flood as in the Britten work. The former, however, introduces two new characters in the personages of Satan and the Animal Caller. The procession of animals is not dramatized as in Noye1s Fludde. The building of the ark and the flood sequence are represented by two dance movements, highly stylized, and no attempt has been made to involve the characters in either action. Stravinsky employed a twelve-tone serial technique and no exception can be taken to his craft. "The question of its relevance to its sub ject is a difficult one; but perhaps this question is itself irrelevant. Stravinsky's expressive intentions have always been elusive. Unfortu- 5 nately, The Flood is not an abstract idea." The Parlement of Hefne was chosen for its concern with the place of Mankind in the hierarchy of the God-created universe. My intent has been to take a middle position between the two extremes represented by Noye's Fludde and The Flood. No distinction was made between a dramatic 4 Richard Franko Goldman, "Current Chronicle: United States," Musical Quarterly. LXVIII (October, 1962), 516. 5Ibid., 517. 4 and an absolute approach in the musical setting of the libretto. Both dramatic and purely musical elements have been used in The Parlement of Hefne. Some of these elements, such as the use of electronically pro duced sounds, have no precedent in a medieval "opera." Foremost in my mind during the writing of this composition were my personal convictions concerning the role of the Church in fostering twentieth-century music and drama. Religion and religious leaders need to be concerned with relating the Church, socially and culturally, to Man. Much serious drama, including both comedies and musicals, that has appeared within the last decade is concerned with Man's relation to others and to himself. The Church should discuss and exhibit those artistic endeavors that present problems facing Man in modern society. Music has generally been held in high regard by the Church, and there has been some attempt to introduce sacred music of the twentieth century, whether the idiom be jazz or serial, into houses of worship. Some churches, predominantly Episcopal, have presented to their congregations, and the public at large, any work of Art which seemed to offer a new insight into the relationship between Man and God. It is hoped

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