BY WOMEN, FOR WOMEN: CHORAL WORKS FOR WOMEN’S VOICES COMPOSED AND TEXTED BY WOMEN, WITH AN ANNOTATED REPERTOIRE LIST A DOCTORAL DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF ARTS IN CHORAL CONDUCTING BY SHELBIE L. WAHL DISSERTATION ADVISOR: DR. DUANE R. KARNA BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA JULY 2009 Copyright © 2009 by Shelbie L. Wahl All rights reserved CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1 Definitions ....................................................................................................................4 Statement of Purpose ....................................................................................................4 General Delimitations...................................................................................................5 CHAPTER I: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .......................................................................8 Previous Studies............................................................................................................8 Format...........................................................................................................................9 Women in Music: Same vs. Different ..........................................................................9 Women in Music: General Resources ........................................................................12 Women’s Choirs and Choral Music for Women’s Voices .........................................13 Text Selection and the Woman’s Literary Voice........................................................16 CHAPTER II: THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY: WHY WOMEN? .................................19 Why written for women? ............................................................................................22 Why texted by women? ..............................................................................................25 Why composed by women?........................................................................................27 CHAPTER III: REPERTOIRE SELECTION FOR WOMEN’S CHORUSES................30 CHAPTER IV: METHODOLOGY AND FORMATTING..............................................37 Creation of Initial Repertoire List...............................................................................37 Acquisition of Printed Music......................................................................................38 Format and Contents Of Annotation Entries ..............................................................39 CHAPTER V: ANNOTATED LIST OF REPERTOIRE .................................................47 The Annotations..........................................................................................................47 CHAPTER VI: SUMMATION AND CONCLUSION ..................................................205 APPENDIXES.................................................................................................................209 APPENDIX A: Contact Information for Publishing Companies and Composers....209 APPENDIX B: Initial List of Women Composers Considered for this Study .........212 APPENDIX C: Rubric for Determining Difficulty Level of Annotated Works.......214 APPENDIX D: Compositions Not Available at the Time of this Study ..................217 APPENDIX E: Additional Women-Supportive Compositions for Further Review.219 iii BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................224 INDEXES OF ANNOTATIONS ....................................................................................230 Index by Composer...................................................................................................230 Index by Composition Title ......................................................................................232 Index by Text Author................................................................................................236 Index by Voicing ......................................................................................................239 Index by Type of Accompaniment ...........................................................................243 Index by Subject Focus.............................................................................................249 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My most heartfelt and personal thanks go first and foremost to my family. To David Wood, who has been my strength and stability through these last few years, and especially so through this dissertation process. His understanding, compassion, daily encouragement, and loving support have kept me focused and true to my goals no matter the obstacles, and have helped make this dissertation, and this degree, a reality. To my maternal grandparents, Jack and Opal Stephens. Both were taken from my life far too soon, but the lessons they taught, the examples they set, and the love they shared, will be with me always. My grandma, Opal, has been with me in spirit for many years, but I am so very thankful that my grandpa, Jack, was able to be a strong presence in my life through the first two years of this doctoral degree; I only wish that he, that they both, would have been able to see this journey to its full realization. And, most importantly, to my parents, Bud and Jama Wahl. They have stood with me and supported me through countless personal, musical, and academic opportunities and journeys – from my first dance and piano lessons to this very moment of writing. Their unending love and encouragement has enabled me to become the musician, the educator, and the woman that I am today – and for that I am grateful beyond measure. In deepest thanks, I dedicate this work to them, to my parents, for all they are, and all they have inspired me to be. v The members of my dissertation committee – Dr. Duane Karna, Dr. Jill Burleson, Dr. Linda Pohly, Dr. Thalia Mulvihill, and Dr. Kimberly Inks – have given of their time and expertise for the betterment of this project, and I thank them for their contribution and support. I am especially grateful for the assistance of Dr. Burleson and Dr. Pohly, and for all of their guidance throughout this process. I also owe a great deal of thanks to Lisa Walz, a graduate colleague at Ball State, for her tireless help in editing this work. I would be remiss if I did not mention the women of the Ball State University Women’s Chorus, 2006-2009, as my experience in conducting that ensemble was the initial impetus for this dissertation topic. This amazing group of women has, over the last three years, been the ‘test-group’ for many new selections that have since become a part of this research endeavor. Their willingness to learn and experience new repertoire has been invaluable. One of the major first steps involved in the research for this study was the obtaining of musical scores that I would later review for possible inclusion in this study. Without the generous support of publishers and composers, this initial step, and likely this whole project, would not have been feasible. I would like to thank the following companies and individuals for their extensive cooperation, with special mention to these first four publishing companies for their substantial support of this research. vi Treble Clef Music Press Santa Barbara Music Publishing earthsongs music Yelton Rhodes Music Alliance Music Publications Alliance Publications Arsis Press Avondale Press Beautiful Star Publishing Brichtmark Music Canasg Music Cantus Quercus Press ECS Publishing Hinshaw Music Hummingbird Press Libby Larsen Publishing Life Mission Press The Musical Source Novello Oxford University Press PeerMusic Classical Schott Music Seafarer Press Songtalk Publishing Sound Music Publications Subito Music Corporation Wendigo Music Elizabeth Alexander Josefina Benedetti Abbie Betinis Stefania de Kenessey Edie Hill Sheena Phillips Claudia Howard Queen Anna Rubin Jennifer Stasack Naomi Stephan Joan Szymko Janika Vandervelde Dawn Willis Additional funding was made possible through the ASPiRE grant program, administered by the Office of Sponsored Programs at Ball State University. vii INTRODUCTION The commitment to the message transcends the notes and rhythms and becomes spirit. This whole process speaks to the concerns Sophie Drinker expressed in the 1930s. It is the commitment to search for and successfully secure outstanding choral repertoire because women’s choral ensembles demand original works with craft, texts that engage and embody women’s ways of knowing, expressly written for women’s voices. –Catherine Roma, “Women’s Choral Literature: Finding Depth”1 As a conductor of women’s choral ensembles, I have a direct interest in the programming of literature for women’s voices. When first given the opportunity to work with a women’s ensemble, my instinct was to search out resources on the available choral repertoire, and to familiarize myself with the standard works. As I explored repertoire choices, however, I noticed that the vast majority of literature readily available for women’s voices was written by male composers. Of the two standard publications listing women’s choral literature, Locke and Fassett’s Selected List of Choruses for Women’s Voices, and Burnsworth’s Choral Music for Women’s Voices, less than five percent of the annotated compositions were