THE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF JEAN COULTHARD: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT by David Gordon Duke B.Mus,, University of British Columbia, 1971 M.A., University of North Carolina, 1973 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the A C C E P T B I) Requirements for the Degree of h ACJULl’Y O F G U A O IlA t E S I U D l£ $ d o c t o r o f P h ilo s o p h y in the School of Music We accept this dissertation as conforming /Vi , 7, to the required standard V -rr4- . « f "T" " — ------------------ Dr, Gordaiu Lazarevich, Supervisor (School of Music) Outside Member (Department of English) Dr. Harald Krebs, Departmental Member (School of Music) Dr, Erich Schwandt, Departmental Member (School of Music) Dr, Elizabeth Tumasonis, Ctujlside Member (Department of History of Art) Colin Miles, External Examiner (Director, B.C. Region, Canadian Music Centre) © DAVID GORDON DUKE, 1993 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission of the author. ‘)t oi (.on) (hard. 4 0 1 t i l l UrtJcvu< Stl-w t, lViv;t l a n o o o v r r , HrUir.h < oiumbia. A p r il 2a, I'si V. itoin U May Courerht s ii.v prrminutni to Davit! o*r«.hm imla* tr> makr r.uch quotaUnm; arid reformer: i l« m,v pabliHhed mid unpublished muwicul rt-urm, nmnmioript partieellan, and puhltnhod and unpubiSt-.hrd writing} nr. art? required for iuidtu.icm in hr; I'mrtoral thr.ah. ’Th e urchwHnd Mu,sin of dean luuithard; a animal e.rmrmt of”. prepared for thr t.pivrrjuly tif Vii?toria» 19U3. draft Omlthard We; i \am?ouvor< Brith-h Columbia :i I PROGRAMME COMPOSITIONS BY JEAN CGULTHARD IV, Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue Bach SONGS II. Cradle Song Poem by Padriac Colum « » iE Pastorale Sonata Beethoven IVolic Weep you no more ” ” Anon Allegro Andante Faery Song " " John Keats Scherzo Rondo T he Bargain (Wedding Song) " *• Sir Phillip Sidney Violin Obbligato (Charles E, Shaw) III. Fairy Tale, F sharp minor Medtner V. La s&r&iade interrompue Debussy K NO QUINTET La She aux cheveux de lin Debussy Andante Leggiero Danse du Meunier De Falla Chorale and Variations Steinway Grand loaned by courtesy of Grace Hastings Dresser, 1st Violin. Freda Setter, Cei'o A. J. Talbot, Viola J . W- Kelly Piano Co. Ltd. Charles E. Shaw, 2nd Violin The Orchestral Music of Jean Coulthard: A Critical Assessment David Gordon Duke, 1993 Supervisor: Dr. Gordana Lazarevich ABSTRACT During a long and distinguished career, the Canadian composer Jean Coulthard (b. 1908) has become widely recognized for her many works for voice, keyboard, choir and chamber ensembles, Until recently, however, her large and diverse catalogue of works for orchestra has been overshadowed, The present study presents a critical assessment of her orchestral catalogue of music composed from the late 1930s until the present. In a biographical introduction, Coulthard’s initial training with Vaughan Williams in Lo'idon is discussed, as is her life-long identification with the early French modern figures Debussy and Ravel. As her career progressed, her earliest orchestral scores were championed by the Australian-born com­ poser/conductor Arthur Benjamin (who resided in Coulthard’s native Vahcouvcr, Canada, during the formative years of her development as an orchestral composer). Further training brought her into contact with figures such as Copland, Milhaud, Bartdk, and Schoenberg, as well as studies with Bernard Wagenaar in New York. Following her protracted apprenticeship, Coulthard began to teach at the University of British Columbia and to commit to the major genres of orchestral writing, In this later respect she was somewhat atypical of Canadian composers of her generation, and has been viewed by earlier scholars as an exponent c.'the "conservative tradition" in Canadian music of the 20th century, More recent perspectives stress the quality of her work, her regional significance, and the uniqueness of her achievement in a field of music not traditionally associated with women. Paralleling Coulthard’s personal and artistic development, a consideration of Canadian orchestras and the emergence of a Canadian orchestral repertoire is presented. Coulthard’s orchestral repertoire includes orchestral suites, small settle orchestra compositions, works for strings, works for soloist(s) and orchestra, concert!, and symphonies, A comprehensive overview of Coulthard’s extant orchestral works is presented, with a number of particularly important compositions singled out for detailed analysis. As well major style elements, aspects of Coulthard’s role in Canadian music and a brief assessment of her creative personality are included. Examiners: Dr. DisrGflocfi}Outside Member (Department of English’! Dj. Harald Krebs, Departmental Member (School of Music) P f Erich Schwandt, Departmental Member (School of Music) Dr. Elizttwih Tuirtasonis, Outside/Mcmbcj/(Department of History of Art) Colin Miles, Externa! Examiner (Director, B.C. Region, Canadian Music Centre) The Orchestral Music of Jean Coulthard ui The Orchestral Music of Jean Coulthard: A Critical Assessment Abstract U Table o f Contents Hi Table o f Figures iV Acknowledgements vi Frontispiece X 1 Introduction 1 2 Biography 8 3 Canadian Music and Canadian Orchestras 63 4 Suites 85 5 Smaller Orchestral Works 101 6 Works for String Orchestra 119 7 Other Works for Soloists m d Orchestra 130 8 Concerti 148 9 Symphonies 164 1 0 Conclusions 191 Bibiliography 204 Index 216 The Orchestral Music o f Jean Coulthard Table of Figures Figure 1,1,a IOJOE Hecital J°rogramme, 1932 21 Figure 1.1.b IODE Recital Programme, 1932 22 Example 4,1 Canadian Fantasy (measures 3-6] 88 Example 4.2 Canadian Fantasy [measures 127-138] 89 Example 4,3 Excursion i [measures 1-2] 92 Example 4.4 Excursion ii [measures 1-6] 92 Example 4.5 Excursion iv [measures 4-6] 93 Example 5,1 Convoy [measures 3*5] 103 Example 5.2 Convoy [measures 30-31] 103 Example 5.3 Convoy [measures 42-46] 103 Example 5.4 Music to Saint Cecilia [measures 1-2] 109 Example 5.5 Endymion [measures 2-4] 116 Example 5.6 Endymion [measures 55-56] 117 Example 6.1 A Prayer for Elizabeth [measures 1-2] 123 Example 6,2 A Prayer for Elizabeth [measure 37] 123 Example 7.1 The Bird of Dawning [reduction measures 3, 641 Example 1.2 Burlesca [measure 3] 136 Example 7.3 Symphonic Ode [measures 11-13] 141 Example 7.4 Symphonic Ode [measures 44-45] 141 Example 7.5 Symphonic Ode [measures 173-175] 142 Example 7.6 Fantasy [measures 88-89] 145 Example 8.1 Piano Concerto i [measures 1-3] 157 Example 8.2 Piano Concerto i [measures 44-45] 158 Example 8.3 Piano Concerto i [measures 72-74] 158 Example 8.4 Piano Concerto i [measures 186-189] 159 Example 8.5 Piano Concerto ii [measures 75-77] 160 Example 8.6 Piano ConCerto iii [measures 610] 161 Example 8.7 Piano Concerto iii [measures 41-42] 161 Example 8.8 Piano Concerto iii [measures 116117] 161 The Orchestral Mask of Jean Coulthard Example 9,1 First Symphony i [measures 1-6] 165 Example 9,2 First Symphony i [measure 9] 165 Example 9,3 First Symphony 1 [measures 10-13] 166 Example 9,4 First Symphony i [measures 31-34] 166 Example 9.5 First Symphony i [measures 71-74] 166 Example 9.6 First Symphony i [measures 97-102] 167 Example 9.7 Lyric Symphony ii [measure 29] 172 Example 9.8 Autumn Symphony [reduction - measure 1] 175 Example 9.° Autumn Symphony [measures 16-20] 175 Example 9.10 Autumn Symphony [measures 1-5] 176 Example 9.11 Autumn Symphony [measures 7-12] 176 Example 9.12 Autumn Symphony [measures 13-14] 176 Example 9.13 Autumn Symphony [measures 19 23] 177 Example 9.14 Autumn Symphony [measures 24-29] 177 Example 9.15 Autumn Symphony [measures 34-39] 178 Example 9.16 Autumn Symphony [measures 40-44] 178 Example 9.17 Autumn Symphony [measures 45-47] 179 Example 9.13 Autumn Symphony [measures 53-55] 180 Example 9.19 Autumn Symphony [measures 60-69] 181 Example 9.20 Autumn Symphony [measures 71-73] 182 Example 9.21 Autumn Symphony [measures 77-79] 182 Example 9.22 Autumn Symphony [measures 130-133] 184 Example 9,23 Autumn Symphony [measures 169-171] 184 Example 9.24 Autumn Symphony i [measures 4-6] 185 Example 9.25 Autumn Symphony i [measures 37-39] 185 Example 9.26 Autumn Symphony i [measures 189-90] 186 Example 9.27 Autumn Symphony i [measures 189-90] 186 Example 9.28 Autumn Symphony v [measures 5-7] 18/ Example 9.29 Autumn Symphony v [measures 23-25] 187 Example 9.30 Autumn Symphony v [measures 34-36] 188 Example 9.31 Autumn Symphony v [measures 64-65] 189 Example 9.32 Autumn Symphony v [measures 74-77] 189 The Orchestral Music o f Jean Coulthard vi Acknowledgments While it is somewhat unusual to begin an academic thesis with a personal disclaimer, nothing less will do ss a preface to this study of Jean Coulthard’s orchestral music, As a young musician growing up in Vancouver, I came to know the music of Couithard early in my development; I recall hearing her Cradle Song while still a schoolboy, and delighting in its evocative melodic lines and modal harmonies. By the time I enrolled in the music department of the University of British Columbia I had heard several Coulthard compositions and often seen tier et concert performances. As an undergraduate increasingly interested in composition and musicology, it was not a matter of course that I would have the opportunity to study with Coulthard herself (see Chapter 2), but in the fall of 1969 I found myself assigned to h^r 20th century theory class.