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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Department of Music The English Voice of the Mid-Twentieth Century: Ferrier, Deller and Pears by Xin Ying Ch'ng Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Music Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy THE ENGLISH VOICE OF THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY: FERRIER, DELLER, PEARS Xin Ying Ch’ng This thesis explores how the reception of Kathleen Ferrier, Alfred Deller and Peter Pears’s voices gave new insights into the constructions of national musical identity in mid- twentieth century Britain. I highlight how an exploration of the ‘national voice’ constitutes both an idealisation of musical sound and national belonging. Through voice, I offer not only a new methodological approach to the question of musical nationalism, but also an understanding of its embodiment through concepts of gender and sexuality. In my first chapter, I identify how the drive for a distinct English musical identity is ultimately a manifestation of the need for a ‘national voice’. This figures prominently in the mid- twentieth century where the musical careers of Ferrier and Deller were built on precedents of the past: Ferrier on Clara Butt and Deller on Purcell. The second chapter addresses how both Ferrier’s and Deller’s voices embodied gender and sexual mismatches between their onstage roles and offstage bodies in performances of opera. In the third chapter, reviews of both Deller’s and Pears’s performances highlighted discrepancies between ideals of sexuality with their voices, that pointed to underlying tensions of homosexuality and effeminacy in the broader national and cultural landscape. The last chapter demonstrates that the BBC’s broadcasts of these singers’ voices were done in promotion of a collective sense of national aural identity. These three singers’ voices navigated the stratification of tastes evident during the BBC’s early years. Pears and Deller characterised the emergence of elitist ideals that were clearly advocated in the Third Programme, while Ferrier’s voice challenged the classification of highbrow/lowbrow distinctions in broadcast culture. Through analysis of the national tropes and claims written about their voices, I offer a new approach to music history and a chance of national vocal redress for Britain’s musical future. iii Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ v DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... ix Definitions and Abbreviations ...................................................................................... xi Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Nationalism in Music ................................................................................................... 3 Folk Music in British Music Identity ........................................................................... 7 Voice and Vocality ..................................................................................................... 10 Gender and Sexuality ................................................................................................. 12 Media .......................................................................................................................... 16 The ‘English’ Voice and British Musical Identity ..................................................... 18 Kathleen Ferrier .......................................................................................................... 20 Alfred Deller ............................................................................................................... 22 Peter Pears .................................................................................................................. 24 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 27 Sources ....................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter Outline .......................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 1: Voicing Nation ................................................................................... 35 1.1 The Need for a National Voice .......................................................................... 36 1.2 The English Musical Renaissance ..................................................................... 39 1.3 Opera in Britain ................................................................................................. 44 1.4 Ferrier as ‘Clara Butt’ ........................................................................................ 47 1.5 Early Music Revival .......................................................................................... 52 1.6 English Choral Tradition ................................................................................... 57 1.7 Purcell Revival .................................................................................................. 59 1.8 The Countertenor as an English Voice .............................................................. 64 1.9 Deller as Purcell and the Embodiment of the Past ............................................ 69 1.10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 78 Chapter 2: Voicing Gender: Ferrier and Deller ................................................ 79 2.1 Vocal Gendering ................................................................................................ 79 2.2 Embodiment of High Male Voices .................................................................... 81 v 2.3 Strange Voices in Unusual Bodies: Alfred Deller ............................................. 84 2.4 The Contralto Voice and its Embodiment ......................................................... 89 2.5 Ferrier’s Contralto Voice ................................................................................... 94 2.6 Ferrier as Orfeo ................................................................................................. 98 2.7 The Contralto as National Voice ..................................................................... 104 2.8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 108 Chapter 3: Voicing Sexuality: Deller and Pears .............................................. 111 3.1 Male Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Britain ................................................. 111 3.2 Deller as Oberon .............................................................................................. 116 3.3 Voicing Homosexuality: Peter Pears ............................................................... 120 3.4 The Authority of Pears .................................................................................... 124 3.5 Pears as the Closeted Voice ............................................................................. 129 3.6 Pears as Voice of Britten/Britain ..................................................................... 135 3.7 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 139 Chapter 4: Voicing New Media: Pears, Ferrier and Deller on the BBC ... 141 4.1 Broadcasting and the BBC .............................................................................. 142 4.2 Peter Pears – The Voice of the Future ............................................................. 148 4.3 Kathleen Ferrier – An Ordinary Diva .............................................................. 156 4.4 Alfred Deller – Hearing History ...................................................................... 163 4.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 170 Conclusion: Voicing British Musical Identity .......................................................... 173 Appendix Guide ........................................................................................................... 181 Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 182 Kathleen Ferrier’s Concert Reviews .......................................................................