A SCHENKERIAN APPROACH TO TEXT-MUSIC RELATIONS IN SELECTED LIEDER BY ROBERT SCHUMANN by Alexander Martin B.Mus., The University of Toronto, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Music Theory) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2013 © Alexander Martin, 2013 Abstract This is an analytical and interpretive study of selected songs by Robert Schumann. In it, I showcase some of the possible ways that concepts in Schenkerian analysis can reveal interesting, hidden, or new text-music relations. These relations, in turn, allow for new and imaginative interpretative possibilities. I demonstrate how specific Schenkerian analytical findings resonate with structures, imagery, and meaning in the poetic text of seven songs. Three songs are presented as individual case studies and each exemplify how a musical structure can take on the status of musical metaphor for a feature in the text. In “Sängers Trost” (Op. 127, no. 1), I show how tension and release in the poetry correspond to rising and falling linear progressions and that a motive introduced in the accompaniment is transformed at the vocal highpoint. In “Frühlingslust” (Op. 125, no. 2), I show how the binary opposition between freedom and imprisonment—respectively represented by a butterfly and love in the text—is dramatized in the song’s tonic-dominant polarity, and how voice-leading techniques (superposition, cover tone, and register transfer) characterize the butterfly’s carefree flight. In “Die Meerfee” (Op. 15, no. 3), I investigate how an exotic chromatic voice-exchange, within what is revealed to be a dramatic elaboration of a middleground neighbour note figure, captures the wonder and confusion experienced by a young boy who witnesses a sea fairy. In a chapter on the Vier Husarenlieder Op. 117, I discuss how the four songs in the collection cohere poetically and musically. A reaching-down gesture (Untergreifung) in “Der Husar!” provides access to a solemn facet of the Hussar’s personality and contrasts with his cultivated bravura. In “Der leidige Frieden,” an octave transfer of ̂/V embodies the role-reversal between the Hussar and his saber. I discuss how the Hussar’s conflation of civilian and military life relates to the song’s formal organization in “Den grünen Zeigern.” Lastly, I show how the transference of the Urlinie from the voice to the accompaniment resonates with the image in the text of the Hussar galloping away on horseback. ii Preface This work is original, unpublished, and independent work by the author, Alexander Martin. Analysis was conducted using the musical scores from Robert Schumanns Werke, Serie XIII: Für eine Singstimme, mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, ed. Clara Schumann (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1879–1912). These scores are in the public domain and are available free for download at the International Music Score Library Project (www.imslp.org/wiki). It is assumed that the reader has a general knowledge of Schenkerian terms and principles. Readers wishing to review terms and graphic notational practices may wish to consult a textbook, such as Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach by Allen Cadwallader and David Gagné (listed in the bibliography). All voice-leading sketches were type-set using Sibelius music notation software and are the property of the author, Alexander Martin. All translations are by the author, unless otherwise noted. Where possible, I have tried to maintain the word order of the German original; elsewhere I have taken greater liberty with the text and opted for a more colourful rendering. Additional footnotes are provided in cases where subtle nuances of meaning are relevant to a full understanding of the poem, a word or expression is archaic and requires further explanation, or more information is otherwise warranted. An earlier version “Consolation in Song” (see Chapter 2) was presented at the 2013 Pacific Northwest Music Graduate Student Conference at the University of Victoria before becoming part of Chapter 2 of the present work. My analysis and interpretation of “Der Husar, trara!” and “Der leidige Frieden” (see Chapter 3) was presented at the 2013 Vancouver International Song Institute’s Song Scholarship Program as part of the Student Roundtable: Schenkerian Approaches to Lied Analysis. iii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ..................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures......................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... ix Dedication ..................................................................................................................................x 1 Chapter: Introduction .........................................................................................................1 1.1 Aim and Scope ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 Heinrich Schenker and His Commentators, Mimesis in “Ihr Bild”..................................... 7 1.2.2 David Lewin, Background Readings ............................................................................... 11 1.2.3 Carl Schachter, Musical Motive as Symbolic Form of Poetic Imagery ............................. 14 1.2.4 Charles Burkhart, Auxiliary Cadence as Musical Metaphor ............................................. 16 1.2.5 Kofi Agawu, Informal Approach to Lied Analysis and Methodological Concerns ........... 18 1.3 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 21 2 Chapter: Three Case Studies ............................................................................................ 27 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 27 2.2 Consolation in Song ............................................................................................................... 27 2.2.1 Yearning for Oneness with Nature in the Text................................................................. 28 2.2.2 Tonal Pairing, Linear Progression, and Motivic Transformation in the Music .................. 30 2.3 Metaphors for Freedom and Imprisonment in “Frühlingslust” ................................................. 38 2.3.1 Love and the Butterfly in the Text .................................................................................. 39 2.3.2 Tonic-Dominant Polarity as a Metaphor for Imprisonment and Freedom ......................... 40 2.3.3 Specific Voice-Leading Techniques in Relation to the Text ............................................ 47 2.3.4 Pitch Substitutions and Enharmonic Puns ....................................................................... 50 2.4 Fantastical Moments in “Die Meerfee” ................................................................................... 52 2.4.1 The Sea Fairy and the Young Boy Who Witnesses Her ................................................... 53 2.4.2 Elements of Foreshadowing in the First Three Stanzas .................................................... 54 iv 2.4.3 Daydreams and Chromatic Voice-Exchange ................................................................... 58 2.4.4 Foamy Waves and Structural Descent ............................................................................. 63 2.5 Concluding Remarks .............................................................................................................. 64 3 Chapter: Vier Husarenlieder Op. 117 ............................................................................... 67 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 67 3.2 Elements of Cohesion in the Husarenlieder: Key-Relations and Motives ................................ 68 3.3 “Der Husar, trara!” ................................................................................................................. 71 3.3.1 Dichotomies in the Text .................................................................................................. 71 3.3.2 Reaching-Down Coinciding with Dramatic Shift in Tone ................................................ 73 3.4 “Der leidige Frieden” ............................................................................................................. 77 3.4.1 Role-Reversal of Soldier and Sword in the Text .............................................................. 78 3.4.2 Role-Reversal of Soldier and Sword Embodied in Register Transfer of Urlinie ̂ ............ 81 3.5 “Den grünen Zeigern”