379. I4Oo ?tcr7 THE SONGS OF JOHN ALDEN CARPENTER THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of RASTER OF MUSIC by Lucille Mendenhall, B. Mus. Fort Stockton, Texas lay, 1952 'Wr " PREFACE The purpose of this study is to give some insight into the solo songs of John Alden Carpenter and show their position in the history of song composition in general. Although Carpenter has won wide acclaim,, little has been written about either the man or his music. His vocal music in particular has lacked the attention it merits, and it is hoped that this study will partially fill the lacuna. Of some eighty-one songs that Carpenter is known to have written, about seventy were published (see Appendix). Of these, forty-one are still in publication and have been available for this study. No attempt has been made to analyze each song.. Rather, have the general features of the songs been treated and supported by examples, char- acteristic as well as exceptional. The study of the songs themselves is preceded by two chapters on the history of solo song, and another containing a brief account of Carpenter's career. At the close are three appendixes, the first, a list of songs in order of composition; the second, a list of songs in order by author; and in the third, a list of instrumental works in order of composition. A bibliography of the available literature in books and periodicals will be found at the end. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE . * * * * . * . * . iii v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . .. .... .... Chapter I. RESUME OF THE HISTORY OF THE ART SONG . ... 1 II. THE ART SONG&IN AMERICA. .... .. .9.. 28 III. JOHN ALDEN CARPENTER . ... 9 9 37 IV. THE SONGS OF JOHN ALDEN CARPENTER. ... .a 49 Influences Discussion of forty-one songs , Je )i BIBLIOGRAPHY . 152. iv 'm . ++54 9t +hPN, ]LU.F ',a. h 7 laN<4 'A . ,. W6 ;' W . f" -F.yl.... .,. I. -- _ 1I ' 4., :aY t 1 51 T .f 18 1+ ! i.. I y LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Youn Man,, Chieftain, mm. 23-24 . ., . .. 54 2. When the Mist Shadows Glide, mm. 19-20 . 55 3. Le Cie1,, mm. 19-20 . #.... 55 4... dumber ~n, mm. 33-36 . 60 5. Mo Fair, mm. 38-46 . 61 6. The Green River,, mm. 7-10 . 62 7. The Green River, mm..14-27# . ... .. .. 63 8. The Green River, mm. 34-37 . .. .. 64 9. Les Silhouettes, mm. 25-29 .. ...... 65 10. When I bra to. You Colour'd Tes,, mm. 34-35 . 66 11. Young Man, Chieftain, mm. 46-49 . 67 12. Th~e oolsof Peac, mm. 26-29 . .. .67 13. On the ta when death will knock at thy door, mm. - "7.. 68 14.. On the Seashore of Endless Worlds, mm. 5-7 . 69 15. Rest. mm., 29-31 . 70 16. The Day Is. More, mm. 51-54 . 71 17. The Heart's Country, mm. 7-8 . 71 18. Treat Me Nice, mm. 26-27 . 72 19. Go, Love1y3R~ose, mm.. 15-20 .... .... 74 20. Les Silhouettes,, mm. 20-24 . .. 75 21.. Berceuse de Guerre, mm.. 24-26 . 75 V Figure Page 22. Don't Ceare, mm. 6-9. .0. 76 Bid Me To . 23. Live, mm. 22-25 . 9 . 77 Light, 24. Light,, mm.. 1-8 . 9 78 25.. To One Unknown, mm.. 27-28 . 79 26. Slumber , mm. 67-68 . 79 27. hull Ye Come inEr Spring,, mm.. 76 - a77. .. 80 28. Rest, mm.. 4-8. " . 81 29.. (ords, . mm. , 33-'36. " . 82 30. To One Unknown, mm. 17-20 . 82 31. Bid Me To Live,, mm. 3-6 . 83 32. The Pools of Peace,. mm. 18-21"... 84 33. Berceuse de Guerre, mm., 30-31 . 85 34.1 The Green River, mm.. 47-54 . 0 86 35. Go, Lovely Rose, mm. 42-46 ., . " " 87 36. The Girlwth the Flaxen Hair,, mm. 24-26 " "9 . 88 37.- Youn , Chieftain, mm. 30-36 .,. 89 38. Les Silhouettes, mm., 1-5 . .. 91 39. Le Ciel, mm.. l-4 ., . 92 40.. The Day Is No _ore,,mm.1-4 .". 93 41. The Day s Mor, mm. 22-25 ... 93 42. The Player Queen,. mm., 1-2 . ... 9 . 94 43. Berceuse de Guerre,, mm. 1-4 . .9 . 94 44. Berceuse de Gum ,. mm.. 27-29 . 95 45., Slumber So.nj,, mm. 68-71 . 9 . 96 46. Highwaymen, mm.. 6-8 . 97 vi Figure Page 47. Highwaymen, mm. 22-24 . .#.#.. 98 48. The Heart's Country, mm. 1-4 . .#.#. 99 49.. The Heart' s Country, mm. 19-20 . 99 50. Treat le Nice,- mm. 1-3. .. ...... 100 51. The Lawd Is Smilin' throw' the Do', mm. 5-8 . 101 52. Shake Y~or Brown Feet., Honey, mm. 3-4 . 102 53. Jazz-Boys, mm. 5-6 . 103 54., The Lawd Is Smilin' thro' the Do',. mm. 53-56 . 103 55. The Player een, mm. 29-30 .. .. 104 56. Slumber Song, mm. 19-22... .. .. 104 57. _Imorm., mm.. 8-10 .. .k .# .# .# . 105 58. Serenade, mm. 1-4 . 106 59. $erenade,. mm. 47-49 . ... ....... 106 60. El Puerto, from the Iberia Suite, Albeniz mm. 53-55 . 107 61. Serenade, mm,"62-67 . .. 108 62. Danse Rituelle du Feu,,, deFalla, min. 75-81 . 108 63. Treat le1Nice, mm.. 12-13 . 109 64. iay, h Maiden, mm. 17-20 . 110 65. Dansons la e, mm. 23-26 . 111 66. The Heart's Country, mm.. 28-30 . 112 67. Go, Loe e,. mm. 1-5 . 113 68. The Green River, mm. 1-4 . 114 69. The Green River,, i.r 27. 114 70. The Green River,, mm. 29-33 . 115 vii - Figure Page 71.. The Sleep That Flits on Baby' s Eye.a . .. .. mm. : -5 . 117 72. Bereuse de Guerre, mm. 10-12 . 118 73. Berceuse de Guerre, mm. 33-35"... 119 74. Young Man, Chieftain, mm. 58-60 . 119 75. Rest,. mm. 10-13 . 120 76. o, Lovely Ros, mm. 37-41 . 121 77. Bid Me To Live, mm. 8-10 . 122 78. To One Unknown, mm. 31-35 . .123 79. The Playe Queen, mm. 30-33 . 124 80. To One Unknown, mm. 37-38 . 125 80a. To One Unknown, mm., 48-49 . 125 81. I am like a Remnant of a Cloud of Au tumn, .5-*80 . 126 82. Serenade, mm. 18-20 . 126 83. Cradle Song, mm. 1-4 . 127 84. Wul1 Ye Come inEAy Spring, mm. 47-48 . 127 85. When I Bring to You Colour'd Toys, mm. 10-12 128 86. BidMe ToL~ve, mm. 18-19 . .. 128 87. To One Unknown, mm. 52-54 . 129 88. Worlds, mm. 12-16 . 130 89.. Cradle Son, mm.. 47-53 . .".s. 131 90. The a Is oMore, mm.. 79-82 . 132 91. The Sleep That Flits on Baby's Eyes,, mm. 132 92. Worlds, mm. 47-49 . .. 133 viii e - Figure Page 93. Hi hwaymen,, m. 24 . 133 94. The Heart's Country, mm. 31-32 . 134 95. Jazz-Bo, mm. 4546. ............ 135 96. The PoolsofP eace, mm. 1-3 . .. 135 97. Slumber $ ong, ... a..52 . a 136 98. Youn MjanChief tain, m..54 . ... .a.a . 137 99. _O a Screen, mm. 5-9 . .. 137 100. Hihwaymen, mm. 1-3 . .. 138 101. Oda1isque, mm. 1-2 . 139 102. To a Youn Gentleman, m a 10-11. 139 103. To Yo Gentleman, mm. l-2 . a. 140 104. theay,eMaiden, mm. 4546 . .. a . a 141 ix CHAPTER I RESUME OF THE HISTORY OF THE ART SONG The development of the art song,1 the most romantic of musical forms, paved the way for a newer and greater achievement in the world of music. When we stop to examine the heritage and observe the extent of our wealth, we have reason for amazement and delight. For here is an increased sincerity of utterance, a greater range of subject matter, a more elabo- rate and symmetrical form, a, nicer adjustment of the music to the poetic mood and meaning, and a more consummate elaboration and enrichment of man's feeling than could be found in other musical forms. 2 It is difficult to imagine that the art songs of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, or of our American composers could have had their origin in the harsh gutteral howlings of savages. It is well that we turn back the pages of time to foreshadow the development of the art form before discussing the twentieth century art songs of John Alden Carpenter. 1i.e., song as a personal creation aiming at artis- tic perfection," Willi Apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music, p. 698. 2Conway Walker, The Art. Son and Its Composers, p. 2. 1 2 Music began with singing, and "the only working hypothe- sie admissible is that the earliest music must be found among the most primitive peoples." 3 The singing, though very elementary,, conveyed the emotions and religion of the people. As for the tradition of Occidental art music, it took more than twenty centuries of growth for the music of the ancient Greeks to develop into the art song form of the nineteenth century Romantic School. Whether in the simple lyric song or in the massive choruses, the musical art of ancient Greece was basically melodic. The Greeks had no vocal polyphony except those octave parallels forced upon singing by the co-operation of high- and low-pitched singers in choruses. We do not know how closely the instrument followed the voice; but we know for certain that the strict unison that most modern authors have claimed for preclassical times is out of the question.