Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Liriche Vocale da Salotto di Franco Alfano (Lyric Vocal Songs for the Salon of Franco Alfano) Luvada A. Harrison Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC LIRICHE VOCALE DA SALOTTO DI FRANCO ALFANO (LYRIC VOCAL SONGS FOR THE SALON OF FRANCO ALFANO) By LUVADA A. HARRISON A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007 The members of the Committee approve the Treatise of Luvada A. Harrison defended on 12 December 2006. ______________________________ Douglas L. Fisher Professor Directing Treatise ______________________________ Andre Thomas Outside Committee Member ______________________________ Matthew Lata Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Examples .................................................................................................. iv Abstract ...................................................................................................... vi 1. EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION Posillipo ................................................................................................ 1 Leipzig ................................................................................................ 4 Berlin ................................................................................................ 5 2. BEGINNING HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE Paris ................................................................................................ 6 Return to Italy ............................................................................................. 12 3. THE ART SONGS OF ALFANO ................................................................. 20 Felicità ................................................................................................ 21 Al chiarore della mattina............................................................................ 25 Rabindranath Tagore................................................................................... 31 Giorno per giorno....................................................................................... 33 È giunto il nostro ultimo autunno ............................................................... 39 Luce ................................................................................................ 46 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 51 APPENDIX A Art Song Catalog ........................................................................................ 54 REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 62 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................................. 64 iii LIST OF EXAMPLES 1.1 Risurrezione, Act II. Recitative: “Giunge il treno”............................................. 9 1.2 Risurrezione measures 18-19............................................................................... 10 1.3 Katiusha’s Aria: “Dio pietoso,” Act II, measures 1-4 ......................................... 11 1.4 measures 34-41 .................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Felicita measures 1-2........................................................................................... 22 2.2 measures 6-8 ........................................................................................................ 23 2.3 measures 21-23 .................................................................................................... 23 2.4 measures 9-14 ...................................................................................................... 24 2.5 mesures 30-32 ...................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Al chiarore della mattina… measures 1-4 ........................................................... 26 3.2 mesaures 15-18 .................................................................................................... 27 3.3 measures 19-20 .................................................................................................... 28 3.4 measures 21-22 .................................................................................................... 29 3.5 measures 34-35 .................................................................................................... 30 3.6 measures 53-54 .................................................................................................... 30 4.1 Giorno per giorno measures 1-12........................................................................ 35 4.2 measures 18-22 .................................................................................................... 36 4.3 measures 52-55 .................................................................................................... 37 4.4 measures 60-63 .................................................................................................... 37 4.5 measures 68-71 .................................................................................................... 38 4.6 measures 88-91 .................................................................................................... 38 4.7 measures 98-101 .................................................................................................. 39 5.1 È giunto il nostro ultimo autunno measures 1-4.................................................. 41 5.2 measures 13-19 .................................................................................................... 42 5.3 measures 37-40 .................................................................................................... 43 5.4 measures 51-54 .................................................................................................... 44 iv 5.5 measures 68-70 .................................................................................................... 45 5.6 measures 96-100 .................................................................................................. 46 6.1 Luce measures 1-4................................................................................................ 48 6.2 measures 5-6 ........................................................................................................ 48 6.3 measures 14-15 .................................................................................................... 49 6.4 measures 24-25 .................................................................................................... 50 6.5 measures 32-33 .................................................................................................... 50 6.6 measures 42-43 .................................................................................................... 51 v ABSTRACT This treatise will focus on the solo art song literature of the Italian composer Franco Alfano (1875-1954). Although, Alfano composed a total of fifty-three solo vocal pieces, these works are not generally known and are deserving of more widespread performance and study. Franco Alfano is recognized outside of Italy solely as the composer who completed the third act duet of Giacomo Puccini’s final opera, Turandot, and little scholarly research in English is available on the subject of his art songs. The first part of this treatise will provide a brief biography of Alfano. The second part will discuss the poetry Alfano used for his art songs, focusing primarily on Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet, composer and educator who was the recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. More than half of Alfano’s art songs are set to Tagore’s poetry. The third section will be a discussion of five art songs that are representative of the different compositional periods in Alfano life. The final section of the treatise is a catalogue of Alfano’s art songs, providing information on publishers, the voice types for which they are written, the general mood of each art song, style of accompaniment, and notes on potential difficulties for performers. vi EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION Posillipo Franco Alfano was born on 8 March 1875i in the picturesque town of Posillipo (“respite from pain”) in the Campria (Campania) region of southern Italy. The town was given its name by the Greeks who first settled the area in the 6th century BC. The territory was later conquered by the Romans and renamed Neapolis (“the new city”) as part of the Holy Roman Empire. Posillipo became a favorite respite for vacationing Roman Emperors and nobility, who built lavish villas and exquisite gardens complete with baths into the hills overlooking the bay.1 Centuries later this beautiful location was the inspiration for a ballet composed by Alfano for the Folies Bergère. The area also inspired one of the most notable composers of Neapolitan songs, Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916)ii. The year of Alfano’s birth, 1875, brought forth a cornucopia of talented individuals who made major contributions in the fields of education, finance, science, psychology, literature and music. In the United States, Mary McLeod Bethune, African-American educator and founder of Bethune-Cookman College and financier,