Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2009 A Study of Písn# z T#šínska of Petr Eben Matthew Markham Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC A STUDY OF PÍSN Z TŠÍNSKA OF PETR EBEN By MATTHEW MARKHAM A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2009 The members of the committee approve the treatise of Matthew Markham defended on May 28, 2009. ____________________________________ Stanford Olsen Professor Directing Treatise ____________________________________ Charles Brewer Outside Committee Member ____________________________________ Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya Committee Member ____________________________________ Timothy Hoekman Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii Dedicated to Roy Delp iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the following for their support and contribution towards the success of this project: Theodore Presser Foundation, Florida State University, Artistic and Administrative Staff of the Ameropa Solo and Chamber Music Festival, Jablunkov Folk Festival, librarians of the National Library of the Czech Republic and of the Prague Municipal Library, historians of the Czech Music Information Centre in Prague and of the Muzeum Těšínsko, Academy of Music in Prague, Dvoák Society in London, Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya, Stanford Olsen, Timothy Hoekman, Charles Brewer, Jindrich Bajgar, Mojmír Sobotka, Adam Mohammad, Martina Bojdorá, Jakub Debef, Jan Víčár, Ivan Kusnjer, Iva Raková, Jonathan Pilkington, David Eben, Katerina Englichová, Jan Rokyta, Boleslav Slováček, Karel Janovicky, Timothy Cheek, Barbora Baronová, Graham Melville-Mason, Antonín Tučapský, Eva Vítová, Katerina Vondrovicová-Cervenková, Miloslová Fousková, Jesse Johnston, Zdenka Brodska, Dagmar Szturcová, Roman Grycz, Renata Utíkal, Marek Grycz, Halina Cymorek, Beata Suszka, Katharine Ball, Malcolm Shackelford, Edward and Kathryn Markham, Ralph Bentley, Randy Steinman, Kristin Ditlow, Dan Pardue, and the beautiful people of Těšín, especially Adam and Judith. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii 1. BIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................1 2. EBEN’S TŠÍN PERIOD .............................................................................................11 3. THE TŠÍN REGION ..................................................................................................18 3.1 Těšín History ...........................................................................................................22 3.2 Těšín Folk Music and Culture.................................................................................24 3.3 Těšín Dialect ...........................................................................................................28 4. THE FOLKSONGS ......................................................................................................35 4.1 “Hej, koło Těšina” .................................................................................................36 4.2 “Ten Těšinsky mostek” ..........................................................................................39 4.3 “Tam z tej strony jeźora” .......................................................................................41 4.4 “V zelenym hajičku” .............................................................................................43 4.5 “Dolina, dolina” ....................................................................................................47 4.6 “V neděli rano” .....................................................................................................50 4.7 “Ja věm o ptaškovi” ..............................................................................................53 4.8 “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” .............................................................................55 4.9 “Śvětě marny” .......................................................................................................57 4.10 “Za gorum, za vodum” .........................................................................................60 4.11 “Paněnky se chłubjum” ........................................................................................63 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................67 APPENDICES A. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATIONS ....................................................................68 B. RECORDINGS OF NATIVE SPEAKERS SPEAKING THE FOLK TEXTS ...........85 C. TŠÍN FILM DOCUMENTARY ................................................................................87 D. A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EBEN’S WORKS FOR SOLO VOICE ................88 E. APPROVAL FORMS AND CONSENT LETTERS ...................................................90 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................101 v LIST OF FIGURES 3.1: Map of the Czech Republic. ......................................................................................19 3.2: Map of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Silesia. ......................................................20 3.3: Map of Český Tĕšín/Cieszyn. ....................................................................................21 4.1: “Hej, koło Těšina” unpublished piano introduction. .................................................38 4.2: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 25-29. ..................................................................40 4.3: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 42-44. ...................................................................40 4.4: “Tam z tej strony jeźora” measures 19-26. ................................................................43 4.5: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 1-15. ........................................................................45 4.6: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 23-24. ......................................................................46 4.7: “Dolina, dolina” measures 6, 13, 18-20, 27-28, 33-34, and 37-38 ............................49 4.8: “Dolina, dolina” measures 44-46. ..............................................................................50 4.9: “V neděli rano” measures 9-11. ................................................................................51 4.10: “V neděli rano” measures 24-30. .............................................................................52 4.11: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 1-4. ..........................................................................54 4.12: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 44-47. ......................................................................54 4.13: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 1-9. .........................................................56 4.14: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 10-13. .....................................................57 4:15: “Śvětě marny” measures 1-6, 16-20, 31-32, 35-37, and 43-45. ..............................59 4.16: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 1-6. .....................................................................61 4.17: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 33-42. .................................................................62 4.18: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 52-75. ................................................................65 4.19: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 76-99. ................................................................66 vi ABSTRACT In 1952 The State Institute for Folksong in Brno invited Czech-born composer Petr Eben (1929-2007) to collect and transcribe folksong in the original dialect from the Moravian-Silesian district around the town of Těšín, which straddles the Czech/Polish border. The resulting collection of 280 folksongs provides rich documentation of the spirit of the Těšín people, the regional landscape, folk culture, and Těšín’s unique regional dialect. This treatise is a study of the musical and cultural influences in the eleven songs known as Písně z Těšínska (Songs from Těšín) as arranged by Eben for voice and piano. The treatise contains biographical information about the composer, extant information about the method of the collection of the songs, historical and cultural background of the region, and detailed research into the dialect including firsthand interviews and a video diary of those interviews. The author also makes use of personal interviews with contemporaries and relatives of the composer, folklorists, music professors, school children, and teachers; as well as personal observations while on a two month journey through this region of the Czech Republic. The sections of the treatise include a general biography of Eben, a focus on Eben’s associations with the Těšín region (beginning with the 1952 study and the influence of this period in his subsequent compositions), an overview of the historic context through which the district Těšínské Slezsko