RECONSTRUCTING CONVEN TION: ENSEMBLE FORMS IN THE OPERAS OF JULES MASSENET Gregory Straughn, B.A., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2004 APPROVED: Lester Brothers, Major Professor Frank Heidlberger, Minor Professor Margaret Notley, Committee Member James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Straughn, Gregory, Reconstructing Convention: Ensemble Forms in the Operas of Jules Massenet. Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology), December 2004, 265 pp., 41 musical examples, 9 figures, 24 tables, references, 177 titles. Over the last quarter-century, scholars have taken a unified approach in discussing form in Italian and French opera of the nineteenth century. This approach centers around the four-part aria and duet form begun by Bellini, codified by Rossini, modified by Verdi, and dissolved by Puccini. A similar trajectory can be seen in French opera in the works of Meyerbeer, Gounod, and Massenet; however, only Meyerbeer and Gounod have received significant critical attention. This is in part due to Massenet’s reception as a “composer for the people,” a title ill fitting and ripe for reconsideration. This dissertation will examine duet forms in Massenet’s oeuvre and will focus on the gradual change in style manifest in his twenty-five operas. Massenet’s output can be divided into three distinct periods delineated by his approach to form. Representative works from each period will show how he inherited, interpreted, thwarted, and ultimately rewrote the standard formal conventions of his time and in doing so, created a dramaturgical approach to opera that unified the formerly separate number-based elements. Massenet’s longevity and popular appeal make him the quintessential French opera composer of the fin de siècle and the natural choice for examining reconstructed conventions. Copyright 2004 by Gregory Straughn ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks goes to the librarians at the University of North Texas Music Library for their unwavering support and assistance in a long-distance dissertation. Thanks also to the interlibrary loan office at Abilene Christian University’s Brown Library for finding materials when I thought it not possible. My colleagues at ACU have nurtured me and provided gentle guidance and occasional nudging; I am proud to be a part of their faculty. A special thanks to Dr. Murl Sickbert of the Hardin-Simmons University Smith Music Library for good conversation and wise questions. My committee, and especially Dr. Les Brothers, has provided a wealth of good advice from the mundane and technical to the profound and philosophical. Above all, my deepest thanks to my wife, Marcia, who has shared our marriage with my entire graduate career, and to our daughter, Eva, whose whole life has paralleled this project – thanks for being there when I needed it most. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES.................................................................................. viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1 Orientations Methodology Massenet and the Conservatoire Reconstructing Formal Conventions II. INHERITED CONVENTIONS: French Opera in the 1860s – 70s......................18 French Formal Conventions Formal conventions on stage at the Opéra Formal conventions on stage at the Opéra comique Conclusions on Form III. INTERPRETED CONVENTIONS: Massenet’s Operas before 1890.................64 Hérodiade Duet Structures in Hérodiade Manon Massenet’s Interpretations IV. THWARTED CONVENTIONS: Massenet’s Operas from 1892 to 1902 ........108 Thaïs Large-Scale Structures in Thaïs Tonal Centrality before Thaïs Tonal Centrality in Thaïs The Méditation qua Apotheosis iv V. REWRITING CONVENTIONS: Massenet’s Operas After 1902............................158 Sapho Le Jongleur de Notre Dame Chérubin Ariane Thérèse Roma Cléopâtre VI. CONCLUSION: Massenet’s Legacy.......................................................................234 APPENDIX: Plot Summaries ..........................................................................................242 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................255 v LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER II Table 1. Normative scene types for mid-century operas .............................................27 Table 2. Performances of Richard Wagner’s operas in France ...................................29 Table 3. Formal structure of “Mieux vaut mourir” from La Muette de Portici...........33 Table 4. Roméo et Juliette, Act IV, No. 14. “Va! je t’ai pardonné.” ...........................37 Table 5. Middle-ensemble structure of Roméo et Juliette, Act IV, No. 14 .................38 Table 6. Hamlet, Act III, No. 16. “Hamlet, ma douleur est immense”........................44 Table 7. Final-ensemble structure of Hamlet, Act III, No. 16.....................................46 Table 8. Carmen, Act II, No. 17. “Je vais danser en votre honneur.” .........................53 Table 9. Paul et Virginie, Act II, No. 11. “Virginie, j’ai retrouvé ton coeur”.............59 Table 10. Key relationships of individual numbers in Massé’s Les Noces de Jeannette ....................................................................................60 CHAPTER III Table 1. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 8. “Dors, ò cité perverse!”...................................71 Table 2. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 10. Cavatine, “Demande au prisonnier ...............77 Table 3. Hérodiade, Act 1, Scene 4. “Calmez donc vos fureurs .................................80 Table 4. Hérodiade, Act 4, Scene 13. “Salomé! Jean! C’est toi!”...............................84 Table 5. Manon, Act IV, finale....................................................................................94 Table 6. Manon, Act III, Scene 2...............................................................................101 CHAPTER IV Table 1. Thaïs. Act I, “Hélas!.. enfant encore”.........................................................121 Table 2. Thaïs. Act I, Tableau 1.................................................................................122 Table 3. Thaïs. Act I, Tableau 1. Symmetrical arrangement of elements..................123 Table 4. Thaïs. 1894 version compared with 1898 version .......................................124 Table 5. Bipartite arrangement of the first version of Thaïs......................................125 Table 6. Musical recapitulations in the last act of Thaïs............................................146 CHAPTER V Table 1. Sapho, Act II, Jean and Irene duet., “Cher parents!”..................................169 Table 2. Act and key structure for Ariane. ...............................................................201 vi LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER IV Figure 1. Thaïs. Tonal overview and méditation appearances ..................................116 Figure 2. Hamlet. Overview of tonal organization ....................................................129 Figure 3. Werther, Act III, Scenes 1 and 2. Key structure and tonal goal................135 Figure 4. Keys, aria and ensemble forms, and méditation appearances in Thaïs ......141 Figure 5. Thaïs, Act III. Tonal overview ...................................................................150 CHAPTER V Figure 1. Le Jongleur de Notre Dame. Key areas and principal arias......................185 Figure 2. Key relationships and dramatic structure in Thérèse .................................207 Figure 3. Key areas and aria forms in Roma..............................................................218 Figure 4. Key areas and aria forms in Cléopâtre.......................................................224 vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES CHAPTER II Example 1. Roméo et Juliette, Act IV, No. 14, mm. 3-11 ...........................................35 Example 2. Hamlet, Act III, No. 16, mm. 262-272 .....................................................46 CHAPTER III Example 1a. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 8, mm. 129-130.............................................72 Example 1b. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 8, mm. 148-151 ............................................73 Example 2. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 8, mm. 162-163 ..............................................73 Example 3. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 8, mm. 145-147 ..............................................74 Example 4a. Hérodiade, Act III, Scene 10, mm. 167-170...........................................79 Example 4b. Hérodiade, Act I, Scene 3, mm. 90-92...................................................79 Example 5. Hérodiade, Act I, Scene 4, mm. 126-127.................................................81 Example 6. Hérodiade, Act I, Scene 3, mm. 51-60.....................................................83 Example 7. Hérodiade, Act I, Scene 4, mm. 31-34.....................................................87 Example 8. Manon, Act IV, Finale, mm. 39-47 ..........................................................94 Example 9a. Manon, Act IV, Finale, mm. 120-122.....................................................95