Copyright by Elizabeth Borik Vickers May 2018 “QUEEN OF THE BOYS:” HEDLI ANDERSON AND THE BRITISH CABARET” ______________________ An Essay Presented to the Faculty of the Moores School of Music Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts University of Houston ______________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance ______________________ by Elizabeth Borik Vickers May 2018 “QUEEN OF THE BOYS:” HEDLI ANDERSON AND THE BRITISH CABARET” ____________________________________ Elizabeth Borik Vickers APPROVED: ____________________________________ Howard Pollack, Ph.D. Committee Chair ____________________________________ Cynthia Clayton ____________________________________ Aaminah Durrani, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Joseph Evans ____________________________________ Andrew Davis, Ph.D. Dean, Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts “QUEEN OF THE BOYS:” HEDLI ANDERSON AND THE BRITISH CABARET” ____________ An Abstract of an Essay Presented to the Faculty of the Moores School of Music Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts University of Houston ______________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance ______________________ by Elizabeth Borik Vickers May 2018 Abstract The essay considers the life and career of British cabaret singer Hedli Anderson, whose work and influence has been largely forgotten today. She was the first lucrative English-born cabaret artist, and helped to popularize the cabaret genre during the 1930s and 1940s, previously a European continental phenomenon, in Great Britain. She found success as a performer, recitalist, and collaborator, and inspired a generation of poets, playwrights, and composers to write and dedicate pieces to her. The essay discusses the history of cabaret and its inception in Great Britain. A brief discussion of the pedagogical benefits of cabaret music in the modern vocal studio and the interest of British classical composers to explore the genre during the 1930s and 1940s is also considered. Secondly, an extensive biography for Hedli Anderson, previously nonexistent at length, is presented. The essay then considers the careers of composer Benjamin Britten and poet W.H. Auden, their associations with the General Post Office Film Unit and the Group Theatre, and their contribution to the developing British cabaret genre through their Cabaret Songs written for Hedli Anderson. Poetic and musical analysis for each of the Cabaret Songs is provided. Next, the essay explores the courtship and marriage between Anderson and poet Louis MacNeice. MacNeice’s work with the BBC presented Anderson with a new performance outlet via the radio. The couple’s collegial network grew in the 1940s, and Anderson’s friendships with composer Elisabeth Lutyens and poet Stevie Smith gave v way to new commissions and cabaret-influenced pieces, including Lutyens’ Nine Stevie Smith Songs, for which poetic and musical analysis is included. Finally, the essay investigates the unraveling and ultimate end of Anderson and MacNeice’s marriage, and her championing MacNeice’s work following his death. The essay concludes by outlining the end of Anderson’s career and life. vi Acknowledgements The author wishes to acknowledge and appreciate: Cynthia Clayton Dr. Howard Pollack Dr. Aaminah Durrani Joseph Evans The Moores School of Music Voice Faculty Buck Ross Brian Suits Elena Lacheva Dr. Michael Sells Dr. Katherine Firth Dr. Jeffrey Sposato Kris Chapman The University of Houston Music Library University College Dublin Library and Evelyn Flanagan vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Musical Examples ....................................................................................................x Dedication .......................................................................................................................... xi Essay ....................................................................................................................................1 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................61 Appendix ............................................................................................................................64 viii List of Figures 1. “Progression” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ..............................................................42 2. “Be off!” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ......................................................................43 3. “Lady ‘Rogue’ Singleton” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ...........................................44 4. “Pad, pad” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ...................................................................45 5. “The Songster” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ............................................................46 6. “The Film Star” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ...........................................................47 7. “The Actress” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ..............................................................48 8. “Ceux qui luttent” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems .......................................................50 9. “The Repentance of Lady T” by Stevie Smith, All the Poems ......................................51 ix List of Musical Examples 1. Britten/Auden, “When You’re Feeling Like Expressing your Affection,” mm. 1-3 .....11 2. Britten/Auden, “Funeral Blues,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 1-4 ..................................13 3. Britten/Auden, “Tell Me the Truth about Love,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 1-2 .........16 4. Britten/Auden, “Tell Me the Truth about Love,” from Cabaret Songs, mm.1-4 ..........17 5. Wagner’s “Tristan Chord” from Tristan und Isolde ......................................................17 6. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 15-19 ..........................................19 7. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 43-46 ..........................................20 8. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 14-15 ..........................................21 9. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 86-90 ..........................................22 10. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, m. 45 ................................................23 11. Britten/Auden, “Johnny,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 81-83 ........................................24 12. Britten/Auden, “Calypso,” from Cabaret Songs, mm. 24-26 ......................................25 13. Lutyens/Smith, “Up and Down,” from Nine Songs, mm. 1-2 ......................................49 x Dedication For Austin, my love and my support xi “QUEEN OF THE BOYS:” HEDLI ANDERSON AND THE BRITISH CABARET” Essay British cabaret artist Hedli Anderson (1907-1990) was a highly successful and sought after performer, recitalist, and collaborator during the1930s and 1940s, yet her career and work is mostly unknown today. She was the first lucrative English-born cabaret artist, and helped to popularize the cabaret genre, previously a European continental phenomenon, in Great Britain. Her larger-than-life persona and stage presence inspired a generation of poets, playwrights, and composers to write and dedicate pieces to her. British composers Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and Elisabeth Lutyens (1906- 1983) and poets W. H. Auden (1907-1973), Stevie Smith (1902-1971), and Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) each were friendly with Hedli Anderson at some point during their careers. They, among others, wrote pieces for her to perform, and collaborated closely with her in performances and by way of commissions. The following document focuses on the history that preceded these commissions and dedications, a brief overview of the history of English cabaret, and an extensive biography of the largely forgotten Hedli Anderson. The cabaret genre grew out of the French café-concert tradition popular during the late nineteenth century. These café-concerts catered to a broad audience and were often situated outdoors. Satirical and protest-style songs found their way into the repertoire and eventually became their own subset of the café-concert tradition, now identified as cabaret. Cabaret music as it evolved was more intellectual and self-consciously artistic 1 than its café-concert predecessor. Participants considered themselves avant-garde commentators of topical events, morals, politics, and culture. The French cabaret brought together persons of all classes and walks of life including the bohemian artists of Montmartre. The first Parisian cabaret of note was Le Chat Noir, opened by the impresario Rodolphe Salis in Montmartre in November 1881. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were more than one hundred and twenty cabaret halls across Paris. The genre quickly spread across the continent to Germany and the Netherlands. The German Kabarett developed at the turn of the century with the creation of the Überbretll venue in Berlin and was popularized during the Weimar era in the 1920s. German Kabarett performances were characterized by political satire and gallows humor,