THE CHORAL CYCLE: A CONDUCTOR‟S GUIDE TO FOUR REPRESENTATIVE WORKS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF ARTS BY RUSSELL THORNGATE DISSERTATION ADVISORS: DR. LINDA POHLY AND DR. ANDREW CROW BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA MAY 2011 Contents Permissions ……………………………………………………………………… v Introduction What Is a Choral Cycle? .............................................................................1 Statement of Purpose and Need for the Study ............................................4 Definition of Terms and Methodology .......................................................6 Chapter 1: Choral Cycles in Historical Context The Emergence of the Choral Cycle .......................................................... 8 Early Predecessors of the Choral Cycle ....................................................11 Romantic-Era Song Cycles ..................................................................... 15 Choral-like Genres: Vocal Chamber Music ..............................................17 Sacred Cyclical Choral Works of the Romantic Era ................................20 Secular Cyclical Choral Works of the Romantic Era .............................. 22 The Choral Cycle in the Twentieth Century ............................................ 25 Early Twentieth-Century American Cycles ............................................. 25 Twentieth-Century European Cycles ....................................................... 27 Later Twentieth-Century American Cycles ............................................. 37 Summary: Reasons That Choral Cycles Have Become So Numerous .... 42 Introduction to Analytical Chapters ..........................................................44 Chapter 2: The Hour Glass by Irving Fine Brief Biographical Sketch and Introduction to the Cycle .........................46 1. “O Know to End as to Begin” ……………………………………….. 48 2. “Have You Seen the White Lily Grow” .............................................. 55 3. “O Do Not Wanton With Those Eyes” ................................................ 61 4. “Against Jealousy” ............................................................................... 67 5. “Lament” .............................................................................................. 77 6. “The Hour-Glass” ................................................................................ 83 Summary of the Cycle ............................................................................. 89 Chapter 3: American Madrigals by Kirke Mechem Brief Biographical Sketch and Introduction to the Cycle ........................ 92 1. “Kind Miss” ......................................................................................... 94 2. “He‟s Gone Away” ............................................................................ 103 3. “Kansas Boys” ................................................................................... 109 4. “Adam‟s Bride (A Marriage Lesson)” ............................................... 117 5. “New York Girls” .............................................................................. 126 Summary of the Cycle ........................................................................... 134 iii Chapter 4: Voices by Stephen Paulus Brief Biographical Sketch and Introduction to the Cycle ...................... 136 1. “Opening” .......................................................................................... 138 2. “Song of the Beggar” ......................................................................... 146 3. “Song of the Drunkard” ..................................................................... 152 4. “Song of the Suicide” ........................................................................ 159 5. “Song of the Idiot” ............................................................................. 168 6. “Song of the Leper” ........................................................................... 176 7. “I Am, O Anxious One” ..................................................................... 182 8. “As Once the Winged Energy of Delight” ......................................... 187 9. “Voices” ............................................................................................. 193 Summary of the Cycle ........................................................................... 200 Chapter 5: Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre Brief Biographical Sketch and Introduction to the Cycle ...................... 203 1. “Temuná (A Picture)” ........................................................................ 204 2. “Kalá kallá (Light Bride)” ................................................................. 209 3. “Lárov (Mostly)” ............................................................................... 215 4. “Éyze shéleg! (What Snow!)” ............................................................ 219 5. “Rakút (Tenderness)” ......................................................................... 225 Summary of the Cycle ........................................................................... 230 Chapter 6: Summary and Conclusions Summary of Choral Cycle ..................................................................... 232 The Four Choral Cycles Analyzed in This Study .................................. 235 Need for Further Study .......................................................................... 238 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 240 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 241 Discography ................................................................................................................... 246 Appendix: Selected Choral Cycles and Other Multi-movement Choral Works ............ 248 iv Permissions The author gratefully acknowledges permission for the use of the following: The original and translated texts of Five Hebrew Love Songs, by Hila Plitmann, are used by permission from Walton Music. The texts of Voices, movements 7-9, translated by Stephen Mitchell, are used with permission from Random House, Inc. All other texts and all musical excerpts are used in compliance with “fair use.” v Introduction What Is a Choral Cycle? The term “choral cycle” has appeared on the musical scene only relatively recently. The reason for the use of the term is speculative: Presumably, choral cycle was (and is) used when another established genre name does not accurately describe the composition for which it is used. One of the earliest uses of a variant of the term seems to apply to pieces by Franz Liszt, though it is unclear whether the composer himself used the designation, or if it was used by a scholar cataloguing Liszt‟s works. The idea, though not the exact term, appears as Letzte zyklische Chorgesänge mit Orgel, (Later Cyclical Choral Songs With Organ).1 The earliest evidence of the term in English occurs with some obscure pieces by obscure composers, who included the term “choral cycle” in titles from as early as 1918. While the term “choral cycle” appears in published reviews as early as 1932, it was not until 1970 that a musicologist used the term in a journal article or a book. In an article in Choral Journal titled “The Choral Cycle,” author Kirke Mechem suggested a definition of a choral cycle. In his words it is “a group of individual choral pieces, unified in some way, intended to be performed together but also capable of ________________________ 1. Philipp Wolfrum, ed., Letzte zyklische Chorgesänge mit Orgel, nebst Bearbeitungen: Kirchliche und geistliche Gesangswerke, vol. 5, bk. 7 of Franz Liszt‘s musikalische Werke. (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel, 1936), ii. being performed separately.”2 The unification of the pieces may stem from the fact that they all use texts by the same poet, or they may have a common subject, even to the extent of being narrative, or the pieces are merely all of the same general tone and style. The name “choral cycle” is derived from the term “song cycle,” which has been a part of the musicological vocabulary since the early nineteenth century. Song cycles, like choral cycles, are composed as a unit, and are often excerpted in performance; that is, singers choose to sing one or a few songs from a cycle rather than the entire set. Choral cycles and song cycles, however, differ from “collections.” A collection may be published together, but that is the only connection between the pieces. A collection may be titled, for example, “24 Songs,” while a title of a cycle often will indicate what is unifying the individual pieces. Five Flower Songs by Benjamin Britten and A Poet‘s Love by Robert Schumann are examples of cycles. Among the problems with the term “choral cycle” is that it does not have a universally accepted meaning and usage. The time lag in its development is similar to that of the term “song cycle,” with which musicologists identified pieces that had been written several decades earlier. In 1865 the term “song cycle” first appeared in the scholarly German Musikalisches Lexicon, describing, for example, works composed by Beethoven and Schubert between 1800 and 1828. This shows that the terminology used to describe pieces of music lagged behind the pieces themselves, as is typical throughout musical history. The use of the term “choral cycle” similarly lags behind the actual composition of pieces. Choral cycles may have been, and