LUCIANO BERIO’S NATURALE: A STORY COMBINING FOLK MUSIC AND ART MUSIC

The study of a score by a serious performer is a fundamental step in the process of arriving at a knowledgeable and deeply informed approach to performing a piece of music. In order to obtain this knowledge numerous aspects of the score must be taken into consideration. It is the intent of this dissertation to gather and analyze the information concerning Naturale, a work written by Luciano Berio in 1985 for viola, percussion and recorded voice, based on Sicilian folk songs. All the aspects surrounding Naturale’s existence are taken into consideration in this study. First, it is important to reflect on Berio’s compositional style and traits, the manner in which he relates his works one to another, what he sees in folk music and his own personal desire to intertwine art music and folk music. For Berio Naturale is not an isolated venture into the realm of mixing folk music and his own avant-garde style; it is instead one of many works resulting from his long-standing relationship with folk music. Another essential aspect in this case is the study of Sicilian folk music itself, and the sources used by Berio to find the songs by which he was inspired. The work is examined section by section with figures showing both excerpts of Naturale as well as the original songs with their translations. An analysis containing harmonic, thematic and formal aspects of the score was developed in order to arrive at a better understanding of the structure and pacing of the piece. For this research the author went to Italy to conduct an interview with Maestro Aldo Bennici, the Sicilian violist for whom Naturale was composed. This interview helped in the discovery of two more songs used by Berio that have not to this point been identified in any other document. Bennici’s outstanding testimony portrayed the expressive character of this music and the evocative imagery behind this score. I hope to bring this knowledge to other performers, that they may fully understand and appreciate the unique beauty and power of Berio’s Naturale.

Exploring Musical Diversity in the Collaborative Repertoire from 1880 through 1963

It is essential in musical performance not only to convey the unique language of the composers but also to approach each composition from the perspective of its style. During the 20th century, diverse musical idioms co-existed, sometimes mixing or fusing, yet retaining recognizable characteristics and thereby remaining distinctive. This dissertation explores myriad examples from Late Romanticism/Post- Romanticism, Naturalism, Neo-Classicism, Nationalism and Impressionism composed during this unusually rich period. In order to explore a broad range of collaborative repertoire and to deepen my knowledge of the styles and performance practices relating to these pieces, I studied and performed the repertoire with pianist Eunae Baik–Kim, clarinetist Jihoon Chang, and singers Joshua Brown and Young Joo Lee. The first program featured Post-Romantic, Neo-Classic and Impressionist two-piano works composed by Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. Each of the three composers used their own distinctive harmonies, rhythms, melodic inventions, pedaling and figurations. In all of the works, both piano parts were densely interwoven, having equal importance. Lied and operatic aria was the focus of the second recital. Brahms’ Vier Ernste Gesänge Op. 121, Ravel’s Don Quichotte a Dulcineé and Italian, French and German operatic arias were the examples of Post-Romanticism and Nationalism. The representative composers were Verdi, Massenet, Korngold, Leoncavallo, Ravel and Wagner. Despite the fact that all of the repertoire was written in traditional musical forms, the composers’ unique voices mark each work as belonging to a particular genre. The third recital focused on Post-Romantic and Impressionistic music written for clarinet and piano: the Première Rhapsodie by Debussy, the Sonata by Poulenc and Brahms’ Sonata in F minor Op. 120, No. 1. These works, although profoundly different in style, share elements of simplicity, clarity and elegance as well as technical virtuosity, articulation and profound musical depth. The three recitals which comprise this dissertation project were performed at the University of Maryland Gildenhorn Recital Hall on February 27, 2010, October 25, 2010, and January 31, 2011. The recitals were recorded on compact disc and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

BOULANGER, SATIE, AND DEBUSSY: THEIR SPHERES OF INFLUENCE ON FRENCH MELODIE AND AMERICAN ART SONG

This dissertation project explored the spheres of influence on art song by Nadia Boulanger, Erik Satie, and Claude Debussy within Boulangeries, Les Six, and Les Apaches. After World War I, American composers flocked to Paris to study with Boulanger. Boulanger gave her students the confidence to explore their native talents instead of mimicking foreign models. Works by Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Theodore Chanler, John Duke, and Richard Hundley were included in the first dissertation recital on January 31, 2010: The Legacy of Nadia Boulanger: Her Influence on American Song Composers. Satie established a new modern French musical style, and was a catalyst for the formation of Les Six. Ned Rorem came to Paris, and had a close association with Les Six. Works by Satie, and three members of Les Six, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud; and Rorem were featured in the second recital on September 1, 2010: Satie, Selected Members of Les Six, and Rorem in Paris. Debussy was one of the most significant French composers in the late nineteenth century, predating Boulanger and Satie. Young composers exploring new directions were inspired by Debussy, forming the group Les Apaches. The final recital, April 7, 2011, featured works by Debussy and two members of Les Apaches, Maurice Ravel and Manuel de Falla: Debussy: A Catalyst for Les Apaches, Ravel and Falla. Falla‘s less well-known repertoire was presented. This dissertation showed the influence of these three major figures and that they embraced innovation in their own time, along with their followers. Recordings of these three performances may be obtained from the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library in Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

THE ART SONG OF SOUTH AMERICA: AN EXPLORATION THROUGH PERFORMANCE

The repertoire included in this dissertation was presented over the course of three recitals, The Songs of Argentina, The Songs of Brazil, Chile and Venezuela, and The Songs of Perú and Colombia. Each recital was supplemented by written program notes and English translations of the Spanish, Portuguese and Quechua texts. The selections presented in this study was chosen in an effort to pair the works of internationally renowned composers like Argentine composers Alberto Ginastera and Carlos Guastavino, and Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, with those of lesser-known composers, including Venezuelan composer Juan Bautista Plaza, Peruvian composers Edgar Valcárcel, Theodoro Valcárcel, and Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales, and Colombian composer Jaime Léon. Each composer represents a milestone in the development of art song composition in South America. All three recitals were recorded and are available on compact discs in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM). This dissertation was completed in May, 2011.

THE ART OF TRANSCRIBING FOR HARPSICHORD

A relatively unexplored area of the harpsichord repertoire is the group of transcriptions made by J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Jean Henry d'Anglebert (1629-1691), and Jean-Baptiste Forqueray (1699-1782). These transcriptions are valuable and worth exploring and performing. Studying them provides unique insights into their composer‘s musical thinking. By comparing transcriptions with their original sources, the transcriber's decisions and priorities can be observed. The performance component of this dissertation comprises three recitals. The first features works of Johann Sebastian Bach: two transcriptions of violin concerti by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), and two transcriptions of trio sonatas by Johann Adam Reinken (1643-1722). The most salient feature of Bach‘s transcriptions is his addition of musical material: ornamenting slow movements, adding diminutions and idiomatic keyboard figurations throughout, and recomposing and expanding fugal movements. The second recital features works of Jean Henry d'Anglebert and Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, two French composer/performers. From d'Anglebert‘s many transcriptions, I assembled two key-related suites: the first comprised of lute pieces by Ennemond Gaultier (c. 1575-1651), and the second comprised of movements from operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687). Forqueray's transcriptions are of suites for viola da gamba and continuo, composed by his father, Antoine Forqueray (1671-1745). Creative and varied ornamentation, along with the style brisé of arpeggiated chords, are the most important features of d‘Anglebert‘s transcriptions. Forqueray‘s transcriptions are highly virtuosic and often feature the tenor and bass range of the harpsichord. The third recital features my own transcriptions: the first suite for solo cello by J.S. Bach, excerpts from the opera La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704), and two violin pieces by Nicola Matteis (fl. c. 1670-c. 1698). In these transcriptions, I demonstrate what I have learned from studying and performing the works in the first two recitals. These recitals were performed in the Leah Smith Hall at the University of Maryland on May 4, 2010; May 11, 2010; and October 7, 2010. They were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

PIANO AS A PARTNER IN TWENTIETH­ CENTURY ART SONG REPERTOIRE: A RECORDING PROJECT

The piano's role in art song repertoire has evolved from a modest one during its formative years to the versatility, complexity and creativity found in the twentieth-century. The art song repertoire of the twentieth century is vast and has secured the reputation for being the most diverse, innovative, illustrative, atmospheric and colorful in all of art song literature. Within this time period, there are compositions that reach back to the romantic works of nineteenth century, others which combine old and new traditions, and finally those which adopt new means and new ends. In choosing the material for this project, I have focused on compositions with uniquely challenging and unusual piano accompaniments in order to achieve a balance between well- known and rarely performed works, as well as those pieces that combine various languages and styles. Selections range from Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Sergey Rachmaninoff, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Roger Quilter, Francis Poulenc, Fernando Obradors, and Joaquin Rodrigo to composers such as Samuel Barber, Marc Blitzstein, Dominick Argento, William Bolcom, and John Duke, including arrangements of traditional spirituals by Harry T. Burleigh and Florence B. Price, all of which helped to establish the American Art Song. My objective is to trace the development of the twentieth-century art song from the late Romantic Period through nationalistitrends to works which show the influences of jazz and folk elements. The two CD's for this dissertation recording project are available on compact discs which can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM). The performers were Daniel Armstrong, baritone, Giles Herman, baritone, Thomas Glenn, tenor, Valerie Yinzant, soprano, Aaron Odom, tenor, Jennifer Royal, soprano, Kenneth Harmon, tenor, Karen Sorenson, soprano and Maxim Ivanov, baritone.

RECORDING PROJECT: THE COMPLETE (PUBLISHED) PIANO WORKS OF ROBERT HELPS

This recording represents the complete solo piano works of Robert Helps (1928-2001). As of this writing (March, 2008), approx.120 minutes of Helps' solo piano music has been published, all of which is included on the Digital Media (CD). This project includes the following works: Trois Hommages, Quartet, Nocturne, Valse Mirage, In Retrospect, Three Etudes, Portrait, Three Etudes for the Left Hand, Starscape, Recollections, Shall We Dance and Image. (His few remaining pieces are officially "pending publication" and are therefore not included in this project.) Robert Helps, American pianist and composer, enjoyed a successful career on both fronts, teaching at such institutions as San Francisco Conservatory, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music and Princeton University. Helps, never the recipient of a university or conservatory degree, received private instruction from pianist Abby Whiteside and composer Roger Sessions. His recording of the Sessions' Sonatas is considered to be their benchmark performance. As a composer, he received commission and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Helps' compositions were anachronistic in style: his compositional style ranges from Post-Impressionism, Neo­ Romanticsim and early 20th century Atonalism, although he never engaged in serial practices. Since his death in 2001, the Robert Helps Trust has been established at the University of South Florida. Funds are being used to support the continued publishing of his scores. The Robert Helps International Composition Competition and Festival was established in 2005.

The Voyage of Impressionism in Three Violin Recitals: To See the World in Different Colors

Impressionism serves as the transition between romantic and modern music. This dissertation examines the varying characteristics and colors of Impressionism in the works of late-romantic French composers, French Impressionistic composers, and composers with Impressionistic influence from countries other than France. Violin Sonata in g minor, L. 140 (1917) is the last work composed by Claude Debussy. The impressionistic characters in this work includes the ambiguous yet innovative and variant sonority and form. As a work also written in 1917, Ottorino Respighi's Violin Sonata in b minor is deeply rooted in Italian Romanticism. Some of the Impressionistic characters can be found in the second movement where the harmonies are in parallel motion. César Franck, a forerunner of impressionism, heavily influenced Debussy with the use of cyclic form. The Violin Sonata in A major (1886) is rich in harmonic language. Ernest Chausson's works mark the transition between Franck and Debussy. The Poème portrays a love story, Song of Love Triumphant by Turgenev. The work is a symphonic poem for violin and orchestra. The Mythes, Op. 30 (1915) by Karol Szymanowski is based on Greek mythology. Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello (1922), dedicated to Debussy, points to the future with a sophisticated harmonic language extending into atonality, spare texture, and expanded palate of impressionistic colors and techniques. Ernest Bloch's Violin Sonata No. 1 (1920) portrays the feeling of torment. Beneath the soaring cries of the violin, the harmonic sonority of Impressionism are present. Gabriel Fauré's Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, op. 13 (1876) is the earliest work of this project. The scherzo movement became a prototype for future scherzo movements for Ravel and Debussy. Ravel's Tzigane (1924), at once a paragon of French impressionism, a delightful gypsy-style dance-fantasy, and a breathtaking virtuoso piece, is the perfect conclusion to my dissertation project. The pieces discussed above were presented in three recitals. Compact disc recordings of these recitals are available in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland.