R-3 Repository :: Browsing by Author "Citron, Marcia J."

Browsing by Author "Citron, Marcia J."

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Augusta Holmes: "Les Argonautes" and "La Montagne Noire"
(2002) Rockwood, Rebecca Larissa; Citron, Marcia J.
Augusta Holmes (1847--1903) was a popular composer in nineteenth-century France. Throughout her life, Holmes was known for her talent as a musician, charming personality, and beauty. After her death, Holmes's works were neglected, but this composer deserves to be re-evaluated. As one of the first women in nineteenth-century France to receive any recognition of her talents, her accomplishments as a composer were almost unthinkable. Holmes drew attention to herself by using popular patriotic sentiments when creating her self-image and her music. In this paper I demonstrate this by examining the background, music, and thematic material of Les Argonautes, a dramatic symphony, and La Montagne Noire, her fourth opera. In Les Argonautes, Holmes stressed the sacrifice of romantic love for higher ideals. In La Montagne Noire, Holmes utilized themes of exoticism to juxtapose patriotism against romantic love and reveal tension between genders.
Calogero Di Liberto's "Fantasy on Cavalleria Rusticana" in the context of the Romantic opera fantasy for piano
(2006) Di Liberto, Calogero; Citron, Marcia J.
This study interprets the author's Fantasy for piano based on the opera Cavalleria Rusticana in the context of the operatic fantasy for piano that was a major genre in the Romantic period. The first two chapters provide an overview of the history of opera and concert life in the nineteenth century, and a history of the genre itself from its birth (mid-eighteenth century) to its decline, at the end of the nineteenth century. Special attention is paid to the world of Franz Liszt, the main exponent of the genre. Chapter three analyzes the style and structure of the author's Fantasy and shows its relationship to Mascagni's opera and Liszt's works. The final chapter suggests that despite modernism's disdain for the piano fantasy based on opera, the genre has a great deal to offer audiences.* *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Windows MediaPlayer or RealPlayer.
Charles Villiers Stanford's sacred repertoire for solo voice, choir, and organ: An analysis of "Six Bible Songs and Hymns", Opus 113
(2003) Knapp, Brady Keith; Citron, Marcia J.
This paper explores aspects of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's life and music, with an emphasis on his sacred works for solo voice, choir, and organ, and an analysis of the Six Bible Songs and Hymns or Chorales (to follow the Bible songs), Opus 113 for baritone solo, SATB choir, and organ. The second chapter is a brief biography of significant events and major accomplishments in Stanford's life. The third chapter provides an overview of his compositional style, with an emphasis on the defining characteristics of his vocal music. The fourth chapter focuses on Stanford's sacred vocal music, particularly his contribution to the liturgy and service of the Anglican Church. In chapter four, a discussion of Stanford's works for solo voice, choir, and organ will include: (1) the Evening Service in G, Opus 81, for soprano and baritone soloists, choir, and organ, (2) the virtually unknown cantata Awake my heart, Opus 16, for baritone, choir, and organ, and (3) an introduction to Stanford's Six Bible Songs and Hymns, Opus 113, discussing the genesis of the work, and its unique position within the repertoire of the Anglican Church. The fifth chapter is a detailed analysis of the Six Bible Songs and Hymns that investigates musical aspects of Stanford's score, but also the history of the cycle's texts and hymn tunes, as well as performance and other extra musical considerations. A concluding sixth chapter will discuss the publication history and performance practices of the Six Bible Songs and Hymns , Opus 113.
Connecting histories: Identity and exoticism in Ernest Bloch, Rebecca Clarke, and Paul Hindemith's viola works of 1919
(2007) Gerling, Daphne Cristina Capparelli; Citron, Marcia J.
Taking the end of the First World War as a starting point and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Composition Competition as a meeting point, this study discusses three major works for viola of 1919: the Sonata for Viola and Piano by Rebecca Clarke, the Sonata Op. 11, No. 4 by Paul Hindemith, and the Suite for Viola and Piano by Ernest Bloch. The thesis places each work within the context of its composer's career and compositional development, focusing on key stylistic and historical features. The study consists of five sections. First is a section establishing the historical background and cultural surroundings experienced by the composers and setting the stage for their work in 1919. In the three subsequent sections, particular attention is given to the stylistic features of each work in turn as well as to the influences that shaped them. Where possible, detailed biographical information about the compositional process is supplied; I then show how exotic influences and the heritage of the French style (through Debussy and Ravel) are present in each work. Other stylistic aspects are discussed on a piece-specific basis, namely the influence of Jewish traditional music in Bloch, English modality in Clarke, and Expressionism in Hindemith. Musical examples are given to illustrate the analyses. To end, a concluding section traces parallels between the composers' lives, the factors of greatest impact on their compositional identity, and the outcomes of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's composition competition, where the works by Bloch and Clarke took first and second places, respectively. (The work by Hindemith was not entered.) The overarching goal of this study is to provide violists with a single comprehensive resource on these works and their shared history. To my knowledge, such a study is not currently available, and will be of use to performers wishing to learn more about these pieces, which are at the core of violists' repertoire today.
Defining Manon: Three Operas on Abbé Prévost’s Manon Lescaut
(2013-09-16) Boudreaux, Emily; Citron, Marcia J.; Bailey, Walter B.; Barnett, Gregory R.
Abbé Prévost’s novel L’Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (1731) has inspired at least four operas, notably by Daniel Auber, Jules Massenet, Giacomo Puccini, and Hans Werner Henze. This study will look at the three nineteenth-century operas based on that novel: Auber’s Manon Lescaut (1856), Massenet’s Manon (1884), and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (1893). Massenet’s treatment receives the most attention because it is the most popular, and arguably the most well-known, of the three operas. I will discuss Manon’s role in the novel and operas, and its impact on the dramatic conception of each work. In the three operas I will examine her arias and other music, and her relationships with other characters. The goal is to gain a better understanding of each composer’s interpretation of Prévost’s heroine and to explore why Manon is different in each work.
Divine apparitions: The female-operatic voice in film
(2007) Hoffman, Thomas J., II; Citron, Marcia J.
This work formulates a new language for speaking about the operatic voice in film. Beyond cultural signifiers, opera has a more specific purpose in film, and this thesis will provide a new language for speaking about it in such a way. Borrowing from Michel Chion's acousmetre, the current document develops a new lexicon for the way operatic music functions, beyond the traditional diegesis, and points out the agency of such voices in film. After outlining the specific attributes of the diva-acousmetre, the agent outlined in the thesis, three chapters explore its use in the films Philadelphia, The Shawshank Redemption, and Transamerica.
Female Sexual Identity and Characterization in Richard Strauss’s Salome
(2012-09-05) Murphy, Maria; Citron, Marcia J.; Bailey, Walter B.; Ferris, David
This thesis examines the sexual development and characterization of the title character in Richard Strauss’s Salome (1905). It contends that Salome experiences a sexual evolution—a "maturing"—that Strauss derives from Oscar Wilde's play and further emphasizes through Salome's musical language and character development. Three structural phases in Salome's sexual development are proposed: a pre-pubescent phase, a phase of sexual awakening, and a phase of dangerous sexuality. The characterization of Salome is also explored through the lens of performance theory, in an examination of the film versions of Götz Friedrich (1974), Jürgen Flimm (2004), and David McVicar (2008). In addition, the thesis applies Wildean literature on aestheticism and spirituality to Strauss’s opera to show that Salome’s sexual transformation presents an alternative path to self-fulfillment apart from religious salvation. Strauss’s setting reveals a secular, or temporal, aestheticism that leads to an earthly spirituality.
Gender and Compositional Choice: Four Songs on a Poem of Heinrich Heine by Female and Male Composers
(2012-09-05) Piersall, Paul; Citron, Marcia J.; Henze, Matthias; King, Stephen; Lavenda, Richard
As an accepted genre of female composition, song lies in a unique position among musical genres. This allows it to stand largely outside the area of Claude Steele’s notion of “stereotype threat,” and being absent such weighty pressures, it could then furnish an arena in which female composers can do their best work. As a genre that combines the arts of music and poetry, song is based upon a given set of symbols that provide the composer with inspiration. The study of these symbols and their possible metaphorical meanings can offer a guide to that inspiration. By studying two settings by male composers and two settings of female composers, we can compare their individual and gendered approach to those symbols for elements of a masculine or feminine style. Heinrich Heine’s 23rd poem in Die Heimkehr, analyzed thoroughly in Chapter 2, is the focal text in this study. In Chapters 3 through 6 each of the settings is examined at length using both a standard formal analysis and the “Grundgestalt” concept of Schoenberg. The settings examined are “Ihr Bild” by Franz Schubert, “Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen” and “Ihr Bildniss” (two versions of the same work) by Clara Schumann, “Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen” by Hugo Wolf, and a setting of the same name by Ingeborg von Bronsart. Each discussion focuses on the individual reactions to the specific symbols identified in Chapter 2, as well as the global approach to some well-known literary aspects of paternalistic literary culture of the time. The thesis concludes with a summary of the similarities and differences in the preceding four examinations. Chapter 7 also draws conclusions based on those contrasts, which yields an evaluation of gendered reactions and the possibility of a feminine style in the nineteenth century.
Henriette Renie: A pioneer in the world of the harp
(1992) Slaughter, Constance Caroline; Citron, Marcia J.
Henriette Renie was a creative and bold woman in the French musical world at the turn of the twentieth century. She began her career as a child prodigy on the harp, and the success she achieved from this enabled her to further her scope of interests into the fields of teaching and composing. As a concert harpist she elevated the status of the harp from an instrument for dilettantes to an important solo concert instrument. Quickly frustrated with the antiquated and limited repertoire that existed, she turned to composition. Her original works for harp are comprised of virtuosic compositions for her own performances and simpler pieces for beginning harpists. Renie also expanded the harp's repertoire by transcribing works for solo harp and harp ensemble. This thesis explores Renie as a performer, teacher, and composer, and analyzes two of her important compositions, Legende and Concerto in C Minor.
Jenny McLeod: The emergence of a New Zealand voice
(1994) Hardie, Richard Lawrence; Citron, Marcia J.
This thesis examines the question: "What does it mean to have a New Zealand voice?" as exemplified in the life and music of Jenny McLeod. The study has focused on McLeod's struggle to find a balance between three needs: the needs of the composer, and the needs of those who perform and listen to a composer's music. To balance these ideals McLeod has drawn on many sources of inspiration over the years. As a result, her career as a composer appears at first glance to be rather sporadic and incomplete. I maintain, however, that throughout her career McLeod was working constantly towards satisfying the needs outlined above. When examining the development of New Zealand music during the second half of the twentieth-century, I believe that these issues are the same as those confronting all New Zealand artists. The life and music of Jenny McLeod is, therefore, a representative example of the emergence of a distinctive "voice" in New Zealand music.
"Les Troyens": Aspects of musico-dramatic structure (Libretto, Berlioz, France)
(1988) Garrett, Paulet Pittenger; Citron, Marcia J.
In Les Troyens one can find the embodiment of Berlioz's aesthetic doctrine. He believed that music is most effective when it faithfully reflects and develops the dramatic ideas that are presented in the libretto. In forming his libretto, Berlioz developed his own unique solution to the problem of dramatic unity. He composed only the parts of the text that he considered suitable, thus presenting a series of tableaux on Shakespearean lines. He believed above all else that music must be truthful, and he shaped it to suit the libretto but never subordinated the music to the words and dramatic action.
Miroirs d'apres Perlemuter: A short biography of Vlado Perlemuter with a commentary on his interpretation of Maurice Ravel's "Miroirs"
(1989) Dodek, Carla Marion; Citron, Marcia J.
Vlado Perlemuter is the last direct link to Maurice Ravel and is considered to be the most authentic interpreter of his music. Not only is he the last living student of Ravel, but he is the only pianist to have studied Ravel's complete solo piano works with the composer. As a pianist, Perlemuter was influenced by his teachers, Moritz Mozskowski and Alfred Cortot, and is a product of the Paris Conservatoire--the institution that was to define the French School of piano playing. Ravel influenced Perlemuter's playing as well by exposing him to new styles of piano writing and by opening his imagination to innovative sounds, mainly orchestral in nature. Perlemuter's approach to Miroirs reflects these many influences and offers an interesting study of how he achieves such diverse sonorities out of the piano. Examples of some of these ideas include passages where he uses the thumb to bring out melodies, redistribution of voices for both technical and interpretive purposes, and pedallings that create orchestral effects. Perlemuter remembers many specific interpretive ideas that Ravel had shared with him in his lessons. These ideas are of special importance because, since Ravel rarely spoke about his compositions, they serve as a valuable source of information that may have otherwise remained unknown. Vlado Perlemuter has shared his music with three generations of students and audiences. He will be remembered for many years by his admirers for his enlightening lessons and concerts. In addition, Vlado Perlemuter has made a valuable contribution to the musical world through his recordings and through the book that he co-authored with Helene Jourdan-Morhange, Ravel d'apr es Ravel.
Saint-Saëns, d'Indy, Debussy, and the Reconstruction of the Past in fin-de-siècle France
(2014-04-24) Jiang, Qingfan; Bailey, Walter B.; Citron, Marcia J.; Barnett, Gregory R.; Blattler, Damian
My thesis explores the highly individual reconstruction of the past in the works of Camille Saint-Saëns, Vincent d’Indy, and Claude Debussy in the context of the larger retrospective impulse in fin-de-siècle France. Specifically, it investigates the appropriation and incorporation of the “old” into the “new,” which results not only from artistic need, but also from a compulsion to justify the present by way of the past. Chapter one shows Saint-Saëns’s and d’Indy’s different approaches to restoring early repertoire stemming from their divergent aesthetic views of the relationship between music and history. Chapter two illustrates Debussy’s attempt to forge a connection with Rameau and thereby defend his French identity not by imitating Rameau’s music but by constructing a French image of Rameau. The past was never far from the creative process, and it served as an important instrument in the definition and defense of their musical styles and artistic identities.
Six major women pianists: Clara Schumann, Teresa Carreno, Myra Hess, Clara Haskil, Alicia de Larrocha, and Martha Argerich
(2001) Sohnn, HunJu; Citron, Marcia J.
The six artists presented in this paper hold important places in the world of the performing arts. Their outstanding talent and perseverance have brought them world recognition. Clara Schumann, the pioneer of women pianists, performed throughout her life, receiving an enthusiastic reception by the public. Living in an era when women performers were scarce, Clara Schumann was accepted on an equal basis to any male artist. Teresa Carreno, known for her extremely passionate and bravura playing especially in her youth, captivated her audiences wherever she went. Despite a tumultuous personal life, Carreno enjoyed tremendous success in her own life time. Myra Hess led a blossoming career in England and on the Continent before having a grand success in the United States. She led the National Gallery Concerts during World War II, which brought about much appreciation from her countrymen. Clara Haskil's life was filled with ill health and World War II made it difficult for her to gain recognition; she only launched a career in her 50s. By then, she performed with the best of orchestras and conductors, enjoying the success due her much earlier in her life. Alicia de Larrocha, known as the Queen of Spanish Music, has performed widely since the late 1960s. She has been invited to perform much of Mozart's output besides the Spanish repertoire. Despite her success on stage, she has had to battle her personal feelings regarding the balance between a career and family. Martha Argerich's thundering excitement and devilish technical capabilities keep her at the height of her profession, yet she has had ambiguous feelings toward her career. She limits her appearances, yet her powerful magnetism overwhelms the audience and keeps them asking for more. By many standards, women pianists' careers have evolved to a high level of social acceptance. However, today, as in the nineteenth century, many obstacles remain, and women in pursuit of a concert career are faced with the same competing---and often irreconcilable---challenges. These six pianists have risen above the challenges facing them as women artists and their names have been firmly planted in the history of piano performance.
South African "songprints": The lives and works of Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, Princess Constance Magogo, and Rosa Nepgen
(2001) Jorritsma, Marie Rosalie; Citron, Marcia J.
Music in South Africa today is as diverse as its people. Due to this diversity, there are many different ways of describing the various styles of music in the country. Because of my interest in these styles and in gender and music studies, I have focused on the lives and works of three South African women composers, namely, Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph (b. 1948), Princess Constance Magogo (1900--1984), and Rosa Nepgen (1909--2000). These women come from English, Zulu, and Afrikaans circumstances respectively, and my study reflects their individual stories and how their music developed in the South African context. Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph composes mainly in classical music genres, while Princess Magogo, a performer on the musical bow, concentrates on Zulu traditional song repertoire. Rosa Nepgen's output consists mostly of art songs. While there are links between these three women, each has left her own personal "songprint" to enrich the musical life of South Africa.
The Chickering Piano Company in the nineteenth century
(2001) Tsang-Hall, Dale Yi-Cheng; Citron, Marcia J.
Jonas Chickering was the foremost American piano-maker in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. He perfected the iron frame in the square piano and the grand piano, adding stability and strength to the instruments, and launching his company into the international market. Even more, he took advantage of an age in which technology, transportation, financial abundance, and American idealism converged, propelling the piano, its music, and its artists into the American mainstream. The Chickering firm in the mid-1800's was one of the most respected manufacturing companies in the United States. In the history of pianoforte design, Jonas Chickering bridged the gap between the 19th-century European pianoforte and the modern design epitomized by the Steinway company. His firm was also largely responsible for the "piano craze" that overtook the United States in the mid-1800's, in which "middle-class" status was epitomized by stationing a piano in the living room. This document gives an overview of the nineteenth-century Chickering company as a whole. It focuses specifically upon the design and construction of the nineteenth-century Chickering square and grand. In conducting research for this dissertation, I began with a study of five Chickering instruments at the Smithsonian Institution, particularly noting the physical evolution of the square piano. Important primary-source information was gathered at the Smithsonian Institution Archives Center, whose Chickering & Sons collection includes the majority of the Chickering Piano Registers. A visit to the Fiske Museum in Claremont, California afforded an opportunity to study the earliest known Chickering grand in a public collection, as well as two Chickering squares. I also visited numerous other Chickering grands in California to trace further the evolution of the grand line. In order to examine more closely a representative instrument, the author acquired an 1869 Chickering square (Serial #34936). Through dismantling its action and damper assemblies, I was able to gain more insight into the Chickering company's designs and production methods. A detailed summary of findings is included. This writer's intent is to explain the technological, musical, and ideological success of the Chickering company in producing perfect instruments for their time.
The compositional art of Clara Schumann: Perspectives on selected lieder as informed by text-to-music and music-to-text approaches
(2003) Haisler, Jim Louis; Citron, Marcia J.
In the last two decades there has been a surge of interest in Clara Schumann's life and compositions. Scholarship regarding her lieder, however, has not been so abundant. Now that Schumann has been brought to our attention, the clear and present need is to explore her work in greater detail. I address this need by examining a selection of Schumann's lieder from two distinct approaches in lieder analysis. In the first approach, text-to-music, my analyses of three lieder of Schumann are informed by Lawrence Kramer's concept of "outdoing," as well as the concept of "artistic space." The second approach, music-to-text, examines the musical portrayal of poetic personae through tonality in three separate lieder, and, to a large extent, is viewed through Kofi Agawu's method for lieder analysis. What is revealed is that Schumann's lieder style complements the text to an astonishing level and seeks to add her own artistic imprint.
The early organ sinfonias of Herman Berlinski
(2001) Frohbieter, Ann Williams; Citron, Marcia J.
As the first composer to forge a Jewish idiom for the pipe organ, and the only composer to produce a major body of Hebraic concert works for the instrument, Herman Berlinski is a composer of exceptional creativity. The document begins with the fascinating story of the composer's life. Berlinski, a native of Leipzig, completed his college degree at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1932. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Berlinski fled to France, where he lived on student visa status, studying with Nadia Boulanger and Alfred Cortot. Following the Nazi invasion of France, Berlinski served as an infantryman, and, after the fall of France, emigrated to America. In 1954 he was hired by Temple Emanu El, New York as Assistant Organist/Music Assistant. He soon realized that no Jewish organ repertoire of any significance existed and set about to create the music himself. Major organ works written at Emanu El include "The Burning Bush" and Sinfonias Nos. 2 and 3. In 1963 he moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Organist-Director of Music of the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Among his compositions for organ are twelve major works entitled "sinfonias," which he composed between the years 1954 and 2000. This document examines the first three sinfonias, each of which is a multi-movement suite. Sinfonia No. 1, Litanies for the Persecuted, is a nine-movement suite for organ, narrator, and alto soloist, written in memory of Jews who died in the Holocaust. Sinfonia No. 2, Holy Days and Festivals, is a five-movement suite of organ preludes, one for each Jewish festival and High Holy Day. Sinfonia No. 3, Sounds and Motions, is a six-movement secular suite for solo organ which explores colors and rhythms. The final chapter summarizes characteristics of Berlinski's compositional style---including the use of chromatic harmony, mixed meters, classic forms, and finely-shaded dynamics---and discusses influences on his style and the significance of his work. Although Berlinski always writes as a Jew, his music transcends parochial boundaries, to touch the souls of all mankind.
Warning Colors
(2013-09-16) McClure, Robert; Gottschalk, Arthur W.; Brennan, Marcia G.; Citron, Marcia J.; Lavenda, Richard
Warning Colors is a piece for orchestra scored for three flutes (second flute doubling alto flute in G and third flute doubling piccolo), two oboes, one english horn in F, two clarinets in Bb, one bass clarinet in Bb, three bassoons, four horns in F, three trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone, tuba, timpani, three percussion, harp, piano doubling celeste, and strings. The title is a phrase used in evolutionary biology in relation to the behavior of mimicry which is the core musical concept of the work. While writing a piece called Desert Miniatures: Insects for three bassoons in the summer of 2012, I learned about a butterfly, the Arizona Red Spotted Purple from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona which employs mimicry. The physical appearance of the butterfly has evolved to resemble another, noxious species of butterfly in the region, the Pipevine Swallowtail. The Red Spotted Purple is attacked far less because it has developed similar warning colors to the Swallowtail that predators have learned to recognize and avoid. Warning Colors employs three types of musical mimicry. The first is harmonic mimicry in which a stable harmony is presented in either the winds or brass. The strings mimic the harmony by sliding around it using microtones. These moments of harmonic mimicry serve as structural pillars. Second, rhythmic mimicry occurs when a melody or line is performed simultaneously against itself, the mimicking melody having different rhythmic values. The two lines intertwine rhythmically, come into unison, and break away from each other in a heterophonic texture. The third, melodic mimicry, occurs when two or more lines mimic a source by matching its contour. However, these mimics are not the product of a simple transposition because they retain their own internal intervallic characteristics. The concept of mimicry informed many of the musical characteristics displayed and heard in Warning Colors.

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