This thesis concerns Wales as the ‘land of song’. In particular, it looks at choral singing in Wales which has long been considered a male tradition. From definitions of Welsh musical traditions featured in encyclopaedias to the continued use of male voice choirs at cultural events (such as rugby matches), men are continually promoted as the only bearers of the Welsh choral tradition. By contrast, this thesis questions such an assertion by arguing that women were also key players in its development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this matter, I interrogate two gendered stereotypes: Wales as ‘the land of my mothers’ (with reference to the suffrage movement) and Wales as ‘the land of my fathers’ (with reference to music, sport and nationhood). Conceived as a historical ethnography, this thesis draws upon extensive primary and secondary sources to provide the first in-depth study of gender and identity in Welsh choirs. The core of the thesis is comprised of historical narratives of four case study choirs from the period under study, namely the South Wales Choral Union (led by ‘Caradog’), the Rhondda Glee Society (led by Tom Stephens) and the two Royal Welsh Ladies’ Choirs (led by Clara Novello Davies and Hannah Hughes-Thomas respectively). In each case, I provide a discussion of the choir’s origin and the social context in which it developed, details about performance practice, membership, social class, repertoire and each choir’s relationship to notions of gender and identity in Wales. Moreover, I present a new understanding of the choirs’ conductors through biographical accounts; information regarding Clara Novello Davies and Hannah Hughes-Thomas especially has not been featured in previous scholarly studies. Informed by my perspective as a Welsh woman, I present a nuanced reading of Wales as ‘the land of song’ by considering both historical narratives and personal ethnographic experiences today. In this manner, this thesis contributes to ethnomusicological literature on gendered discourse and concepts of nationhood.

Zyklus mit Volksliedbearbeitungen zur Guten Nacht für dreistimmigen gemischten Chor und Klavier, mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Concertino-Musikverlags, Dauer. ca. 8 Minuten:1. Nun wollen wir singen das Abendlied 2. Guten Abend, gut' Nacht 3. Guter Mond, du gehst so stille 4. Die Blümelein, sie schlafen 5. Ade zur guten Nacht 6. Abend wird es wieder 7. Der Mond ist aufgegangen

Die Komposition „Versus Venus“ basiert auf Richard Wagners Oper „Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg“. Im „Tannhäuser“ nimmt besonders in den Ensembleszenen die musikalische Dichte ein solches Maß an, dass Einzelstimmen in der komplexen, vielschichtigen Klangmasse kaum noch wahrnehmbar sind. In „Versus Venus“ werden Elemente aus diesen Szenen aufgegriffen, fragmentiert und wieder neu verdichtet, mit dem Ziel, die ungeheure Energie noch weiter zu steigern. Anmerkung in der Partitur: „Das Stück sollte so gesungen werden, als würde ein großes Orchester die Sänger kraftvoll begleiten. Die Sänger agieren in höchster Expressivität und sind stets bemüht, das imaginäre Orchester deutlich zu übertönen.“ Die Uraufführung fand 2008 mit dem Ensemble vocal modern unter der Leitung von Christfried Brödel in Chemnitz/Dresden/Leipzig statt.

Der Titel des Stückes „Über das Erwachen“ resultiert aus der Beschäftigung mit den philosophisch-soziologischen Schriften Peter Sloterdijks. Immer wieder tauchen in seinen Werken Reflexionen über das Erwachen auf. Anknüpfungspunkte sind dabei vor allem die Darstellungen eines analytisch-aufgeklärten, also „wachen“ Denkens, aber auch die Beschreibung eines ganz konkret individuellen Erwachens am Morgen, des Zu-sich-kommens, der „Persönlichkeitswerdung“ nach nächtlicher „Entfremdung“. Uraufführung am 25. 06. 2003 im Großen Saal des Leipziger Gewandhauses mit Bettina Denner-Brückner - Alt, Jürgen Kurth - Bass, Leipziger Universitätschor, Pauliner Kammerorchester, Leitung: Albrecht Koch.

This thesis documents and examines the history of Cornish male voice choirs from their origins in the late nineteenth century through to the present day. The evolution of the choirs has hitherto been charted largely through scattered oral testimonies, whereas this work traces the rise, decline and resurgence of the male choral tradition by drawing from a range of primary sources, including newspapers and repertoire in addition to oral history. The thesis is organised chronologically and the main chapters chart the development of Cornish male voice choirs from the Methodist point of origin, to the subsequent expansion of the male choral movement between the wars and thereafter its seeming atrophy. The opening two chapters focus on the background and emergence of the choirs from c.1820 to 1918. The interwar period is covered in three diverse but linked chapters, assessing the socio-economic context, musicological influences and the importance of geographic locality or ‘place’. The impact of the Second World War on the choirs is examined in Chapter Six. The following chapter traces how the choirs remained vibrant in the face of encroaching secularisation during the 1950s and 1960s, and the final chapter assesses the detrimental effects for the choirs of changed musical behaviours and generational issues in the late twentieth century choir. Four key themes which run throughout the chapters are the influence of Methodism, its teachings and choral hymnody; the significance of repertoire and musical directorship; the importance of the male demographic within the local economy; and secularisation and mass popular culture. The connecting thread of the argument for the thesis as a whole is that male voice choirs both reflect and help shape Cornish identity. As will be seen, identity is a fluid, multi-layered concept, but analysis of the changing role and influence of male voice choirs contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between music, place and culture.

5 engagierte, hochexpressive Lieder für 4- bis 6stimmigen gemischten Chor, zwei Lieder davon mit obligatem Klavier. Charakter und auch Art des Satzes sind durchaus unterschiedlich. Die Spanne reicht von einfacher Linie im Chor mit virtuosem Klavierpart als Kontrapunkt über einen aphoristisch kurzen Chorsatz und einem reinen Klangstück ohne Text bis zu einem bedrohlich sich steigernden Fugato. Es handelt sich dabei nicht um einen festen Zyklus, d.h. die Lieder können auch einzeln gesungen werden, wiewohl eine Gesamtaufführung in der angegebenen Reihenfolge natürlich erwünscht ist. Die Texte stammen von Wolfgang Borchert und Marie-Luise Kaschnitz.:1. Versuch es - S/A/T/B/Piano 2. Obertöne - S/A/T/B 3. Intermezzo - S/MS/A/T/Bar/B 4. Weißnoch - S/MS/A/T/Bar/B 5. Du sollst nicht - S/MS/A/T/Bar/B/Piano

Volksliedbearbeitung von 'Kein schöner Land' (Anton Wilhelm von Zuccalmaglio, 1838) in drei verschiedenen Versionen 1. Männerchor und gemischter Chor gemeinsam 2. Männerchor allein 3. gemischter Chor allein

Volksliedbearbeitung für unterschiedliche Chorbesetzungen: gemischter Chor, Männerchor, beide zusammen. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Concertino-Musikverlags

Die „Neue Dresdner Vokalschule“ vereinigt Kompositionen zeitgenössischer Vokalmusik, die im Kontext des Dresdner Ensembles AuditivVokal Dresden entstehen, aufgeführt und rezipiert werden.

This thesis presents research on an amateur composer-oriented Bach choir. Its main purpose is to study the development of musical identities and musical preferences of choir members as they take shape through the collective learning process of rehearsing and performing large-scale choral music. The study analyses how the choral participation and performance creates a certain type of ‘choral capital’ (a combination of social and cultural capital within the choral setting) and how the choristers reconstruct and relate to the composer (J.S. Bach) by creating ‘choral identities’ linked to the composer-orientation of their choir. This study is based on an interdisciplinary approach, seeking concepts and ideas from different fields of study – primarily sociology and music sociology (music in everyday life and the concepts of social and cultural capital in the amateur choral setting) but also music psychology regarding concepts of musical and vocal identities, history of music (especially Bach scholars, previous biographical writings about J.S. Bach), music and education (choral singing as informal music education) and interdisciplinary studies on music, health and well-being. The methodological approach of this research consists of a grounded theory based, single case study where the case was the Croydon Bach Choir in London performing J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, using participant observation (where I sang with the choir for one semester) and qualitative interviews as main research methods and gathering demographic background data on choir members via paper-based survey. Whereas significant research on music performances has been conducted, so far choral research, where the direct participation of the researcher as a member of the choir is used as one of the main research methods, is still quite rare. Results indicate that participants develop socio-musical identity both through their choral participation in general, performance experiences and early music consumption in the family household and the emphasis of the importance of choral singing as a fulfilment instead of pursuing a professional career. Through choral singing, participants developed ‘choral capital’ through a) the effects of collective learning on their musical taste and preferences (thus broadening their musical taste and preferences and reconstructing the composer) and b) the well-being factor of collective singing and communal learning through the process of rehearsing and performing the Mass in B Minor. Furthermore, findings indicated that participants construct Bach as a genius and a devout Lutheran, an image that relates to the romantic image of Bach presented in the late 19th – early 20th century biographical writings on the composer. Thus in general, their choral activities form a valuable addition to their social and cultural capital (´choral capital´), which they use as a source of well-being in everyday life. In addition, participants create a certain ‘choral identity’ by relating to the composer-orientation of their choir; the promotional label of Bach as a synonym for quality choral singing and the emphasis of challenging repertoire.