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This thesis is concernedw ith artists' representationso f the English landscape and rural scenery from the last decade of the nineteenth century up to the outbreak of war in 1914. While isolated aspects of the period in relation to landscape painting have been explored in the form of individual monographs and exhibition catalogues, there have been no overall studies. Equally there has been no sustained attempt to examinet he closei nterconnectionsb etweend epictionso f the rural, and experiences of modernity and the urban that characteriseth ese years. As a result there has been no opportunity to explore the different and complex ways in which ideals of Englishness were negotiated over time amongst a diverse group of painters. This thesis is a contribution to a debate which has emerged in other disciplines and in work within other art historical periods, an investigation of the role of paintings, their public reception and critical interpretation, in the context of the contemporary production and reinforcement of ideas about race, national identity and the construction of native traditions. The paintings discussed here of Stott, Clausen, Steer, John, Knight, Tuke, Gore, Spencer and Nash have all been selected because in different ways, they exemplify the diverse strands of the debate about Englishness around turn of the century. In order to engage properly with the broader effects of these representations, this thesis explores related areas of enquiry about the significance of ruralism and the countryside, as they have emerged in social and rural history, cultural studies, as well as current investigations in the fields of cultural geography and the study of tourism. These areas establish the centrality of ideas about the rural as a focus for unity and order, and as a site upon which imaginative solutions to the problems of modernity could be developed, in ways that have been left out of art historical accounts of the period as a whole. A fundamental aim here is the study of the cumulative effects, by 1914, of a consistent commodification of the countryside and of its populations by and for urban spectators.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Grenoble III, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 501-521) and index.

This thesis explores the life and work of Rex Whistler, from his first commissions whilst at the Slade up until the time he enlisted for active service in World War Two. His death in that conflict meant that this was a career that lasted barely twenty years; however it comprised a large range of creative endeavours. Although all these facets of Whistler’s career are touched upon, the main focus is on his work in murals and the fields of advertising and commercial design. The thesis goes beyond the remit of a purely biographical stance and places Whistler’s career in context by looking at the contemporary art world in which he worked, and the private, commercial and public commissions he secured. In doing so, it aims to provide a more comprehensive account of Whistler’s achievement than has been afforded in any of the existing literature or biographies. This deeper examination of the artist’s practice has been made possible by considerable amounts of new factual information derived from the Whistler Archive and other archival sources. Thus the sources of his ideas and influences, the creative stimuli to which Whistler responded have been documented extensively and mapped against the iconography to be found in his works, particularly the murals. Further consideration of the art, artists and culture of the time situates the artist amongst his contemporaries, drawing out the themes and inspirations that he shared with them and in so doing questions the idea of Whistler as an idiosyncratic artist working in a partially private ‘bubble’, cut off from wider currents of art practice. The artist’s diaries and accounts books have provided invaluable fresh information on his working practices, social and professional connections and the remuneration he received for different projects. This monographic concentration on Whistler’s life and art practice is seen as the necessary foundation for further analysis of his career and what his career, in turn, tells us about the inter-war British art world. The thesis argues that Whistler’s success as a muralist needs to be considered against the background of the English mural revival, the emergent enthusiasm for Baroque and Rococo style and the rediscovery of the Regency period. Equally, a case is made for Whistler’s understanding of the new area of advertising and design that developed in the 1920s and 30s, in which he played a substantial part. The thesis also argues that Whistler was complicit in the managing of his image during his lifetime, and was particularly astute in his understanding of the power of the press and media. With Whistler’s work in many areas governed by the commissioning process, an attempt is made to understand and assess the implications of patronage in the twentieth century and the concomitant effects upon an artist’s creative vision, voice and identity.

This research contributes valuable contextual information to the study of Karol Szymanowski's little-known song cycle Seven Songs to Poems of James Joyce, op. 54 (1926), providing a reliable, comprehensive reference for singers and scholars. In this research, I establish separate historical contexts for James Joyce's Chamber Music and Szymanowski's settings of the poems in op. 54. Using these established historical contexts, I then analyze Joyce's poems and Szymanowski's text settings, focusing on their styles and aesthetics. Szymanowski reorders the seven selected poems, creating a new storyline related to—but different from—the original. Where Chamber Music presents a chronological emotional arc, Seven Songs presents a roller coaster-like storyline, achieved by flashing back and forth between the protagonist's past and present. I demonstrate how Szymanowski's newly-created, complex storyline fits both the surface and deeper meanings of each poem, using specific musical elements to enhance emotional conflicts in the texts. I conclude with a detailed analysis of the relationship between the text and music of this song cycle, serving as a performance guide. I hope that my analysis and complete performance of this cycle will reignite interest in Szymanowski's music outside of Poland, especially in countries where English is the native language.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was one of the important English art song composers in the Twentieth century. His Ten Blake Songs for voice and oboe, composed in 1957, was commissioned for the documentary film The Vision of William Blake, which commemorated the bicentenary birth of the poet, William Blake (1757-1827). Ten poems were selected from Blake¡¦s Songs of Innocence and Experience as well as Notebook: Manuscripts by Williams, and were later collected, composed, and published in the name of Ten Blake Songs. In this song collection, Ralph Vaughan Williams used a variety of styles and composition techniques, which demonstrated his maturity and sophistication in composing English art songs in his later years. This study is consist of six parts, including the biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams, the characteristics of Vaughan Williams¡¦ art songs, the biography of William Blake, introduction of Songs of Innocence and Experience, the composition background of Ten Blake Songs, and the analysis as well as interpretation of these songs. Through analyzing these songs, the author wishes to explores the multiple approaches Ralph Vaughan Williams took in composing the music and enhancing the poetry written by the great eighteenth-century poet, William Blake, as well as to provide references for performers to further enhance the breadth and depth in their performance.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-141). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The English art song in the 20th-century presents a performance challenge unique in the solo song repertoire. Unlike the corresponding bodies of German Lied and French mélodie, which proceeded from a well-ingrained national tradition of music and poetry, the English art song had no such background. The many British composers who have contributed to the song literature of this century reflect varied backgrounds and influences. Lennox Berkeley combined his English heritage with the French background of his mother's family, largely self-taught musical skills and an innate sensitivity to poetry to become one of the most prominent song composers of this century. He trained with Nadia Boulanger, gaining exposure to the formal and melodic techniques of Faure and the neo-classicism of Stravinsky. Berkeley composed a total of seventy-eight solo songs. His acceptance and furtherance of a fundamentally traditional songmaker's craft place him more directly in the post-war line of succession of English song than Benjamin Britten, whose innovative musical techniques place him in the vanguard of new music.This document explores those aspects of Berkeley's life and work that contribute to his compositional choices. It provides an overview of all of Berkeley's known solo songs as well as a more detailed analysis of Five Songs (Walter de la Mare), Five Poems CW.H. Auden) and Another Spring. The paper illustrates the qualities of Berkeley's songs which justify his inclusion among the most successful art song composers of this century

This diploma thesis turns attention to the important figures of the first half of the 20th century such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi and Benjamin Britten. It deals with an art song on the territory of the then England, and compares the contribution of the chosen authors. Partly, this thesis focuses on the aspect of interpretation and singing.