The pieces discussed throughout this dissertation provide evidence of the evolution of the fanfare and the ability of the fanfare, as a form, to accept modern compositional techniques. While Britten’s Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury maintains the harmonic series, it does so by choice rather than by the necessity in earlier music played by the baroque trumpet. Stravinsky’s Fanfare from Agon applies set theory, modal harmonies, and open chords to blend modern techniques with medieval sounds. Satie’s Sonnerie makes use of counterpoint and a rather unusual, new characteristic for fanfares, soft dynamics. Ginastera’s Fanfare for Four Trumpets in C utilizes atonality and jazz harmonies while Stravinsky’s Fanfare for a New Theatre strictly coheres to twelve-tone serialism. McTee’s Fanfare for Trumpets applies half-step dissonance and ostinato patterns while Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman demonstrates a multi-section work with chromaticism and tritones. By applying modern compositional techniques to an older, abstract form, composers have maintained the original aesthetic while allowing for fanfares to be used as concert music. This document adds to the limited body of scholarly writing on modern fanfares.

Although the most well-known collaborations of William Plomer and Benjamin Britten are the three church parables (or church operas) - Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace, and The Prodigal Son - by the time of the completion of Curlew River in 1964, the librettist and composer had been working together for well over a decade. During that time, they had completed the opera Gloriana and had considered collaborating on three other projects: one a children's opera on Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Tod, one on an original story of Plomer's called "Tyco the Vegan," and one on a Greek myth (possibly Arion, Daedalus and Icarus, or Phaëthon). Far from being footnotes to the parables, these early collaborations established Plomer and Britten's working relationship and brought to light their common interests as well as their independent ones. Their successive early collaborations, therefore, can be thought of as a conversation through creative expression. This metaphor of conversation can be applied both to successive collaborations and to the completed Gloriana, in that the libretto and the music can be seen as representing different interpretations of both major and minor characters in the opera, including Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. In Gloriana, Britten employed at least three specifically musical methods of challenging the meaning of the libretto: instrumental commentary, textural density, and dramatically significant referential pitches. Plomer and Britten's conversation, carried out through these early collaborations, touches on the function of art, activism, and modern morality, but it is best circumscribed by the concept of myth. Two divergent and very influential interpretations of myth - Matthew Arnold's "sweetness and light" and primal liberation (deduced from Nietzsche) - can be usefully applied to Plomer and Britten's unfolding conversation. The implications of Plomer and Britten's adoption of myth as the topic and language of their collaborative conversation are vast and must be considered in order to understand more fully their work together.

Although Shakespeare deliberately downplays characterization in his moonlit dream fantasy, both Britten and Siegmeister exploit this dramatic element as the basis of their opera settings of the play. Through the operas, the shallow characters take on new dimensions, creating musical experiences existing quite independently of Shakespeare, while at the same time retaining the atmosphere of a dream-fantasy. Placing emphases upon varying aspects of the play, the two composers create entirely different revelations from the Bard's dream. This paper presents a study of the way in which drama and characterization are treated in the operas, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Night of the Moonspell.

Benjamin Britten is a renowned and prolific English composer, well known for his operas and vocal works. He did, however, also compose five works especially for the cello as a solo instrument of which the Sonata in C for Cello and Piano Op. 65 was the first. He was inspired by one of his musical contemporaries, the remarkable Soviet cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Rostropovich was famous for his amazing artistry which propelled him to become one of the most prominent cellists in the world during his time. Thus Britten, who had previously only composed for cello as part of ensembles, created this sonata specifically thinking of Rostropovich and his outstanding skill as a cellist. The premiere of the sonata took place in July 1961 at the Aldeburgh Festival and it was a great success. However, despite Britten's reputation as an outstanding composer and the significance of the sonata, this sonata has been performed infrequently. Britten utilized many challenging techniques and adapted them innovatively in the composition, and perhaps performers may be reluctant to choose this work due to the complexity and challenge inherent in the composition itself. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a practical guide for students and those who wish to learn and perform Britten's Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 by increasing understanding of the work, and by offering practical assistance.

In the western classical tradition, the violoncello has developed a reputation for its soulful, vocal qualities. Because of this distinction, many composers have written elegiac works for the cello. This document comprises studies of three twentieth-century British elegies for cello and piano, each explored against a backdrop of poetic, societal and musical influences. The results reveal several common tropes of mourning, both musical and extra-musical, which can be applied to further studies of musical works.

The music of Benjamin Britten is both inspiring and intriguing: inspiring, because his music can move the listener; intriguing, because his use of triadic harmonies and rhythmic settings seems at once free, flexible, and spontaneous yet sensible and appropriate in representing the mood of the text. Although many of Britten’s harmonies are traditional in nature, e.g. major and minor triads, it is difficult, almost impossible or cumbersome at best, to assign Roman numerals to his harmonies because his manner of chord progression does not always conform to functional theory. In my analyses, I will demonstrate that the logic behind Britten's harmonic progressions can be explained through two types of neo-Riemannian transformation theories, namely Richard Cohn's Four Hexatonic Systems and Leonhard Euler's Tonnetz. In the case of the "Spinning Scene" from The Rape of Lucretia, Hindemith’s "Table of Chord-Groups" will be used to explain the presence of harmonies that are not part of the four hexatonic systems. Throughout, Schenkerian graphs will be presented to illustrate how the underlying structure and overall harmonic design of each piece work in conjunction with the emotion of the text. In addition, I will show that his rhythmic manipulations, when coupled with the meaning behind his chord progression, vividly paint the emotion of the text, as well as the state of mind of the poet or the character in an opera.

This document is the result of the research done in preparation for the two thesis-recitals given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Performance. The recitals and the document are devoted to selected art song composers from Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. The purpose of the research was to obtain a historical and stylistic understanding of the repertoire to be performed in the thesis-recitals. The methodology used for the elaboration of this document included review of relevant literature, score analysis, listening to recordings by major performers, and the preparation for performance itself. The first chapter is focused on the fact that Great Britains most distinguished composers have been influenced by musical practices from the European continent. John Dowland, Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, and the composers from the so-called British Musical Renaissance are taken into account. The second chapter is dedicated to three major figures in art song composition in the United States: Charles Griffes, Samuel Barber, and Ned Rorem. The chapter highlights the fact that these composers share two important features: their styles have roots in musical practices of continental Europe and today they are considered among the most truly American voices. The third chapter focuses on Jean Coulthard, Violet Archer, and R. Murray Schafer as examples of how Canadian composers have used the European artistic heritage in the process of creating their own styles. The document concludes that, in addition to creativity and personal artistic values, two other factors seem to have been important in allowing this group of composers to become models of the national voice of their own countries: a strong awareness of musical and literary heritage and an open acceptance of foreign influences.

This document is the result of the research done in preparation for the two thesis-recitals given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Performance. The recitals and the document are devoted to selected art song composers from Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. The purpose of the research was to obtain a historical and stylistic understanding of the repertoire to be performed in the thesis-recitals. The methodology used for the elaboration of this document included review of relevant literature, score analysis, listening to recordings by major performers, and the preparation for performance itself. The first chapter is focused on the fact that Great Britains most distinguished composers have been influenced by musical practices from the European continent. John Dowland, Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, and the composers from the so-called British Musical Renaissance are taken into account. The second chapter is dedicated to three major figures in art song composition in the United States: Charles Griffes, Samuel Barber, and Ned Rorem. The chapter highlights the fact that these composers share two important features: their styles have roots in musical practices of continental Europe and today they are considered among the most truly American voices. The third chapter focuses on Jean Coulthard, Violet Archer, and R. Murray Schafer as examples of how Canadian composers have used the European artistic heritage in the process of creating their own styles. The document concludes that, in addition to creativity and personal artistic values, two other factors seem to have been important in allowing this group of composers to become models of the national voice of their own countries: a strong awareness of musical and literary heritage and an open acceptance of foreign influences.

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on August 10, 2009). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Comparative Literature. Includes bibliographical references.