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.

Members of the second generation of the English Musical Renaissance have long been associated with a break from the Teutonic influence of their predecessors to create a musical idiom that is quintessentially English. Scholarship has long looked at these composers, who include those born between Vaughan Williams and Moeran, in isolation from the artistic movements and political and social issues of Europe, when in fact they were part of them. This thesis places these composers within these currents by discussing them as part of England’s Lost Generation and within the historical contexts of Europe in the early twentieth century. Though the Lost Generation is often associated with the post-war period, I propose that the phenomenon existed prior to World War I by focussing on England’s aesthetic lostness in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. The Lost Generation of composers inherited a musical culture that had been aesthetically lost for two hundred years and rebelled against it to define a musical idiom that was quintessentially English. After placing the second generation of the English Musical Renaissance within its historical contexts, I call into question previous discussions on English music that define it according to single definitions largely associated with the Pastoral School or the Folk School. Instead, I propose that the music of this generation was stylistically diverse while simultaneously a manifestation of common cultural influences, ultimately rooted in the goal of creating a sense of community. To support this claim, I discuss the various stylistic techniques of individual composers within their collective cultural influences, including the music of England’s past, the landscape, and English literature. Furthermore, I explore the role of musical community, both as a central goal in the creation of a national idiom and as a source of compositional inspiration. By examining the influences and compositional styles of these composers, I conclude that the music of this generation broke from Continental influences by developing a national idiom that was both stylistically unique to the individual composer and tied to common cultural influences that were rooted in the goal of creating a musical community within England. . / Graduate

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An examination of the utilization of folk song elements in the wind band music of Australian composer David Stanhope, represented in two movements ("Lovely Joan" and "Rufford Park Poachers") from his Folk Songs for Band. Sets 1 and 2. Included is an historical overview of English folk music, emphasizing the theoretical properties of the English folk song and the events surrounding the modern renaissance of British folk music. Background information related to the musical development of Vaughan Williams, Grainger, and Stanhope is provided, noting the influence of the folk idiom in their compositional styles and Grainger's influence on the music of David Stanhope. An historical account of the two folk songs examines the events and compositional procedures related to the inclusion of "Lovely Joan" in Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves. and Grainger's use of "Rufford Park Poachers" in Lincolnshire Posv. Emphasis is placed on the subsequent compositional treatment of the folk elements in Stanhope's wind band compositions. A detailed analysis of Stanhope's compositional style includes structural, harmonic, melodic, and historical considerations, while specifically illuminating his contemporary and innovative approaches to scoring and instrumentation.

The lecture recital was given on June 16, 1980. The Ralph Vaughan Williams Concerto for Bass Tuba and the Paul Hindemith Sonate for Tuba and Piano were performed following a lecture on the historical evolution of the tuba in Europe. The lecture included a history of the predecessors of the tuba and their influence on the development of tuba playing traditions. Tuba performance practices in Europe developed around two playing traditions, one in France and England, and a second in Germany. The ophicleide enjoyed tremendous popularity in France and England during the early nineteenth century. Because this instrument was a major competitor of the tuba in these countries, the tuba was viewed as an ophicleide replacement. Tubists in Europe and England had to develop facility and sound quality equivalent to that of the older instrument. In Germany the tuba's main competitor was the Russian bassoon, a form of upright serpent. At this same time the serpent and its related forms were in decline. This lack of popularity with the older instruments provided an opportunity for the quick adoption of the tuba in Germany.

The purpose of this study is to explore the literature for textless voice and woodwind instruments. The primary focus concerns the timbral and ensemble possibilities exploited in three twentieth-century works in which the voice is treated as an instrument i.e., without the usual preoccupation with textual meaning. An historical overview of vocal works with obbligato woodwinds and concerted works for textless voice serves as an introductory chapter. The variables of voice and instrument acoustical makeup, vocal vowel formation and instrumental voicings, volume, vibrato, resultant tones, range, and extended techniques (fluttertongue, special vibrato demands, non-vibrato, etc.) are the focus of the performance considerations for this study. Over thirty twentieth-century textless works for voice and at least one woodwind instrument were located. The three, chosen for this study represent different periods in the century, and present contrasting styles and musical merit: Aria (1931) by Jacques Ibert, Three Vocalises (1958) by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Duos I (1976) by Nancy Chance. A style and performance analysis of these works with pertinent research on the composers is presented. Appendices include an annotated bibliography of selected works for the medium, a written interview with Nancy Chance, and performance notes provided by the composer, concerning Duos I.

It is now broadly accepted that Vaughan Williams's music betrays a more complex relation to national influences than has traditionally been assumed. It is argued in this thesis that despite the trends towards revisionism that have characterized recent work, Vaughan Williams's interest in and engagement with English folk materials and cultures remains only partially understood. Offering contextual interpretation of materials newly available in the field, my work takes as its point of departure the critical neglect surrounding Vaughan Williams's contradictory compositional debut, in which he denounced the value of folk song in English art music in an article published alongside his song 'Linden Lea', subtitled 'A Dorset Folk Song'. Reconstructing the under-documented years of the composer's early career, it is demonstrated that Vaughan Williams's subsequent 'conversion' and lifelong attachment to folk song emerged as part of a broader concern with the intelligible and participatory quality of song and its performance by the human voice. As such, it is argued that the ways in which this composer theorized an idea of 'song' illuminate a powerful perspective from which to re-consider the propositions of his project for a national music. Locating Vaughan Williams's writings within contemporaneous cultural ideas and practices surrounding 'song', 'voice', and 'Englishness', this work brings such contexts into dialogue with readings of various of the composer's works, composed both before and after the First World War. It is demonstrated in this way that the rehabilitation of Vaughan Williams's music and reputation profitably proceeds by reconstructing a complex dialogue between his writings; between various cultural ideas and practices of English music; between the reception of his works by contemporaneous critics; and crucially, by considering the propositions of his music as explored through analysis. Ultimately, this thesis contends that Vaughan Williams's music often betrays a complex and self-conscious performance of cultural ideas of national identity, negotiating an optimistic or otherwise ambivalent relationship to an English musical tradition that is constructed and referenced through a particular idea of song.