In the early 1890s, Ingeborg von Bronsart (1840-1913) was hailed by the German
musical press as the "first lady" of the German stage. Her first two extant dramatic works
—Jery und Bately (Singspiel, 1873) and Hiarne (grosse Oper, 1891) — had captivated
audiences and were met with enthusiasm from critics. By 1904, Arthur Elson noted that
Bronsart was "one of the few really great women composers." Yet by the time her last
opera, Die Siihne, premiered in 1909, the magic had faded. Critics rejected the work as
unimaginative, while audiences stayed away. Bronsart and her works quickly disappeared
from the repertoire and from history.
Employing manuscript and contemporary published sources, Chapter One examines
Bronsart's life and the rich artistic circles in which she lived and worked. Chapters Two,
Three and Four are devoted to each of Bronsart's three extant operas. The individual works
are considered with respect to their genesis as well as to more general matters of plot and
dramatic structure. Because little is known about Bronsart's music, in order to obtain a
better understanding of her style a substantial portion of my discussion concentrates on the
musical analysis and dramatic interpretation of each opera. Focusing on the specific
numbers and scenes that I consider to be of significant interest, I examine the vocal writing,
harmonic language, formal structures, unity and continuity. The thesis concludes with an
exploration of broader historiographical issues of reception, gender, genre and aesthetic
value, laying the foundation for a renewed interest in this unique composer and her works.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/13010 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Boyd, Melinda Jean |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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