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Carl Loewe's "Gregor auf dem Stein": A Precursor to Late German Romanticism

Carl Loewe (1796-1869) was a prolific composer of works for voice and piano with an output exceeding 400 pieces. Just as Schubert pioneered Lieder as a new genre of art music in the nineteenth century, Loewe can be credited for his comparable innovation with the ballad, a narrative song that depicts a story. Though Loewe is often considered a conservative musical figure in the nineteenth century, later romantic composers like Richard Wagner and Hugo Wolf held his ballads in high regard, as they show Loewe's compositional originality in boldly producing drama through the piano-singer format. This document displays how Loewe in his ballad cycle Gregor auf dem Stein, Op. 38 (1834) creates a continuous musical drama to enhance a theological legend. This work is an example of how Loewe foreshadows aspects of later German Romanticism, more fully realized by Wagner and Wolf, through use of musical and dramatic continuity, progressive tonality, motives, and declamatory vocal style.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/217070
Date January 2011
CreatorsWitkowski, Brian Charles
ContributorsRoe, Charles, Robinson, Faye, Dauphinais, Kristin, Roe, Charles
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Electronic Dissertation
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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