Choral Monuments

Studies of Eleven Choral Masterworks
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-0-19-046902-3
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 464 Seiten, Format (B × H): 239 mm x 157 mm, Gewicht: 913 g

Choral Monuments provides extensive material about eleven epoch-making choral masterworks that span the history of Western culture. Included are: Missa Pange lingua (Josquin Desprez); Missa Papae Marcelli (G. P. da Palestrina); B Minor Mass (J. S. Bach); Messiah (G. F. Handel); The Creation (Joseph Haydn); Symphony #9 (Ludwig van Beethoven); St. Paul (Felix Mendelssohn); Ein deutsches Requiem (Johannes Brahms); Messa da Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi); Mass (Igor Stravinsky); and War Requiem (Benjamin Britten). The works are presented in separate chapters, with each chapter divided into three basic sections-history, analysis, and performance practice.

Discussions of history are focused on relevancies-the genesis of the designated work in reference to the composer's total choral output, the work's place within the musical environment and social climate of its time, and essential features of the work that make it noteworthy. In addition, the compositional history addresses three other factors: the work's public reception and critical response, both at the time of its composition and in ensuing years; the history of score publications, detailing the various differences between editions; and the texts of the composition. The material regarding textual treatment, which often includes the complete texts of the works being discussed, concentrates on primary concerns of the text's usage; also included in the discussion are noteworthy aspects of texts separate from the music as well as biographical details of librettists and poets, if appropriate.

The analysis section of each chapter outlines and describes musical forms and other types of compositional organization, including parody technique, mirror structures, and motto repetitions, as well as salient compositional characteristics that directly relate and contribute to the work's artistic stature. Numerous charts and musical examples illustrate the discussions.

The discussion of performance practices includes primary source quotations about a wide range of topics, from performing forces, tempo, and phrasing of each work to specific issues such as tactus, text underlay, musica ficta, metric accentuation, and ornamentation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shrock, Dennis

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Vokalmusik, Chormusik
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein Musiktheorie, Musikästhetik, Kompositionslehre
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein Einzelne Komponisten und Musiker
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Sinfonische Musik & Ensembles

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Table of Contents

- Acknowledgements

- Introduction

- CHAPTER ONE

- Josquin Desprez - Missa Pange Lingua

- Biographical and Compositional Overview

- Salient Compositional Characteristics

- Imitation

- Ostinatos

- The Missa Pange lingua

- Structure and Parody Technique

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Performing Forces

- Meter, Tactus, and Tempo

- Text Underlay

- Musica Ficta and Musica Recta

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER TWO

- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Missa Papae Marcelli

- Biographical and Compositional Overview

- The Papacy and the Counter-Reformation

- The Missa Papae Marcelli

- Musical Characteristics

- Legacy

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Pitch and Performing Forces

- Meter and Tactus

- Oratorical Phrasing

- Tempo

- Musica Ficta

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER THREE

- Johann Sebastian Bach - B Minor Mass

- Biographical and Compositional Overview

- Bach's Lutheran Masses

- Parody Technique

- The B Minor Mass

- Parodies

- Compositional Rationale

- Manuscripts, Editions, and Performances

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Kyrie

- Gloria

- Credo

- Sanctus

- Agnus Dei

- Summary

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Performing Forces

- Meter and Tempo

- Rhythmic Alteration

- Ornamentation

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER FOUR

- George Frideric Handel - Messiah

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Handel's Compositional Process

- Speed of Writing, Parody Technique, and Revision of Works

- The Libretto of Messiah

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Instrumental Movements

- Recitatives

- Solo Vocal Movements

- Choruses

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Performing Forces and Stage Setup

- Volume, Timbre, Pitch, and Vibrato

- Metric Accentuation

- Rhythmic Alteration

- Recitative

- Ornamentation

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER FIVE

- Joseph Haydn - The Creation

- Introduction

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- The Text of The Creation

- Musical Expression

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Editions

- Performing Forces and Stage Setup

- Meter and Tempo

- Metric Accentuation

- Recitative

- Ornamentation

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER SIX

- Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony #9

- Introduction

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Schiller's An die Freude

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Expression

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Tempo

- Metric Accentuation

- Orchestration

- Stage Setup

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER SEVEN

- Felix Mendelssohn - St. Paul

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Reception of St. Paul

- Compositional Historicism

- The Text of St. Paul

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Recitatives

- Turba Choruses

- Arias

- Choruses

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Introduction

- Performance in German or English

- Performing Forces and Stage Setup

- Fermatas

- Recitatives

- Recommendations

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER EIGHT

- Johannes Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Reception of the Requiem

- Texts Set by Brahms Related to Those of the Requiem

- The Texts Brahms Chose for the Requiem

- Musical and Formal Structures

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Instrumentation, Timbre, and Vibrato

- Metric Accentuation

- Stage Setup

- Tempo Fluctuation

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER NINE

- Giuseppe Verdi - Messa da Requiem

- Introduction

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- The Text of the Requiem

- Formal and Musical Structures

- Structures Exhibited in Scoring

- Structures of Individual Movements

- Structures Related to Melodic Design

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Rhythm and Expressive Markings

- Tempo

- Performing Forces and Stage Setup

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER TEN

- Igor Stravinsky - Mass

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Masses Based on Historic Models

- The Nineteenth Century

- The Twentieth Century

- Stravinsky and Musical Styles of the Past

- Oedipus rex and Babel

- Symphony of Psalms and Canticum sacrum

- Mass and Cantata

- Formal and Musical Structures of the Mass

- Kyrie and Agnus Dei

- Gloria and Sanctus

- Credo

- Summary

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Text Setting

- Performing Forces and Stage Setup

- Summary

- Selected Bibliography

- CHAPTER ELEVEN

- Benjamin Britten - War Requiem

- Introduction

- Genesis and Historical Perspective

- Wilfred Owen and his Poetry in the War Requiem

- Musical Symbolism

- Structural Symbolism

- Movement 1 - Requiem Aeternam

- Movement 2 - Dies Irae

- Movement 3 - Offertorium

- Movement 6 - Libera Me

- Supplementary Structures

- Performance Practice Considerations

- Performing Forces

- Stage Setup

- Nationalities of the Vocal Soloists and Their Vocal Timbres

- Acoustics

- Addendum

- Selected Bibliography

- Appendix

- Score Data

Über Autor(innen)

Dennis Shrock is widely acclaimed as a master teacher, scholar, and performer of choral music, being noted for his commitment to performance practices and being hailed for performances characterized for their technical precision, stylistic faithfulness, and musical expression. He has held numerous university residencies and is author of several books on choral music and performance practice, including Choral Repertoire (OUP 2009) and Choral Scores (OUP 2015).