Advisor
Bellman, Jonathan, 1957-
Committee Member
Reddick, Carissa
Committee Member
Hesse, Marian
Department
Music History and Literature
Institution
University of Northern Colorado
Type of Resources
Text
Place of Publication
Greeley (Colo.)
Publisher
University of Northern Colorado
Date Created
5-1-2015
Genre
Thesis
Extent
208 pages
Digital Origin
Born digital
Abstract
Chorale as a genre originated in sixteenth-century Lutheran worship music, but
chorales and chorale style did not really enter the vocabulary of secular concert music as
a musical topic until the eighteenth century, as a semiotic code for ideas and feelings
associated with chorales. Although the frequency of use as well as the range of contexts
and implied meanings of chorale topic increased from the eighteenth to the nineteenth
centuries, the scholarship of topical analysis concerning chorales has been vague and
incomplete. Chorales by definition are congregational, identifying and expressing the
sentiments of a group, and their most common associations are of purity, archaism, and
of course spirituality.
When chorales are used topically, the range of their expressive perspectives
broadens considerably, and varies widely depending on the context. Chorale topic can
express a religious or nationalistic “We,” a monumental and impersonal “It,” or an
intimate and personal “I.” Within the category of “I” expressions, chorale topic can
express the irony and despair of the “I” separated from the “We,” or on the other hand,
the comfort, guidance, or transcendence of the separated “I” seeking and finding its
community or communion. Haydn was one of the first composers to regularly use
chorale as a topic in slow movements of his symphonies and string quartets. Nineteenth
century composers—Beethoven, Schubert, Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann,
and Brahms among others—provide examples of chorale topic of every expressive type
and in many genres, including art song, oratorio, piano sonata, duo sonata, string quartet,
symphony, opera, and piano nocturne. Because of their resonance with actual religious
practice, chorales and chorale topic remain perennially current, inherently accessible, and
easily blended with other styles and topics. Understanding the range of meanings that
chorale topic can carry is thus essential to a solid stylistic understanding and hermeneutic
competence with music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Description
Chorale as a genre originated in sixteenth-century Lutheran worship music, but chorales and chorale style did not really enter the vocabulary of secular concert music as a musical topic until the eighteenth century, as a semiotic code for ideas and feelings associated with chorales. Although the frequency of use as well as the range of contexts and implied meanings of chorale topic increased from the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the scholarship of topical analysis concerning chorales has been vague and incomplete. Chorales by definition are congregational, identifying and expressing the sentiments of a group, and their most common associations are of purity, archaism, and of course spirituality. When chorales are used topically, the range of their expressive perspectives broadens considerably, and varies widely depending on the context. Chorale topic can express a religious or nationalistic “We,” a monumental and impersonal “It,” or an intimate and personal “I.” Within the category of “I” expressions, chorale topic can express the irony and despair of the “I” separated from the “We,” or on the other hand, the comfort, guidance, or transcendence of the separated “I” seeking and finding its community or communion. Haydn was one of the first composers to regularly use chorale as a topic in slow movements of his symphonies and string quartets. Nineteenth-century composers – Beethoven, Schubert, Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms among others – provide examples of chorale topic of every expressive type and in many genres, including art song, oratorio, piano sonata, duo sonata, string quartet, symphony, opera, and piano nocturne. Because of their resonance with actual religious practice, chorales and chorale topic remain perennially current, inherently accessible, and easily blended with other styles and topics. Understanding the range of meanings that chorale topic can carry is thus essential to a solid stylistic understanding and hermeneutic competence with music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Notes
Dean's Citation for Outstanding Dissertation
Degree type
D.A.
Degree Name
Doctoral
Language
English
Local Identifiers
Watabe_unco_0161D_10391
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by author.
