First Advisor

Elwood, Paul, 1958-

Degree Name

Master of Music

Document Type

Thesis

Date Created

5-2017

Department

College of Performing and Visual Arts, Music, Music Student Work

Abstract

In the Presence of an Unknown Light is an original operatic setting of an early chapter of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. In the scene, Monseigneur Bienvenu visits a former member of the French Convention who is close to death. The work is characterized by the heavy use of leitmotif to connect the music to the characters and themes within the text. The form, following the text, divides the scene into several smaller sections, each with their own musical vocabulary. The composition employs a variety of musical styles, including nueva canción, to connect the nineteenth-century text with a twenty-first-century audience.

Keywords

Musical scores, Opera, Les Miserables

Extent

42 pages

Local Identifiers

ScardettaThesis_2017

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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