- Summary
- This study conducts an in-depth comparative study of Stars in the Dust and Riddle. Both chamber choral compositions are analyzed for similarities in compositional technique, orchestration, and text treatment. Musical quotations are the focus of the comparative study, and the study demonstrates that Riddle has significant similarities to Stars in the Dust most consistently found in thematic content. The pieces, both sounding particularly different in tonality, form and texture and sharing little technique in these areas, rely on identical musical quotations. A chamber choral cantata, Stars in the Dust (1986), serves to commemorate the Kristallnacht of World War II. The Kristallnacht, translated as the Evening of Shattered Glass, demonstrated with sheer force the beliefs of Nazi Germany with regard to the Jewish race. Written for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, SATB choir, and narrator, Stars in the Dust, composed by Samuel Adler tells a detailed historical account of the events leading up to and surrounding the Kristallnacht. Riddle, based on a poem of the same name by William Heyen, is constructed primarily from 20th century compositional techniques and incorporates complex rhythms, mixed and multi-meter time signatures. Harmonies are dissonant, and melody is often a result of vertical sonority in the choral parts with instrumental counterpoint and among solo instruments in strict instrumental sections. Scored for a small chamber orchestra and SATB voice parts, Riddle includes strings, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone, and percussion.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Weyermann, Trudi L. (Trudi Louise)
- Published
- [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2003
- Notes
-
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Northern Colorado, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-88).
Photocopy. Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI Dissertation Services, 2003. 22 cm.
Dissertations and Theses
