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Author Latham, Edward David.

Title Tonality as drama : closure and interruption in four twentieth-century American operas / Edward D. Latham
Published Denton, Tex. : University of North Texas Press, ©2008

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Description 1 online resource (xv, 221 pages) : illustrations
Contents Tonality as drama: an introduction -- Dramatic closure: the Stanislavsky system and the attainment of character objectives -- Tonal closure: a Schenkerian approach to tonal drama -- The completed background line with open-ended coda: Scott Joplin's grand opera Treemonisha (1911) -- The multi-movement Anstieg or initial ascent: George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess (1935) -- The multi-movement initial arpeggiation: Kurt Weill's Broadway opera Street scene (1947) -- The prolonged permanent interruption: Aaron Copland's operatic tone poem The tender land (1954)
Summary This is an analytical monograph by a Schenkerian music theorist, but it is also written by one performer and enthusiast for another. Tonality as Drama draws on the fields of dramaturgy, music theory, and historical musicology to answer a fundamental question regarding twentieth-century music: why does the use of tonality persist in opera, even after it has been abandoned in other genres? Combining the analytical approaches of the leading music and dramatic theorists of the twentieth century--Austrian music theorist Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935) and Russian director Constantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938)--Edward D. Latham reveals insights into works by Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, and Aaron Copland that are relevant to analysts, opera directors, and performers alike. Latham reveals a strategic use of tonality in that repertoire as a means of amplifying or undercutting the success or failure of dramatic characters
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-210) and index
Notes In English
This work is licensed by Knowledge Unlatched under a Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
Print version record
Subject Joplin, Scott, 1868-1917. Treemonisha.
Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950. Street scene.
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937. Porgy and Bess.
Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990. Tender land.
SUBJECT Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990. Tender land
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937. Porgy and Bess
Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950. Street scene
Joplin, Scott, 1868-1917. Treemonisha
Copland, Aaron. swd
Weill, Kurt. swd
Gershwin, George. swd
Porgy and Bess (Gershwin, George) fast
Street scene (Weill, Kurt) fast
Tender land (Copland, Aaron) fast
Treemonisha (Joplin, Scott) fast
Porgy and Bess. swd
Street scene. swd
Subject Operas -- Analysis, appreciation.
Opera -- United States -- 20th century
MUSIC -- Genres & Styles -- Opera.
Opera
Operas -- Analysis, appreciation
Oper
United States
USA
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2008013679
ISBN 9781441646200
1441646205