Flute as bird: Birdsong and metaphor in the selected works of Charles Rochester Young, Olivier Messiaen and Stefans Grové

Moles, Elisa

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/95849 Copy

Description

Title

Flute as bird: Birdsong and metaphor in the selected works of Charles Rochester Young, Olivier Messiaen and Stefans Grové

Author(s)

Moles, Elisa

Issue Date

2017

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Assistant Professor Michael Silvers

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Professor Jonathan Keeble

Committee Member(s)

• Professor Stephen Taylor
• Professor Ann Yeung

Department of Study

School of Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

A.Mus.D. (doctoral)

Keyword(s)

• music
• birdsong
• flute
• Messiaen
• grove
• young

Language

en

Abstract

This paper discusses the archetype of “flute as bird” in Western music through the study of three twentieth-century works: Charles Rochester Young’s The Song of the Lark for flute and harp, Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir for flute and piano, and Stefans Grové’s The Soul Bird trio for flute, cello, and piano. Brief histories of the use of birdsong in Western music and the use of the flute to represent the bird in Western music are given to provide context and framework. Each piece is then discussed separately in terms of biography and compositional style of the composer, symbolism of the bird represented in the piece (the lark, blackbird, or the soul bird, respectively), and musical analysis. This study draws from a variety of sources, including other art forms, such as painting and literature. For each composition, the musical techniques the composers employ to portray the flute as a bird are analyzed, discussed, and compared. Ultimately, they show how each composer personally uses the bird as a metaphor for varying aspects of spirituality.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95849

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