Dissertation Index



Author: Klug, Gregory Kyle

Title: A Study of Two Biblical Choral Symphonies with an Original Composition

Institution: University of Northern Colorado

Begun: May 2011

Completed: April 2012

Abstract:

The choral symphony is a hybrid genre. A symphony may be defined as an orchestral work that balances musical variety with an overarching unity, and creates the sense of a journey. Formal cohesion and a sense of inevitability are integral. These ends may be achieved without adherence to Classical symphonic structure. In creating a new symphony, it behooves the composer to study well-crafted works. Franz Liszt\\\'s Dante Symphony and Hilding Rosenberg\\\'s Revelation of St. John are choral symphonies that feature both instrumental and choral-orchestral material, while drawing upon biblical text to narrate a drama involving the Satanic and the Divine. These works both serve as models to an original composition, the Symphony of Creation. Analysis of all three shows the use of rhetorical formal structures, while demonstrating the explanatory power of a theory about the meaning of music: it is a language in which musical phenomena are recognized as metaphors for extra-musical phenomena. All the parameters of music—pitch, rhythm, timbre, harmony, dynamics, and range—collaborate to generate metaphors for such ideas as height and depth, light and dark, malevolence and benevolence, pain and pleasure, violence and gentleness.

Keywords: Choral, Symphony, Composition, Dante, Liszt, Revelation, Rosenberg, Theory, Bible, metaphor

TOC:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION.……….................................1
II. ANALYSIS OF FRANZ LISZT’S “DANTE SYMPHONY”.......9
Movement I: Inferno..................................................11
Movement II: Purgatorio...............................................33

III. ANALYSIS OF HILDING ROSENBERG’S
“REVELATION OF ST. JOHN”....................................................44

Movement I...............................................45
Movement II..............................................50
Movement III.............................................59
Movement IV..............................................65
Movement V...............................................70
Movement VI..............................................78
Movement VII.............................................85
Chorale and Finale.......................................91

IV. ANALYSIS OF THE “SYMPHONY OF CREATION”..........100

Movement I: The Beginning...............................100
Movement II: The Corruption.............................107
Movement III: Lament....................................111
Movement IV: The Plan...................................116
Movement V: The Word....................................123

REFERENCES..............................................136

APPENDIX: SYMPHONY OF CREATION..........................140
I. The Beginning, Psalm 33:6............................141
II. The Corruption, Isaiah 14:12-14.....................165
III. Lament, Ezekiel 28:11-19...........................179
IV. The Plan, Genesis 50:20.............................195
V. The Word.............................................213

Contact:

Gregory Kyle Klug
http://www.gregorykyle.com/contact.htm


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