University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

William Bolcom's musical characterization of four soprano roles in his opera A Wedding

Kwon,Mileeyae

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/99731

Description

Title
William Bolcom's musical characterization of four soprano roles in his opera A Wedding
Author(s)
Kwon,Mileeyae
Issue Date
2018
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Taylor, Stephen
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Taylor, Stephen
Committee Member(s)
  • Moersch, Charlotte Mattax
  • Parisi, Susan
  • Herrera, Ricardo
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)
  • William Bolcom
  • A wedding
  • Opera:Soprano
  • Performance practice
  • Arnold Weinstein
  • Robert Altman
Language
en
Abstract
William Bolcom’s first comic opera, A Wedding (2004) has received little attention in the academic literature. This study examines the characteristics of the four main soprano roles: a wedding planner, Rita; the mother of the bride, Tulip; the mother of the groom, Victoria; and the bride, Muffin. I discuss the musical features of the sopranos’ arias to show how the characters are distinctively illustrated through the musical language of their arias. Five arias by the principal female roles are analyzed, including Rita’s aria (Act One Prologue) when she is preparing for the wedding; Victoria’s aria (Act One, Scene Seven) when she needs a morphine shot; Tulip’s two arias (Act One, Scene nine) when she falls in love with Jules, who is an uncle of the groom; and Muffin’s aria (Act Two, Scene Seven) when she recalls her memories of first meeting Dino, the groom. In addition, I provide performance advice for singing and acting to assist performers who are studying or preparing the arias. This thesis consists of an introduction and four chapters. After an introduction, the first chapter contains biographical sketches of William Bolcom, Arnold Weinstein, and Robert Altman. The second chapter provides the compositional background, gives an overview of the musical styles in A Wedding, and includes a detailed synopsis. The third chapter discusses the characteristics of the selected soprano roles, and the text and musical features of their respective arias. The final chapter takes up specific performance practice problems pertaining to singing and acting in the selected arias.
Type of Resource
  • text
  • image
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99731
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2018 Mileeaye Kwon

Owning Collections

Doctoral Project Theses [Option 2] - Music PRIMARY