IMPROVISATION AS A GENERATIVE TOOL FOR NEW OPERA: AN EXPLORATION OF METHODS AND PARAMETERS

Denham, Ellen Louise

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90218 Copy

Description

Title

IMPROVISATION AS A GENERATIVE TOOL FOR NEW OPERA: AN EXPLORATION OF METHODS AND PARAMETERS

Author(s)

Denham, Ellen Louise

Issue Date

2016

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

Professor Erik Lund

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Professor Sylvia Stone

Committee Member(s)

• Associate Professor Katherine Syer
• Assistant Professor Michael Tilley

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
• improvisation
• opera
• ellen
• denham

Language

en

Abstract

This scholarly essay explores the subject of improvisation in opera and vocal music, tracing its historical antecedents, providing examples of contemporary, classically-informed improvising singers and opera companies, and presenting an overview of possible methods and parameters. Chapter 1 examines the historical background of extemporaneous counterpoint in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the flourishing of improvised ornaments and embellishments from the Baroque era to the bel canto style of the nineteenth century, and the eventual decline in the use of improvised ornaments and cadenzas in the late nineteenth century. Chapter 2 covers first the subject of contemporary improvisation, including experimental techniques from the 1950s and 1960s, with reference to the use of improvisatory elements in composed scores. The second area involves a discussion of singer-composers Cathy Berberian, Meredith Monk, Pamela Z, and Bobby McFerrin. The third area explores current opera creators and performers using improvisation, focusing on the improv-comedy-based groups Impropera and La Donna Improvvisata, and two “devised operas”: Ann Baltz’s OperaWorks production of The Discord Altar, and Ellen Lindquist’s dream seminar. Much of this newer material has yet to be the subject of much scholarship. Chapter 3 presents an exploration of methods and parameters used to generate operatic material, including the author’s work in vocal improvisation at the Indy Convergence annual arts residencies; the methods taught by Ann Baltz in her OperaWorks training programs for emerging and professional opera singers; and harmonic methods used by Christopher Azzara, Edward Sarath, Jeffrey Agrell, Jamey Aebersold, and Adam Rudolph.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90218

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