Degree Name
Master of Music
Graduate Program
Music
Advisor
Wagner, Jeanine
Abstract
This document, in fulfillment of the degree requirements for the Masters of Music in Vocal Performance, seeks to explore the historical, contextual, and analytical aspects of all musical pieces to be performed in a Graduate Degree Recital on April 2, 2011. The art songs, one set by the Romantic composer Hugo Wolf and the other by 20th century composer Jean Berger, are settings of Medieval poetry from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The arias chosen span Mozart and the Classical era, Donizetti and the
bel canto style of the Romantic era, and 20th century opera by Menotti. The final pieces are 21st century “crossover” songs from The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel. For the purposes of this document, all analyses also include brief composer biographies and translations where required.