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AMS Midwest Spring 2015 Chapter Meeting Hosted by Butler University Saturday, April 11, 2015 Program Abstracts Session 1: Film and Media Studies Session Chair: Nathan Platte Not “By Chance”: The Music of Jaroslav Ježek in Communist- and Post-Communist-Era Czech Film Brian Locke (Western Illinois University) Within twentieth-century Czech popular culture, there is no name more iconic than that of composer Jaroslav Ježek (1906–1942), whose brief interwar career represents a close reading of early Jazz and Swing. Part of a circle of leftist intellectuals in 1930s Prague, his music for stage and screen also revealed his admiration for American popular culture. Even his final film score, the socialist, propagandistic Svět patří nám (The World Belongs to Us, 1937) contains comedic foxtrots and a carefree blues (“Life is Just By Chance”) that sidestep the film’s pervasive political message. As this paper will demonstrate, Ježek’s wartime exile and early death became crucial to his iconicity, in that successive governments have freely shaped the meaning of his music for Czech viewers. After 1948, the Communist government placed Ježek centrally within their vision of collective identity: no less than 37 newly produced films quoted Ježek’s music between 1953 and 1988. Surprisingly, most of these reference his songs not as socialist propaganda, but diegetically, as the popular, nonpolitical music of characters in every generation. “Life is Just By Chance” appears with particular regularity—sung, whistled, and played on instruments from kazoo to church organ. In contrast, Ježek’s overtly political music is all but ignored. The political upheaval of the Velvet Revolution ensured Ježek’s relevance as a representative of Czech democratic identity. A further eleven films have used his music to date, but unlike Communist filmmakers, post-Communists present it with an ironic political bent, as an icon of expression free from the forces of dictatorship. Ingmar Bergman’s Musicians Per F. Broman (Bowling Green State University) When journalist Camilla Lundberg pointed out that a large number of his film characters are musicians, Ingmar Bergman responded “Really? . . . I haven’t thought about that.” Bergman’s response may seem disingenuous, but illustrates that this fact has been a neglected element in his oeuvre, even by himself. Indeed, he was unique in his extensive use of musicians and western art music from his first film, Crisis (1946), to his last, Saraband (2003). Departing from resources in The Bergman Archives in Stockholm, this paper explores Bergman’s use of musicians: They appear on a wide variety of occasions, often suddenly and unexpectedly, and through music making and the discourse about music reveal central tenets of Bergman’s aesthetics. The musical dialogues often provide simple metaphors, as in the quick reference to a violinmaker in The Shame illustrating a point that art and politics are connected. But these metaphors can also be highly complex as in Autumn Sonata when pianist Charlotte provides a

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lengthy narrative to her interpretation of Chopin’s A-Minor Prelude, analogous to her stern approach to art, life, and motherhood. The power of music constitutes if not a stronger, at least a more consistent a message than the silence of God, perhaps the message most often attributed to his films. He was criticized during the 1960s and ’70s for being self-centered, navel gazing his own childhood along with his amorous and religious experiences. But in the music discourse in his films, another side appears, one that is genuinely honest and universal. Musical Memory of the Player, Characters, and World of The Legend of Zelda Video Game Series Sarah Teetsel (Bowling Green State University) In 1986, Nintendo released a role-playing game in America known as The Legend of Zelda, which has since become a world-wide gaming sensation. With the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998, the Nintendo game makers brought the musical material to the forefront, creating a subsequent standard for musical instruments to be included as a unique game element throughout the series. For the first time in The Legend of Zelda franchise, the player is required to remember short tunes in order to complete the game, including the use of music to travel forward in time to save the world. Over the course of the game, up to thirteen brief tunes can be learned, testing the memory and skill of the main character, and thus the player. Using the theoretical framework described by Bob Snyder in his book Music and Memory: An Introduction, I will identify the three overarching types of memory that are invoked in the gameplay: 1) echoic memory, which is the immediate recognition of the raw sensory data, 2) short-term memory, the conscious awareness of the information, and 3) long-term memory, or the unconscious storage of information. Several types of cues initiate the retrieval of long-term memories for the player, as well as specific game characters and the game world at large. Long-term memory cues will be identified in correlation with two selected pieces, “Saria’s Song” and “Bolero of Fire.” This study of memory will help facilitate further scholarship that explores the complex relationship between the game world, the real world, and the music that traverses both. Session 2: Communicative Experiences in Modern Music Session Chair: Sharon Parr An Accidental Discovery: Stravinsky’s Fanfare for a New Theatre James D. Leach (Hope College) For the 1964 opening of the New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center, George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirsten asked Igor Stravinsky to compose a fanfare for the event. Stravinsky wrote a twelve-tone duet for two trumpets that takes less than a minute to perform. The published version of this brief tour de force begins forcefully with a unison triplet figure and ends with a major sixth. Between these two consonant bookends, Stravinsky fills with harmonic and rhythmic interplay based on a twelve-tone row. On a 2013 research trip to the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, I examined the folder that contains Stravinsky’s original scraps of manuscript that outlines the tone row as well as three autograph versions of the fanfare.

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Much to my surprise, the opening salvo was not the triplet figure in unison that has been published and performed for fifty years but a dissonant minor second. This half step A-sharp and Anatural makes sense since they are the first two notes of Stravinsky’s row for the piece. I contacted the publisher Boosey & Hawkes who replied that while their copy of the first measure is not perfectly clear, they stand by their version with the unison. I also contacted Ron Anderson, the surviving performer of the premiere, as well as Robert Nagle, the first trumpeter to record it, both of whom know the piece only as it is published with the unison. The mystery to be solved is who changed it, when, where, and why? Communicating in Song: Music and Dramatic Action in William Finn’s Musical Falsettos (1992) Alexandre Bádue (University of Cincinnati) Composer/lyricist William Finn and director James Lapine structured the story of their Broadway musical Falsettos in song, without any spoken dialogue. Through this eclectic collection of songs, we learn that the protagonist, Marvin, has recently divorced his wife to live with another man and is now having difficulties connecting with his son. Finn and Lapine tell this story without dialogue in a “sung-through musical,” a type of musical drama that differs aesthetically from other forms of American musical theatre, such as revues and book musicals, which alternate songs and dialogue. This paper demonstrates how songs alone can structure and develop dramatic action in sung-through musicals using Falsettos as a case study. I argue that Finn and Lapine create the action sequence through two modes: one of presentation and the other of coordination. The first reveals how songs present the action sequence: some present it scenically acted out, others narrate it, and a few comment on it. The mode of coordination reveals how songs organize the action sequence and link the different characters, creating subplots and revealing the musical’s main theme. I combine these two modes in my analysis of compositional techniques (motives, themes, and contrafacta) through which Finn and Lapine connect the songs and build a compelling musical narrative. This paper re-interprets musico-dramatic functions in musical theatre songwriting (such as monologue songs, sung-dialogues, and reprises) and establishes how characters communicate among themselves and with the audience, never resorting to spoken dialogue. Spiritual Experiences Among Participants in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Scene: A Quantitative Study Thomas James Johnson and Danielle Alfrey (Indiana State University) Since its inception in the 1980s, the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scene in the US and elsewhere has been associated with use of drugs, especially MDMA (Ecstasy). However, ethnographic studies and first person accounts have emphasized the importance of quasi-spiritual experiences among EDM participants, as well as religious or spiritual practices and beliefs connected with EDM events. While detailed descriptions of such experiences, beliefs, and practices have been published, little information is available on the prevalence of such experiences or what predicts which individuals report them. The current study surveyed 143 individuals involved with EDM, primarily from the Midwestern United States. Forty-one percent of respondents indicated that having spiritual experiences were a very or extremely important reason they attended EDM events. Those who rated having spiritual experiences as an important reason for attending tended NOT to

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rate drug use as an important reason why they attended. They also rated themselves as generally more spiritual and placed more importance on “PLUR” (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) than individuals who did not attend EDM events for spiritual reasons. The most common type of spiritual experiences reported were feelings of bliss or serenity, following by experiences of enlightenment and transcendence. Sixty percent of participants indicated they sometimes, often, or nearly always had spiritual experiences at EDM events. EDM genres most associated with spiritual experiences were “Jungle,” “Drum & Bass,” and “Breakbeats/Breaks”. Various predictors of having spiritual experiences at EDM events were identified. Results are consistent with some of the claims from the qualitative literature. Session 3: Nationalism and Class in the Nineteenth Century Session Chair: Lawrence Bennett “Written in English words, though scarcely in the English language”: The Plagiarism Scandal of Michael Balfe’s Siege of Rochelle Alison Mero (Indiana University) Michael Balfe’s English romantic opera The Siege of Rochelle premiered in London in October of 1835 and was extremely popular with audiences. Nonetheless, in December of 1835 the opera was accused of being wholly plagiarized from Luigi Ricci’s Chiara di Rosemgergh (1831). Although the accusations were proved completely false by the end of January 1836, the scandal was widely covered in the press. As a genre, English romantic opera had only begun a year earlier in 1834, and critics were conflicted in their reception of it. On one hand, they were excited that a native school of opera had arisen. On the other hand, they were disappointed that most of the operas being performed showed a great deal of international influence and lacked a distinctive English sound. For critics, the reputation of national music was at stake with each new opera premiere. Originality was essential to Englishness in music, even if critics were unable to define what Englishness should sound like. Thus, plagiarism, in its most extreme connotation, suggested not only an un-English musical sound, since the work resembled a pre-existing (almost certainly foreign) piece, but also laziness—a quality that was widely considered to be un-English. For these reasons, critics felt that Siege of Rochelle was a poor representation of English music, even if the plagiarism charges were shown to be unfounded. A Few Words about Mary Holmes, Musical Governess Christine Kyprianides Potter (IndyBaroque Music, Inc.) While Victorian social reformers were teaching the masses to sight-sing, thousands of governesses, for better or worse, were giving musical instruction to middle and upper class girls. Although we have abundant statistics regarding such teachers and their working conditions, the individual women themselves remain largely anonymous. One remarkable governess who deserves notice is Mary Holmes (1815?–1878), a Roman Catholic convert who attempted by turns to establish herself as a composer, journalist, independent piano teacher, and novelist. In particular, Holmes was the author of A Few Words about Music (1851), a work directed primarily at governesses like herself, with practical suggestions for teaching piano to children. Published anonymously, the book was until recently misattributed to “Mrs. Hullah,” presumably the wife of music educator John Hullah.

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Virtually unknown in musical circles, Holmes’s life may nonetheless be traced through her extensive correspondence with religious and literary figures including John Henry Newman, Anthony Trollope, and William Thackeray. Her writings, including an early book on Gothic architecture and contributions to various periodicals, reveal an enquiring if undisciplined intellect. The marginalia in Holmes’s personal copy of A Few Words about Music, located in the British Library, sheds further light on her musical capabilities. Despite her obvious intelligence and ambition, Holmes was unable to rise above the limitations of her sex and her profession. While far from typical, Holmes’s ultimately unhappy story illustrates the frustrations and insurmountable obstacles faced by even the most gifted of governesses, the “redundant” women of Victorian Britain. Antonín Dvořák: American Interloper? Douglas Shadle (Vanderbilt University) Scholars and the public alike have long held that Antonín Dvořák’s U.S. residency (1892–95) and Ninth Symphony, “From the New World” (1893), sparked the development of a national musical consciousness. By focusing on Dvořák himself, however, this remarkable international consensus has largely ignored the two decades of American compositional practice preceding his arrival and is consequently predicated on the unfounded assumption that American composers had been mechanically replicating “German” models. Using documentary evidence and key works from the 1870s and 1880s as guides, this paper sketches a new portrait of the context in which Dvořák found himself in 1892 and directly challenges the conventional wisdom. Bracketing the well-known antagonism between Dvořák’s folk-oriented nationalism and the universalist stance of figures such as John Knowles Paine, I focus on the shaky alignment of Wagnerian progressivism and American exceptionalism that dominated the country’s musical discourse throughout the period. Innovative works by George Bristow, Ellsworth Phelps, Louis Maas, and Henry Schoenefeld all played significant roles in debates about national identity before and during Dvořák’s residency but have since been forgotten. In Phelps’s case, a symphony from 1880 memorializing the emancipation of slaves even incorporated “negro melodies” using Dvořák’s eventual techniques. Seen in this light, Dvořák’s entreaties concerning compositional style do not appear particularly groundbreaking or pivotal. I argue instead that Dvořák unwittingly sublimated the painful history of American slavery into a racialized musical essence that listeners have accepted as a convenient, simplistic proxy for a much more challenging and complex national musical identity. Session 4: Music and Drama in Early Modern Italy Session Chair: Nicholas Johnson What the Housekeeper Heard: Reconstructing a Venetian Boat Party of January 1569 Shawn Marie Keener (Chicago, IL) On 22 January 1568 (modo veneto, i.e. 1569), the Provveditori sopra Monasteri in Venice initiated a secret investigation into a serenade performed outside the convent of Santa Maria della Celestia, one of the city’s most illustrious convents. The depositions are collected in a fascicle now held at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (Provv. sopra Monasteri, Processi criminali, busta 263). The serenade is one of many in a long history of illicit communications with cloistered women attesting

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to the porous boundaries between them and the outside world. While known to scholars of Italian convent culture such as Jonathon Glixon and Mary Laven, the incident has only been considered in isolation. The music made that night near Celestia, however, was but one stop on a lengthy itinerary that crisscrossed the city by boat: a movable, musical feast organized by the patrician Zuan Francesco Lion and his friends. The Celestia testimony—taken from housekeepers and neighbors, as well as from the boatmen, the organizers, and the musicians themselves—inadvertently shows the inner workings of an evening of music. In this paper, I begin to unravel the larger story revealed in the testimony, identifying key players and tracing the lines of contact among patricians, artisans, singers, and musicians. In a city known for the informality of its intellectual, literary, and musical gatherings, the sustained attention of the investigators and testimony from many angles offers a rare glimpse into the musical practices and social relationships enacted in these elusive, convivial spaces. Eumelio: A Music Drama in the Context of Seventeenth-Century Jesuit Education Lillian Blotkamp (Washington University, St. Louis) Agostino Agazzari’s one complete music drama, the 1606 dramma pastorale entitled Eumelio, has received scant attention in the scholarly literature, which has tended to view it through the lens of later operatic traditions. Recognition that Agazzari composed Eumelio in the context of early seventeenth-century Jesuit education in Rome offers fresh insight into the work. Although Jesuit institutions already had a well-established dramatic and musical tradition, Eumelio combines those traditions in what appears to be the first entirely sung drama produced at a Jesuit school. Agazzari’s blending of the emergent genre of opera with the Jesuit dramatic tradition suggests that the order understood and valued the role of novelty in attracting, entertaining, and evangelizing an audience. A comparison of Eumelio with other Jesuit dramas, Jesuit educational practices, and early opera demonstrates how Agazzari drew on all these influences. Musically, Eumelio’s straightforward recitative style, strophic forms, and a classical setting recall early Florentine opera. Much of its plot derives from the Jesuit dramatic tradition, focused on morally edifying plots, student participation, and public appeal. The view of morality presented in this didactic work also suggests the influence of the Jesuit strategy of presenting debates on questions of morality as edifying entertainment, as well as their interest in probabilistic casuistry—systematic moral reasoning that allows multiple courses of action to be morally correct.

6:00 pm. Butler ArtsFest 2015 Music Lecture: Susan McClary (Case Western Reserve University) Outlaws and Insiders: On Western Music since 1900 Until quite recently, musicologists thought they could tell the history of Western music as a relatively continuous trajectory. It seemed relatively clear what to include in what we called the canon, the mainstream, or the standard repertory. But our methods have shifted considerably, as marginalized musics challenge or supplant tradition. How quickly, for instance, the atonal, futurist outlaws of the early twentieth century declared themselves the insiders. Meanwhile, sound recording allowed musicians scarcely acknowledged by earlier historians to set the whole planet dancing to their beats. Who qualifies here as outlaw, who as insider? And who decides?