Two Lecture Recitals

This treatise, which is in two parts, is based on two lecture recitals given on November 15, 2020 and November 21, 2021. The first lecture discussed the influence of past composers on two recent works by Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Caroline Shaw. The second lecture discussed the relationship between musical techniques and religious symbolism in Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus. Part 1 explores two works that reference past composers: Cheryl Frances-Hoad's Homages, Book I, and Caroline Shaw's Gustave Le Gray. The homage to a past composer is not a particularly new concept, but these types of pieces have certainly become more popular in recent years. The two composers discussed in Part One have different approaches to the concept, however, which leads to a different overall affect in each piece. Frances-Hoad chooses to write a series of smaller pieces that take small melodic or motivic elements from specific works to build upon. Shaw, on the other hand, quotes the entire referenced work and composes a frame around it. I will analyze each work to illuminate how these two composers reference the chosen composers and/or works, as well as point out some elements that bring a fresh perspective on those past composers. Part 2 explores how Messiaen expresses his religious beliefs in Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus through musical symbols. Messiaen's devout faith informs nearly every piece that he wrote, and his complex musical techniques often directly reflect his theological beliefs. This paper will discuss some of those techniques, including the so-called "Charm of Impossibilities," and how they relate to his fascination with concepts such as time and eternity and with visual elements of color and stained glass. Discussion of five selections from Vingt Regards will show how religious ideas and metaphorical concepts are expressed through musical symbols.