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Summary:

Abstract: From 1831 to 1836, Victor Hugo and Louise Bertin collaborated on an opera titled La Esmeralda. For Hugo, it would be the only opera libretto he would ever write, a mere footnote to his collection of widely admired novels, plays, and poetry; for Bertin, however, it would become her most important work, yet seemingly destined to fade into obscurity like so many great pieces of art. Using Schenkerian analysis, this thesis uncovers the tonal and voice-leading structure of the first act of La Esmeralda. A study of this nature, which operates from the premise that forms as large and complex as opera can be examined in terms of a large-scale structure, is valuable because it sheds new light on the correlation of tonal structure and dramatic organization. Through these methods, Act I of La Esmeralda is read as a background progression from D major (with F# kopfton) to F major, composing-out an F#/F♮ dichotomy introduced in the overture. With reference to several musical-symbolic ideas - including the representation of virtue through the pitch F#, the key of Notre-dame's bells - it is shown how the musical structure of Act I expresses the Hugolian themes of fate and decay.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• The romantic nature of Bertin's artistic and musical upbringing
• Notre-Dame de Paris and the themes of fate and decay
• The expression of Hugolian themes in the compositional choices of Bertin
• Appendix A: Foreground graphs
• Appendix B: Middleground graphs
• Appendix C: Deep middleground graphs
• Appendix D: Act I background
• Appendix E: Musical-dramatic key symbolisms.

Author/Creator:

Walls, Levi , author

Contributors:

Jackson, Timothy L. , major professor

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Composing-Out Notre-Dame: How Louise Bertin Expresses the Hugolian Themes of Fate and Decay in La Esmeralda [by Walls, L.]

Related Series:

NT thesis, Music (Complete); [volume] 2018

Subjects:

Bertin, Louise Angelique, 1805-1877 — Esmeralda

Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885

Schenkerian analysis

Musical analysis

Fate and fatalism — Songs and music

Bertin, Louise Angelique, 1805-1877

Fate and fatalism

Genres:

Academic theses

Songs and music

Dissertation Notes:

M.A. ― University of North Texas, 2018.

General Notes:

Discipline: Music Theory.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-191).
Description based on: Online resource; title from PDF title page (UNT Digital Library, viewed April 16, 2020).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 191 pages) : music.

Digital Characteristics:

text file

Call Numbers:

Electronic Thesis

OCLC Numbers:

1269305142