Musical Borrowing
An Annotated Bibliography

Contributions by Cathleen Cameron

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[+] Hollander, Hans. "Zum Selbstzitat in Schuberts Musik." Das Orchester 27 (January 1979): 11-13.

The subjective nature of Schubert's music is manifested in his use of self-quotation. Symbols found in the early songs recur in later works with their significance deepened through personal experience, including musical usage. One such symbol, dactylic rhythm, which represents the wanderer (Schubert himself) and death, appears in various guises throughout Schubert's compositions, including recall of melodic themes in similar psychological situations. This form of self-quotation differs from that found in other Schubert compositions such as variations on his own themes.

Works: Liszt: Transcription of Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie; Schubert: Fantasia for Violin and Piano in C Major, Impromptu No. 4 in B-flat Major, Der Jüngling und der Tod, Octet in F Major, Rosamunde, String Quartet in A Minor, String Quartet in D Minor, Der Tod und das Mädchen, Variations on Die Forelle, Variations on Trockne Blumen for Flute and Piano, Wiegenlied, Der Wanderer, Wanderer Fantasie, Wanderers Nachtlied.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Ivry, Benjamin. "Too Strong for Fantasias: Does the Popularization of Opera Themes breed Familarity--or Contempt?" Opera News 53 (21 January 1989): 20-21, 46.

Virtuosic transcriptions of opera themes became very popular in the nineteenth century. In many cases this led to an overfamiliarity that resulted in contempt. Among composers who made arrangements of opera arias were Liszt, Chopin, Huten, Czerny, Thalberg, Herz, Krebs, Rummel, and Heller. Some arrangements were for several pianos. Others were variations by several composers on the same theme.

Works: Czerny: Fantasy on themes from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable (21); Thalberg: Fantasy on Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Op. 20 (21); Herz: Variations on Ein feste Burg (21).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Newcomb, Anthony. "Once More 'Between Absolute and Program Music': Schumann's Second Symphony." 19th-Century Music 7 (Spring 1984): 233-50.

A change in analytical methods for absolute music in the twentieth century may be the cause of a change in the critical evaluation of Schumann's Second Symphony. This analysis considers the biographical nature of the composition and its plot archetype, which is similar to that of Beethoven's Fifth. In the symphony, Schumann quotes thematic material from Haydn's last symphony and Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte (also found in his Fantasie, Op. 17), and uses the B-A-C-H motive. By so doing he emulates his predecessors and expresses his own personal development. Thus Schumann conveys "complex musical ideas through musical context."

Works: Schumann: Phantasie, Op. 17 (246), Symphony No. 2.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Perle, George. "The Secret Programme of the Lyric Suite." The Musical Times 118 (August 1977): 629-32; and (September 1977): 709-13, 809-13.

The discovery of a miniature score of Alban Berg's Lyric Suite annotated by the composer for Hanna Fuchs-Robettin confirms that a secret program existed for this composition. A detailed description of the annotated score indicates the personal significance of the compositional practices and musical language of the work, including use of musical quotations from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, from Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony (also text-related), and from Berg's own Wozzeck to convey the program. This discovery suggests that there is personal significance in Berg's compositional techniques in other works and raises questions concerning the unfinished third act of Lulu and the authenticity of source materials formerly considered reliable.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Perle, George. The Operas of Alban Berg. Vol. 2, Lulu. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

The drama Lulu is the culmination of Berg's musical style. The great significance of the composer's personal life for the opera and other compositions is evident in his use of quotation. This takes the form of self-quotation (Wozzeck is quoted in Lulu) and of borrowing from other composers. The Lyric Suite quotes Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony and Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, and the Violin Concerto quotes a Bach chorale and a Carinthian folksong. When borrowings are text-related, the unstated text is highly significant. Quotations are used to convey a program or for dramatic purposes.

Works: Berg: Lyric Suite (13-18, 256), Lulu (29, 256), Violin Concerto (255-57), Wozzeck (256).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Poulenc, Francis and Stéphane Audel. My Friends and Myself. Translated by James Harding. London: Dennis Dobson, 1978.

The lives and works of Poulenc and his friends were enriched through close contact between artists, poets, and musicians. Satie's music, especially Parade, fertilized that of Stravinsky. Falla rediscovered Spain in music through Debussy (whose "Soirée dans Grenade" from Estampes he quoted) and Pedrell (whose volumes of folk music influenced him).

Works: Falla: El amor brujo (90), El retablo de Maese Pedro (90), Homenaje, for guitar (92); Stravinsky: Sonata for Two Pianos (67).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Poulenc, Francis. Diary of My Songs. Translated by Winifred Radford. London: Victor Gollancz, 1985.

Poulenc's songs should be performed according to the instructions given in this diary. In composing them he was influenced by Liszt, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, and Edith Piaf. He borrowed melodies from Mussorgsky, the lied-chanson style from Edith Piaf, and the tempo and harmonic progression from Stravinsky's Serenade in A for piano. From his own earlier works he borrowed themes, key, tempo, orchestration, and harmonic style.

Works: Poulenc: Tel jour, telle nuit (35), La Grenouillière (51), Chansons villageoises (71), Le Disparu (85), La Fraicheur et le feu (99), Dialogues des Carmelites (101), Nuage (107).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Poulenc, Francis. Emmanuel Chabrier. Paris: R. Julliard, 1954.

The neglected master Chabrier represents what is best in French music since 1880. His music foreshadowed innovations of the twentieth century and influenced musicians such as Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, and Poulenc himself. Specific examples of musical borrowing from Chabrier show use of themes, prosody, and harmonies. His orchestration influenced Debussy and Ravel. Chabrier also borrowed from others (Offenbach and Wagner) and from himself.

Works: Chabrier: Briseis (28), Donnez-vous la peine de vous asseoir (30), Gwendoline (28), Souvenir de Munich (56); Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (50); Satie: Sarabandes (55); Ravel: A la manière de Chabrier (27).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Poulenc, Francis. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand. Paris: R. Julliard, 1954.

For Francis Poulenc, his compositions were like offspring whose different characters owed much to his varied experiences and influences. One important aspect of their character was the musical borrowing they contained. Poulenc quoted folk songs and military bugle calls and modeled pieces on compositions by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Haydn, and Saint-Saëns. He used musical borrowing to proffer friendship, to make political statements, and as a form of emulation.

Works: Poulenc: Les Biches (55), Les Animaux modèles (58-59), Concert champêtre (78), Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (83), Concerto for Piano (133), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (101), Stabat Mater (101), Trio for Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon (121).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Roberts, John H. "Handel's Borrowings from Telemann: An Inventory." In Göttinger Händel-Beiträge 1, ed. Hans Joachim Marx, 147-71. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1984.

Roberts provides a list of 128 items containing borrowings from three collections of works of Telemann, Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, the Musique de Table, and the Sonates sans basse, as well as borrowings from other sources contained in the same items. After briefly describing the three Telemann sources, Roberts divides Handel's Telemann borrowings into three types: use of incipit with fresh ideas or development; use of single internal passage; and compound borrowings from one model. He then offers guidelines for analysis according to these types.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron, Jean Pang

[+] Rorem, Ned. "Cries in the Dark." Opera News 53 (21 January 1989): 9-13.

Though products of one Zeitgeist, Schoenberg's Erwartung and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle differ in compositional method, sonority, and texture. The influences of Ravel, Debussy, and Richard Strauss are heard in Bartók's opera, which in turn, influenced other composers. Stravinsky borrowed liberally from Bartók, using the latter's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta in his Symphony in Three Movements, and the First String Quartet in Jocasta's air from Oedipus Rex.

Works: Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements (11), Oedipus Rex (11).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Sternfeld-Friedenau, Richard. "Musikalische Citate und Selbstcitate." Die Musik 2, no.24 (1903): 429-42.

Establishing whether a musical quotation is deliberate or whether it is an unconscious reminiscence is not simple. Quotation may take various forms, including variations, where it is well-disguised. It may be used for many different purposes--to convey emulation, to enhance the plot of a drama, to add textual significance, for symbolic significance, and for popular appeal. Self-quotation may take the form of organic motivic quotation.

Works: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis, Op. 123 (430), Diabelli Variations (431); Peter Cornelius: Beethoven-Lied for mixed choir, Op. 10 (431); Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (431); Mozart: Bastien et Bastienne (431); Don Giovanni (431), Die Zauberflöte (431).

Index Classifications: General, 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Stringer, Mary Ann. "Diversity as Style in Poulenc's Chamber Works with Piano." D.M.A. diss., University of Oklahoma, 1986.

Diversity was a prominent feature of Poulenc's view of life and personality and manifested itself in his compositions. One aspect of his compositional process which contributed to such diversity was his habit of borrowing from other composers and from his own works. In the earlier part of his career, Poulenc tended to borrow from others (for example, in the Sextet he quoted Stravinsky and Hindemith) whereas in the late chamber sonatas self-borrowing predominated, particularly from his opera, Dialogues des Carmélites (for example, in the Flute Sonata).

Works: Poulenc: Three Pieces for Piano (7), Sextet (96), Sonata for Flute and Piano (166-67), Sonata for Oboe and Piano (192-93), Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (193).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Tibbe, Monika. "Musik in Musik: Collagetechnik und Zitierverfahren." Musica 25 (November/December 1971): 562-63.

Unstylized dances, marches, and songs are conspicious in the music of Charles Ives, giving his symphonies an unruly appearance when compared with their European counterparts. Ives uses collage technique to combine such material (normally considered "foreign" to the symphonic domain) with more "acceptable" symphonic material. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Carl Maria von Weber's Concerto in F Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Mahler's symphonies reveal different methods of incorporating such functional "music in music." In these cases, however, the quoted music is absorbed into the character of the composition in which it finds itself to a greater extent than it is in the music of Ives, where it maintains its identity and is thus an equal partner. In addition, in Ives's music, the quoted material becomes, through collage technique, a "principle of form."

Works: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis; Berg: Wozzeck; Ives: Holidays Symphony; Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 4; Mozart: Don Giovanni; Weber: Concerto in F Minor for piano and orchestra.

Index Classifications: General, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron

[+] Turchin, Barbara. "Robert Schumann's Song Cycles: The Cycle within the Song." 19th-Century Music 8 (Spring 1985): 231-44.

Schumann achieves coherence in song cycles by relating the songs musically as well as poetically. Musical means of providing unity in three cycles, Liederkreis, Op. 39, Frauenliebe und -Leben, Op. 42, and Dichterliebe, Op. 48, includes relating the songs tonally and motivically. Quotation of part of an earlier song in the closing piano postlude is heard in Frauenliebe und -Leben (song 1) and Dichterliebe (song 12). There is melodic quotation between songs in Liederkreis.

Works: Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39, Frauenliebe und -Leben, Op. 42, Dichterliebe, Op. 48.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Cathleen Cameron



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