Among the various works in his oeuvre, composer Robin Holloway has both affirmed and denied certain instances of musical borrowing, yet Holloway may use more instances of borrowing then he openly acknowledges. For example, he often uses melodic tags, which are short quotations. When melodic tags share similarities, Holloway can play upon the similarities to make the tags more ambiguous. This technique, which can alter meaning, is called "punning." Another technique, "suppressed vocalization," involves setting poetry to melodic lines and then transferring the melodic lines, without words, to instruments. As listeners we are often unaware of such transferences and can only become aware of them if Holloway admits to using the procedure. These two techniques should also be considered in light of Holloway's narrative and extramusical subjects. For instance, the loose narrative base of William Langland's poem Piers Plowman, an allegory of the world as a working field, in the Fourth Concerto for Orchestra led to Holloway's quotation of Eric Coates's song Calling All Workers. Although quotations of Sheherazade and Daphnis et Chloé in the Fourth Concerto do not share themes with Langland's poem, they are favored works of the concerto's commissioner, Michael Tilson Thomas. Investigating relationships such as these, along with Holloway's various borrowing techniques, will help uncover the multiple layers of and connections between his works.

Works: Robin Holloway: Second Concerto for Orchestra (2-5), Fourth Concerto for Orchestra (2, 6-9), Symphony (3-7).

Sources: Hubert Parry: Jerusalem (3-4); Eduardo di Capua: O sole mio (3); Renato Rascel: Arrivederci Roma (3); Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A Minor (3); Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D Major (3-4); Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (3-4); Richard Strauss: Salome (3-4), Elektra (3-4); Elgar: "Nimrod," Enigma Variations (3-4); Scriabin: Poem of Ecstasy (3-4); Debussy: Jeux (3-4), La Mer (3-4); Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 7 (3-4); Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (3-4); Robin Holloway: First Concerto for Orchestra (5), En Blanc et Noir (6); Rimsky-Korsakov, Sheherazade (6); Eric Coates, Calling All Workers (6).

Index Classifications: 1900s, 2000s

Contributed by: Laura B. Dallman