AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Two major works of contrasting musical style were selected to be performed in public. The program included Magnificat a Quattro Voci in B flat by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Frostiana by Randall Thompson. The performance choir consisted of 32 singers accompanied in the Magnificat by six violins, cello, and harpsichord. The Frostiana accompaniment consisted of solo piano. The Magnificat was composed c. 1726 and reveals the influence of the old and new styles of Baroque music. An example of the old style can be found in the third movement. The beginning of this movement has instruments doubling the voices. The new, or concerted form, is apparent in the first two movements with basso continuo and strings playing an accompaniment independent of the vocal line. It is the interplay between these two representative techniques which gives this Magnificat its' distinctly Baroque flavor. Frostiana, a contemporary Neo-Romantic song cycle, consists of seven country songs accompanied by an independent and equally artistic piano part. In this work composed in 1959, Mr. Thompson set the poetry of Robert Frost to 20th Century harmonies. The work is very tonal and resembles pre-20th Century compositions. Thompson's use of full minor seventh chords and deceptive cadences was common in the Romantic period. Even to the eye the piece looks Romantic: sharp dynamic contrast, extensive articulation markings, long slurs, and melodic phrases. The contrast between the Magnificat with its' Baroque basso continuo and transparent contrapuntal texture, and Frostiana's seven country songs provides an interesting program.