AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

In this Master of Music recital for tenor, the program is united by a theme of love lost and love remembered, or love that has been newly discovered. The art songs and arias from various style periods in this program are able to describe these more or less universal human experiences. The order of the songs and an interpretation of their texts could be said to represent the story of two relationships, one that ends while the lovers are away from each other, and then another which is brimming with the excitement and passion of new love. Although the composition dates of the various pieces span almost eighty years, and each composer portrays a unique musical language, all of the songs could be placed as middle or late romantic works stylistically (except, of course, for Il mio Tesoro, which, as a work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is firmly within the late 18th century Classical idiom). This abstract will examine both the thematic and stylistic elements of the program in order to best illustrate how this program is effective in presenting an engaging musical narrative to the audience. (See more in text.)