Abstracts

Degrees of Turpitude

by Richard Arndorfer




Institution: Bowling Green State University
Department:
Year: 2017
Keywords: Music; music; composition; chamber opera; opera; microopera; voice
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2155116
Full text PDF: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1490289930149143


Abstract

Degrees of Turpitude is a chamber opera for fivesopranos (who also play percussion instruments) and piano. It iscomprised of three scenes, each of which is a character piece basedon someone from another medium (Avril Incandenza from the book"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace, Williamson from the opera"The Difficulty of Crossing a Field" by David Lang, and BettyElms/Diane Selwyn from the movie "Mulholland Drive" by DavidLynch). By placing these seemingly unconnected characters together,different personas are created and a new story is told. Degrees ofTurpitude, in classic operatic fashion, is about love, betrayal,and murderlife and death. It is a story of moral gradation in allits ambiguity. Story, however, might not be the correctword.Advisors/Committee Members: Shrude, Marilyn (Advisor).