The grotesque in twentieth-century opera (Alban Berg, Austria, Krzyztof Penderecki, Poland, Harrison Birtwistle, England, Stephen Sondheim).

摘要

The grotesque is a juxtaposition of two or more elements that are typically considered discrete, but when mixed together generate a complex reaction: the reader, viewer, or listener finds the combination simultaneously ludicrous and horrifying. In the twentieth century, composers consistently created grotesque moments that are truly striking and effective, either by using new musical languages or by expanding upon existing ones. The study focuses on five operas, each one representing a different musical idiom: Alban Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu, Krzyztof Penderecki's Die Teufel von Loudun, Harrison Birtwistle's Punch and Judy , and Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.; Few operas sustain a grotesque mood for extended periods of time; usually it is a scene, a brief situation, or an individual character that provides the grotesquerie. And though many grotesque moments are built into and set off by the libretto, my main focus will be on the music. More specifically, I hope to demonstrate how the music operates as part of the archetypal horror-comic equation that epitomizes the grotesque. At times the music comments on the situation presented in the text; at other times---and more effectively---it participates as an equal partner in the equation, by being either humorous when the text is horrific or horrific when the text is comic.; The majority of studies on the grotesque are in the fields of literature, theater, and the visual arts; therefore, I survey a selection of the primary and secondary sources from those fields in order to establish guidelines for recognizing the grotesque that will then serve as the basis for the subsequent analyses. These analyses demonstrate how composers use different elements to portray the grotesque: rhythm, pitch, timbre, and the subversion of familiar genres.; Finally, as many critics have argued, the grotesque is largely in the eye, or ear, of the beholder. Accordingly, this study spells out the reasons for considering a particular moment a grotesque one, and, at the same time, provides the tools that permit the reader to form his or her own opinion.