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Messiaen’s Debussy
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
Messiaen’s Debussy
SubTitle
modes of interpretation in tome VI of Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d’ornithologie
Name
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Cochran
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Timothy Benjamin
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1982-
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Timothy Cochran
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author
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Nancy Yunhwa
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Nancy Yunhwa Rao
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Johnson
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Douglas
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Douglas Johnson
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Grave
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Floyd
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Floyd Grave
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Klein
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Michael
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Michael Klein
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Advisory Committee
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outside member
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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Text
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(authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
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2012
DateOther
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(type = degree)
2012-05
CopyrightDate
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2012
Place
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xx
Language
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eng
Subject
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Topic
Music
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_3944
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electronic resource
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Extent
xiv, 248 p. : ill.
Note
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Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = vita)
Includes vita
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Timothy Benjamin Cochran
Abstract
(type = abstract)
Messiaen devoted Tome VI of his posthumous Traité de rythme, de couleur, et
d’ornithologie to analyses of Claude Debussy’s music. Though Debussy’s influence has
long been a cliché of Messiaen’s biography, the significance of Tome VI lies not in its
ability to elucidate the mechanisms of influence, but rather in the way it discloses
interpretive lenses that Messiaen employed to engage with his predecessor’s work. Based on the assumption that analysis is a fundamentally hermeneutic activity, I examine the tools that Messiaen uses to conceptualize Debussy’s music, and I demonstrate how these modes of interpretation are often bound up with broader conceptions of musical structure and meaning essential to Messiaen’s own music. The dissertation addresses three types of interpretation found in Tome VI: technical
approaches to musical structure, extramusical approaches to water imagery, and the
frequent interpolation of poetic quotations within analysis. First, I explore how
Messiaen’s personal theories of compositional technique shape his interpretation of
altered dominant harmonies, rhythmic variation, and “the rhythm of dynamics” in Tome
VI. Next, I examine Messiaen’s references to water imagery in Debussy’s music, noting a combination of a priori, programmatic, topical, and metaphoric modes of interpretation.
Of all his water descriptions, Messiaen’s metaphor for shocking rhythmic contrast—“the
stone in the water”—reflects a compositional perspective most directly, as striking
durational oppositions play analogous expressive roles in his birdsong settings and
depictions of divine breakthrough. In the final section, I speculate on the interpretive role
of quotations from poetry throughout the volume, for which I infer three hermeneutic
functions: the intertexts elevate the perceived significance of the music, ground musical
details within preexistent narratives, and provide imagery through which the reader can
assess musical details described in adjacent passages. My reading of the poems as
interpretive tools provides a model for interpreting Messiaen’s own music through the
lens of scripture quotations that precede many of his works. By reconstructing these
diverse modes of interpretation, the dissertation forms a picture of Messiaen as a dynamic
interpreter who engages with Debussy’s music through many of the same hermeneutic perspectives that inform his compositional approach.
d’ornithologie to analyses of Claude Debussy’s music. Though Debussy’s influence has
long been a cliché of Messiaen’s biography, the significance of Tome VI lies not in its
ability to elucidate the mechanisms of influence, but rather in the way it discloses
interpretive lenses that Messiaen employed to engage with his predecessor’s work. Based on the assumption that analysis is a fundamentally hermeneutic activity, I examine the tools that Messiaen uses to conceptualize Debussy’s music, and I demonstrate how these modes of interpretation are often bound up with broader conceptions of musical structure and meaning essential to Messiaen’s own music. The dissertation addresses three types of interpretation found in Tome VI: technical
approaches to musical structure, extramusical approaches to water imagery, and the
frequent interpolation of poetic quotations within analysis. First, I explore how
Messiaen’s personal theories of compositional technique shape his interpretation of
altered dominant harmonies, rhythmic variation, and “the rhythm of dynamics” in Tome
VI. Next, I examine Messiaen’s references to water imagery in Debussy’s music, noting a combination of a priori, programmatic, topical, and metaphoric modes of interpretation.
Of all his water descriptions, Messiaen’s metaphor for shocking rhythmic contrast—“the
stone in the water”—reflects a compositional perspective most directly, as striking
durational oppositions play analogous expressive roles in his birdsong settings and
depictions of divine breakthrough. In the final section, I speculate on the interpretive role
of quotations from poetry throughout the volume, for which I infer three hermeneutic
functions: the intertexts elevate the perceived significance of the music, ground musical
details within preexistent narratives, and provide imagery through which the reader can
assess musical details described in adjacent passages. My reading of the poems as
interpretive tools provides a model for interpreting Messiaen’s own music through the
lens of scripture quotations that precede many of his works. By reconstructing these
diverse modes of interpretation, the dissertation forms a picture of Messiaen as a dynamic
interpreter who engages with Debussy’s music through many of the same hermeneutic perspectives that inform his compositional approach.
Subject
Name
(authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart
(type = personal)
Messiaen, Olivier,--1908-1992--Criticism and interpretation
Subject
Name
(authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart
(type = personal)
Messiaen, Olivier,--1908-1992.--Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d’ornithologie.
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Composition (Music)
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Musical analysis
Subject
Name
(authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart
(type = personal)
Debussy, Claude,--1862-1918--Criticism and interpretation
Identifier
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001600001.ETD.000065105
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Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier
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doi:10.7282/T3FB51WJ
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
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Name
FamilyName
Cochran
GivenName
Timothy
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
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(point = start);
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2012-04-13 14:03:57
AssociatedEntity
Name
Timothy Cochran
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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2013-08-27
DateTime
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(point = end);
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2099-12-31
Detail
Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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