Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Church, Lucy Claire
URN	etd-04152011-141948
Title	Brahms's Late Spirituality: Hope in the Vier Ernste Gesänge, Op. 121
Degree	Master of Music
Department	Music, College of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Douglass Seaton Committee Chair Denise VonGlahn Committee Member Michael Buchler Committee Member
Keywords	Lied Brahms Vier Ernste Gesänge Spirituality Bible Art Song Lieder Op. 121
Date of Defense	2011-04-04
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This thesis presents a new interpretation of Johannes Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, op. 121. Foundational information is provided on Brahms’s spirituality and knowledge of the Bible, his personal life surrounding the composition of the Vier ernste Gesänge, and his relationship to the philosophy of Schopenhauer, which has previously been connected to these songs. The unity of the cycle is also considered; although it has been widely claimed that the final song either does not belong in the set or is the weakest of the four, this interpretation argues for its validity and its importance in an overall understanding of the set. Key musical details are explored in each of the four songs and a conclusion is drawn: Brahms’s choice of texts and musical settings of those texts point to a sense of hope which may be an indication of Brahms’s own late spirituality.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access    Church_L_Thesis_2011.pdf 1.95 Mb 00:09:02 00:04:39 00:04:04 00:02:02 00:00:10