Type of Document	Treatise
Author	Swanson, Christopher Landon
Author's Email Address	swansoncl@longwood.edu
URN	etd-06152004-151435
Title	The Voice of the New Renaissance: The Premiere Performances of Peter Pears
Degree	Doctor of Musical Arts
Department	Music, School of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Douglas Fisher Committee Chair Andre Thomas Committee Member Roy Delp Committee Member Stanford Olsen Committee Member
Keywords	Guitar Harp Cantata Academica Anon in Love Jubilee Hall A Midsummer Night’s Dream Richard Rodney Bennett Aldeburgh Heart of the Matter Edith Sitwell English Opera Group EOG Wigmore CEMA Francis Poulenc Les mamelles de Tirésias Egon Wellesz Songs from the Chinese Nocturne Sechs Holderin-Fragmente Hans Werner Henze Dorian Singers Melos Ensemble John Willis Commandment of Love Billy Budd Eric Crozier Abraham and Isaac Love in a Village combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Heart’s Assurance Claudio Monteverdi Nicole Jomelli Schubert Boyhood’s Hopkins Serenade Brain Goehr Wordsworth R. W. Wood Janacek Susskind Tippett Cross Greene Norina Semino Peter Grimes Holy Sonnets of John Donne Erwin Stein Gerard Schurmann Rape of Lucretia Folksongs Arrangements Realized Realization Ernst Ansermet John Francis Zorian String Quartet Maurice Gendron Albert Herring Lennox Berkeley Stabat Mater Nancy Evans Canticle Humphrey Searle Frank Martin Arthur Oldham Beggar’s Opera John Gay Tyrone Guthrie Saint Nicolas Boris Ord George James Gustav Holst Wandering Scholar Imogen Holst Five Chinese Lyrics Bertus van Lier Spring Symphony Kathleen Ferrier Eduard van Beinum Wedding Anthem (Amo Ergo Sum) Anne Wood Robin Orr Terrance MacDonagh Aeolin Aaron Copland Old American Songs London Harpsichord Ensemble LHE Joy Boughton Hans Geiger Peter Mountain Bernard Davis Ambrose Gauntlet Donald Mitchell Grace Williams John Shirley-Quirk Thea Musgrave Songs for Achilles Joan Dickson War Requiem Heather Harper Dietrich Fischer Diskau Peter Racine Fricker Cantata Misericordium Curlew River Witold Lutoslawski Paroles Tissées Elizabeth Maconchy Viola Tunnard Orford Parish Burning Fiery Furnace Nebuchadnezzar Robin Stephenson Francis Burt Osian Ellis Raymond Warren Maltings Snape Fairy Queen James Bowman Martin Lane Robert Tear Cecil Aronowitz Prodigal Son Janet Baker Johann Sebastian Bach Herbert Bedford Owen Wingrave Ronald Stevenson Sebastian Forbes Twentieth century Brent Smith Shostakovich Wyss Purcell illuminations Michelangelo BBC Norman Del Mar Rejoice in the Lamb Graham Bush Roger Cooper Alfred Deller Trevor Anthony Ralph Downes Orlando Gibbons Nelson Four Ronsard Sonnets Hughes Cuenod George Malcolm Alan Bush Voices of the Prophets Noel Mewton-Woods Mátyás Seiber Gloriana John Prichard Priaulx Rainier Cycle for Declamation Winter Words Igor Stravinsky Paul Sacher Turn of the Screw Peter Quint Rudolf Schwarz James Bernard Julian Bream William Walton Troilus and Cressida Panderus Malcolm Sargent Arnolde Cooke This Worldes Joie Unaccompanied Wilfred Mellers Morley College London Malcolm Williamson Charles Spinks Arthur Bliss Requiem UK Gustav Mahler Joan Sutherland Norma Procter Wilfred Brown Third Programme Canticle IV: Journey of the Magi Who are these Children? Vagn Holmboe Douglas Young Death in Venice Tony Hewitt-Jones Elizabeth Maconchy Paul Bunyan Cantlice V: The Death of Saint Narcissus Cool Web Richard Drakeford Ronald Stevenson Birthday Hansel John Blow William Croft Roger Vignoles Arne Nordheim Jørgan Jersild Stig Schonberg Pelham Humfrey Colin Matthews Robin Holloway Stephen Ralls Ian Partridge Steuart Bedford Krzysztof Meyer Michael Lankester Rolf Urs Ringger Jon Tavener Neil Mackie Jeremiah Clarke Christopher Headington Oratorio Song Premieres Premiered First Performance Broadcast Voice Singer Tenor Alan Rideout England Opera Operatic Artsong Song Cycle
Date of Defense	2004-06-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Sir Peter Pears (1910-1986) was the foremost interpreter of Benjamin Britten’s vocal music. Britten composed a majority of his vocal works with Pears’s voice in mind: seven song cycles, twelve original opera roles, five canticles, and eight works for voice and orchestra. Britten also prepared most of his folksong arrangements and realizations of Baroque vocal works for Pears. The tenor’s reputation stretches far beyond Britten’s music. A popular recital artist, Pears gave countless performances across four continents. In recital and opera, he performed a great variety of music, from early Baroque to Contemporary. He was a founder of a major music festival, frequently wrote essays on music, and later in his life, devoted his time to teaching. This treatise concentrates on other important aspects of Pears’s career, namely his commissioning of and performance of new works. Over the course of his career, he premiered more than two hundred pieces of music. Britten composed, realized, or arranged about 120 works for Pears, while over 40 other composers provided the rest. The treatise focuses on the music that Pears premiered during the first half of his career, performances that took place between 1932 and 1954, discussing music by Benjamin Britten, Alexander Brent Smith, Michael Tippett, Antony Hopkins, William Wordsworth, R. W. Wood, Gerard Schurmann, Lennox Berkeley, Humphrey Searle, Arthur Oldham, Bertus van Lier, Robin Orr, Aaron Copland, Grace Williams, Alan Bush, Mátyás Seiber, Priaulx Rainier, James Bernard, William Walton, realizations of music by Henry Purcell and Maurice Greene, and arrangements and works by Franz Schubert and Gustav Holst. Discussion will cover a wide variety of genres and styles, and will analyze the music from the singer’s perspective. The treatise includes a complete chronological list of Pears’s premiere performances. Through these, the author wishes to illuminate the influence of Peter Pears upon the musical world in the second half of the twentieth century.
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