| The purpose of this interdisciplinary study of Alexander Zemlinsky's Symphonische Gesange, Op. 20 is to facilitate accurate and historically-informed performances of this neglected composition. Chapter 1 provides background information and a review of literature related to Zemlinsky and his Op. 20. Chapter 2 presents a detailed discussion of the poems by Countee Cullen, Frank Horne, Langston Hughes, and Jean Toomer that Zemlinsky set to music, along with a detailed analysis of the German translations used by the composer. Chapter 3 recounts the biographical and historical circumstances in which the work was written, and discusses general aspects of the composition. Finally, Chapter 4 presents detailed musical analyses of every song in the cycle, a discussion of practical issues related to their interpretation, and an examination of the inaccuracies encountered in the published conductor's score as well as potential solutions to these problems. In addition, an errata list is provided as an appendix.;In preparation for this research project, I have surveyed the vast majority of literature written about Zemlinsky and his works. In addition, I conducted research about the texts Zemlinsky set to music, transcribed the original texts by the four American poets from reliable sources, and compared them to the German translations used by Zemlinsky. Finally, I analyzed the published conductor's score and compared it to the manuscript sources available at the Library of Congress in the "Alexander von Zemlinsky Collection" with a twofold purpose: (1) to provide information that could enrich and facilitate future performances of the work, and (2) to find possible solutions to the multiple inconsistencies and errors encountered in the published score currently available to performers and scholars. |
