Tag: Stephen Rodgers

Franz Schubert’s Schwanengesang: A Posthumously Published Grouping of Romantic German Lieder Containing What Is Perhaps Meant to Be Schubert’s Unpublished Final Song Cycle of Heinrich Heine’s Poetry

Presenter: Thomas Dasso

Faculty Mentor: Laura Wayte, Stephen Rodgers

Presentation Type: Creative Work 3 (GSH Great Room Stage)

Primary Research Area: Fine/Performance Arts

Major: Music

Schubert is known as one of the finest composers of German art song. Among his many song cycles (a grouping of songs forming a narrative) is Schwanengesang (Swan-song), a cycle consisting of 14 songs with three different poets: Rellstab, Heine, and Seidl. Schwanengesang was published posthumously with little known about what order, if any, Schubert intended the music to appear.. However, due to some convincing evidence it is quite possible that Schubert meant for Heine’s poetry to remain in the order it originally appeared in Heine’s publication of Die Heimkehr (“The Homecoming,” 1826). A publication of these six songs as a “Heine Cycle” does not exist currently. After expanding on the new narrative handpicked by Schubert from Heine’s publication and a thorough musical analysis (including identifying repeated themes, harmonic relationships, and an overarching relationship among key areas to supplement the poetry’s narrative), a seamless body of work emerges from a previously vague assortment of music. With a thorough analysis and a live performance of the six songs, Scarley Liu and I, Tom Dasso, plan to introduce Schubert’s previously unknown cycle to the stage on voice and piano.
“A proper understanding of Schubert’s last works hangs in the balance…”—Richard Kramer

An Analysis of the Connection Between Agnes von Calatin and Josephine Lang

Presenter(s): Elizabeth Soper

Faculty Mentor(s): Stephen Rodgers

Poster 143

Session: Social Sciences & Humanities

Josephine Lang is one of the few documented women composers from 19th-century art songs and analysis of her work is crucial for having a comprehensive knowledge of composers from this era. While research suggests the male composers from this era played a large role in Lang’s success, an equally important relationship was her friendship with Agnes von Calatin, an underrepresented female poet. This friendship was a great benefit to Lang’s career as she used Calatin’s poetry as inspiration. The unique relationship between these two female artists illustrates how mutually collaborative relationships are just as important as having supportive connections to famous male artists. By examining the original sources such as letters written by Emma Niendorf and Justinus Kerner and the art that Lang and Calatin co-created, I will illustrate how this relationship between Josephine Lang and Agnes von Calatin differed compared to her relationship with male counterparts. von Calatin provided more support and experimentation than was common in the traditional male mentorship, including personalized poetry, musical inspiration, and connections to prominent male composers and poets. However, because of von Calatin’s status as a female artist, not simply an artist, she was not able to provide as many exposure opportunities as her male counterparts for Lang. Most women composers from the 19th century found themselves in a similar dilemma where purely female collaboration promoted equality but hindered success in their careers.