Ai Horton, “Laments for a Modern World”

Introduction

IN THIS SECTION: 

0.1 Preface

0.2 Methodology

Chapter 1: Defining the Lament

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Contents

Appendix A: English translations of 17^th-century Lament texts

Appendix B: Texts of Laments for a Modern World

Bibliography

0.1 Preface

Amidst the rise of opera and other dramatized musical works in the 17^th century, the solo vocal Lament¹ emerged as the pinnacle of pathetic musical expression in western Europe. Fueled by an artistic fascination with the portrayal of emotions, numerous treatises on how these feelings should be taken from life and translated into art and drama were written throughout the Baroque Era. As acts of formal lamentation were already being used to help process moments of intense grief, or else as a part of ritual leave-takings such as a bride parting with her family,² it is no wonder that creatives chose to utilise the traditions of lamentation to express suffering and sorrow within their crafts. Laments appear frequently in literary and dramatic works throughout our documented history, and in many of the earliest operas sung solo Laments were designated as the emotional climax, as was the case with “Dido’s Lament” in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Monteverdi's "Lamento d'Arianna" (the only part of his opera L’Arianna that survives).³ Thanks to their heightened emotional nature, these solo Laments are often singled out as some of the most memorable pieces of music in the classical vocal repertoire.

When I first came across vocal Laments, I was immediately fascinated by their melodically simple yet moving qualities. As a soprano with a particular interest in the Baroque repertoire, I found Laments to be both musically satisfying to sing and an ideal medium in which to experiment with nuanced delivery. As I continued to work my way through the most well-known of these pieces, I became fatigued by the lack of diversity in stories they told. The model of a 17^th-century Lament often followed the same dramatic sequence:  a lover—usually female—loses their romantic partner and becomes wracked with inconsolable grief. Despite this monotonous typecasting, the endless number of ways in which composers had woven different shades of grief into their scores continued to draw me in. Although I felt disconnected with the story I was meant to be embodying, I was still somehow emotionally invested in the music itself.

I began wondering exactly which parts of the Lament were responsible for creating this pathetic response I was feeling, and if there was a way in which I could recombine these emotive elements with texts that moved away from the conventional narrative. In other words, how do 17^th-century Laments evoke a pathetic response, and how can we apply the emotional capabilities of the Lament to the creation of new works that communicate modern social issues?

0.2 Methodology

This thesis first explores the traditions of lamentation and other examples of how grief was expressed in the 17^th century. Fourteen 17^th-century Laments are broken down into individual components and analyzed to determine how they are able to evoke a pathetic response within their respective narratives. These elements include the construction of the bass lines, the chosen voice types, the construction of the text and how it is set to music, and specific musical rhetorical devices, among others. Using these techniques in conjunction with newly commissioned texts written by four talented librettists, I created a new set of Laments for a Modern World.  These Laments depict stories such as miscarriage, race-relations, displacement from one’s homeland, and struggles with mental health. The scores are notated in an adaptable format to make them accessible to musicians of any instrumentation and style. My hope is that, beyond adding to a pre-existing genre of music, these Laments will allow for a greater level of personal engagement in and connection to the music making and will open this emotionally powerful genre to creatives outside the early music community, all while amplifying important, present-day stories.

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Chapter 1: Defining the Lament

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