This article represents a transcript from an address given at the Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in which the composer describes vocal music in general and his work within it. The article is somewhat conversational, especially at the beginning, where Argento briefly gives his view of vocal music versus instrumental music and the world of sacred music today in light of previous eras. Although Argento's comments are abstract, they might apply to analyses of his works in noting the emotional import the composer puts into his text settings and the kinds of meanings he attaches to the words he sets to music.
This article is a counterpart to the following citation in that it mentions several of his choral works in chronological order in terms of their origins and the relationship between text to music present within them. The composer provides useful insight of how he divides the text across the structure of certain portions of his _Te Deum_; and what characteristics or affects of a W. H. Auden text he highlights in _The Temptation of St. Joseph_.
(Erik Gustafson, 1997)
This article features an interview between the author of the article and the composer treating Argento's choral music mostly outside the operatic context. The article begins with a description of the composer's aesthetic reasons for writing vocal music; and it then proceeds to address each of the major choral works of the composer in chronological order from _Masque of Angels_ in 1963 to _There is No Rose_. Generally, the interview addresses how each of these works came into being and the groups which were involved in the premiere (of these works).
Within the discussion of each of the twelve works represented, a variety of topics get addressed; and the interview does not address the same topic(s) for every piece under discussion. Little theoretical information of the works become provided, however with regards to the last work: _There is No Rose._, a unifying device of the ascending fifth extending across the entire work is mentioned. Other generalizations about the choral works described in the interview are made with regards to form of the music along with metaphorical grouping of instruments in _Jonah and the Whale_ suggesting the Holy Trinity. The article includes some biographical information about the composer and frequently mentions the relationship between the text(s) set in the music (and) the music itself--the composer seems to have a preference for British poetry and texts.
(Erik Gustafson, 1997)
This article addresses a song cycle of Dominick Argento--whose title is given above--with a focus upon the first of eight songs from the cycle. This article opens with a biographical description of the composer followed by an incisive summary of the article's purpose. None of the titles of the songs are given and the relationship of the text to the music is not discussed--curiously so, since one of the assertions of the article is how "Argento has unified the texts musically into a whole."
The remainder of the article deals with the motivic structure of the first song from the song cycle, howe the three main melodic ideas become manifested in the discourse of the song. Pitch focus and harmonic motion of the piece are also dealt with in diagrams. Schenkerian reductions are included as well as simplifications of the harmonic texture of the piece. The article does not include excerpts from the music itself, so the presentations of the motivic material whether in the vocal part or accompaniment remains unclear. Although the article presents a detailed reduction of the music--five graphs within four pages--the text (portion of the) article gives a very dense explanation of these graphs in terms of the main points of the article. The conclusion (of) the article seems as concise as the opening with insightful comments about Argento's text setting, which make sense but do not get supported with a detailed enough examination of the actual music.
(Erik Gustafson, 1997)
This manuscript addresses (the) composer's work within the genre to which he has been well-suited: vocal music, and with regards to this particular thesis, song cycles. It begins with a statement of purpose which highlights the text to music relationship(s) in two song cycles mentioned in the title of this thesis. Following the introduction, the first chapter discusses biographical information about Mr. Argento with considerable amount of historical detail--his teachers and his influences--yet with little description of his general style.
Chapters two and three represent the core of the musical discussion. Each chapter begins with brief background of the cycle being examined, sich as the authors of the poetry contained within the works, yet chapter three includes discussion of Aregento's aesthetic reason(s) for setting text of letters from composers. Following the background discussion, the author proceeds with analyses of the song cycles with a systematic method outlined in Appendix A and broken up into three general areas: poetic considerations, musical considerations, and performance considerations. The subcategories under each of these general headings are many, specific, and methodical, yet are not born out with many musical examples. Commentary on subcategories is sometimes brief and intentionally so--as stated in preface--to give reader overview of Argento's text setting. Analyses focus particularly on patterns of poetic stress and accents related to the song(s) under investigation and do not seem to relate to some larger premise or more general argument for thesis.
Appendix B includes "A Chronological List of Argento's Art Songs" with indication of authors of texts, dates, and genre of composition, as well as titles of songs. The thesis also includes a bibliography of sources used for the dissertation, as well as a listing of recordings that were consulted.
(Erik Gustafson, 1997)
This article presents a general profile of the composer's work. It starts with a biographical portrait of the composer including places where Argento has worked and studied as well as his compositional influences. The article ends with commentary about Argento's stylistic characteristics and quotes other reviews of his work.
Within the main body of the text, the article focuses on several song cycles, although it does not limit itself exclusively to the vocal genre. Of particular interest is the general discussion of harmonic language and pitch-set class basis for works which has been absent from the other literature examined in this bibliography. Besides mentioning prominent and general structural characteristics of the various vocal works, such as _Four Elizabethan Songs_ and _A Water Bird Talk_, the feature also gives background information--genre, conception of piece, et cetera--about the works under examination and mentions (the) role of texture and means of text setting.
(Erik Gustafson, 1997)