Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Music

First Advisor

Alicia Walker

Abstract

The music of Herbert Howells is a mystery for many choral musicians. Howells’s popularity in England is unquestioned, but knowledge of his music has grown slowly in the United States. While the BBC Singers’ performance of Requiem in 1980 brought new enthusiasm for his music and the Requiem, he is still seldom performed in the United States outside of small circles which are generally in Anglican or Episcopalian communities. This is likely due to lack of exposure to his music and the perception that the music is inaccessible and mysterious. Some of Howells’s more complex music is inaccessible for many choirs due to vocal demands, shifting modalities or referential collections, unusual vertical sonorities, and irregular phrase lengths. However, some of his output is accessible and would be helpful in becoming accustomed to his music.

Howells’s music has proven to be a fruitful topic in academia. Many books, dissertations, and articles have been written about his music, but most of them focus on one category or genre. No content follows a progression across genres concerning accessibility. If his music was taught and programmed systematically in terms of challenges related to shifting modalities, vocal demands, vertical sonorities, and polyphonic texture, conductors and performers in the United States may be more likely to program his works. This dissertation discusses these challenging aspects of Howells’s music in hopes to provide labels to the features which seem ambiguous, suggest a progression for the music of Herbert Howells regarding these challenges, provide helpful suggestions on how to approach this music, and provide a conductor’s analysis for the selected pieces. The works selected for the discussion are: My eyes for beauty pine; O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks; Here is the little door; Sing lullaby; and: “Salvator Mundi” from Requiem.

Rights

© 2024, Michael Ballard

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