Plot Archetypes In Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet And Piano Quartet

226 Pages·2015·19.01 MB·English

by  Emily Gertsch

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2013
Narratives of Innocence and Experience:
Plot Archetypes in Robert Schumann's Piano
Quintet and Piano Quartet
Emily S. Gertsch
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

NARRATIVES OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE: PLOT ARCHETYPES IN

ROBERT SCHUMANN’S PIANO QUINTET AND PIANO QUARTET

By

EMILY S. GERTSCH

A Dissertation submitted to the
College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded:
Summer Semester, 2013
Emily S. Gertsch defended this dissertation on April 22, 2013.
The members of the supervisory committee were:

Joseph Kraus
Professor Directing Dissertation

Douglass Seaton
University Representative

Michael Buchler
Committee Member

James Mathes
Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members,
and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university
requirements.

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For Oscar, my greatest supporter,
and Mom and Dad, my most influential teachers.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of a number of
people. To my advisor, Joseph Kraus, I owe special thanks for his unending support,
guidance, encouragement, and patience. His doctoral seminar during my first year at
Florida State University exposed me to the world of music and meaning and this project
grew from a research paper begun in that special seminar. I have learned so much from
Professor Kraus, especially in the areas of music and meaning and Schenkerian analysis,
and I will be forever grateful for his guidance and friendship. I would also like to
express my sincere gratitude to the other members of my committee—Michael Buchler,
Jim Mathes, and Douglass Seaton—for their support, discerning editorial comments,
and insightful suggestions. It has truly been a pleasure to work with each member of
my committee and I look forward to continued professional relationships and
friendships with these great teachers and scholars.
The music theory faculty as a whole at Florida State University is special for
many reasons. But it is the wonderful example of a collegial environment and the
enormous amount of work and time that each faculty member personally invests in
their students that has made the most impact on me. I will always be grateful that I had
the opportunity to learn from and work with each music theory faculty member at
Florida State. The professional and personal relationships I developed while attending
Florida State are ones that will last a lifetime, and I will always cherish the times spent
with fellow students (especially Sarah Sarver, Greg Decker, Sara Nodine, and Judith
Ofcarcik).
The support my family has given me during my doctoral studies is
immeasurable. My parents, George and Mary Swift, have provided continuous
encouragement to pursue this dream, and have offered both the material and intangible
resources that have allowed me to achieve my musical and academic goals. The home-
cooked meals and endless hours of babysitting only scratch the surface of the many
ways they have helped me to complete this project. My gratitude for this and for their
love is inexpressible. My brother, Bill Swift, has also provided an enormous amount of
support and encouragement, and I am proud to call him not only my brother, but also
one of my closest friends. I would like to thank my mother-in-law and father-in-law,
Alida and Bruno Gertsch, for their love, encouragement, and for the weekends of
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babysitting that enabled me to work on this project with no distractions. Finally, I
would like to thank my friend Katie Bray, who is like a sister to me. She has provided
me with support and encouragement for more than twenty-four years.
Most of all, I would like to thank my husband Oscar. He has made many
sacrifices in order to support me in reaching my goals, and I am forever grateful for his
patience, unconditional love, and devotion. I cannot imagine a better person with
whom to share my life. He is an amazing husband to me and a wonderful father to our
children, Charlotte and Owen—I look forward to the many new adventures that await
us as a family.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. viii
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. ix
List of Examples .............................................................................................................................. x
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... xv
1. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................1
1.1 Introduction to the Topic ..............................................................................................1
1.2 Review of Literature on Music and Meaning ............................................................2
1.2.1 Semiotic Approaches ...........................................................................................2
1.2.2 Narratological Approaches ................................................................................9
1.2.3 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................19
1.3 Methodology and Significance of the Project ..........................................................20
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................23
2.1 1842: Schumann’s "Chamber Music Year" ................................................................23
2.2 Schumann’s Chamber Music Models .......................................................................28
2.3 Schumann and the Musical Setting of Chamber Music .........................................32
2.4 Schumann’s Compositional Process .........................................................................34
2.4.1 Schumann’s Early Compositional Process .....................................................34
2.4.2 Schumann’s Late Compositional Process .......................................................35
2.5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................37
3. A ROMANCE NARRATIVE: JEAN PAUL AND THE PERSONA IN THE FIRST
MOVEMENT OF THE PIANO QUINTET .........................................................................38
3.1 Romance Narrative in Literature and Music ...........................................................38
3.2 Schumann and Jean Paul ............................................................................................40
3.3 The Persona Theory .....................................................................................................44
3.4 Analysis: The First Movement of the Piano Quintet ...............................................45
3.4.1 The Order-Imposing Hierarchy and Transgression ....................................45
3.4.2 The Exposition: P ..............................................................................................47
3.4.3 The Exposition: TR1 ..........................................................................................49
3.4.4 The Exposition: TR2 ..........................................................................................52
3.4.5 The Exposition: TR3 ..........................................................................................54
3.4.6 The Exposition: S1.1 ..........................................................................................58
3.4.7 The Exposition: S1.2 and S2 .............................................................................60
3.4.8 The Development ..............................................................................................64
3.4.9 The Recapitulation and Coda ..........................................................................72
3.4.10 The Persona ........................................................................................................75
3.5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................76
4. A FAILED TRAGIC-TO-TRANSCENDENT NARRATIVE: THE SECOND
MOVEMENT OF THE PIANO QUINTET .........................................................................78
4.1 Tragic Topics versus Tragic Narrative .....................................................................78
4.2 Analysis: The Second Movement of the Piano Quintet ..........................................79
4.2.1 The Order-Imposing Hierarchy and Transgression .....................................79
4.2.2 Formal Problems That Complicate a Tragic Reading ...................................80
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4.2.3 “The Anxiety of Influence” and Schumann’s Misreading of Beethoven .81
4.2.4 Structural Analysis ........................................................................................ 86
4.2.5 Conclusion: A Failed Tragic-to-Transcendent Narrative ..........................97
5. COMIC IRONY IN SCHUMANN’S DIALOGUE WITH BEETHOVEN’S FIRST
SYMPHONY: THE THIRD MOVEMENT OF THE PIANO QUINTET ...................100
5.1 Schumann and the Beethovenian Tradition of the Scherzo ..............................100
5.2 Analysis: An Ironic Comparison of the Scherzo Movements ...........................102
5.2.1 Irony as a Narrative Archetype ..................................................................103
5.2.2 Introduction to the Analysis ........................................................................104
5.2.3 A Comparative Analysis of the Scherzo Sections ....................................105
5.2.4 An Analysis of Schumann’s First Trio .......................................................114
5.2.5 An Analysis of Schumann’s Second Trio ..................................................117
5.2.6 An Analysis of Schumann’s Coda ..............................................................121
5.2.7 Conclusion .....................................................................................................124
6. A COMIC ARCHETYPE OF EMERGENCE: THE FINALE OF THE PIANO
QUINTET ...........................................................................................................................126
6.1 Comic Narratives and Discursive Strategies ......................................................126
6.2 “Parallel” Forms and its Application to the Quintet Finale ..............................128
6.3 Analysis: The Finale of the Piano Quintet ...........................................................133
6.3.1 The Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression ............................134
6.3.2 Part I: The Parallel Sonata-Rondo Form ....................................................135
6.3.3 Part II: The Coda ...........................................................................................146
6.3.4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................153
7. TWO ADDITIONAL ROMANCE NARRATIVES: THE FIRST AND THIRD
MOVEMENTS OF THE PIANO QUARTET ................................................................155
7.1 First Movement of the Quartet: Bildung in the Sostenuto assai, Allegro ma
non troppo ..................................................................................................................156
7.1.1 Part I: A Romance Narrative Archetype ....................................................156
7.1.2 Part II: Bildung and Complications of the Romance Narrative ..............175
7.1.3 Conclusion .....................................................................................................181
7.2 Third Movement of the Quartet: Andante cantabile ............................................182
7.2.1 The Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression ............................182
7.2.2 The A Section .................................................................................................183
7.2.3 The B Section ..................................................................................................188
7.2.4 The A' Section ................................................................................................191
7.2.5 The Coda ........................................................................................................193
7.2.6 Conclusion .....................................................................................................195
8. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................196
8.1 Summary ..................................................................................................................196
8.2 Implications for Further Study ..............................................................................199
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................200
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .....................................................................................................209

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LIST OF TABLES

1.1 The Four Narrative Archetypes ........................................................................................12

3.1 Order Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression .........................................................46

3.2 Formal Diagram of the Exposition ..................................................................................46

3.3 The Second Theme Area ....................................................................................................62

4.1 Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression .........................................................80

4.2a Form Chart. Schumann, In Modo d’una Marcia ...............................................................81

4.2b Form Chart. Beethoven, Rondo from the Pathétique Sonata .........................................81

4.3 Mapping the Time Aspect of Narrative onto Tonal Areas ...........................................84

4.4a Form Chart. Beethoven, Pathétique Rondo ......................................................................85

4.4b Form Chart. Schumann, In Modo d’una Marcia ...............................................................85

5.1 Order Imposing Hierarchy vs. Transgression in Schumann’s Scherzo .....................104

5.2 Form of the Menuetto from Beethoven’s First Symphony .........................................105

5.3 Form of the Scherzo from Schumann’s Piano Quintet ................................................105

6.1 Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression .......................................................135

6.2 Sonata-Rondo Parallel Form of Finale ...........................................................................145

7.1 Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression .......................................................157

7.2 Order-Imposing Hierarchy versus Transgression .......................................................182

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LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 Reproduction of Hatten’s Figure 2.1 from Musical Meaning in Beethoven .....................4

1.2 Reproduction of Almén’s Figure 1 from “Narrative Archetypes: A Critique,
Theory, and Method of Narrative Analysis” ..................................................................11

6.1 Reproduction of Roesner’s Figure 2, Formal Diagram of the Piano Sonata in f,
op. 14, I ...............................................................................................................................129

6.2 Reproduction of Roesner’s Figure 3, op. 14, I. Depiction of the Symmetrical
Form Based on Tonal “Mirror” Images .........................................................................129

6.3 Reproduction of Brown’s Diagram of Parallel Form in a Sonata Movement ..........130

6.4 Reproduction of Brown’s Diagram of Parallel Form in a Rondo Movement ..........131

6.5 Reproduction of Brown’s Figure 13.3 and 13.5. A Formal Overview of the
Quintet Finale ....................................................................................................................133

7.1 Form Diagram of the Exposition, mm. 1–120 ...............................................................167

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