Iowa Stubborn: Meredith Willson's Musical Characterization of his Fellow Iowans

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Issue Date
2009Author
Schwartz, Roberta F.
Publisher
Intellect Ltd.
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Version
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/smt/2009/00000003/00000001/art00003
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Show full item recordAbstract
The song “Iowa Stubborn” from The Music Man provides a key to understanding the development and musical content of the work. Willson’s “Iowa Stubborn” insistence on the organic development of songs from the narrative led him to use experimental techniques like “speak-song” and “words-without-songs,” some of which were by-products of his long career in radio. By creating a dialogic style of song based on stubborn pitch repetition and a small number of motives, the composer, who by the early 1950s was Iowa’s most famous son, was able to characterize the stubborn natives of the Hawkeye both musically and lyrically, in numerous numbers in the score.
Description
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/smt.3.1.31_1 .
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Citation
Schwartz, Roberta F. (2009) "Iowa Stubborn: Meredith Willson's Musical Characterization of his Fellow Iowans" Studies in Musical Theatre, v.3:1, 1 August 2009, pp. 31-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/smt.3.1.31_1
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