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    A CUBIST READING OF MAURICE RAVEL’S LA VALSE

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    Ong_ku_0099D_15353_DATA_1.pdf (1.500Mb)
    Issue Date
    2017-05-31
    Author
    Ong, Wen-Ting
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    36 pages
    Type
    Dissertation
    Degree Level
    D.M.A.
    Discipline
    Music
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
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    Abstract
    Ravel’s La valse is often interpreted as the embodiment of fallen or disintegrating romantic idioms, embodied in his treatment of the waltz. However, La valse can also be discussed in the context of the artistic trends of its time, particularly its relationship to cubist aesthetics in painting. Although there is no concrete evidence that cubism was used as a source for La valse, Deborah Mawer has written about the influence of cubist ideas on other works by Ravel. My analysis will correlate certain cubist techniques with Ravel’s compositional techniques and explain how to translate cubism into a musical aesthetic consisting of characteristics such as fragmentation, angularity, and collage, similar to the analytical cubist works of Picasso and Braque. Comparisons with paintings by Picasso and Braque, along with Ravel’s earlier Valses nobles et sentimentales, replace the analytical focus on the destruction of the waltz idiom with a depiction of the many layers, angles and facets of the waltz, as if it were the subject of a cubist painting. This cubist interpretation emphasizes the structure and form of the piece, as well as emphasizing the thematic relationships. Rather than giving primacy to a climactic arrival in the final bars of the piece, this reading focuses the performer’s attention on the development of the main body of the piece.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/25392
    Collections
    • Music Dissertations and Theses [338]
    • Dissertations [4473]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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